Season 1 of HBO’s Lanterns arrives to its inevitable conclusion with John Stewart solving Hal’s murder. And viewers witness a hero’s journey be written as a bridge to a vast future in the current DC universe.

We’re returned to 2016 Rushville in the immediate aftermath of Hal and John’s battle with the Manhunter. As Kerry calls down a calvary for John to leave, she finds Hal brutally wounded in the hotel rubble. Fast-forward a decade and we see Kerry picking Hal up from prison. The disgraced Lantern returns to the small town to make amends. Despite the common disdain, Kerry professes her love for Hal and demands peace for all of their sakes.

However, that peace is shattered when assailants firebomb Kerry’s home, leaving Hal severely burned and on the edge of death. But he is miraculously saved and regenerated by a second Manhunter — Noah.

After that revelation, we reunite with John and Hal interrogating Sinestro. He reveals that Noah freed him from prison and had the Yellow Lantern forge a lantern, as Noah sought revenge against the Guardians. Sinestro tempts John to use the makeshift lantern, promising to resurrect Hal, and defeat Noah. But, the duo resist temptation and leave to devise a plan to stop the new threat.

That plan fails as Noah easily kidnaps John. With the lantern and ring, Noah confesses to killing Hal amidst his struggle to keep his secret, and balance his nature with his human nurturing. On the way to his last football game, he and John talk about programming, and if one can overcome it. Fearing the lengths he could easily achieve, Noah asks John to kill him out of mercy.

At the game, John finds Kerry and gradually expels the truth from her lips. Out of desperation, she killed Hal as he discovered Noah’s true identity. Noah’s existence wasn’t even planned; a byproduct of Zoe healing Kerry’s finger. With her confession, John tells Kerry about her son’s final wish, but opts not to fulfill it. He acknowledges Noah electing to act against his nature as a sign of his potential goodness. But warns if he ever to embrace his true self, he’ll be there to take care of him.

Our final scenes set the valiant passing of the ring. First, John beckons Guy Gardner with a message to the Guardians: Guy can oversee the stars, but he will patrol the dirt on Earth. Then, John bids adieu to Hal, as the two fearless men realize its okay to be afraid. With a coy wink, Hal disappears, leaving John to recite his own oath as an independent contractor of the Green Lantern Corps.

“Dirt and Stars” was an emotionally triumphant close to one hero’s journey, and another one’s beginning. Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler shine as John and Hal, finally embracing that the absence of fear delays other emotions, and essentially life.  In a time when toxic masculinity shames and buries the things that makes one human, it was amazing to find these two disarm generational trauma to be the heroes each other needed.

Whether a second season is announced or not, Pierre’s Stewart has been perfectly set for his cinematic debut in next year’s Superman: Man of Tomorrow.

Rating: 9/10