The storm abates, and the men continue. After a pause, the Halogram abruptly tells John that his father killed himself, though everyone thought it was an accident in the course of his work as a test pilot. He relates the story about the day we saw at the top of the episode. When young Hal opened the safe, it was full of cash, coins, and photographs — “and a note. My old man, he was convinced we’d be better off without him. He said he’d had that pain his whole life. Said it was getting worse. He couldn’t hide it. He couldn’t bear to let us see it. Couldn’t bear to let us see him.”
Hal’s grandfather had done the same, conveyed via a note that was in in his own safe. “The same pain, passed down generation to generation, father to son,” the Halogram says sadly. “Man, I’m not fearless because I’m brave. I’m fearless because I’m broken.”
John wonders if the Halogram thinks Hal killed himself. The construct considers the possibility that the sheriff found him and covered it up to protect his legacy. “Like you protected your dad,” John says, and there’s real empathy in his voice when he says he’s sorry. “That’s the first time you’ve called me Hal,” the Halogram notes.
They arrive at an island; John notes that he lost the gun. And there’s not a lot of charge left on the ring. They make their way to a building that’s giving off an ominous light. After just a few moments inside, a hooded figure grabs the Halogram from behind and threatens to kill him if they don’t give him their boat and portal off the world. “Trainee, they’re playing our song,” the Halogram says, code that John should make the hologram disappear. So he does, and punches the flummoxed mystery man in the face.
His hood falls away, and it’s Sinestro. “You must be John Stewart,” the former Lantern says. “Great arm, kid,” the Halogram tells John, echoing what his father told him after he hucked the game ball at the start of the hour.
The final shot of the episode is of young Hal, still in his suit from the funeral, retrieving the ball his dad told him to throw away.
Now it’s your turn. What’s your current theory about Hal’s death? Tell us everything in the comments!
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