LANTERNS Just Set Up Sinestro’s Biggest Story Yet With Major DCU Implications

Lanternsjust dropped a pretty huge development into the final stretch of its first season, and Sinestro suddenly looks ready to become a much bigger problem for the DCU.

Ulrich Thomsen has only appeared a couple of times as Sinestro so far, but his presence has hung over the story thanks to his complicated history with Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan.

We already learned that Sinestro was imprisoned after attempting a coup against the Guardians of the Universe, with his former protégé Hal ultimately bringing him down.

Even after all of that, Hal still respected his old mentor enough to visit him in prison while investigating the Manhunters. Their relationship clearly has plenty of history that Lanterns hasn’t fully explored yet.

Now things have taken a major turn: Sinestro has escaped and there are only two episodes left and the latest episode once again delivered some great stuff.

Lanterns has been especially good at feeding us pieces of its larger DC mythology without letting the cosmic elements overwhelm the characters or central mystery. This episode kept that balance going while opening the door to something much bigger for the final chapters.

Sinestro’s escape also makes the remaining footage from the recently released midseason trailer more interesting. Much of what appeared in that preview has already happened, but there are still several scenes waiting to play out, including Sinestro's return.

In one of those moments, Sinestro appears to be talking to John Stewart, although trailer editing makes it impossible to know for sure. He tells whoever is listening: “Fear can be the most powerful force in the universe.”

Sinestro eventually forms the Sinestro Corps, whose yellow power rings harness fear rather than the willpower that fuels the Green Lanterns. Having Sinestro specifically talk about fear this late in the season feels like a pretty clear tease that the DCU could be moving toward that mythology.

If that's where Lanterns is headed, Sinestro's escape could be the beginning of his transformation into the villain comic fans know and set the stage for the Sinestro Corps to become a major force in the DCU.

There's also the question of Hal Jordan. Another piece of Sinestro dialogue in the trailer raises some interesting possibilities: “Hal didn’t have to die in vain….I know a way.”

There's always the possibility that we're hearing two separate pieces of dialogue stitched together for the trailer. That's standard trailer trickery, so it's worth keeping expectations under control. If Sinestro really is suggesting he knows a way to undo Hal's death, however, Parallax immediately comes to mind.

Parallax has an enormous history with Hal Jordan in DC Comics and is closely connected to fear, making its potential introduction fit with everything Sinestro is saying. Whether Lanterns actually goes there during these final episodes or simply plants the idea for a future DCU story remains to be seen.

Then there's the other big theory hanging over the series: the possibility that the Hal Jordan who died was actually a clone.

If that theory turns out to be true, Sinestro's prison break becomes even more interesting. Could the Jordan we've been following somehow be a duplicate while the real Hal was involved with Sinestro's escape? Could there be another explanation connecting the two characters that the show hasn't revealed yet?

It's definitely preferable to Sinestro being freed by some random character we've never met. His escape feels too important to be disconnected from the larger mystery, particularly this close to the finale.

Whatever the answer is, Lanterns has positioned Sinestro as someone worth watching very closely during these last two episodes, and the villain suddenly has several paths leading toward a much larger role.

The exciting part is that these ideas don't necessarily have to be resolved this season. Lanterns could use its finale to crack open an entirely new corner of Green Lantern mythology for the wider DCU.

After another great episode, that's a pretty awesome prospect. I just hope by the end of Season one we know of Hall Jordan is really dead or not. I hope he’s not!

Two episodes left. Things could get crazy fast.