Lanterns: What’s In the Box? Theories On What Hal Jordan Hid In His Vault

Lanterns Episode 6 starts the second half of the seasonal storyline, which explores the fallout of the Battle of Rushville between the Green Lanterns of Earth and the Manhunter hiding out on the planet. Ten years later, in 2026, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) has become a very successful architect, walking his own path, while Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) paid his penance for Rushville by doing a ten-year jail bid. As we saw in Episode 1, Hal Jordan’s murder summons John back to Rushville and starts a whole new kind of investigation.

In “Bad Optics,” we spend a lot of time playing catch-up with what Hal had been doing back in Rushville since his release from prison, as John and Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly McDonald) retrace Hal’s last steps. That path leads them to the “Fortress of Storage,” a storage facility where Hal was hiding one item: a mystery box described as a vault. So, as Lanterns Episode 7 approaches, viewers are asking one main question: “What’s in the box?”

Lanterns: Here’s What Hal Jordan Hid In His Vault (Theory)

This mystery vault is a nice callback to Lanterns Episode 2, where John was sent on an errand to Hal’s house to get his Power Ring Battery. Hal’s “safe” turned out to be a portal into a pocket dimension, where he could store all sorts of things he wanted to hide from the world. Right now, the early assumption is that the “vault” Hal brought to Rushville is the same kind of mechanism, if not the same object, that John found in Hal’s house. If that’s the case, there are some pretty clear guesses about what’s inside.

Backup Battery

Hal Jordan was incredibly resourceful, which is what made him such a good Green Lantern. Hal knew low-rent tricks like banging his dead ring against a surface to get a 5% charge, and also how to manipulate people and situations to get investigative leads and tactical advantages. That’s all to say: we don’t put it past Hal Jordan to have a backup battery. Where he got that battery (stolen from another Lantern, or stolen back from Oa) needs explaining, but the goal would be no less pivotal: a means to charge a Green Lantern’s ring, without the Guardians’ authority.

That’s exactly what John Stewart needs right now: Hal’s murder needs solving, Sinestro is loose from prison and running amok, and another alien threat (courtesy of the Manhunter) could be hiding out on Earth. The story demands that John get the full-fledged Green Lantern experience: using Hal’s materials and adopting his rogue methods (essentailly becoming more like Hal) is the character arc fans have wanted for John from the start.

Evidence of Another Manhunter or Alien Threat

Giving John a battery and a fully powered ring may not be where Lanterns wants to take things right now. John may have to work for that moment, up until the final episode. Maybe the thing inside Hal’s vault is not an object, but rather an entire investigation. Assuming that the vault is another pocket dimension, Hal could’ve been using it as a base of operations, so that he could look more into what happened in Rushville in 2016, and whether or not the Manhunter’s legacy truly ended there.

Hal may have been publicly touring Rushville “making amends” with the townspeople, while also secretly looking in on them to see if there was any more alien influence to spot. If he did discover something, it makes sense that Hal would’ve hidden it from everyone. He clearly trusted no one in Rushville fully (not even Kerry), because he made John swear secrecy about their final meeting in the diner. Hal also clearly didn’t trust the security of his house in Rushville (hence the rigged shotgun at the door), so even if he had a room full of files, or a wall of photos and clues all strung together (a staple of so many detective shows), then the pocket dimension is where he would’ve kept it, for total privacy.

We’re still looking at Noah Macon with a side eye, as should you.

A Portal to Somewhere

One of the most curious images in the Lanterns midseason trailer has been a shot of John Stewart and Hal Jordan (or “Halogram,” as we now know) walking across the desert terrain of a yellow-hued planet. Where that is and why they’re there have been the big questions fans are asking, but really we should all be wondering, “How did they get there?”

It would track for Hal Jordan to take a pocket dimension meant for storage and repurpose it as a portal system of his own design. That would inolve going into the pocket dimension through one door, but knowing how to exit through other doors that lead to other locations in the physical world. It’s basically the technique Lex Luthor adopted in Superman to travel between locations instantly, as well as hide his secret prison from any Earthly authorities. Lanterns have been making increasingly big connections with Superman, and this could be another.

If John doesn’t get a battery from Hal’s vault, his ring usage will continue to be limited. But with Sinestro out there in space, possibly holding key answers, John needs a way to get to him. Given Hal and Sinestro’s close relationship, Hal may have had a “backdoor” to visit his mentor. And if we have to be, a planet like “Qward” could be the place; the same planet where Sinestro unlocks a power of fear that can rival the Green Lanterns. Hal was jailed for his actions as a Green Lantern, just like Sinestro was. They could very well have healed their rift through shared disdain for the Guardians and their entire system of control. It would also set the stage for one of Hal Jordan’s most controversial arcs in the comics…

What do you think is in Hal’s box? Let us know before Lanterns Episode 7 premieres on HBO.

New Trailer for Final Three Episodes of Lanterns Promises an Epic Conclusion—Watch It Here