This article accommodates spoilers for The Boys.
For higher or worse, that’s a wrap on Season 4 of The Boys. Though every season of Prime Video’s wildly standard superhero satire has solely been eight episodes, Season 4 most actually struggled greater than the remaining when it got here to truncating its story. Still, the collection left us with loads of build-up to Season 5, which can wrap up The Boys’ portion of the Vought story. Fans of the universe needn’t stress, although. Gen V will proceed, and there’s nonetheless loads of room for extra spinoffs of the collection. In the meantime, let’s check out this Season 4 ending and the way it units up the ultimate season of The Boys.
The Boys Season 4 Ending Explained
When unsure, you possibly can all the time guess that William bloody Butcher (Karl Urban) goes to f*ck every part up. Funny, given the truth that Homelander (Antony Starr) did the very same factor on the opposing staff. We’ll get to The Seven in a bit although; proper now we’re on Butcher’s bullshit.
After Hughie’s (Jack Quaid) impassioned speech to the remainder of The Boys — sans Butcher — about being extra human in the event that they’re going to struggle monsters and giving Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) an opportunity to defect and assist them cease Homelander, the staff begrudgingly agrees to present it a attempt. No one’s essentially enthused by the plan, and Frenchie (Tomer Capone) is on standby able to shoot the head-popping Supe with the Supe-killing virus ought to she get squirrely. Still, by trusting Hughie together with her daughter Zoe (Olivia Morandin), each The Boys and the viewer have greater than sufficient purpose to imagine that Neuman is being trustworthy about her intentions.
Had issues labored out, Neuman would have been a useful asset to The Boys, and continued a long-standing pattern of showrunner Eric Kripke in redeeming a collection’ most terrible characters and forcing the viewers to care about them regardless of how a lot they have been as soon as despised. But Butcher and Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) screw the pooch when coming clear to Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), ensuing within the terrified younger Supe successfully committing matricide for the second time. This ends in Butcher’s religion snapping as rapidly as Mallory’s neck, and he, remodeled by his V’ed-up most cancers, marches straight to the warehouse and unceremoniously rips Neuman to shreds regardless of Hughie’s pleas.
With Neuman’s demise comes the ultimate stage of Sister Sage’s (Susan Heyward) plan. She leaks video of President Singer (Jim Beaver) telling The Boys to kill his Vice President, and the homicide is pinned on him. The Speaker of the House is made President, and instantly pledges allegiance to Homelander, declaring Martial legislation and asserting that Supes would be the enforcers throughout the nation, all reporting to the chief of The Seven.
At that time, all that’s left is for The Boys (once more, sans Butcher) to unfold out into the wind to keep away from being captured and killed. But, like lots of their plans, that rapidly goes to shit and the staff is all apprehended aside from Starlight. MM (Laz Alonso) is stopped by Love Sausage and his tremendous wiener, Frenchie and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) are taken by Gen V’s Cate Dunlap (Maddie Philips) and Sam Riordan (Asa Germain), and Hughie is detained by the psychic Cindy whereas Starlight narrowly escapes.
The Boys (As We Know Them) Are Done
While there’s no future the place the captured members of The Boys stay incarcerated all all through Season 5, Billy Butcher’s staff is not any extra. They had already left him within the mud at first of Season 4 for his beforehand lengthy listing of indiscretions, however slowly got here again for one purpose or one other. Butcher will certainly proceed to weasel his manner into working with them for a mess of causes, whether or not or not it’s saving them or making an attempt to enlist them on his suicide mission, however it could make little sense for any member of the staff to come back round to his plan with him finally being the rationale that they’re all screwed.
This is particularly true of Hughie, who begged him to take heed to him for as soon as earlier than Butcher destroyed their probabilities of stopping Homelander and handed Sister Sage actually every part she wanted to finish her plan.
Fugitive Starlight
Annie January went by it this season, however for good purpose. While she’s not the identical sort of monster as the remainder of The Seven, she nonetheless doesn’t take a lot accountability for who she was or how she handled others rising up. Now that she’s out of the house(s) the place she was abused and assaulted, it’s as much as her to reckon together with her conduct and personal her private development.
Presumably, that is on the middle of her incapacity to essentially discover herself (or her powers) in Season 4. But now that her total staff (and fiance) have been kidnapped by Vaught cronies, it’s time for this girlie to personal her energy and get this present on the street. We see step one of this within the episode’s remaining moments, when her powers appear to lastly be again to their former glory. Here’s hoping she will be able to harness them lengthy sufficient to save lots of her mates.
Ryan on the Run
What an impressively sophisticated character little Ryan has turn into (even when it’s laborious to not discover him personally annoying). On the one hand, he has little management over his powers and has been put in a uniquely not possible situation. Father determine 1 is dying, Bio dad raped his mom (alongside his extraordinarily lengthy listing of different indiscretions), after which Father determine 1 and Mother determine 2 (that’s Grace) need him to kill is dad. Butcher and Grace gave this child all of 30 seconds to course of the knowledge that Homelander is a whole monster and that earlier than threatening to lock him underground and prepare him to kill his dad.
But, however, Ryan is an unquestionable hazard to society. While candy and sometimes mild-tempered he could also be, we’ve already mentioned the truth that he’s dedicated matricide twice earlier than even contemplating the stunt man he killed.
Grace and Butcher have been each morons however, no matter which facet of the struggle Ryan is about to fall on, the child has to be skilled.
Sister Sage and the World’s Best Chess Game
Sister Sage is, undoubtedly, essentially the most helpful new participant on The Boys, so I’m thrilled that she made it out of the season alive (regardless of MM’s greatest intentions). While it was clear that Sage was in management all alongside and by no means had any considerations that she wouldn’t be capable of pull off her plan, Homelander did no matter he may to cease it in its tracks each step of the best way. Sage, after all, accounted for this conduct and was in a position to pivot sufficient that what we now know to be Phase 1 got here to fruition. Though what’s really fascinating right here isn’t no matter Phase 2 finally ends up being. Instead, it’s no matter Sage and Homelander’s partnership evolves into in Season 5.
For all intents and functions, Sage has now proven Homelander the truest type of loyalty that he’s ever skilled. As he acknowledges, he threw Sage within the rubbish. Yet she nonetheless comes again and provides Homelander every part he needed with a bit bow on prime, and spent nearly all of the season constantly calling him out on his bullshit. For the primary time in his life, Homelander has skilled an precise good friend (who, not for nothing, has now seen Homelander cry).
No matter what else occurs in Season 5, not less than we’ll have not less than one contemporary partnership now that Homelander is aware of that he can really belief one other residing being. How lengthy that lasts, after all, is as much as his ego.
Seems Bad, Ashley (No Shit, Ashley)
In a final ditch effort to save lots of her life whereas The Seven are culling Vought’s non-believers and dirt-havers, Ashley (Colbie Minifie) takes a shot of V to Supe-up earlier than they’ve an opportunity to homicide her. (RIP, different Ashley.) We don’t get an excellent have a look at her, however we all know that she’s mutated and seemingly fled. You can ensure that, no matter sort of monster she’s turn into, we’ll be seeing her in Season 5.
What Does The Boys Finale Mean for Gen V Season 2?
After Cate and Sam have been introduced for Season 4 of The Boys, all of us participated in some wild hypothesis on how they might be concerned (all of which turned out to not be true, as their participation ended up being extraordinarily restricted). However, that’s not going to cease us from doing the identical factor about The Boys characters on Gen V Season 2!
Logically talking, it could make sense for Hughie, Frenchie, MM, and Kimiko to finish up in the identical jail as Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), Emma Meyer (Lizzie Broadway), Jordan Li (Derek Luh and London Thor), and Andre Anderson (the late Chance Perdomo, who won’t be recast). Meaning that when one group breaks out or is rescued, it stands to purpose that the opposite group will likely be in a position to take action alongside them.
Moreover, this entire Supe Coup (pleasant to sort, much less enjoyable to say) impacts all of America — so The Boys story will most actually be impacting Gen V Season 2 in a giant manner. Just which characters will play a serious position in that — if any — stays to be seen, however it’s protected to imagine that we’ll be seeing Gen V Season 2 first, because it began manufacturing in May.