The real reason Homelander didn’t kill Chet Vanderbilt in The Boys is tied to his most disgusting habit

Homelander showed some actual mercy for Chet Vanderbilt, aka The Legend, in The Boys season 5 episode 6, and it’s confusing to say the least. But there’s a specific reason for this, as revealed by Eric Kripke.

The latest episode of the hit Prime Video series featured a lot of twists and turns, introducing Bombsight and Golden Geisha (mostly to set up the upcoming spinoff Vought Rising), and seeing the opposing sides race to find the last remaining dose of V1. 

In the end, Soldier Boy gets his hands on it and, much to everyone’s surprise – even Sage’s – he gives it to Homelander. But this wasn’t the only moment that raised eyebrows.

You see, after discovering him working alongside The Boys, Homelander tracks down Legend (Paul Reiser), who’s now living under a new secret identity as a cinema worker named Chet Vanderbilt.

In other words, he’s been helping Homelander’s (Antony Starr) direct opposition – a team who are trying to stop him from getting hold of the V1 and, ultimately, kill him. 

And we all know that Homie’s a man who’s killed for far pettier reasons, like someone throwing a plastic bottle at his son or, in Doppelgänger’s case, for making him feel uncomfortable. 

Homelander spares Chet Vanderbilt in The Boys season 5 episode 6

When he’s alone with Legend, they hunt for clues, only for Homelander to discover a receipt that proves Sage (Susan Heyward) is working with The Boys. 

He starts having an emotional breakdown, pleading to an imaginary god (presumably, the angelic Madelyn Stillwell he’s been hallucinating). “Please, don’t let me become nothing like him,” he says, nodding towards Legend. 

All of this behaviour would suggest he’s about to kill him, so much so that Legend himself assumes he’s about to meet his maker. 

So, he takes the opportunity to give a speech about the nature of the Vought machine, having worked as the Senior Vice President of Hero Management for the company back in the day. 

“I’ve been around a long time and I… This is just how it goes. You know, all those old supes at the home, every one of them had their moment in the sun, and they all thought it was gonna go on forever,” Legend says. 

“And every one of them got shoved out at the end. They all got shoved out. All of them. And I know what I’m talking about. I did the shoving… 

“Point is, look, there comes a day I got shoved out, too. Never saw it coming, did not see that coming. And I fought it like hell, but in the end, bupkis.” (FYI, bupkis means “nothing at all”). 

This gives Homelander a realisation: Chet’s not scared of him. Not only that, but he feels for him. Just as you’d think he’d unleash those laser eyes, Homie just… lets him go.

The reason why is tied to Homelander’s milk obsession

Alongside the fact that he realises Chet doesn’t fear him, the reason Homelander doesn’t kill him ties to his obsession with breast milk: the fact that he never had parents who raised him, which pretty much drives all of his decisions in his adult life. 

This was reflected by The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke, who told ScreenRant: “It’s not about the advice, even though Legend does give very good advice.

“And Homelander does exactly the opposite of that advice – which is the more you try to fight the natural order of things, the more the natural order of things c**t-punches you. And there’s no better way to pervert the natural order of things than to make yourself immortal.

“But I think it’s two things,” he added, saying that a “really big part of it” is that “Legend isn’t scared of him.”

However, ScreenRant highlighted the theory that came from former Vought CEO, Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), who said Homelander will hang onto any paternal figure he can.

This is proven by the fact that he’s kept Edgar alive for so long despite his betrayal – and the fact that he hasn’t gone for his biological father, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles).

“You’re absolutely right about the paternal figures. I think he has this weakness for paternal figures in his life – Soldier Boy, Edgar, Legend – and he cannot bring himself to kill them,” Kripke replied. “I think that’s a big part of it.”

Much like his milk fetish, it’s a byproduct of never having had a parental figure in his life. If you recall, Homelander was raised in a Vought lab, meaning his emotional and psychological development has been stunted.

Sadly, everyone else has to pay the price, but at least Legend was spared. 

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Featured image credit: Prime Video