New Lanterns Fan Theory Might Mean the Manhunter Threat Isn’t Over, And It Was Right In Front of Us You Should Know

Lanterns gave viewers quite the midseason thrill in Episode 5, as the battle in the town of Rushville, Nebraska, officially kicked off. Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) also had their long-simmering conflict erupt in the middle of the fight, as John finally made his move to claim the ring. It all ended with Rushville in ruins, several key figures dead, and John Stewart making the unprecedented decision to walk away from the Green Lantern Corps.

However, while Lanterns Episode 5 seemed to close the door on the first chapter of the show’s story, not every fan is convinced that it did. Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan) was revealed as the Manhunter, and she was definitely killed by John Stewart, who took her crystallized heart back to the Guardians as proof the mission was complete and the threat was over

But are the Manhunters really gone for good? Not every DC Universe fan is convinced that threat is truly over…

Lanterns Theory: There’s a 2nd Manhunter In The Macon Family

There’s a popular fan theory gaining traction, which states that Zoe Macon wasn’t the only Manhunter hiding in Rushville. Episode 5 had a moment that some fans honed in on: Zoe stopping to talk with her grandson, Noah (Weapons actor Cary Christopher), before the battle, and basically instructing him to carry on with everything she had taught him. A second look at Noah made fans take note of other moments in the series regarding the strange young child, such as Sheriff Kerry Kane’s (Kelly Macdonald) glowing praise of her son, as well as her level of desperation when telling Hal Jordan that she “owes” Zoe. It sounded like more than just the new life Zoe provided for Kerry – it sounded like Zoe had worked a miracle for her.

Is Noah Macon more than he seems to be? There’s a growing sense that he is. Episode 5 also featured a scene between William Macon (Garret Dillahunt) and the alien leader Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor), which indirectly revealed that Zoe had an agenda to breed with the species she infiltrated – a process that was difficult to achieve. Seeing how Zoe sacrificed her husband and an entire town of her followers, we don’t think Manhunters are overly sentimental; however, the continued survival of their species would be the kind of mission a synthetic being would risk everything for.

Lanterns has made it clear that legacy and succession are major themes of its story. While viewers have been focused on the story of Hal Jordan being replaced by John Stewart, there really could be a mirroring story about how Zoe creates a hybrid between Manhunters and biological life forms (humans), freeing the synthetic beings from the Guardians’ legacy and programming.

We’ll see as Lanterns enters the back half of its story. The series airs on HBO and streams on HBO Max.