The Boys Season 4 Ending Explained: What Happens in the Final Episode of the Penultimate Season?
The Boys Season 4 Ending Explained: Assassination Run, the title of The Boys Season 4 Episode 8, the fourth and penultimate season of the Amazon Original TV series created by Eric Kripke and based on the comic of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was released on Prime Video on Thursday 18 July. The spectacular finale of The Boys Season 4, which unlike in the past actually moved the story forward given the final season, confirmed what we told you in our review released with the debut of the new season, and that is that to fully understand what you see in The Boys you need to have seen (at least) the spin-off Gen V as well. Anyway, even if you haven’t done your “homework”, here’s our recap-explanation of the finale of The Boys Season 4, with answers to your questions and clarifications to your doubts. Of course, from here on out it’s full of spoilers as in any self-respecting recap.
How the Last Episode of The Boys Season 4 Begins?
The episode begins with the headlines of the VNN news program, announcing the cancellation of the film “Coaching A-Train” due to alleged cost problems (in reality it is because A-Train is the newly discovered mole, and also because the director Adam Bourke was rightly humiliated by Ryan after he had harassed one of his collaborators). And then there is room for an embarrassing anti-racism commercial by the very racist heroes Vought and finally a bit of mud on “Dakota Bob”, as the new president Robert Singer is offensively called as he prepares to ratify his election and then implement his anti-super agenda. At the base of the Boys is Mother’s Milk wearing a sinister “Dead Prez” T-shirt who urges Frenchie to finish the creation of the virus he is testing on Kimiko’s severed leg after she was treacherously stung by Sameer, Victoria Neuman’s now ex-boyfriend.
The Boys Season 4 Ending Explained: Hughie Doesn’t Recognize the Fake Starlight, Who Makes Him the Proposal?
At Hughie and Starlight’s house, Hughie is covering Singer’s election and doesn’t yet realize that Annie-Starlight is actually the shapeshifting sniper they almost caught in the last episode. Hughie also doesn’t realize when the usually laid-back Annie shows up in a fancy dress and asks him to marry him, with him taking the ring he’s been saving for a while and putting it on her finger before the two make love. She then notices that her fake skin is peeling off and goes to the real Starlight to “recharge” with physical contact and access to her memories, quickly finding the car keys, which makes Hughie suspicious.
Butcher in Hospital Still Talks to Joe?
Butcher is in the hospital after losing consciousness while watching the show interrupted by Ryan who didn’t want to say those racist things written to him by his father. Our butcher still sees the image of his old colleague Joe Kessler, who reminds him that the only way to prevent Homelander from winning is to take back the virus given to the other boys and use it to exterminate every last super, including Ryan, Kimiko, and Annie. Joe tells Billy that he is just a projection of Butcher’s sick mind, so he knows that he wants to commit the super genocide, but Butcher tries to push him out of his mind. And at that moment in the hospital room arrives Grace Mallory, his old boss who would really like to take Ryan back under her wing, to save him from the evil Homelander.
Homelander Discovers Photo Given by Butcher to Ryan
And he, the baddest bad guy of all, is at home picking up yet another white hair before becoming disgusted with himself and starting to sort Ryan’s backpack, where he finds the photo that Butcher gave to his son, with Billy himself together with Ryan’s mother. Obviously, Homelander takes it very badly and trashes his own apartment, where a frightened Ryan arrives and instead of staying with his father rightly thinks of moving away from him.
The real Annie Prisoner of the Shapeshifter
The real Annie January meanwhile is still in some basement, a prisoner of the shapeshifter who has taken her place at home and in bed with Hughie as well as among the Boys. Her jailer recharges, tells her about the proposal and the sex she had with her boyfriend, and tells her of her intention to use her as a scapegoat for the murder of Singer that she is carrying out.
The Steak House With Topless Waitresses: Butcher’s Last Wish
Hughie calls Butcher in the hospital to ask for his help in preventing Singer’s murder, and he essentially tells him that he is dying and that as a last wish, he asks his friend to go to a steak house in Nevada that Butcher and his friends wanted to go to because the waitresses were topless. Hughie agrees to do him this last favor, and Butcher asks him to tell the others that he is sorry for everything.
Homelander Reveals Neuman’s Secret Live
While Firecracker begins to suffer the first side effects of the medicine she took to breastfeed Homelander, the same super bigot hosts a show on VNN where Homelander and Neuman are guests. The politicians start to make their political speeches, but Homelander is fed up and decides to reveal to everyone live, complete with a bounced laser beam as proof, that Victoria Neuman is a superhero who has infiltrated the government to support the cause of the supers. And Vicky is angry with her ally who shamed her on TV and who didn’t even think about the fact that if he wants to carry out his super coup d’état he will have to arrest half the country. And now that he realizes it, he asks Ashley to make a list of all the non-super Vought employees who could blackmail him: their fate is sealed…
MM Asks Hughie to Pull out Vicky’s file, But it’s Gone
Calhoun, the speaker of the House allied with Homelander and Neuman, ratifies Singer’s election while the Boys prepare to spring into action once again. And so MM asks Hughie to hurry up with the creation of the virus and Hughie to dig up the secret file in which all of Victoria’s shady moves are reported to blackmail her and force her to resign, but of course, the shapeshifter has made everything disappear.
Ryan goes to Butcher and Grace Mallory
On TV, the new president Singer announces his intention to call new elections without Neuman, while at the hospital Billy and Grace are joined by Ryan. They ask him to stay with them and not return to his father, and even if Ryan is hesitant, in the end, Butcher convinces him to play a game of Connect 4.
Homelander Orders to Kill everyone, and Ashley Injects Herself with V
In the meeting room of the Seven, while a moved Abyss thinks back to his beloved meatball that he left to die without water (and Firecracker continues to cough annoyingly… for his “baby”), Homelander gets the list from Ashley and dismisses her, but when he tells the other super 7 that they will have to kill Singer and all the rebel humans, Ashley overhears and goes to inject herself with a good dose of Compost V: she immediately falls to her knees and her hairless head twists in a disturbing way.
Singer in a Bunker, the Shapeshifter Attacks (and Annie arrives at the end)
Under the Ministry of Infrastructure, President Singer is made to hide in a bunker to escape an attack, but there is also the fake Starlight. But she is discovered by Hughie when she says she is hot (while the real Annie is “90% pashmina”, he will later tell the real Annie); he immediately warns Mother’s Milk, but the shapeshifter immediately understands that she has been discovered and cornered, immediately begins to attack everyone to kill Singer.
Kimiko defends the president, but the fake Annie snaps her neck, temporarily rendering her helpless. When all seems lost, the real Annie arrives, having managed to free herself from her chains, and finally manages to get the better of the shapeshifter and kills her by suffocating her.
Neuman is Worried and Homelander Threatens Her?
First failed attack attempt: Vicky communicates it by phone to Homelander, who does not admit the failure and does not even want to ask for help from Sage, whom he himself has pushed away. Not only that: Homelander reacts to Neuman’s justified concerns by telling her that she will have to do what he tells her or else her daughter Zoe will be torn to pieces.
Frenchie Created the Virus, Annie-Hughie Clarification, Vicky Asks the Boys for Help
At our boys’ base, the brilliant Frenchie has finally created the virus: he tells his companions as they return from the presidential bunker, with Annie who is rightly slightly jealous of what Hughie has done with the shapeshifter, but he reassures her that he loves her despite her flaws. Hughie is then called by Victoria, who tells him that she intends to leave the menacing Homelander to help the Boys defeat him, after which she will resign and disappear from circulation.
Hughie Convinces the Others to Forgive Vicky
At the Vouth palace, there are Firecracker, Abyss, and Black Noir who carry out the boss’s orders and kill all the humans, including Ashley, Ashley’s assistant (and Black Noir has his “murder erection” that his predecessor always had, as Deep had told him). At “Casa Boys” instead Hughie struggles but manages to convince the others to welcome the dangerous Vicky who has dumped Homelander. Hughie explains that if they want to distinguish themselves from the cruel supers they might as well show themselves to be human, forgiving Victoria and protecting her and her daughter Zoe. And in the end, the others are convinced, as is Annie who is convinced to give him another chance after he has been tested to see if he has contracted “the shapeshifter’s syphilis”.
The Kiss Between Frenchie and Kimiko
After this lesson on forgiveness, Frenchie and Kimiko also reunite, overcoming the disagreements they had throughout the season when Frenchie had a relationship with Colin and later when he turned himself in for the murders he committed, and finally, the two declare their love for each other and kiss.
Ryan Escapes from Butcher and Injures (or kills?) Grace
The game of Connect 4 continues in the hospital, but Grace has something to tell Ryan, and that is that he has to hide for a while because he has to train. For what? To kill his dad Homelander, since he is the only one capable of doing it and since dear daddy has committed horrendous massacres. The boy doesn’t like the proposal at all, he feels mocked and when Mallory tries to hold him back she pushes her away forcefully, hurts her or maybe kills her, and leaves. This gesture hurts Butcher’s heart, and in fact, we see Joe’s vision coming back behind him, which means that Billy is ready to ask for “his help” to do what a few episodes ago he did, without realizing it, to Ezekiel.
Butcher Kills Neuman and Gets the Virus
So, when Vicky and Zoe arrive at the boys’ base to dictate the terms of the deal, Butcher arrives. He pushes aside a pleading Hughie and releases a series of tentacles from his chest, with which he literally tears Victoria to pieces, surprisingly killed in front of Zoe’s eyes, who was also knocked out by Butcher. After that, Billy gets the virus from Frenchie, tells the others not to show up for a while, and goes off to do the killing he has to do (but without touching Kimiko and Annie for now). “By the way, you’re welcome,” he says, taking his leave of the rest of the group.
Sage reveals to Butcher that Everything went According to Plan
Homelander is a little depressed when he sees on TV that Neuman has been killed. But Sage arrives and is particularly pleased because, in reality, everything went according to her plans, already hatched taking into account the fact that Homelander would do some of his typical stupid things. Singer was arrested because the video came out in which he told the Boys that they should have killed Neuman first. And the new president is the conservative Calhoun, the speaker of the house who swore loyalty to Homelander. “Next time, trust me, maybe,” Sage says to Homelander who, in his way, apologized.
Calhoun Relies on Superheroes: The Boys Season 4 Epilogue
And so in a subsequent live TV broadcast, we see Calhoun announce that martial law has been declared, meaning that from now on security will be entrusted to superheroes who will answer directly to Homelander. Who takes the floor and announces that our Boys and all the traitors will be prosecuted and punished? So we see our friends try to escape in pairs, but they are all caught by the supers. Including Kimiko and Frenchie: he is convinced to follow the bad guys by Cate, while the other “guardian of Godolkin” from Gen V, Sam, keeps Kimiko at bay. Only Starlight, who has regained her full powers, manages to escape by flying when they come for her and Hughie. But Butcher is still around and in the last scene before the credits we see him driving on a snowy road, with Joe “sitting” in the back seat.
The Boys Season 4 Post Credits Scene: Soldier Boy Returns
But as is tradition around here, the credits are interrupted for the real final scene. Homelander reaches President Calhoun in some laboratory, and there we discover that Soldier Boy is still alive, a case shown to his little son who can’t contain his emotion in the last scene of this penultimate season of The Boys.
