The Lanterns find themselves battling each other, the Manhunter, the people of Rushville, Nebraska, and the aliens pursuing their mysterious target. By the end, Hal and John are left further apart than ever as the story jumps to a future where it appears Hal has been killed.

Hal Jordan and John Stewart learn much more about the Manhunters, including the revelation that they both know who is responsible. However, their inability to trust one another could ultimately destroy their relationship.

The Guardians’ larger strategy for training John Stewart as a Green Lantern begins to come into focus. The episode also explores his past, offering more insight into the family tensions that had been hinted at in earlier episodes.

Hal Jordan remains in Nebraska, determined to uncover the truth behind the aliens' arrival and their connection to William Macon’s farm. Meanwhile, John Stewart heads back to Coast City to retrieve Hal’s real lantern, where he discovers that the Guardians of Oa may be concealing the truth about a troubling event on the aliens’ homeworld. 

The DC Universe returns to the small screen in the new HBO Max original series, Lanterns. Its premiere moves between three points in John Stewart’s life: his childhood in the 1990s, a Nebraska mystery he investigates alongside Hal Jordan during the 2010s, and the 2020s, where Stewart is left to uncover the truth following a shocking discovery involving Hal Jordan.

Gambit is back, but he isn't returning alone. He brings his former friends from his time before the X-Men along as he continues carrying out Apocalypse's plans. Meanwhile, X-Force joins forces with X-Corp in an attempt to restore the Gambit they once knew. However, Cable isn't entirely honest about why he's involved. 

As tensions continue to boil over between humans and mutants, a group of separatist mutants claim to be continuing the work of Magneto. They abduct the leader of an anti-mutant group who also happens to be the half-brother of Nightcrawler. It leads to a trial, a fight and an uneasy alliance between X-Corp and X-Factor.

Professor Xavier struggles to cope with Magneto's death, but his attempt to process that grief through the Danger Room creates an entirely new threat. At the same time, a former student serving with X-Factor returns to Xavier's School just as the X-Men face one of their most personal challenges yet.

Wolverine gathers the former Team X members for an attack on the lab where they were previously the subjects of experiments. However, he’s being less than truthful about his motivations for this mission leading to massive issues among the team.

Following Rama-Tut's devastating attack that claims Baal's life, Professor X and Magneto remain determined to prevent En Sabah Nur from becoming Apocalypse. Their mission, however, begins to unravel as their opposing philosophies, and the secrets each keeps from the other, push history closer to the very future they hoped to erase.

The X-Men team in the past has found the vessel who will become Apocalypse, En Sabah Nur. Magneto is trying to ensure the first mutant never becomes the greatest villain the X-Men will ever face. However, En Sabah Nur is trying to lead an uprising against a pharaoh who seems to be using futuristic, and almost alien, technology.

Back in the series' present-day timeline of 1997, the world has changed dramatically with the X-Men scattered across different eras. In their absence, two new mutant teams have emerged to defend humanity, however they take very different approaches. Cable assembles X-Force, an independent strike team, while the U.S. government introduces X-Factor, a state-backed group tasked with policing mutant activity.