“The Boys” Season 5 is just days away, and since it’s been nearly two years since the Season 4 finale, you’re definitely going to need a recap of everything that went down.
Before we get to the big events, let’s start with the fact that Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) is Homelander’s (Antony Starr) right-hand-woman in his U.S. takeover. As the world’s smartest woman, she’s found a way to divide the country into groups of Starlighters (anti-Homelanders) vs. Homelander stans.
This has left Homelander’s former second-in-command, Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) on her own. And, after learning of Homelander’s plans to kill any secret rebels in his crew, she shot herself up with Compound V out of fear.
There’s a lot to get through, but that’s why we’re here. Here’s a full breakdown of everything you need to know before Season 5.
Remember when Homelander let that airplane crash in Season 1, Episode 4 and all those people died?
Oh, yeah. To get you up to speed for Season 5, we’re taking it all the way back to Season 1, because there are some key events you’ll need to remember.
In Season 1, everyone in the show’s universe still thinks of the supes as actual superheroes. But the stars and stripes on Homelander’s cape showed its true colors in this scene. During a mission to stop hijackers from crashing a plane full of passengers — including children, Homelander and Queen Maeve successfully stopped the troublemakers and brought relief back to everyone on board.
However, there was one last hijacker in the cockpit, and once Homelander and Maeve got to him, he’d shot the pilot. When Homelander retaliated with a laser to his throat, his beams also destroyed the plane’s control system, making it unable to be operated. With no way to contact officials on ground, Homelander gave up on the rescue despite Maeve pleading for him to try to carry the aircraft to ground or take each passenger to safety one by one. He refused, and even after the passengers cried out for help, Homelander rejected them — even threatening to “laser every f—kin’ one you” if they didn’t stand back and accept their death.
While Homelander could care less, the tragedy weighed on Maeve’s heart.
Ryan kills The Boys founder Grace and is now on the run
In Season 4, Episode 8, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) kills (possibly by accident) CIA Deputy Director and The Boys founder Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) after she and Butcher attempt to make Ryan help them take down Homelander (Ryan’s biological father). At the time, the two were explaining that they’d like to train Ryan — Homelander’s complete genetic match — but that didn’t sit too well with him.
Just as Grace was about to use a button to trap him in, Ryan pushed Grace into a wall and killed her. Shocked by his own actions, Ryan stared down at Grace’s lifeless body, looked back at Butcher and left. No one knows where he is.
A-Train’s turned a new leaf
The longstanding loyal A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), whose real name is Reggie, has completely broken away from The Seven and is now a trusted ally of the Boys. His crossover to the good side, started in Season 3 after now-dead supe Blue Hawk paralyzed his brother. And after A-Train apologized for murdering Hughie’s (Jack Quaid) girlfriend (in Season 1), it was a sure bet that A-Train was done with Vought for good. By Season 4, A-Train had developed a kinship with Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), acting as an informant for the crew and coming in to save the Boys when needed. At the end of Season 4, A-Train went into hiding, protecting his family by leaving his role in The Seven behind.
The Supe-Killing Virus and Compound V1
So here’s where we bring in “Gen V,” the college-based spinoff to “The Boys.” While you don’t necessarily need to watch it in order to keep up with the events in “The Boys,” we’d suggest it if you really want to understand the connections between the storylines in the universe.
Anyway — the supe-killing virus was created by scientist Dr. Edison Cardosa (Marco Pigossi) who developed the virus in a secret lab underneath Godolkin University, where it was tested on young supes. Initially, it was created to maintain control of supes, but God U’s then-dean Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn) pressured Dr. Edison to make it powerful enough to wipe out the entire population.
As for V1, which was also introduced in “Gen V,” it is a a variant of Compound V, and it prevents a person injected with it from physically aging. Yes, the formula was developed by Frederick Vought during WWII. For now, the only supes who have been shot up with it are now-dead Dr. Thomas Godolkin (Ethan Slater) and Soldier Boy.
Butcher is a supe now, and he murdered Victoria Neuman
After Ryan killed Grace, Butcher pretty much went back to his original ways: ruthless, unforgiving and quick to pop a cap if need be. In the closing bits of the Season 4 finale, fans got to see him unleash a deadly wrath and reveal a supe ability that’s been dodging screen all season.
For clarirty: Butcher was initially dying from a brain tumor after his repeated use of Temp V (V24), which gives a person supe powers for 24 hours. In Season 4, Butcher took Compound V, but instead of it curing him, it interacted with his tumor and created parasitic tentacle.
By the end of Season 4, anti-Vought supe Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) agreed to join forces with The Boys to fight Homelander, so Hughie brought her and her daughter Zoe down to their hideout to plot their next move. That’s when Butcher showed up unexpectedly, sees Victoria, immediately attacks her and splits her in half — in front of her daughter. This is the first time viewers see his true powers.
Homelander is basically president, and Soldier Boy is alive
Sometimes having a title doesn’t mean you call the shots, and that’s pretty much the situation with Homelander in the White House. Homelander and Sister Sage have placed former Speaker of the House Steven Calhoun in a puppet president role so that he may do their bidding, which includes announcing the declaration of Martial Law “and deputizing hundreds of superheroes nationwide who will report directly to Homelander himself.”
As for Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), Homelander’s father, he’s been keeping him stored in some secret center in a regulated coma.
“The Boys” hits Prime Video for its fifth and final season on April 8.
