The Boys Season 5 Ending EXPLAINED: Who Wins In Final Battle Between Homelander And Butcher?

The

fifth season of The Boys saw Homelander (Antony Starr), leader of the Seven, become more and more unhinged as he declared himself God. The vigilante group, The Boys, led by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) has been trying to take him down for years. Earlier this season, Homelander received immortality with the V-1 dose. So how will they eliminate him now? The penultimate episode brought forth a solution and a sacrifice by one of their own, Frenchie (Tomer Capone). So what happens when The Boys' gang breaks into the White House on Easter Sunday to stop Homelander from taking over the country? We break down The Boys series finale.

Warning: MAJOR Spoilers Ahead!

The Boys Season 5 Episode 8: Blood and Bone

In the previous episode, Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) absorbed the ability to create an energy blast that can disable any Supe's power. The first experiment is done on Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), who loses her 'smarts' after Kimiko blasts her. Homelander is planning to address the nation on Easter Sunday live and tell the country about his ascension to God. Oh Father (Daveed Diggs) is setting up the broadcast and keeping an eye out for trouble. The Boys are planning to enter the White House via a secret tunnel and take on Homelander. Sage thinks it's a stupid, suicidal mission and leaves them to go to Florida instead.

What happens during Homelander's live broadcast?

The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Oh Father are on standby for intruders when the gang breaks in. Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie), who has now become the US president, ditches the Secret Service to help them defeat Homelander by showing another way to enter the main chambers. Before they get to Homelander, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) takes on The Deep, and Hughie (Jack Quaid) deals with Oh Father to let Butcher and Kimiko get to Homelander.

During Starlight's and The Deep's fight, Kevin is thrown into the ocean. The sea creatures, who hate him after the oil spill that poisoned several of their own, mete out some justice to him, leaving the waters bloody. Hughie and Marvin, aka Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), team up to eliminate Oh Father; his head bursts with the sound of his own voice. While Homelander is broadcasting live to the rest of America, Butcher and later Kimiko interrupt. The camera falls to the ground, but the public still has a front-row seat to the entire fight.It's what fans have been waiting for all series long. Butcher and Homelander continue to pummel one another with their powers. During their fight, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) appears to help them take down Homelander. His father vows to finish him off once and for all. While Ryan and Butcher pin him down, Kimiko has one last vision of Frenchie and summons love instead of hate to generate the energy blast. It's enough to sap Homelander of his powers. Realising this, Homelander gets down on his knees and begs him to save his life, with the whole country watching. Butcher finally ends him with his crowbar.

Does Billy Butcher live or die?

After defeating Homelander, Butcher is rejected by his stepson Ryan, who doesn't believe he is any better than Homelander. He rejects Butcher and chooses himself over his two troubling father figures. Butcher gets one more loss after his beloved bulldog Terror also dies in his sleep. He sneaks off with the supe-killing virus from before and plans to contaminate the water supply to get rid of all the Supes in the world so that another Homelander can't be created. Meanwhile, Hughie follows him, fearing this. He confronts Butcher and tells him to stop. They fight it out and when Butcher is about to pull the trigger, Hughie shoots him to stop. He dies in Hughie's arms while telling him that Hughie reminded him of his younger brother.

What happens to the rest of The Boys and Gen V characters?

Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) resumes power at Vought after Homelander dies. Ashley refuses to resign after Homelander's death, and she is impeached by Congress. While there is no mention of Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) after he was put in stasis by his son, Homelander, the character is set to return in next year's prequel series Vought Rising.

As for the Gen V characters, Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Jordon (London Thor), and Emma (Lizze Broadway) are headed to Canada with other survivors to keep safe early on in the episode. The last few minutes of the series have a happy montage flash-forward that keeps fans updated on the remaining members of The Boys. Mother's Milk gets married and unofficially adopts Ryan into his family; Kimiko goes abroad to Marseille in honour of Frenchie; Hughie turns down being head of the Bureau of Supe Affairs to open his own tech store with Starlight. She is heavily pregnant and expecting their baby, whom Hughie calls Robin, a callback to his late girlfriend, whom we saw killed in the first episode of the show. This time, Hughie stands in the street and kisses Starlight before she goes on a mission to help a citizen in distress. All seven seasons of The Boys are now on Amazon Prime Video.