Yikes, there’s a glaring issue with Homelander’s ending in The Boys finale

*Warning: Major spoilers ahead for The Boys season five finale*

Well, it’s happened: The Boys has officially wrapped up. We always knew it would end with a battle between Homelander and Butcher, and while they both got fitting ends, there’s one detail about the final showdown that doesn’t make sense. 

Heading into season five episode eight, Homelander had injected the V1 and put his dad, Soldier Boy, on ice. He took his spot at the Oval Office, announcing his new position as God to the world. 

Before he can finish, Butcher bursts in and announces “Daddy’s home.” Damn straight, he is. Kimiko soon follows, and you can tell Homelander’s scared. He knows The Boys’ experiments paid off, and she now has the ability to depower anyone she wants. 

A fight ensues, people die, and eventually both Ryan and Butcher are able to restrain Homelander, clearing the pathway for Kimoko’s radioactive blast (with a little encouragement from Frenchie’s ghost). 

Finally, Homelander is powerless – his own worst nightmare – and Butcher, at long last, kills him with a crowbar through the head. 

Wait, why didn’t Homelander just fly away?

There’s just one issue with this, and it’s been brought up time and again: Homelander’s powers are, frankly, all over the shop. And this is on full display in The Boys finale. 

Earlier on, while preparing for his speech, Oh Father has a meeting with the world’s richest man, Gunter Van Ellis – he’s got 17 kids, and is an amateur astronaut. In other words, he’s a clear Elon Musk parody. 

“He represents a consortium of billionaires,” Oh Father explains. “They have a few requests.” Homie tries to brush it off, but Oh Father insists they are “the ruling class of America.”

Essentially, Oh Father wants to take a more measured, strategic approach to the rollout of the Democratic Church of America, but Homie wants it all right now. 

When The Deep shows up, Homelander takes the opportunity to get rid of Mr. Van Ellis by grabbing him and taking him out to space. The journey there and back takes him all of two seconds, which begs the question: Why didn’t he just dip out when Butcher and Kimiko showed up?

Sure, Ryan and Butcher eventually restrain him, but he had plenty of time to escape beforehand. 

Just moments earlier, he’d flown a man into space and back in seconds, yet when Kimiko – whose new powers clearly terrify him – walks into the Oval Office, he simply stands there waiting for the fight to start.

This has been picked up by the fans too. As said by one Redditor, “Homelander can move to space and back in the span of two seconds to kill a rich douchebag but can’t fly out of a room fast enough to avoid losing all his powers in desperation? This sh*t f**king SUCKED.”

Another agreed, “This was my main issue with the episode overall, Homelander was SO weak in that final fight.” What’s more, there’s a way this could’ve been prevented. 

“People have brought up the virus still weakening V1 even if its non-lethal, and it would’ve been a great reason for why Homelander was underperforming in that fight (though not sure how to explain the contagiousness),” they added.

A third chimed in, “They made a point of showing his powers are split second too. The moment they let go of him, he should have fled or sliced Kimiko in half like he did last time.”

You could argue that Homelander’s ego gets in the way. Even after getting whacked so many times, he keeps getting up to fight Butcher. However, given how inconsistent his abilities have been throughout The Boys season five, it’s hard not to ignore. 

But hey, as Antony Starr himself, said, “Life is messy. Nothing ends up tidy.” And at least we got to see Homelander finally getting his diabolical comeuppance. 

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Featured images credit: Prime Video