How ‘Gen V’ season 2 finale sets up ‘The Boys’ season 5

5G has come a long way since the first episode aired on Prime Video in 2023. Season 1 set the stage for the events that unfolded in Season 4 of The Boys. Continuing that trend, the second season of Eric Kripke’s college-age spinoff series is coming to a close — and you better believe that everything that happened in this eight-episode run is to set up the final showdown 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 moment). Instead, the focus here is on the Gen Z version of The X-Men: Mary (Jaz Sinclair), Emma (Lisa Broadway), Jordan (London Thor/Derek Loh), Kate (Maddie Phillips) and Sam (Asa German).

Over the course of the episode, the gang of heroes finally comes together in a cohesive way. They face the final boss of the season, and when all is said and done, they come out of it looking like a massive superhero costume.

I’m about to dive into the most important things that happen in the episode, so if you’re not familiar with them, be warned Major spoilers for Season 2 below.

---

Don’t miss any of our unbiased technical content and lab reviews. Add CNET As Google’s preferred source.

---

A bit of a 5th generation revamp

Since the beginning of the season, there has been something off about Godulkin University’s new dean, Cypher (Hamish Linklater). Over the course of the episodes, the college president becomes obsessed with Mary and her talents for blood manipulation. His goal was to train her – even shape her – into the perfect superhero. But was the goal to create the ultimate weapon or to train her to become the best version of herself?

Afterwards, it was revealed that Cipher wasn’t Cipher at all, but just an ordinary guy named Doug who had the misfortune of meeting Thomas Godolkin in the 1990s. Yes, That Thomas Godolkin. The dead man after whom the college is named.

Well, he wasn’t dead. Internet sleuths pieced together the confusion beforehand, and they were proven right. The burned man previously discovered in Cipher’s house is revealed to be Godolkin. He was psychologically controlling Cipher the whole time.

The final moments of episode seven find Godolkin wandering the campus in search of those he deems unfit to live. The goal was to cull the herd, leaving only the strongest Supes left.

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 scrambling to escape a lab fire by grabbing a vial of Compound V and injecting himself with it.

Vought CEO Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) explained earlier in the season that Godolkin created Project Odessa to produce divine-class Supes. Godolkin is the living embodiment of this, as is Homelander. It looks like Mary is on her way to becoming one too.

Cipher’s work with Mary over the course of the season helped her elevate her skills. When she found her estranged sister Annabeth bleeding, thanks to Cipher’s work, she used the power of her blood to bring her back from the dead. This new ability puts her on track to become one of the most powerful Supes on the planet. There is no pressure.

It all leads up to a big battle between Godolkin and our core group of young heroes. Everyone’s abilities are on display here, including Godolkin, who discovers that he can control multiple people at once. He used the students in the room as weapons against Mary and the gang, but they were able to overpower him.

That was until Mary tried out her powers. Her attack backfires, allowing Godolkin to take control of her mind and body, turning her against her friends. If not for the timely entry of Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas) – who has been released from his cell by Sister Sage (Susan Hayward) – this could have been the end for them all.

What is Sister Sage’s endgame?

Sister Sage took on the role of Homelander’s advisor in season 4 of The Boys, thanks to her superior intelligence and ability to be 10 steps ahead of everyone. Whenever she shows up, you have to wonder what her endgame is — and that’s exactly what I was asking after her appearance in Gen V’s second season.

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 releasing Polarity, who was detained in a prison cell.

Polarity has the ability to manipulate magnetism and when he entered the battle, he threw his power at Godolkin, knocking him out of Mary’s head in the process. In a show of powerful revenge, Mary used her upgraded powers to blow off Thomas Godolkin’s head, thus eliminating him from the chessboard entirely.

I initially thought he would challenge Homelander for dominance in season 5 of The Boys. Well, I was wrong.

You have to wonder if Sister Sage’s motivation was to betray Godulkin, or if she had seen it happen all along and embraced her relationship with the man as a necessary step toward achieving a greater plan.

What does this mean for Season 5 of The Boys?

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

So what now?

The fact that Mary can now pop heads the way Victoria Newman did means she would be a valuable asset or a formidable opponent for Homelander. Newman had the power to take him down. Now, Mary knows it, whether she knows it. That means she’ll be a target, possibly from Homelander and Billy Butcher – who’s on a mission of super-destruction, thanks to the sentient tumor inside him.

All of this leaves me with two questions: Did Sister Sage know all of this was going to happen from the beginning? Moreover, if Mary is indeed the salvation, as Cypher previously said, who will she end up saving – and at what cost?