As the saying goes, you reap what you sow. The truest estimation of the statement is assessed as the first season finale of the The Boys universe spin-off series, Gen V, comes to a bloody, disgusting end. The entire season built upon Vought’s premier superhero institute, Godolkin University’s conspiracies, which culminated in an all-out conflict in the final episode titled Guardians of Godolkin. While the treatment might please some of the fans, it mostly seemed like a cop-out, a predictable and edgy end to the series, which otherwise showed much promise in its penultimate episode.
In the previous episode, Indira’s nefarious plan to exterminate the supes from the face of the planet using a synthetic virus was exposed by Marie and her friends. Polarity collapsed during an interview, which prompted Andre to separate from the team and rush his father to the hospital. Cate confronted Indira for the lifelong manipulation and deception she subjected her to, and after learning about her supe genocide plan, she used her powers to make Indira kill herself. Congresswoman and Vice Presidential candidate, Victoria Neuman, learned about Indira’s plan from Marie and seized the viral compound by killing the creator, Dr. Cardosa—a momentous incident that will have a long-lasting impact on The Boys universe. However, a mentally unstable Sam was influenced by a bunch of God U students who raised their voice for superhero supremacy, and Cate’s situation and action worked as a major trigger for him to fully believe in that problematic ideology. As Gen V used all these plot points to bring in a tumultuous finale, a major The Boys connection is established with a major cameo, which series fans had been expecting for a long time.
Spoilers Ahead
Lines Drawn: What Is Cate’s New Plan?
Gen V finale begins right from where the last episode ended, at Indira Shetty’s household, where the dean of God U lies lifeless in a pool of blood, while Cate gets bombarded with the influx of conflicting reactions from the other students at the sight of such ghastly action. Marie speaks up first, blaming Cate for murdering Indira, while Cate justifies her action as a necessary evil, done for the sake of the superhuman community, who have been used as pawns ever since their birth. Cate has gotten her latest supporter in Sam, who is able to sympathize with her due to similarly being treated like an experiment through his lifetime. By sharing her sentiment, he raises his voice for superhuman superiority. As the next part of her plan, Cate decides to free the captive supes from the Woods, and Sam agrees to help her do that.
Marie, Jordan, and Emma oppose the duo, as they still haven’t lost their moral integrity yet, but reluctantly allow them to leave. Jordan tries to warn the authorities, but Emma stops her, considering the possibility that Sam will be captured yet again. Marie plans to take on them both by working together instead.
Andre, on the other hand, who is unaware of any of this happening as he was tending to his father, learns from the doctors that the veteran superhero will no longer be able to use his powers as it could deteriorate his already worsening physical condition. Previously, Andre was disenchanted with Polarity for his wilful negligence regarding the Woods situation. The sudden tragic situation prompts Andre to reconcile with his father, who apologizes for not taking a stance and advises his son to become a better keeper of the family’s heroic legacy.
The Final Showdown: Did Sam Change His Destructive Course?
Meanwhile, the God U trustee board, along with Vought management, led by CEO Ashley Barrett, are present at the university premises to get on with their usual disaster management routine. Golden Boy’s manic episode was somehow covered up by the company by projecting Andre and Marie as institute-saving heroes, but the recent adverse situation caused by the students’ reaction to Neuman’s appearance has again raised public suspicion. This time, Ashley proposes recruiting fledgling Supes of God U into the ranks of the premier superhero team, The Boys, to distract people in the best possible way. Little do they know that what’s going to take place soon enough will require a lot more than random cover-ups.
Cate and Sam go to the underground prison, the Woods, and after butchering the security, they free the unstable, potentially dangerous slaves. To provoke them further against the university authorities, Cate cites the inhumane treatment they were subjected to by humans, despite being superior to them in every aspect, and asks them to bring down the axe on every non-supe individual of the university. The sight of the deceased supe victim of Indira or Cardosa’s synthetic virus helps Cate easily win the favor of the already over-the-edge supes. The rogue bunch moves to the university premises and starts brutally murdering every non-supe person whom they come across. Cate forces the Vought social media personnel, Jeff, to commit suicide using a sonar device meant to control the students, and chaos ensues.
Despite supporting Cate’s ideology, Sam is in a conflicted state of mind as he witnesses all the bloodshed and carnage. Emma confronts him, pleading for him to side with her, but it seems like Sam has gone too far down this road to revert back to normalcy as he rejects her proposal and decides to give in to his basic instincts by going on to say that she was only romantically involved with him to make herself appear likeable. Listening to Sam’s words, Emma breaks down and discovers her powers are also linked with her emotional changes as she shrinks in size.
Later, as Sam moves through the university premises, his troubled mind makes him hallucinate his deceased elder brother, Golden Boy, aka Luke’s presence as a moral compass, who tries to reason with him to put an end to the vicious carnage. Cate arrives at the spot and offers her help (using mind manipulation powers), and Sam undergoes a moral conflict. Finally, acknowledging the fact that Luke’s presence in his mind is his own coping mechanism and the fact that despite Luke’s affirmation, he hates himself, Sam finally gives in and asks Cate to help him. Cate removes all his mental conflicts by asking Sam to literally ‘feel nothing’—making the unhinged supe all the more dangerous.
A Golden Opportunity: What Brought Homelander To God U?
Marie goes to Indira’s office to put the university in lockdown, and soon connections with the outside world get cut off as well. To stop the deranged supes, a hypersonic-induced weapon system activates, which gets destroyed as well, leading Ashley and the rest of the Vought execs to freak out in fear. A desperate Ashley calls Marie and offers her a spot in the Seven in exchange for killing the rogue supes. Marie is hesitant as she isn’t fully accustomed to the heinous reality of supes just yet, realizing this, Ashley makes an offer Marie can’t possibly refuse—reuniting her with her sister. Making amends with her sister was the sole reason she enrolled in God U in the first place; therefore, understandably, Marie joins the conflict by moving towards the battle zone.
Cate, on the other hand, informs Andre about the situation and asks for his help, prompting him to rush back to the university. A rescue helicopter sent by Vought arrives to fetch Ashley and co., which gets nearly destroyed by a supe, but Andre’s timely intervention protects it at the nick of time. Marie and Andre try to reason with Cate, who seems to be hell-bent on her quest to exterminate the human authorities. Sam attacks Andre and pummels him down until the latter gets hold of a taser baton using his magnetic powers and knocks Sam out. Cate manipulates the invisibility-powered supe, Maverick, to fight Marie, and although she initially gets taken aback by his deceptive attacks, Marie uses the blood-sensing skill suggested previously by Victoria Neuman to locate Maverick and incapacitate him. Panicked out of her wits, Ashley asks her associates to call Homelander ASAP.
Jordan guides Vought personnel into the helicopter, and a deranged supe rushes to attack it. In such a momentous situation, Marie rises up to the occasion, using her blood manipulation powers on the deceased victims, and stops the attacker, thereby saving the Vought execs and the God U trustee board. Right at that moment, Marie notices that Cate is going to touch Jordan to control their mind, and in haste, she stops Cate by exploding her hand. Before the shock of the incident sets in, horrified onlookers gaze at the sky as Homelander swoops in at the venue, responding to Ashley’s emergency call.
Where Did Marie And Her Band End Up?
Humbled by the appearance of allegedly the world’s ‘greatest’ hero, Marie feels out of words but gets even more dumbfounded when, in his eccentric, shrewd way, Homelander blames her for killing her own kind. Before Marie even has a chance to explain herself, Homelander lasers her, knocking Marie out cold. Later, she wakes up in a hospital ward and finds out Andre, Emma, and Jordan are present there with her as well. Andre praises her for taking on Homelander’s direct attack and surviving, while another piece of footage shows the news that the God U massacre has been blamed on the bunch of do-gooders while the maniac killers, Cate and Sam, are being hailed as heroes. Homelander smirks looking at the news update, and as the episode ends, Marie and her band wonder where they’ve ended up as the confined area seems to be bereft of a door.
The apparent change in Vought’s purported narrative might come off as a bitter shock to the viewers, as students who risked their lives to save people are portrayed as villains by Homelander, but for the viewers who are familiar with the mindset of the psychopathic hero, this comes as no surprise. Sam and Cate fit perfectly in the ranks of the Seven, as they are not bound by moral scruples, which makes them way more aligned with Homelander’s deranged, megalomaniac tendencies. After all, The Boys universe is a subversive take on superhero lore, and the ending respects that aspect perfectly. As for where Marie and her friends have been captured, that seems to be another secretive prison like Woods. To ensure their silence and maintain the sham alibi, Vought has rewarded their heroism accordingly, and their fate will be addressed in the fourth season of The Boys, which directly picks up the narrative from this point onwards.
