The Boys Season 4 Ending Explained ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
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The penultimate season of The Boys has come to an end on Prime Video. Much like the rest of Season 4, The Boys continued to set up events that would eventually raise the stakes for the upcoming Gen V Season 2 and The Boys Season 5. Throughout the season, Homelander has been making moves toward setting up Victoria Neuman as his puppet president. On the other hand, the boys, under Mother’s Milk, have been tirelessly trying to counter the master plan set up by Sister Sage, who unceremoniously got replaced by Firecracker before the finale episode. The ending of Season 4 of The Boys not only puts forth a clear winner in the race between Homelander and the boys but also sets up story arcs that would yield their true results in Season 5.
Homelander Takes Some Drastic Steps in Season 4 Finale
Toward the end of Season 4, Homelander seems to be losing his grip on the situation as he starts making some remarkably surprising decisions. To start with, Homelander decides it is time that the country knows about the real identity of Vice-President-elect Victoria Neuman. During a television broadcast, Homelander exposes Neuman’s superhuman abilities, revealing to the country that their newly elected Vice-President is a Supe. Homelander’s proclamation on television also serves as the first step in his plan of openly infiltrating the White House and putting Neuman in the most powerful office in the United States. With Frenchie’s Supe-killing virus not yet ready, Mother’s Milk decides it is time to dent the credibility of Neuman before Homelander’s assassins reach President-elect Bob Singer. Unfortunately, the dirt the boys had on Neuman had already fallen out of their hands, thanks to the shapeshifter who had replaced Annie. By replacing Annie secretly, the shapeshifter would eventually have easy access to Singer, ultimately being close enough to kill him.
Ryan Forces Butcher to Chase a Supe Genocide
On the other hand, Butcher has been struggling on multiple fronts throughout the season. At one end, he is battling a fatal condition after injecting himself with Compound V last season. On the opposite end, he continues to grapple with the imaginary Joe Kessler who has been pushing Butcher to use the virus to kill every Supe on Earth. Butcher’s only hope rests on Ryan, who’s only the one powerful enough to take down his father. Butcher and Mallory try to convince Ryan to stay with them and train until he’s ready for a face-off with Homelander. However, still doubtful about his feelings toward his father, Ryan shows resistance against the idea and expresses his wish to leave, only that Mallory didn’t invite Ryan with the intention of letting him leave. Feeling betrayed to some level, Ryan forcefully walks away, seemingly killing Mallory in the process. Though not shown explicitly, it does seem that she has been killed because of being pushed by Ryan and hitting her head on a wall. To Butcher, this seems to be a valid enough reason to believe that the Supe-killing virus is the only way out now, as evident by his actions toward the fag end of Season 4.
Mid-way through the Season 4 finale, The Boys inches toward the action-packed parts. At Vought Tower, Homelander has given orders to Deep and Black Noir II to kill everyone who may have information on his and the Seven’s past misdeeds. In a moment of rare genius from Deep, he suggests that Ashley should be on top of the list – a recommendation Homelander openly welcomes. However, Deep’s suggestion prompts Ashley to make a surprising move. Ashley injects herself with Compound V and in her final appearance in Season 4, Ashley struggles to acclimatize to the immediate changes happening in her body. Ashley will likely have superpowers next time we see her in The Boys.
Does Victoria Neuman Become President in Season 4?
At the CIA safehouse, Mother’s Milk and the rest of the boys are anticipating a possible assassination attempt on Singer knowing that shapeshifters have been employed for the job and no one can be trusted. Thankfully, Hughie finally manages to realize that it’s a shapeshifter in the form of Annie. Having blown her cover, the shapeshifter begins her attack on the CIA guards and her ultimate target – Bob Singer. With Kimiko also failing to stop the shapeshifter, it seems that the shapeshifter may finally reach Singer. However, the real Annie manages to escape the captivity of the shapeshifter and reach the safehouse in time to thwart the assassination attempt. Realizing that Singer continues to live, Neuman informs Homelander about the utter failure of their plans, but Homelander stubbornly refuses to accept defeat and threatens Neuman and her daughter. Homelander’s threat becomes the final nail in the coffin for Neuman, prompting Neuman to reach out to her old friend Hughie for help. Hughie convinces the rest of his group to give Neuman a chance in exchange for help with taking down Homelander and Vought International.
The climax of Season 4 hands out another surprise in the form of Butcher’s appearance while Hughie is finalizing the terms of his deal with Neuman. Butcher’s appearance comes with bad news for Neuman who gets ripped apart by tentacles emerging from Butcher’s chest. It turns out that Butcher’s conciliation with his alter ego, Joe Kessler, now allows Butcher to control the creature within him. Before bidding farewell to his team, Butcher also forces Frenchie to hand over the Supe-killing virus. At Vought Tower, the news of Neuman’s death reaches Homelander, cementing his defeat and putting an end to his plan for domination.
Sister Sage Reveals Her Masterplan in Season 4 Finale
In the final moments of The Boys Season 4, the reappearance of Sister Sage, who has been away from action after being thrown out of the Seven by Homelander, becomes the turning point. While it appears that Butcher now has the upper hand and Homelander has failed miserably, Sage brings good news for the leader of the Seven. It is revealed that Sage never wanted Neuman to become the president, considering Neuman would always be a troublemaker with a mind of her own. Instead, Sage had planned out everything so that Singer would end up being blamed for Neuman’s death and Senator Calhoun would become the ideal puppet president they wanted. Moreover, Sage seems to have bigger plans for her and Homelander in Season 5.
The death of the Vice-President-elect gives Calhoun an easy opportunity to evoke Martial law across the country. Putting into action Sage’s master plan, Homelander deputizes his army of Supes across the United States of America. One by one, all the boys are picked up by Homelander’s Supe soldiers. Only Annie manages to escape the returning Supe from Season 2, Cindy, who has telekinetic powers. Somewhere far away, Butcher is planning his next move now that he has a potent virus, which could kill Homelander and all Supes, in his possession.
Is Soldier Boy Finally Back in The Boys?
In a mid-credits cameo, The Boys brings back Soldier Boy from Season 3. At the end of the previous season, it was revealed that Soldier Boy is still alive and being kept in cryogenic sleep. When Homelander comes to know about his father through President Calhoun, he is overwhelmed by emotions at seeing his father again. Not only did his last meeting with his father not go very pleasantly, but he has himself been struggling to understand his son Ryan, throughout Season 4. It remains to be seen whether Homelander will give his father a second chance considering he might be his biggest and most powerful enemy. With Homelander in complete control and Sister Sage planning something even more diabolical, the fate of the boys and the world will remain in danger until The Boys returns for Season 5, next year.
