The Boys actor breaks down what Sister Sage’s master plan actually was throughout season five

Sister Sage was introduced to us in season four of The Boys as the cleverest person ever. Although Sage is meant to be an all-knowing genius, it feels as if she spends most of the show sitting at a desk and staring at people. The actor who portrays Sage, Susan Heyward, has broken down what she was actually plotting throughout season five. Her behaviour makes so much more sense now.

Susan Heyward told Gold Derby that she’d always prepared for Sage to ditch Homelander and Vought. “When I started working on the show,” she explained, “I always imagined she would [defect]. There was always a lot of hubbub about if she would take over, or if she would destroy Homelander. But when she says ‘all empires fail’, I feel like she’s jumping on for the ride, knowing that eventually the ride’s gonna end. It’s gotta fall. She’s just smart enough – depending on which side of the spectrum you’re on – to get out before the thing comes crashing down.”

Sister Sage’s relationship with Homelander is apparently “this epic cat-and-mouse game”. She also shared the exact moment in season five when Sage switched up her plan, and decided it was time to betray Homelander.

“She quiet-quit as soon as the conversation about V-One starting happening, and immortality, and forever. Again, all empires have to end. Her power comes from accepting things as they are, and not trying to change things. She’s just stalling him enough to get out unscathed.”

When Homelander says unhinged things to Sage, she looks just as confident. Some viewers of The Boys have theorised Sage might behave this way because she is one step ahead of Homelander, or knows something he doesn’t. Susan Heyward has broken down what Sage is really thinking during these creepy conversations with Homelander.

“Sage is smart enough to understand people’s nature,” she told TV Line, “even though she doesn’t necessarily give them, emotionally, what they need. And when you’re dealing with someone who’s Homelander’s psyche, as soon as you give them a whiff of fear, they’re going to go for the jugular. They’re going to go for blood. And so, I think [not showing fear] is strategic on her part. Whether or not she’s fearful of him, she cannot operate if he gets a whiff of that. No way.”

Woah, I’ve got goosebumps.

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Featured image credit: Prime Video.