Lanterns Episode 5 Gives The Manhunters A Comic-Accurate Origin

In brightest day, in blackest night, no spoilers for “Lanterns” Episode 5 shall escape my sight. Beware!

So far, HBO’s “Lanterns” has focused on one simple mystery — who is the Manhunter hiding in Rushville, Nebraska. Turns out, it wasn’t the xenophobic rich guy that was very clearly being set up as the villain. Instead, it was Zoe Macon, played by Poorna Jagannathan. The mystery served both as a way to highlight the vastly different approaches to being a Green Lantern that Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) take. But it’s also a mystery that serves to showcase just how flawed the entire concept of the Green Lantern Corps is.

That’s because, as we learn in Episode 5 of “Lanterns,” the Manhunters were actually created by the Guardians of the Universe. Yes, the same Guardians of the Universe that created the Green Lanterns themselves. Turns out, the Manhunters were the Guardians’ first attempt at a universe-wide police force. In the episode, Zoe says that the Guardians decided to exterminate the poor Manhunters when their methods proved too extreme, but that does downplay just how extreme they were. In the comics, the android peacekeeping Manhunters eventually became self-aware and decided that evil was an inevitability with biological lifeform, so they set out to destroy all forms of life. Countless worlds were destroyed and entire species annihilated.

Eventually, the Guardians realized their mistake and destroyed them all before creating the Green Lantern Corps — at least, they thought they had killed them all. In reality, one single Manhunter survived: Zoe, who fled to Earth and killed Abin Sur when he discovered her identity.

Damon Lindelof is no stranger to comic books. His take on “Watchmen” remains one of the single greatest comic book reimaginings of all time. Much like the original comic, the “Watchmen” TV show interrogates the very idea of superheroes as an institution. Though not as overt as that show, “Lanterns” is definitely cut from the same cloth. Taking a page out of detective shows like “True Detective,” the show is setting up a conflict against the very institution of the Green Lantern Corps.

Throughout this first season of “Lanterns,” we’ve seen a very flawed institution with unclear rules for recruiting new members, a leadership that literally hires new people to execute and replace their predecessors off-the-books, an institution that already had one of their own turn on them and reveal themselves to be a genocidal dictator. This episode in particular has Hal Jordan scream in agony and desperation at John Stewart when he takes Hal’s ring from him. Hal tries to plead to John, saying that just like the Guardians replaced him, they’ll replace John. Thing is, he’s not wrong. The Guardians are one of the most corrupt organizations in the DC Universe, and the moment they disagree with one of their employees, they instantly replace them for someone else.

We already know that Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) will eventually become a Green Lantern and — judging by the rules set up in this show — he will be the replacement for both Hal and John. It seems unlikely “Lanterns” will set up some huge conflict in the Green Lantern planet of Oa this early, but it definitely seems to be setting up some inner conflict between the Green Lanterns and the Guardians of the Universe for future stories — perhaps even introduce other ring colors?