Lanterns: Raised To Be Fearless

After introducing John and Hal in the familiar dynamic of a loose-cannon detective and his by-the-book partner, it’s a great relief to learn that John is much weirder than he initially seems. Rather than being a product of his military training, we learn this week that his stoical, goal-oriented nature stems from a truly alarming childhood, raised in what essentially amounts to a one-family cult.  

Episode 3 visits two formative periods of John’s life: his childhood and a secret mission that led to his dishonorable discharge from the Marines. Taking a break from Rushville, these flashbacks unfold via the framing device of John’s interview to become a Green Lantern trainee, a conversation that took place about two months before the show’s main storyline begins. We know that John will pass this test, but the circumstances of the interview are a point of curiosity. Why did the Guardians deviate from the typical recruitment method of letting the ring choose its next Lantern—and how was John selected?

We begin on a surreal note, with John falling from midair onto a pile of mattresses in a deserted shopping mall. From here, he follows a series of signs to a cramped backroom office, where a woman (Laura Linney) tells him to wait. Taking this order to heart, he waits all night. The woman is surprised to find him still sitting there when she returns the next morning, but this is clearly part of the test, measuring John’s capacity for patience and obedience. He already seems prepared for what happens next, barely reacting when the woman confirms that she’s a Guardian in human form.

For his part, John already knows the basics of the Guardians’ role when he arrives for this interview: “The ruling body of the cosmos, founders of the Lanterns.” Once there were 12 Guardians, but now there are only 11. One was recently murdered by the former Lantern Sinestro, which is why the Guardians have started interviewing new candidates in person. While the Lantern rings are supposedly able to choose the perfect person for the job, this recruitment method clearly had dangerous flaws.

“This is where most candidates ask, ‘Why me?’” notes the Guardian.

“I know exactly why me,” John replies, and we launch into our first flashback.

The season premiere already offered some unsettling insight into John’s childhood, in a scene where his father (AKA Johnny Stewart) shot an apple off young John’s head like William Tell. This week we go further back in time, to when John was still a baby. In the middle of the night, his mother, Bernadette, gets up to check on one of her other sons, leaving her husband alone in bed. A green light fills the room, and a voice booms out: “Are you afraid?” It’s the exact same test that Hal received from Abin Sur’s ring, but unlike Hal, Johnny fails. He is afraid, descending into a panic attack as the ring abandons him to be discovered by his wife, who assumes that he just had a nightmare. Sometime later that night, the ring will decide Hal is a more viable candidate, and deliver him to the dying Abin Sur.