John Stewart's Cracked Lantern Has A Beautiful Real-World Meaning
Lanterns (2026) gives audiences a very grounded and character-driven series with a finale that brings John Stewart's story full circle as he embraces a role as a rogue Green Lantern with a reforged ring with the help of Sinestro. But the cracks in John's ring represent more than fear.
While yellow means fear in DC's Green Lantern lore, using gold inlays to reforge Hal's ring for John is also representative of the Japanese technique of Kintsugi, which fills cracks with gold to highlight imperfections. What makes this so incredible for John is how a simple practice perfectly captures what makes his character amazing.
How Was John Stewart's Ring Forged in 'Lanterns' Season 1?
Ten years after the Manhunter event in Lanterns, John Stewart returns to Rushville to figure out who killed Hal Jordan, leading him to dig up his corpse and take his ring. With the ring on low power and Hal's avatar helping John, they travel to a planet so poisoned by fear that being there makes people want to end their lives.
There, they met Sinestro and, with his help, reforge Hal's ring for John to use outside of Guardian control. By using the waters of this planet to make the new ring, gold fills the cracks and immediately leads us to believe that the ring also has fear in its makeup, as well as willpower. To be fair, one can't exist without the other, and while this may seem like a flaw, it's actually a great way to understand what makes a Green Lantern great. It's not about fearlessness. Instead, it's about overcoming fear and saving lives no matter what.
This also shows how flawed the Guardians are because, by focusing so much on willpower and negating fear, it risks making its Lanterns unable to face and process fear without embracing it. Ironically, this is a trait John has excelled in even more than Hal Jordan, who overcomes fear just because he isn't afraid to die.
What Makes Kintsugi so Important For John Stewart's Story?
The art of Kintsugi is one of Japan's most impressive and beautiful arts. It shows how art can be anywhere and carry great meaning no matter what it is. Should a pot become cracked, filling the cracks with gold not only repairs and reinforces it, but it also highlights the flaws. In some ways, this equates to how humans with scars may choose to wear them with pride because it highlights what they've overcome rather than being ashamed of an "imperfection." More than any other character on Lanterns, this works perfectly for John Stewart.
John was raised to never have fear but not raised to know what to do when he faces it. He turned himself off from fear to be the best Green Lantern ever. As a result, he's stoic and blunt even when he's not sure what to do. But the less sure he is, the more we see him struggle with his fear, like when Hector Hammond threatens his parents.
By the end of Lanterns Season 1, John embraces his fear and even puts it in his oath, and the gold cracks in his ring are a visual representation of that. To have strong willpower, he has to embrace when he's scared and overcome it. He can't have one without the other, and the ring works as a reminder of that. As a result, Kintsugi being a design choice for John's ring shows that he's not hiding his scars or flaws but using them to push himself to be the man he needs to be for himself.
John's New Ring Still Opens Doors For the DCU's Future
Sinestro playing a role in forging John Stewart's ring comes with inherent problems, and the comics prove that. For example, it's due to Sinestro that Hal is slowly corrupted by the avatar of fear, Parallax, and turns him into an enemy who can change reality. Sinestro may not be stronger than the avatar, but he's still the root cause of why Hal was driven insane by fear and tragedy after Coast City was destroyed.
With that in mind, it's easy to assume that John's ring could corrupt him all the same, making Parallax's story John's instead of Hal's. However, we may not see anything unfold until Lanterns Season 2. This is even more interesting considering John's motivation is to save lives his own way and not follow certain codes set by the Guardians.
Nevertheless, while the future for John and Sinestro is uncertain, the most important thing is the narrative grace and beauty introduced with John's new ring. The show uses Kintsugi to show that John isn't perfect, but that won't stop him from saving lives. While we've seen Kintsugi in shows like Ahsoka (2023) with Thrawn's stormtroopers, it's nothing like how it's used in Lanterns, and seeing how it defines John as a character just makes us more excited for the future.
