Green Lantern Corps Episode 6, "Bad Optics," returns to the 2026 timeline, revealing where John Stewart went after leaving the Green Lantern Corps: he became a renowned architect and began promoting a network of shelter facilities for the entire city.
This point in time is ten years after John and Hal Jordan's major battle against the Hunters. The fight destroyed the town of Rushville, Nebraska, causing many resident deaths, including Zoe Mayken, the Hunter who had protected the area. Green Lanterns have since been shunned, and the mystery surrounding Hal's death remains unsolved.
At the beginning of Episode 6, John attends an important business meeting with his brother Marcus before learning of Hal's death. He presents a project consisting of a series of large safe zones, each capable of accommodating thousands of civilians. John hopes to secure sufficient funding to connect these facilities into a network covering multiple cities, preparing for attacks by superpowered individuals or alien forces.
During the presentation, John mentioned the Metropolis incident from a year ago, corresponding to the spatial rift accidentally created by Lex Luthor at the end of Superman, which nearly engulfed Metropolis. He also stated that these safe zones should be able to withstand impacts, even if giant starfish were to emerge from the sea again.
The giant starfish refers to the alien creature Starro from The Suicide Squad. After escaping long-term imprisonment, Starro ran amok in Corto Maltese and used parasites to control numerous civilians attempting to flee. These two incidents thus became specific threat scenarios John used when designing urban protective facilities.
Before the presentation ended, John also discussed his brief tenure as Green Lantern and the casualties caused by the Battle of Rushville. His resentment toward the Green Lantern Corps, Hal, and his own training experiences had not subsided; after leaving the meeting, he met with Hal and broke his nose.
This arrangement further clarifies the connection between Green Lantern Corps and existing DCU works. The series is currently airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.