Lanterns Finale Introduces Sinestro's Yellow Fear Energy

The first season of "Lanterns" ends with a major twist: Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) has infused a new power battery with yellow streaks of fear, Collider reports. The corrupted battery now holds both the green willpower of the Green Lantern Corps and the yellow energy of fear.

In the finale, Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) is dead and his consciousness lost to the ring. John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) takes the title of Green Lantern. Sinestro offers John a lantern he made for the Manhunter Noah (Shea Pritchard), but the lantern appears corrupted by yellow energy. Sinestro explains that yellow is based in fear, just as green energy is a construct of the will.

"Just as green energy is a construct of the will, so too is yellow based in fear," Sinestro says in the episode, according to Collider's account.

For decades in DC Comics, yellow was the only color a Green Lantern ring couldn't affect. That "yellow impurity" was later explained as a consequence of the fear entity Parallax, which had been trapped within the Central Power Battery of Oa. The weakness was eventually written out of the comics, but the color has deep roots in the Green Lantern mythos.

Traditionally, Sinestro wields a yellow power ring. The 2011 "Green Lantern" film ended with Mark Strong's Sinestro putting one on his finger. Sinestro became Hal Jordan's nemesis for decades, and later Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) took up the yellow ring as his own. John Stewart isn't a character known for embracing fear, making the idea of a lantern containing both willpower and fear a contradiction.

"Lanterns" never gave its Green Lantern rings a weakness to yellow. The finale may be introducing that idea differently. Sinestro could be using the corrupted battery as a gateway to spread his influence on John, just as he did with Hal for years, Collider reports.

A second season of "Lanterns" hasn't been confirmed. But James Gunn likely has further plans for these characters. In the comics, Sinestro eventually launches the Sinestro Corps, a fear-based organization that stands in contrast to the Green Lantern Corps. John is now operating as an independent Green Lantern, a middle position that could be explored.

John and Guy are set to appear next in "Man of Tomorrow." That film could springboard a larger DC storyline revisiting the rivalry between Sinestro and John. The "Halogram" didn't want John to use the battery at first, noticing how Sinestro had corrupted it, but changed his mind after John handled the situation with Noah. That suggests John may have the ability to balance fear and will.

"Lanterns" is streaming on HBO Max.