Lanterns has been a breakout mainstream hit for HBO and the DC Universe, but the run is about to come to an end with the season finale. However, Lanterns Episode 7 proved to be a clever spin on the usual penultimate episode formula. John Stewart (Aaron Stewart) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) were forced to finally settle their issues in the most dysfunctional way possible. John partnered up with Hal’s backup consciousness (the “Halogram”), which was stored in his ring, as the pair investigated the real Hal Jordan’s death. That investigation took them to some strange places (literally and figuratively) and forced some big personal reveals from both of them.
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For longtime DC fans, Lanterns Episode 7 was all a full basket of Easter egg teases. T Seeds were planted that could develop into much bigger events later in the DCU, including the next big story arc we could see in Lanterns Season 2. There was also one sequence that seemed like it could be the source of a major Batman villain’s origin story, one who has direct ties to the Green Lanterns, as well as the Dark Knight.
Lanterns Sets the Stage For Scarecrow’s DCU Debut
In “The Jordan Boys’ Legacy”, John and Halogram discover what Hal Jordan left inside his mystery vault. Turns out, Hal had a portal system to an alien planet and some (very necessary) exploration gear, which helped him make a long journey to a remote place where he was keeping his old mentor, Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), hidden away. Getting to that place was no picnic for John and Halogram, and the final leg of the journey proved to be the worst.
Hal had secretly hidden Sinestro on the planet where Antaan’s (Paul Ben-Victor) species got wiped out by the Manhunters. As John reveals, the vision he saw of that cataclysmic event (back in Episode 2) made it clear that the Manhunters used a gas that caused fear-induced panic in Antaan’s people, until they tore each other apart or jumped off of the skybound city to their deaths below (a desert graveyard John and Halogram must traverse). There are remnants of the gas still in the stormy rain clouds outside Hal’s secret holding facility, and because John ignores the poncho Hal kept with his travel gear, the rainstorm makes him susceptible to the gas. And it nearly undoes him. John has horrible hallucinations of his father and younger self, finally having to face the emotional secret he’s hidden from the world: he never wanted to be the Lantern his parents groomed him to be. Hallucinations nearly make John shoot himself in the head, until Halogram saves him.
Lanterns is planting seeds for the Green Lantern mythos about Sinestro and harnessing the energy of fear as a rival power to the Green Lanterns. However, the mention of a fear-inducing gas and a sequence with John Stewart that clearly exemplifies what the gas does makes it impossible for any DC fan to ignore the very clear parallels to one of Batman’s oldest villains: Scarecrow.
In traditional DC lore, Dr. Jonathan Crane is a sociopathic psychologist operating at Arkham Asylum, who begins experimenting on inmates with fear-inducing hallucinogens. Crane hoped to master the “art of fear” and weaponize it, eventually landing on a scarecrow-themed alter ego and gas-based chemical mix that causes intense fear-based hallucinations. Scarecrow’s toxin is so potent that it’s been known to kill people in much the same way as the gas in Lanterns.
A Lanterns Scarecrow Connection Makes Sense For the DCU
All it takes is one small sample of the Manhunters’ gas to be found, and we’re off to the races. A DCU update on Scarecrow could see Jonathan Crane as a research scientist or consulting psychologist who gets a sample of the gas and decides to make Gotham City his “lab.” It doesn’t even require a trip to an alien world: Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan), the Manhunter hiding out on Earth, could easily have a stash of that gas in the arsenal she and her husband, William (Garret Dillahunt), kept under their estate. Ten years after Zoe died and the Battle of Rushville was fought, who knows where a mysterious canister of that gas ended up?
Aside from connecting the worlds of Batman and Green Lantern, a revised origin for DCU Scarecrow can also make good on some more recent DC lore we haven’t ever seen adapted for the screen: Scarecrow as an agent of Sinestro. In the 2009 – 2010 DC comic book event “Blackest Night,” Scarecrow served as one of the ‘deputized’ wielders of a power ring to defend Earth against the undead army of the Black Lanterns. Being a master of fear made Scarecrow a natural choice to wield the yellow ring of fear used by Sinestro and his army, the Sinestro Corps. Scarecrow had plenty of fun using the ring and having Sinestro as a leader.
Obviously, the DCU would have a different spin on the story, but the resulting bridge could be the same: if Sinestro unleashes the power of fear on the universe, Scarecrow could easily be one of his disciples. Or, if Clayface is getting his own movie, Scarecrow could potentially get his own feature, too. A Lanterns connection would guarantee it an early audience.
Lanterns is airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. Did you like Episode 7 or make the Scarecrow connection? Let us know in the comments!
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