The Boys Finale Explained: Does Homelander Survive?
After five impressively violent seasons, The Boys has arrived at its final destination. Based on the comic series co-created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the TV adaptation, across 47 episodes, has given audiences a very different type of superhero story.
Rather than being heroes, the superpowered characters have, on the whole, been narcissistic egomaniacs who care far more about fame and power than actually making a difference. Along with a darker interpretation of superheroes, The Boys has consistently been extremely NSFW – unafraid to delve into both taboos and gross-out humour.
A pinnacle moment in The Boys' history came during the third season with the episode ‘Herogasm’, which was essentially a massive superhero orgy. This made it clear that nothing was off the table for the show, and viewers have loved how The Boys mixes WTF moments alongside horrifically recognisable politics.
For now, though, the fun is over. But The Boys wasn’t going to go out quietly, and the final episode packed in a lot of story. Early on, it looked as though there was no way that showrunner Eric Kripke would be able to tie everything up, and yet somehow the impossible was achieved. The Boys might have managed to sidestep the issues that marred Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, but only time will tell what the wider audience makes of its swan song. Whilst we wait for the dust to settle, here’s a round-up of the key moments of the final episode.
If you have yet to watch the season finale of The Boys, then I wouldn’t read any further, as it is about to get very spoiled.
Do Hughie And Butcher Defeat Homelander?
The mission from the start of The Boys has been to take down Homelander. The absolute worst of all the supes, Homelander has been a villain that audiences have loved to hate. Played to perfection by Antony Starr, Homelander has the fuse and impulse control of a toddler and has ruled the Seven, and later America, through a regime of fear. Throughout the show, Billy Butcher and Hughie, along with Frenchie, Kimiko, Starlight, and Mother’s Milk, have desperately tried to kill him. The group came close on several occasions, but never quite succeeded.
During the first half of the final season, the group continued their mission to create and release a supe-killing virus, with Homelander their prime target. However, after Homelander got his hands on some rare V1, he became immortal like his father, Soldier Boy.
Arriving at the finale, it seemed that all hope was lost. Frenchie, their key scientist, was dead, but thanks to an assist by Seven turncoat Sister Sage, his final experiment worked. The plan involved irradiating Kimiko to mutate her powers. After Kimiko blasted Sister Sage with her new ability, the results were incredible; Sister Sage was now powerless.
Armed with their new weapon, the team stormed the White House, where Homelander was doing a live address to the American public, announcing himself as their God. Butcher and Kimiko were joined by Homelander's estranged son Ryan, and as the men pinned down the power-mad supe, Kimiko blasted them all, rendering all three mortals once more.
For Homelander, this was a fate worse than death, and he immediately began begging Butcher for his life. Those watching on the livestream finally got to see exactly who Homelander was, and seeing him squirming and hysterically crying was almost better than seeing him killed. Almost.
Knowing that if left to live, Homelander would be straight after more Compound V, and fuelled by years of seething rage, Butcher grabbed a crowbar and ended Homelander. His death was on-brand disgusting, Butcher using the crowbar to jimmy open the top of Homelander’s skull. It was a violent end to a tyrannical man that appeared to firmly hammer a nail into the coffin, suggesting that this really is the end.
Having vanquished Homelander, it took a while for the happy ending to arrive. In the wake of Homelander’s demise and becoming human again, Butcher attempted to mend bridges with Ryan, but the teen rebuffed the idea. Left alone with that rage still simmering, Butcher decided to end the reign of all supes by releasing the virus after all. He argued that eventually Vought will make another Homelander, so why not end things now? Thankfully, Hughie was on hand to stop him, but after reasoning didn’t work, Hughie had no choice but to shoot Butcher.
As Butcher sat dying, the pair had one last heart-to-heart, with Butcher once again remarking how much Hughie looks like his deceased younger brother. It was a sad ending to the character, but considering his questionable morals to complete his mission across the course of the show, it was the only way that things could end for Butcher.
Who Did And Didn’t Survive The Boys Finale?
Whenever a TV show makes it to its final season, it becomes a free-for-all when it comes to killing off characters. With no need to keep anyone around for future stories, there is often a big surge in deaths, and The Boys is no exception. Throughout the season, key characters have been steadily killed off, and the finale continued this trend in spectacular fashion. In addition to Homelander and Butcher, the Grim Reaper also came for Oh Father, The Deep, and even Butcher’s dog, Terror.
Thankfully, Terror died in his sleep, but Oh Father and The Deep weren’t as lucky. Oh Father’s head exploded during a fight with Hughie and Mother’s Milk, giving the audience one last surprise shower of blood.
The Deep’s demise was more drawn out, beginning with Homelander severing ties with him forever, unloading a tirade explaining exactly how worthless he deemed The Deep to be. Then came a showdown with Starlight. During the pilot episode, The Deep sexually assaulted the newly appointed Starlight. Since then, everyone has been praying for her to get revenge. This finally came as she launched The Deep into the ocean, where he was decimated by his former aquatic buddies.
With five dead in the finale, Hughie, Starlight, Mother’s Milk, Kimiko, and Ryan emerged victorious. Other survivors include Sister Sage, who was last seen blissfully dumb on her way to Harry Potter world, Vought PR-turned-politician Ashley (who had a great hero moment helping the team get to Homelander), Stan Edgar, and former President Elect Robert Singer.
Where Does The Boys Finale Leave Everyone?
In the closing section of The Boys finale, the audience is fed a lot of information about the survivors. Ashley is seen on television announcing herself as assuming the Presidency in Homelander’s wake. This is then revealed to be part of a news story detailing her impeachment. The television also reveals that Stan Edgar is once more back looking after Vought, a move which could spell trouble.
During a montage sequence, Mother’s Milk remarries his wife, with Ryan a guest at the wedding. One can assume, then, that Ryan might have finally found a family that he can be a part of.
Kimiko is shown sitting in a cafe in France, eating madeleines with a dog sitting beside her. Throughout the final season, Kimiko has spoken about wanting to get a dog and have a peaceful life, and this scene suggests she got her wish.
The final scenes of The Boys focus on Hughie. As he walks through the city, he gets a call from the new President, Robert Singer, who offers him a high-profile job. Hughie, however, declines, informing the President that he’s got his own start-up, Campbell’s Audio Visual. Before Hughie got swept into the mission to end Homelander, he worked for Bryman Audio Visual and has seemingly now come full circle.
He’s not alone, though, as a very pregnant Starlight is introduced. The pair discuss a courthouse wedding to appease her mother before a police scanner interrupts them. Starlight then flies off to save the day, but not before the name of their future child has been revealed. The couple have settled on Robin, the name of Hughie’s former girlfriend, who A-Train so horrifically splattered in the first episode's opening scene.
It appears that almost everyone has got some semblance of a happy ending, and most importantly, The Boys doesn’t end with any gimmicky potential cliffhanger tease. It seems that this chapter is over once and for all, although Soldier Boy is still on ice in Vought Towers, so should the show wish to resurrect itself in a few years, there is technically still a way back in.
