Lanterns Fake-Out: After A Major Death, John And Hal Realize The Manhunter Is [Spoiler]! Read Episode 4 Recap

We learn who the Manhunter is in this week's "Lanterns," which isn't to say our fearless Green Lantern and Green Intern are anywhere close to catching the intergalactic villain. And my goodness, what a torturous path they take to get to that episode-ending realization!

Meanwhile, the Guardians are getting a little more aggressive about their Hal-replacement plan, there's a focus-pulling detour to a slaughterhouse, and John draws Will in the nude. Yep. Read on for the highlights of Episode 4.

With last week's long flashback behind us, we return to 2016, and Hal's visit to Sinestro. The imprisoned Lantern asks if Hal really believes that John is his backup, and a demoralized Hal admits: "He's my replacement." Sinestro warns Hal that he'll have to kill John, an idea that Hal instantly refutes "because I'm not evil." Hal's about to take off when Sinestro dangles some intel that could greatly help him, regarding unique aspects of Manhunters that don't change when the creatures shapeshift. And he warns Hal not to make the same mistake with John that Hal did with Sinestro...

Back in Rushville, John buys a rifle scope and climbs to the top of a water tower to view Will's property. Hal joins him soon after. There's a helicopter that arrives on the compound at the same time each day, and John is pretty sure there's a hidden structure on the property. As the men chat, they come to the conclusion that the Manhunter is Will Macon's mysterious benefactor. They loop in the sheriff ("There's an interplanetary war criminal hiding here in Rushville," John says, "technical term is a 'Manhunter'") and inform her that Antaan and his guys will walk in and blow up the town if John doesn't call by the deadline. She says she truly doesn't know the Manhunter's identity, but she's on board — a turn of events that surprises them. "Aliens are going to blow up my town. Finding him will stop them, right?" she asks. When Hal says "probably," she agrees to help — but warns they're only going to have one shot.

The guys go back to the motel to kill some time. Laura Guardianney appears in John's room because he didn't check in with her as required. She informs him that Hal wasn't having space sex while he was away, like he said: Instead, he was "violating his oath" by seeing Sinestro. "Jordan's actions have accelerated the inevitable," she announces, ordering John to recite the Green Lantern oath the next time Hal gives him the ring during training. When John says the words, he'll become the Lantern for Sector 2814.

John balks a little, and the Guardian instantly switches into "I-should've-known-you-were-as-weak-as-your-dad" guilt-trip mode. She says that Hal's reports about John have called him weak, uncreative, and not up to snuff. "That's because he's old, and he's tired, and his time is up," John spits, adding that Hal didn't work for the job, but he ABSOLUTELY has. "The ring's always been mine. That a**hole's just keeping it warm." The Guardian looks pleased. "Then go and get it, John Stewart," she says before disappearing.

So John knocks on Hal's door, suggests a strategy for the compound visit that involves tunneling in, and hands Hal a detailed map that John drew himself. Hal is impressed. "Yeah," John deadpans, "I'm creative."

That night, outside of Macon's property, Hal hands John the ring and has him manifest a giant drill. John does not say the oath. While the machinery is doing its job, they talk about how Hal's mom died of cancer, and his father was "fearless — at least, that's what he wanted people to think." They make their way to a structure that's full of super high-tech weapons, and right as Hal is asking for his ring back, he accidentally sets off a pressure alarm. That activates a cadre of Macon's men, who come into the building, deploy a black smoke that renders Hal and John unable to see, and also makes the ring inactive. Obviously, the pair is captured.

They're marched into Will Macon's office, and the ring is placed on his desk. In one of the great non sequiturs of all time, Will says that Zoe told him John is an artist. And when John confirms that he is, Will drops the robe he's wearing and asks John to draw him in the nude. "Hey," Hal whispers, "I've seen some s**t, been to a planet with sentient tentacles. But this is weird, right?" John nods. "Yeah." (HA!)

Zoe brings some charcoals and paper, and when Will bids her, she stays. We quickly learn that he definitely knows that she and John slept together. Hal asks about the darkness-creating weaponry, but Will cavalierly replies that Hal shouldn't worry unless the Lanterns are planning to threaten his boss. About this mystery guy: Is he a boss, per se? Benefactor? Savior? Yes to all of the above, Will says, given that the person in question cured his cancer. In fact, that's how he and Zoe met: She was his nurse. "Now you talk about him like he's a god," Hal notes. "I do, don't I?" Will says.

He goes on to explain that the town is doing so well — "crops grow, kids thrive, and you saw the hospital: No one gets sick" — because of this being, in exchange for their protection. Will wants Hal to leave, and Hal refuses. Will is threatening to kill John when Kerry shows up, asks her father-in-law to put his package away, then arrests Hal and John for trespassing. She grabs the ring on the way out; John hands Will the completed sketch before he goes.

In the car, Kerry says they blew their one chance, and tells them that Zoe alerted her to what was going on. She yells at them a little, but then adds that she's close to finding out the identity of Will's benefactor, so they need to stop doing stupid things for the foreseeable future and wait for her command. Then she gives John a gun, because Will is surely going to send his henchmen. As for Hal? He can protect himself with his "superhero" abilities, she says mockingly.

Someone does show up at John's room, but it's Zoe. "Did Macon send you?" he wonders, gun pointed at her chest. She says she came on her own. He eventually lowers the weapon and presses her up against the door, kissing her. It gets hot fast, and in the afterglow, she chuckles about how much better it was "not in my truck." He shares that he's pretty sure everyone — including her and Hal — is lying to him. "When I tell you what I know, everything changes," she says. "I can't do that." She asks him to leave town, but he says no way. So she leaves, and as her truck pulls away from the motel, a red beam from above locks onto the vehicle and blows it to molecules of smithereens.

Hal immediately is on the scene, flying up to grab the weaponized satellite and bring it back to the parking lot. Then he creates a massive, green, protective bubble around the whole structure. The satellite belongs to a company owned by Hector Hammond, the owner of a nearby slaughterhouse, but John thinks that's too easy a solution. As they drive to the slaughterhouse, Hal asks how John is doing, given that his most recent hookup has been vaporized. "I'm handling it," the younger man says. Hal notes that death is part of the gig, and that he should "avoid real relationships from here on out. Keep people at a distance for their own safety. Lonely f**king job."

And off that really depressing sentiment, the men walk into a super high-tech facility where all of the workers don't seem to notice they're there — even when directly addressed. John and Hal find their way to Hammond's office, and the first thing the man says is John's parents' address: He threatens to blow it up if he's not alive at the end of their interaction. Hector says he's been privy to all of their conversations at the motel, and plays John's chat with the Guardian so everyone in the room can hear. Awkward!

Hammond says he's the Manhunter, but Hal doesn't believe him. He asks Hammond what color Abin Sur was, elaborating that Abin was the pilot who gave Hal his ring and who dropped Hammond off on Earth before he died. Hammond claims not to remember. Hal calls him a "smokescreen for someone else, a decoy." And using some intel Sinestro gave him about Manhunter hearts (which have an undetectable flaw when alive, but crystallize when dead), Hal scares the man into admitting that he's human, after all. Hal forces Hammond to stop the countdown to blowing up the Stewart family home, and then they get to the bottom of things: Hector Hammond is really Hector Gutierrez, whom the Manhunter offered tech to help his community and family in exchange for providing a front. And when Hal demands to know who the Manhunter is, Hammond says, "Isn't it obvious? Will Macon."

In the car afterward, a chagrined John lets Hal know he was going to give the ring back, and he points out that he didn't say the oath. "Honestly, I would've done the same thing," Hal says, WAY less angry than John is expecting. Hal admits that he DID break a vow by visiting Sinestro, but John shouldn't believe everything the Guardians tell him. Then John says the Manhunter must be Will Macon, like Hector claimed. Hal tells him to call Antaan's hit squad and have them meet him at the cafe; John does.

"I really did forgive you," Hal says a moment later. "I thought you'd be honest." He recalls wondering why John wasn't more upset about Zoe, and thought he was just a stony guy, but when he saw how worked up he got at the idea of his parents being killed, something clicked for Hal. "You aren't upset because you know Zoe isn't dead. And I don't know how she managed to get out of that, unless she's a Manhunter. The thing that I can't figure out is, how long you've known."

John doesn't try to deny it, but he does point out that he wasn't sure Zoe was the creature they'd been hunting. "I just had a feeling," he adds. There's a little bit of a testy back-and-forth, but he does apologize for saying Hal was old and tired.

Hal regards him for a minute, then replies, "I'm sorry about the rental." Then he laughs as he bails out of the car, which crashes into a pole moments later.

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!