Season 4 of Amazon Prime Video’s ‘The Boys’ has come to a close, and with a recent announcement by showrunner Eric Kripke that Season 5 would be its last, that leaves only one remaining season to wrap up the show’s various subplots.
With a season finale that leaves more questions than answers, here are the major plot points of ‘Assassination Run’, and how they set up the show’s final season.
Billy Butcher: Anti Hero or Super Villain?
In undoubtedly the most pivotal moment of the episode, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) finally reveals to the audience the extent of his tumour-induced power, previously alluded to in episode 4. After witnessing the death of Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) at the hands of Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), Butcher finally succumbs to the wishes of his genocidal alter-ego, Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and lets him take over. Seemingly revitalised by this, Butcher interrupts a peace meeting between The Boys and Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), then proceeds to rip Neuman in half using tentacles erupting from his chest.
In one short moment, all hope for peace and a potential powerful new ally in Neuman is shattered as Butcher takes off with the Supe-killing virus created by Frenchie (Tomer Capone), seemingly intent on completing his original mission, to eradicate all Supes.
It will be interesting to see Butcher’s endgame in the final season, after all, he does now possess the only sample of the virus, with a deadly new power to boot. Will his consciousness be able to push back against the controlling Joe, directing his new-found powers unto those that would do the innocent harm? Or will he lose control completely, leading to an inevitable face-off between him and The Boys, possibly using the Supe-killing virus on Butcher himself. One thing is for sure, Neuman definitely won’t be Butcher’s final victim.
A Dawn of a new Era
Victoria Neuman’s untimely death kicks off a series of events seemingly orchestrated by Sister Sage (Susan Heyward). It seems the assassination attempt on President-Elect Robert Singer (Jim Beaver) wasn’t a complete failure after all, with the shapeshifter managing to record footage of Singer conspiring to kill Neuman. With this new information brought to light, Singer is swiftly taken into custody, leading the way for Speaker of the House Steven Calhoun (David Andrews) to be sworn in as the new President of the United States. A firm supporter of Supe militarization, President Calhoun swears allegiance to Homelander (Antony Starr), deputises hundreds of Supes under the command of Homelander, and declares martial law.
With this revelation, the tone of the show regarding superhumans and their role in society finally shifts after four seasons. Up to this point, Supes were mostly presented as nothing more than celebrities to be lauded by their adoring public, and poster-boys for corporations like Vought. Now that Supes are the ones in control, the relationship between Supes and the public would no doubt turn into more of an oppressive one, with Supes playing the role of enforcers used to keep the public in check and quell dissenters. It’s a grim reality for sure, but the potential for an uprising within the public, or infighting between the Supes themselves gives audiences the hopes for more gory action sequences the series is well-known for.
The Boys get ambushed
In the episode’s closing scene, The Boys split up after their hopes for a peaceful solution to the Supe problem died with Neuman. Hughie (Jack Quaid) and Annie (Erin Moriarty) take to the road, with the latter finally regaining her powers. Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and Frenchie, after finally declaring their love for each other, decide to stow aboard a cargo ship, and Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) heads to the airport to reunite with his family. However, all three groups are systematically targeted by Supes.
Hughie and Annie are attacked by the telekinetic Cindy (Ess Hödlmoser), last seen in Season 2 escaping from Sage Grove Center. Hughie is captured while Annie, now with her powers returned, manages to escape. Frenchie and Kimiko are apprehended by Gen V’s Sam (Asa Germann) and Cate (Maddie Philips), while MM is knocked out by Love Sausage (Derek Johns), a recurring Supe in past seasons, and subsequently captured too.
What awaits the captured is not explicitly revealed, but chances are it has something to do with the internment camps mentioned back in Episode 6, private prisons used to hold those that oppose Homelander and Sage’s grand plan. It would not be surprising if much of Season 5 centers around the gang’s struggle to survive in said camps and their inevitable escape plan. One noteworthy detail here is Frenchie particularly, as he was last seen being mind-controlled by Cate. Is turning himself in the extent of her influence, or does she have more nefarious plans in mind, possibly indoctrinating Frenchie as a double agent while he is in captivity.
The fate of Annie and Kimiko
All hope is not lost, as Annie manages to evade capture and escape. Furthermore, Annie is seen leaping straight up into the air with immense speed, changing trajectory mid leap and flying away. Throughout the series, Annie has been able to harness her electricity-based abilities to levitate, but only after absorbing a significant amount of energy, and it is shown to take a huge toll on her after. Her method of escape could allude to the fact that she has fully learned how to control her powers and fly, and this makes her a formidable adversary to Homelander.
It has been hinted throughout the series that the gift of flight is a rare ability in the show’s fiction, and Homelander’s mastery of this ability gave him an edge compared to other Supes. Now that Annie has seemingly mastered flight, it gives her the chance to go toe-to-toe with the legendary Supe.
Kimiko’s fate, on the other hand, is not as certain. In her tear-jerking final scene, she finally breaks the silence that has defined her throughout the series, screaming out an emotional “No” as she watches the mind-controlled Frenchie walk himself over into custody. An important detail to note in this scene is that Kimiko doesn’t seem to be forced into the van like the rest, only shown to be restrained by Sam. It makes sense that, being a Supe herself, she would not be put in the same facility as the rest of The Boys, so it remains unclear if she would be held in a different location, or if Vought and the Seven has more sinister plans in store for Supes who do not play by their rules.
The Wild Cards
After falling out with his father at the beginning of the episode, Homelander’s son Ryan reunites with a then-dying Butcher. Their heartwarming reunion is ruined by Butcher’s plea for the boy to stand up against his father, and Mallory’s revelation that Butcher’s hospital room was in actual fact a repurposed Supe containment cell. This sends Ryan into a state of confusion and rage, accidentally killing Mallory and escaping. It is unclear where Ryan would go next, as at this point, he probably feels abandoned by both his father and Butcher, but the boy would undoubtedly play a large part in the final season, being one of the only Supes with the potential to match or even surpass Homelander’s powers.
Ashley (Colby Minifie), CEO of Vought and constant punching bag of the Seven, is forced to make a drastic decision when the Supes carry out the systematic culling of Vought employees suspected to be dissidents. In a last-ditch effort to survive, she breaks into Homelander’s room, steals a vial of Compound V and injects herself with it. Her final scene shows her writhing on the floor in pain as her body starts to mutate. Although it is not shown what her new powers are, most of her mutations seem to center around the top of her head, alluding to the fact that her powers would potentially fall along the lines of mind powers such as hyper-intelligence. If so, it would be interesting to see her as a potential ally going up against Sage and the Seven.
Lastly, in the episode’s mid-credit scene, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) makes a cameo, left in the same cryo chamber seen in the finale of Season 3. This time however, Homelander’s in control instead of Mallory, and the episode ends with Homelander looking over Solder Boy’s frozen body. It seems Soldier Boy would make a comeback in Season 5, although his part in it, either siding with Homelander or against him, remains to be seen.
Whatever Season 5 has in store, fans still have a long wait to go before their questions are answered. With comments made by both showrunner Eric Kripke and actor Karl Urban alluding to the fact that Season 5 is expected to release in 2026, fans have more than enough time to speculate and anticipate what would undoubtedly be a series finale filled with intrigue, political commentary, and heaping amounts of gratuitous gore.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Natalie
