Lanterns had started out as a grimy detective western transplanted into Green Lantern mythology, with two space cops chasing a mystery that unfolded at a patient pace. Every episode deepened the conspiracy before leaving another question hanging over Rushville.

Episode 5, Lights Out, is the drop, or as Guardian Lianna bluntly calls it, “a s***show.” After Episode 4 left John trapped in a car and Hal increasingly convinced that his partner was hiding the truth about Zoe, the biggest question concerned the ring.

The Guardians wanted John to take it from Hal. Does he finally do it?

The episode opens away from the central 2016 storyline, jumping back to 2007 and revealing the circumstances that brought Kerry Kane to Rushville. Her car breaks down outside a local cafe, where two men recognize her and make it clear that her father's criminal history has followed her. They are connected to the people who killed him, and Kerry realizes she has been marked as an informant by association. She is trapped, surrounded and staring at a death sentence she cannot escape alone.

Then Zoe walks through the door. What follows becomes one of the episode's most revealing pieces of character history. Zoe intervenes with shocking violence and offers Kerry a way out. The price is severe. Kerry must sacrifice her pinkie finger so Zoe can construct a convincing story that she has been killed. The gruesome act establishes something vital about Zoe's past. She understands what it means to be hunted because she once needed somebody to offer her another chance.

That is why Zoe saves Kerry. She asks the sheriff to remember the favor and protect her when the day comes. Kerry agrees, creating a bond that explains much of the strange loyalty surrounding Zoe decades later. The episode then drops another clue into the mythology. Zoe possesses the ability to rebuild damaged human tissue, tying the supernatural elements of her existence to the healing miracle that once transformed William Macon.

The flashback also changes the way viewers see Kerry's connection to the Manhunter. Their relationship was never simply about survival inside Rushville. It was built on an old debt, one that eventually extends to Kerry's son Noah and the future Zoe wanted to preserve.

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With Kerry's history tied directly to Zoe, the story returns to 2016, where John's fate looks considerably more dangerous.

John wakes up inside the wrecked rental car after Hal deliberately leaves him trapped. The vehicle catches fire, and Zoe arrives before the situation becomes fatal. John is badly burned, forcing him into the strange bargain that drives the episode's second major revelation. Zoe offers to heal him using Manhunter technology, but John must cooperate with her plan. Their conversation reveals how much trust has already formed between them.

John explains that he kept his suspicions about Zoe from the Guardians because he does not trust them, particularly after discovering that they had concealed their plans to replace Hal. Zoe responds by explaining more about the Manhunters. They were created by the Guardians as enforcement machines, became too brutal, and were eventually turned against. Zoe survived.

Meanwhile, Hal begins his own operation. He deploys a Halogram through his ring and heads after Kerry while preparing to manipulate the alien group led by Antaan. Hal tells Antaan that John has been compromised and offers up William Macon as the Manhunter. It is an elaborate lie designed to buy time and protect Zoe long enough for Hal to extract her.

The deception collapses at Macon's ranch. Antaan's people attack the property, and Macon's militia attempts to fight back. Antaan eventually confronts William directly. Macon has been hiding behind the promise of his mysterious benefactor, but Antaan does not care about his explanations.

He throws a knife into Macon and removes his heart. That moment finally proves Hal's story was false. A genuine Manhunter's heart crystallizes after removal. Macon's does not. Antaan realizes that he has been sent after a decoy, and his attention turns back toward Rushville.

At the same time, John emerges from Zoe's treatment physically restored and fully aware of what she really is. He now understands that Hal has been manipulating everyone around him, while Zoe has offered him something the Guardians never did: a choice.

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Then the deception explodes into open warfare, and John finally gets close enough to Hal to take the ring.

Once Antaan realizes that Macon was a decoy, the entire situation collapses. Zoe begins firing on Rushville, turning the town into a battlefield. Buildings are destroyed, citizens scramble for safety and Hal is forced into a desperate defensive fight against the Manhunter and the alien forces descending on the town.

Hal eventually reaches Zoe's location using his ring's final reserves. Antaan attacks as the conflict spirals, and Hal manages to defeat him by throwing him into the air before his explosive device detonates. The victory leaves Hal nearly powerless. John, meanwhile, has chosen his target.

At the motel, he confronts Hal and takes the ring. Their fight is brutal and personal, carrying all the resentment that has accumulated across their partnership. Hal has spent the season treating John like an apprentice he never wanted. John has spent his life being prepared to replace him. When the opportunity finally arrives, John puts the ring on his finger.

Yet something unexpected happens. He feels empty.

John has imagined this moment for years. He has been told that becoming a Green Lantern would complete the purpose that has shaped his life. Instead, the ring gives him no sense of fulfillment. He realizes that Hal's obsession has destroyed him, and he does not want to inherit that same existence.

Before leaving, John uses Hal as bait to draw Zoe into position. He shoots her through the head, then later removes her heart. This time, it crystallizes, confirming beyond doubt that Zoe is the Manhunter. He takes the heart with him and brings it to Lianna.

The confrontation with the Guardian becomes the emotional endpoint of John's journey. Lianna tells him that the Guardians make mistakes and that those mistakes can be corrected. John looks at the ring, considers everything he sacrificed to reach this moment and decides he wants none of it. He removes the ring and leaves it behind.

That decision may be the episode's most important twist. John finally receives exactly what he spent his life pursuing, then discovers that the prize means nothing to him. He walks away from the ring, while Hal is left behind and Rushville lies in ruins.

The result changes everything. The Manhunter is exposed, Antaan is dead, Macon has been eliminated and John has rejected the role the Guardians wanted him to inherit. Yet the mystery surrounding Hal's future remains untouched. The 2026 timeline is still waiting, and that dead Green Lantern is becoming an even bigger question.

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What do you think about John's decision to take the ring and then give it back? Did he make the right choice? Let us know in the comments.