The Boys · Season 4 · Ending Explained
The Boys: Ending Explained
How does The Boys Season 4 end? Homelander's takeover, Neuman's death, and Ryan's turn in the Season 4 finale, explained.
Updated
Homelander seizes the country
The Season 4 finale is the turning point the series had been building toward, with the showrunner promising nothing in the world stays the same afterward. Homelander orders the Seven to purge Vought employees who hold damaging evidence against him, cleaning house. He then exposes Victoria Neuman as a Supe on live television, destroying her standing in an instant. With Speaker Steven Calhoun installed as president following the arrest of Bob Singer, the new administration declares martial law and legally empowers Homelander and his superhuman forces to act as the country's enforcers.
Butcher kills Neuman
Victoria Neuman, exposed and cornered, turns to Hughie and asks for protection in exchange for her help against Homelander. The deal never holds. Butcher, now carrying tendril powers from his V-tumoured body, arrives and kills her himself. Tentacles erupt from his chest, wrap around Neuman and rip her in half, ending the head-popping threat that had haunted the Boys for two seasons. In doing so Butcher also takes the dose of the virus engineered from Sameer's research, the weapon that could finally harm even the most powerful Supes.
Butcher and Ryan cross over
Butcher has fully embraced the genocidal viewpoint of Kessler, the hallucination produced by his V-tumoured brain, and obtains the virus from Sameer before leaving with it. The darker turn is sealed by Ryan. Grace Mallory reveals Homelander's crimes to the boy and tries to mould him into the weapon that will stop his father, even locking him in a CIA facility built to hold Supes. Ryan refuses, shoves Mallory into a wall and kills her without remorse, then walks away. Watching Ryan kill so casually pushes Butcher further into his ruthless mindset.
The Boys captured and Soldier Boy revealed
Most of the Boys are captured by Vought troops, while Annie escapes by flying away once she regains her powers. Earlier, guarding Singer in a bunker, the team confronts a shapeshifter, and the real Annie kills the impostor. Singer is arrested for plotting with the Boys, clearing the path for Calhoun to take the presidency and swear allegiance to Homelander. In a mid-credits scene, Calhoun shows Homelander where Soldier Boy is being held, revealing he is still alive and setting the board for the final season.
The Final Image
In a mid-credits beat, Calhoun leads Homelander to the place where Soldier Boy is being kept, the reveal that the show's deadliest weapon is alive closing Season 4 on a threat aimed straight at the fifth.
Lingering Questions
- Who kills Victoria Neuman in the Season 4 finale?
- Butcher does. Using the tendril powers from his V-tumour, he wraps tentacles around Neuman and rips her in half, also taking the engineered virus dose in the process.
- Why does Ryan kill Grace Mallory?
- Mallory tries to mould Ryan into a weapon against Homelander and lock him up. Ryan refuses, shoves her into a wall and kills her without remorse, a turn that pushes Butcher deeper into his darker side.
Sources
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