How the ‘Gen V’ Season 2 Finale Sets Up Season 5 of ‘The Boys’

Gen V has come a long way since its first episode aired on Prime Video in 2023. Season 1 set the stage for the events that unfolded in the fourth season of The Boys. Continuing that trend, the second season of Eric Kripke’s college-aged spinoff series has come to a close — and you best believe everything that went down in this eight-episode run is setting up the final confrontation with Homelander and, well, everyone.

But I’m not here to talk about the leader of the Seven, Billy Butcher, or any of them (well, except for Sister Sage, but I’ll get to that in a bit). Instead, the focus here is on our Gen Z version of The X-Men: Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Emma (Lizza Broadway), Jordan (London Thor/Derek Luh), Cate (Maddie Phillips) and Sam (Asa Germann). 

Over the course of the episode, our gang of heroes finally comes together in a cohesive manner. They face off against the season’s final boss and, when all is said and done, they come out of it looking like a formidable superhero outfit.

I’m about to dig into the biggest things that happen in the episode, so if you’re not caught up, you should be warned that there are major season 2 spoilers below.

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A little Gen V refresher

From the very beginning of the season, something felt a bit off about Godolkin University’s new dean, Cipher (Hamish Linklater). Over the course of the episodes, the college’s head became obsessed with Marie and her blood-manipulating talents. His goal was to train her — mold her, even — into the perfect superhero. But was it to create the ultimate weapon or train her to become the best version of herself?

Then, it was revealed that Cipher wasn’t Cipher at all, but just an average dude named Doug who had the misfortune of meeting Thomas Godolkin in the ’90s. Yeah, that Thomas Godolkin. The dead guy the college is named after. 

Well, he wasn’t dead. Internet sleuths pieced the twist together ahead of time, and they were proven correct. The burned man previously discovered in Cipher’s home was revealed to be Godolkin. He was psychically controlling Cipher the whole time. 

The final moments of the seventh episode found Godolkin strolling through campus, seeking out those he deemed unsuitable to live. The goal was to cull the herd, leaving only the strongest Supes. 

How did Gen V season 2 end?

How exactly was Thomas Godolkin alive? The season 2 finale answered that question in a flashback scene that showed the man striving to survive a fire in the lab by grabbing a vial of Compound V and injecting himself with it. 

It was explained by Vought CEO Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) earlier in the season that Godolkin created Project Odessa to produce god-tier Supes. Godolkin is the living embodiment of that, as is Homelander. It seems Marie is well on her path to becoming one, as well.

Cipher’s work with Marie over the course of the season did help her elevate her skills. When she found her estranged sister Annabeth bleeding out, thanks to Cipher’s doing, she used her blood power to bring her back from the dead. This new ability essentially puts her on track to be one of the most powerful Supes on the planet. No pressure.

Everything led to a big battle between Godolkin and our core group of young heroes. Everyone’s abilities were on display here, including Godolkin, who discovered he could control multiple people at once. He used the students in the room as weapons against Marie and the gang, but they were able to overpower him. 

That was until Marie tried her powers. Her attack backfired, allowing Godolkin to take control of her mind and body, turning her against her friends. If it wasn’t for the perfectly timed entrance of Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas) — who was set free from his prison cell by Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) — this would’ve been the end for all of them.

What is Sister Sage’s endgame?

Sister Sage stepped into the role of advisor to Homelander in season 4 of The Boys, thanks to her supreme intelligence and ability to be 10 steps ahead of everyone else. Whenever she shows up, you have to wonder what her endgame is — which is exactly what I was asking after she appeared in season 2 of Gen V.

The romance between her and Godolkin wasn’t really surprising. Sage’s plan to find domestic bliss with the man changed after she realized how terrible he was. She undermined him from afar by freeing Polarity, who was being held in a prison cell.

Polarity has the ability to manipulate magnetism and when he entered the fray, he threw his power at Godolkin, knocking him out of Marie’s head in the process. In a show of forceful vengeance, Marie used her own upgraded power to blow up Thomas Godolkin’s head, thus eliminating him from the chessboard completely.

I originally thought he was going to challenge Homelander for control in season 5 of The Boys. Well, I was wrong.

You have to wonder if Sister Sage was motivated by betrayal from Godolkin, or if she had seen this coming all along and embraced her fling with the man as a necessary step in achieving some grander plan.

What does this mean for The Boys season 5?

The final moments of the episode found Marie, Emma, Jordan, Cate and Sam being recruited by Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) to join the resistance. 

So now what? 

The fact that Marie can now pop heads the way Victoria Neumann did means she will be a valuable asset or formidable opponent for Homelander. Neumann had the ability to wipe him out. Now, Marie does, whether she knows it. That means she’ll be a target, probably of Homelander and Billy Butcher — who’s on an amped-up Supe-destroying mission, thanks to the sentient tumor inside of him.

This all leaves me with two questions: Did Sister Sage know all of this would happen from the beginning? Moreover, if Marie is indeed salvation, as Cipher said previously, who’s she going to end up saving — and at what cost?