Lanterns Episode 4 Seemingly Reveals The Manhunter's Identity, But The Clues Were There All Along

Contains spoilers for "Lanterns" Season 1, Episode 4 — "The Weenie"

The mystery of just who (or what) the "Lanterns" villain Manhunter is has endured for much of the first half of Season 1. But now the identity of the space antagonist hiding in Rushville, Nebraska is finally out of the bag — unless the show intends to pull the rug from under our feet before the season is over. At the end of "The Weenie," Episode 4 of "Lanterns," Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) finally figure out that Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan) is the Manhunter. It's a pretty big swing, considering that the same episode already showed her blown away by a killer satellite. However, it's actually not as big of a surprise as it's intended to be, if you've been paying attention.

From the moment we meet William Macon (Garret Dillahunt), he's painted as an exceptionally paranoid person. Yet he fully admits that he's not in charge of his compound. Meanwhile, Zoe is able to come and go as she pleases, and can freely hang out with the Lanterns, who William is deeply suspicious of. She even has a fairly open affair with John that William appears surprisingly chill about. All of this seems like a dead giveaway that there's more to Zoe than meets the eye — and if there was any doubt, she all but explicitly states as much just before the satellite incident.

In other words, the breadcrumbs have been there all along. This might actually be why the show chooses to ostensibly send Zoe to her death and introduce the fake Hector Hammond (Jason Manuel Olazábal) as her apparent killer — to lead the audience off the trail for a hot minute.

Of course, there's also the other side of the equation. "Lanterns" is both a mystery thriller and a show co-created by Damon Lindelof, who has a vast track record of misdirecting the viewer and introducing late-game twists. With half of "Lanterns" still to go, it seems a little too convenient that the writer behind the twists and turns of "Lost," "The Leftovers," "Watchmen," and "Mrs. Davis" would reveal all his cards this early.

So for the sake of speculation, let's take a look at who else could still turn out to be the Manhunter. Perhaps it's William Macon after all — he certainly seems strange enough to be a robot from another world in disguise. There's also Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor), whose true motives may not be what they appear. Perhaps it could be Jason Ritter's seemingly harmless Billy Macon, or even Kelly Macdonald's Sheriff Kerry Kane. What about Laura Linney's Guardian of the Universe? How do we know she's who she claims to be?

You get the picture. It could be anyone, really. The show could even take the "creepy child" route and reveal the Manhunter as Cary Christopher's unassuming young Noah Macon. Didn't he learn to throw that football a little bit too quickly after John gave him some pointers?

"Lanterns" Season 1 is available on HBO and HBO Max.