Wait, why did Soldier Boy give Homelander V1? Baffling The Boys twist ending explained

After locking him up in a supe-proof cell, punching him in the face, and expressing disdain for him at any given moment, Soldier Boy just… gave Homelander the V1 at the end of The Boys season five episode six. 

It’s getting real close to crunch time in the Prime Video superhero series, with just two episodes left until the show wraps up for good. So far, there have only been a couple of noteworthy deaths, including Firecracker and now Black Noir 2. 

Random side quests aside, the main storyline has been Butcher and co. wanting to kill Homelander using the supe virus. 

There’s a slight issue, however – Homelander has been trying to get a hold of the last remaining sample of V1 (Frederick Vought’s original Compound V, which essentially makes extra strong, biologically immortal supes). 

Soldier Boy has been trying to stop Homelander from getting his hands on it – he’s not particularly fond of his weird son and his delusions of grandeur. 

But this all changes at the end of the latest episode when he gives Homelander the V1. It’s a little confusing – even Sister Sage, the smartest person on the planet, didn’t see it coming. 

Let’s look at the surface level reason Soldier Boy gives Homelander the V1

Ultimately, Soldier Boy’s conversation with Bombsight changes how he thinks about love and legacy, and that in turn seemingly makes him reconsider Homelander. 

Earlier in The Boys season five, Soldier Boy is firmly against Homelander getting the V1. He doesn’t believe his son deserves to be an immortal god. 

But after the Fort Harmony visit and being forced to confront his past, he started to see things differently. This ramped up after witnessing Bombsight’s love for Golden Geisha, which made him think about Clara Vought, aka Stormfront. 

When Soldier Boy and Bombsight reunite, they initially start fighting, only to then stop and have a real conversation. 

Bombsight admits that he resented him for always being the number one supe. “You were always everyone’s fave from the start,” he says. “Especially Clara. Everything they wanted us to be, everything they were working towards, they saw it in you. I f**king hated you for it.”

But Soldier Boy responds, “No, I wasn’t everything Clara wanted. I didn’t know how to be.”

Eventually, they come to an agreement: Soldier Boy takes away Bombsights powers so he can spend his remaining years with Goldie in exchange for the V1. 

They go their separate ways and Homelander shows up, threatening to beat him to get his hands on the dose. But Soldier Boy explains, “Clara used to say the craziest sh*t. That I was the strongest supe alive. The ultimate expression of what we could be. 

“But she was wrong. She hadn’t met you yet.” He then hands the V1 to Homelander, who proceeds to inject it and level up. 

Soldier Boy stops looking at Homelander purely as his unstable son and starts seeing him as Clara’s legacy – the “perfect” supe she always believed in.

At least, that’s what his actions appear to reflect. However, there could be a different explanation. 

Maybe Soldier Boy has another plan up his sleeve

Either Soldier Boy really had a change of heart, or he’s simply waiting to eventually depower Homelander and end him once and for all. 

Think about it: Homelander has demonstrated that he’ll stop at nothing to get a hold of the V1. Rather than getting in his way, why not let him take it so he thinks he has all the power?

Through this action, Soldier Boy’s gained his trust completely. Maybe he’ll keep him on side until an opportune moment, only to then use his powers to take Homelander’s away for good. 

It’s always said that the best punishment for Homelander wouldn’t be death, but rather having to live his life as a human. 

Perhaps Bombsight was a test run – now he knows his depowering abilities work on supes with V1 in their blood, he can do the same to Homelander. 

Stranger things have happened in the world of The Boys. 

For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page.

Featured image credit: Prime Video