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Homelander doesn't see them as any sort of legitimate threat, so why bother with them?
Even on Temp V last season, Butcher and Hughie weren't able to harm him (none of Butcher's blows actually caused him any damage). Only Queen Maeve and Soldier Boy were genuinely able to injure him, and as far as he knows, they're both dead and no longer available to back up any of team's plans.
Besides, he seems to find them somewhat amusing and clearly enjoys the fact that Butcher's so obsessed with him.
He might occasionally become irritated with one of them enough to try and kill them in the moment (like with Hughie this week) but for the most part, I don't think he gives them much thought or cares enough to even bother hunting them down.
He also gets a lot of sick pleasure toying with them.
Like he's allowing Butcher to live because it's funnier to watch him die slowly now he's no longer a threat.
Also he is actively trying to kill Hughie when he sees him.
So even though you are Homelander to this insect, you struggle to take it down? Seems like this is all I need to know to forgive Homelander not succeeding in killing Hughie
> Like he's allowing Butcher to live because it's funnier to watch him die slowly now he's no longer a threat.
That was maybe the case before ( I don't remember).
He def can't do it now because of Ryan, yeah plus the ticking clock means its an issue that will solve itself.
You are correct. Honelander views humans as playthings. The Boys aren't worth his time hunting down. That would give them validity that they matter to him.
And he tries to kill Hughie in the moment because he's impulsive. He basically has a tantrum due to the audacity that Hughie keeps showing up in random places.
When he gets home, he's over it. Bored and on to the next thing he worries about.
If you view his behavior as a Toddler, it becomes relatively consistent. Or, more accurately, a grown man who has a mental condition that makes him still act as a toddler.
When Ryan is sad about Butcher, or the other two times Butcher comes up between HL and Ryan- I thought HL was gonna fly out the window and try to be rid of Butcher immediately.
Ryan is giving plenty of motivation for HL to kill Butcher.
Whaaaat?!
All HL does is gaslight Ryan. He can lie about this too. Just steal Butcher at night and drop him over the Atlantic somewhere.
"Well he was terminal, Ryan. Even dogs go to be alone when they die. We'll miss him"
He doesn't even understand why Ryan is still involved with Butcher.
Ryan isn’t an idiot when it comes to Butcher, Ryan knows something is wrong if he can’t find Butcher or doesn’t buy Homelander’s flimsy explaination what happened to him.
I don't think HL realizes or accepts anything like that. I'll compromise though, and say that after Ryan met with Butcher, he probably couldn't be tricked.
HL doesn't understand or recognize anything going on in Ryan's head though.
he didn't try to kill hughie just because he's impulsive, he tried to kill him because he has good reason to lol.
i think it actually really does weigh on him heavily. last season, when he was left with a black eye from a fight he had with them, it was a huge humbling moment for him. and plaything or not, he's not an idiot. i would think, logically, that he would obviously want to kill them and be done with it. but then we wouldn't have a show.
Yeah he basically spells this out when he's trying to calm Ryan's nerves in the premiere. "Would you be scared of a bunch of cockroaches?" and "They're just toys for our amusement" aren't just comments about the people in that room; it's how he sees literally every non-supe (and probably a lot of actual supes too). The Boys are no exception
sure, he can say that, but those cockroaches have almost taken his powers away and almost killed him -- two things he obviously would not want. so you'd think he would take it a bit more seriously.
Exactly! Also if Butcher didn’t give a shit about Ryan, then HL would have lost again. So yeah, they are a threat and HL not immediately finding and killing them is odd. Hell he killed Anika very quickly and with barely any evidence that she was the mole. And yet, when it comes to the boys who have successfully killed supes before and have been gunning for him for a while now, he’s just like, “eh, who cares?”. Makes no sense to me lol
yeah i brought up the point about anika in another thread. he will absolutely kill a cockroach just for looking at him the wrong way, so...really don't think that's the reason he wouldn't have killed at least *some* of the boys already lol.
It’s why I think this show should have been 3 seasons max. It feels like they’re stalling, but at least it’s still entertaining for the most part lol
Sucks tho, think S1 will always be the best one
i honestly think seasons 3 was very strong apart from the ending -- and the ending wasn't strong because they refused to end it lol. i would definitely have been ok with the story wrapping up there.
Same! That’s what it felt like it was building up to but they gotta make that money I guess.
At least they confirmed S5 being the last one so that’s nice lol
"So why bother with them" doesn't make sense when he kills very indiscriminately. Compared to literally any other civilian group, the boys are the biggest threat
butcher, hughie and soldier boy were about to take his powers away last season. i would think that would definitely count as a legitimate threat and be concerning lol
Yeah that's my thing. Pre season 3, I'd agree. But they actually had Homelander, for the first time in his life, up against the ropes. ***Twice***.
They almost actually killed him. The boys clearly have the capacity, if left to their devices, to pose a legitimate threat.
That on top of all their shit just making his life complicated and harder (leaking V, complicating things with Ryan, turning supes against him, killing his girlfriend, etc etc) I don't buy that he ***still*** doesn't see them as a threat.
Homelander's "kryptonite" is people not liking him. That was the purpose of the cracked mirror scene and why he tries so hard with Ryan. If he kills the boys, his fans may love him but he'll turn his literal enemies into beloved martyrs. And the idea of his own son not loving him will destroy his ego.
It's concievable that the end game is he loses Ryan and then goes apeshit at which point the entire world may want to destroy him.
I think we’ve moved past his kryptonite being people not liking him.. he wouldn’t have killed that Starlighter otherwise or doing the “I’m better” speech.
His biggest “weakness” to him rn is Ryan. It’s his last tether to humanity or being halfway decent. He’s probably gonna kill Ryan in the finale to complete his transformation into his best self that he always wanted.
I don’t think he’s beyond it completely, it reads more like he snapped in the moment and yet he got away with it. It seems like that taught him that the people who love him, actually love him and what he stands for. He’s been emboldened but he still needs their validation, hence the mirror scene.
Well the show would be over if he did. That’s all I got really.
In the comic the boys had all sorts of dirt on Homelander and had powers themselves so eliminating them would have been really messy. I think at one point there was a report done by Vought on what would happen if the two groups fought and the 7 always came out on top but with 3 or 4 fatalities of their own in the process.
Mutually assured destruction is what kept the boys alive and the show hasn’t really got that anymore. Kinda need the main cast to take V and get serious blackmail material on Homelander (not the same as the comic though, it was pictures of him eating a baby and it was gross).
Bear in mind in the comic originally V was **just** for The Boys and gave just enough powers to survive regular hits from people with super strength and not just be ignored by them. It was only later that it changed to V being the source of all supes and the boys just getting a refined and controlled version.
My memory is quite fuzzy because I read it like 12 years ago but I kinda remember that The boys in the comic were basically A-lister supes. Like, no flight, no lasers, just insane durability and strength. They were killing off supe teams like those were first timers, only the seven were on their level
Well yeah, but Stormfront wasn’t a goofy supe and he and his whole team (I don’t remember the name, it was an homage to the Avengers) got obliterated by The boys. And those were hard hitters, second best team.
The Boys were one step below the absolute top-tier supes. They could shred anyone besides Stormfront and HL. Butcher was able to stand and trade with SF for a bit then the whole gang plus Love Sausage stomped him to death. The gang would lose to HL but they’d bloody him.
Neither Homelander, nor anybody else working for Vought can just go around openly murdering government agents without the company facing some serious repercussions.
Come on, you remember that scene where homelander made deep and Noir to kill those supporters, it was a test as well, homelander noticed that these people would do anything because they are scared of him and that is true for everyone else as well, he killed someone in broad daylight and the justice system just let's him go. I don't think he cares wether the boys are government or deep state. I think he did not kill butcher because of Ryan. And he almost killed hughi last episode (but why did he just flew away rather than trying to find hughi)
That really doesn't make sense though. Why wouldn't he have just teleported away to begin with? Also surely Homelander would deduce that teleporting leaves clothes behind. It's not like Hughie is choosing to go into battle naked.
I liked the scene but it doesn't really make sense as a whole. There's no way Hughie should have survived there. He could have just flown up there and grabbed him at any point.
I think he just thought Hughie ran away and so he left. Because the previous actions didn't make sense so why not continue with it, you know?
Realistically he wouldn't but the boys have plot armor.
My headcannon is that Homelander can't use XRay vision and heat vision at the same time as he needs to focus (in season 1 like when he scanned Frenchie's van or Madelyn's office) so he had to rely on sound which was hard due to the singing.
Why he didn't Blitz him? Honestly could be asked for many scenes, I guess Homelander is just that lazy. Though this is a problem for anyone with superspeed in almost all comics and characters.
I liked the theory that he can't see through the vents because it is galvanized steel. But, right, if he couldn't use xray for whatever reason why didn't he just fly up there and tear the venting down. Or just fly through it. How come he just stood around while Hughie ran across the scaffolding.
Remember how lazy he was when killing the terrorists in that one episode? Just stood around lasering people and not moving much?
He doesn't think he needs to put in effort to kill people.
Yeah. They killed 3 terrified civilians. So what? You think The Boys are going to react like that when they're under threat?
The criminal justice system didn't just let him go. He stood trial. For murdering a civilian. Now imagine what would happen if he killed a group of government agents with a direct line to the next president. A president whom Homelander WANTS to see elected, mind you.
Ryan is still a factor, so one more reason not to go after them.
And, one more time, seeing as it's the crux of my argument, Homelander does not view The Boys as a threat to him.
I really think we need to rule out any chance of the trial being legit or homelander not having any sort of influence over the result. The people on the jury wouldve been scared of Homelander and what'd happen if they found him guilty.
Theres also the possibility that Vought has influence in the legal system or that they paid the judge off or smth like that or any possible thing a company as powerful as Vought could do to make sure Homelander was considered innocent.
The only possible reason he could be keeping any of them alive is Ryan and even then he'd just need to keep Butcher alive and wait out the 6 months till he drops dead.
He could easily murder them all except maybe butcher and vought would find a way to cover it up.
It's not just Vought anymore, though. The next president and Vicky both have reason to find leverage on Homelander, too. And Grace is still gunning for him. Also, killing a public figure such as Starlight isn't going to be an easy cover-up.
Ryan is almost certainly a factor, and I agree that Homelander's "trial" should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
Okay he stood trial, do you think if there was an average person standing for trial for murdering someone infront of a crowd. Do you think the verdict would have been same. At the end of the day wether a human is a government agent or an average civilian they die the same. Remember homelander threat that they can release the plane video if they want, homelander prefers to be loved but he will not hate being feared, if he wanted he can just fly into the white House or congress and kill everyone, no one can do anything about that.
That's why the justice system just let's him go with a not guilty verdict, because they fear that if they convict him guilty can they convince him to just freely go into a supe holding facility, what if he said no...... No one can do anything. That's the horror, our human world works because we can hold someone responsible for their actions, but it's not true for homelander that's why even the cia wants to kill him. It's the same equivalence of what happens when one person gets too much power
I'm not going to argue with any of this because it only serves to strengthen my main point. Homelander doesn't view The Boys as a threat to him. Why would he?
I am not disagreeing with you, I just feel homelander at this point considers himself above the law, he has a god complex not surprising.
I just love how the show has captured existential horror. Remember that Cia friend of butcher, he said "we have to start doing something before they start rounding us up and dumping us"
Chills....
> And, one more time, seeing as it's the crux of my argument, Homelander does not view The Boys as a threat to him.
He *can't* view them as a threat. He'd have to confront the fact that they got close and then got away. And doesn't he still think they're Neuman's creatures anyway, so why would he shoot his own horse in the foot?
How so? He'd need to eliminate a high-profile public figure in Starlight and a team of government agents who are being monitored by the next president of the United States, his vice-president, and the C.I.A. on top of that. All very powerful people who would love to knock Homie down a peg.
And he'd need to accomplish all of that without any excessive use of his powers to hide the fact that it was him. (And plenty of people would probably just assume it was him anyway)
He has superspeed, super hearing, and x-ray vision, it's a matter of going to where they hang out, beating them to death and throwing their bodies in the oceans.
And none of those groups you mention have any real power over Homelander other than exposing him which will just result in him destroying everything.
And he doesn't want that. He doesn't want to be exposed. He doesn't want to be hated. Homelander destroying everything is a last resort. And that's exactly why those groups I mentioned *do* hold power over him. He wants to be loved, and that won't happen if they turn everyone against him. (Or worse, Grace might unleash Soldier Boy again if things get too out of hand, or Ryan might turn on him)
Vicky put it best, mutually assured destruction. It's what's keeps everyone in the show, including Homelander, in line.
Also, I think you're downplaying Annie's capabilities here. I don't think that Homelander could easily kill her without using enough of his power to make it fairly obvious that it was him.
Dude Newmans daughter murdered two guys unprovoked lol. Protective details should always have two left in the room the protected person sleeps to ensure it’s you know… safe. The guy was like “maybe you should go outside” and that crazy ass bitch ate his face lol
Pretty sure that those two guys worked for Vicky anyway, and they were nobodies. She likely wouldn't have had a hard time covering that up.
Killing a public figure like Starlight would be a completely different kettle of fish.
POTUS literally says “she killed two guys off my detail”. They were SS agents and the SS is federal, like the CIA, actually more so cuz the CIA will deny you ever worked for them, so it’s actually easier to kill one of their black ops guys and get away with it.
Again, irrelevant, your argument is they can’t kill feds and get away with it. Spooks are not even on the books and can be burned at any time, thus more expendable, unlike SS agents like the two murdered. Starlight is the only one they couldn’t get away with since she is a public figure after all
He might be able to get away with doing that to civilians, but government agents with a direct line to the next president? And Homelander has been previously linked to them? That'll cause investigations. And it's not like they'd go quietly. There'd be a big scene. Maybe even some explosions.
And there's Annie.
And Homelander doesn't see them as a real threat anyway.
i mean homelander got away with a clear homicide in front of everyone, i don't think he would have trouble getting away from a murder where there is no evidence of him doing it, even if they think he has a motive it wouldn't be nearly enough for someone like him.
Homelander was put on trial for murdering a civilian whom he had no connection to. Now imagine him killing a group of government agents whom he has been previously linked with.
No evidence? How is Homelander killing all of The Boys without using his powers? Because they aren't just going to let him beat their brains in. How is he beating Annie without using his powers?
And even if he could accomplish all of that, there's still the problem that Vicky, Grace, and the future president would all know that he was responsible anyway.
It's a massive risk just to take out a group of people whom he doesn't view as a threat to him anyway.
Pretty sure those guys worked for Vought. Stan Edgar, specifically.
Edit: Just rewatched the episode, and those guys definitely worked for Vought. No government connections whatsoever. So...big ooft for anybody who upvoted a statement which is factually incorrect. 😬
The series literally just established that connected supes can kill government agents and get away with it though. Neumann's daughter killed two secret service agents in Neumann's hotel room and got off scot free.
There is absolutely no in-universe reason Homelander can't show up at the Flatiron Building, break everyone's necks, and burn the place down.
Irrelevant to this post but I hate how MM is written in this season. He almost got the gang and Hughie killed on 2 separate occasions. And I really don't understand why they didn't grab Sage when they had the chance. They could've cut off her potential threat for the rest of show right there and then.
It was Butcher who fucked up the plan in episode 1. In order Butcher didn't put on his disguise, didn't stay by the door, confronted Ryan who was distracting Zoe. How was that on MM? If he stays by the door Kimiko and Frenchie leave the room, two guards are alive and Newman never finds Hughie.
You say they should have jumped Sage but Sage already knew she was being followed so you think she just gonna take it? Hey let us jump the one black woman in this convention while not being noticed. Oh and she is the worlds smartest person and is a supe in which we don't know her limits. Much better plan than trying to figure out what her actual motive is.
I honestly feel like Sage probably thought about that, and had a plan for it. We know she can manipulate situations and thinks through all the possible outcomes.
Honestly, the writers kind of wrote themselves into a corner and it's a logical question to ask, but the only answer is for us to come up with dozens of "grasping at straws" reasons.
Meaning, the key thing in the early seasons and even the comic was the whole notion of "mutually assured destruction" between Homelander and The Boys that kept both sides from going too far against the other. But with the TV show going the way it has, nearly all the leverage The Boys have against "exposing" Homelander is gone. Him doing what he did last season and what we see in the current all but proves any notion of blackmail or getting the public to turn on him is out the window for Butcher and crew.
A lot of commenters are saying "Well, he still just can't kill government agents" or "He doesn't want to make them martyrs" and while that may be true, it doesn't explain why he doesn't just discreetly snatch them up at superspeed and drop them into the ocean or something.
On the other hand, as far as Butcher himself, from what we've seen in their interactions over the years, I think Homelander genuinely deep down likes having an "arch nemesis", especially since weirdly, Butcher's probably the only person in his life that is 100% honest and stands up to him, even if it's all negative.
Everyone cowers in fear because Homelander could kill them.
Homelander could also kill Butcher and yet, weirdly (from HL's pov anyways), Butcher also stands up to him.
It's gotta be partly curiosity, too.
Why would he?
Since the boys have started targeting him, he's gotten:
* to know his origin and meet his father
* find a son he never knew he had
* become the head of Vought
* obtain a devoted legion of followers willing to do anything for him
* is an election away from having the US become a supe autocracy
Before the boys started meddling, he was just a glorified action figure.
If anything, he should be thanking The Boys. Their meddling has given him everything he has ever wanted.
minus the part where they almost took his powers away and almost killed him
most of the rest of that is to stormfront and his own doing (a la scaring neuman into ousting edgar, resulting in him taking over vought)
I think Homelander genuinely enjoys torturing Butcher with Ryan and is getting off on the idea of him dying soon from brain cancer. The rest, I just don't think he thinks they're worth his effort of going out of his way. He tries to kill Hughie when he sees him but unless something changes, I just don't think he cares that much about them.
Homelander never interacts with The Boys in Season 1 while knowing who they were until the end where he saves Butcher from suicide, which was revealed to be because Becca threatened to commit suicide and blame Homelander if he killed him.
He could have killed them in early Season 2 when they were in the tunnels instead of just waiting for Kimiko's brother to drop the train on him.
Since we're talking about plot armor, don't you guys think that homelander could have easily killed hughie in the latest episode? Didn't homelander have the capacity to see through walls and stuff? (I remember him using it once in season 1 when he was stalking stillwell in her offiice). He could've easily saw where hughie was in the roof and lasered him but he kinda just forgot he was able to
This is definitely the reason imo. This season has specifically shown him to seeking out someone who is willing to stand up to him and specific shows him annoyed with all his yes men.
I think it's been clear since the end of season 1 where homelandee goes out of way to save butcher after butcher just tried to kill him. And brings him to Becca. He likes them
Honestly, no good reasons. Its just plot armor. If I were Homelander I’d track them down and throw them to space or something. Or order some supes to kill them.
Homelander doesn't consider them worth wasting his time thinking about or even dealing with them. He considers all humans beneath him like insects, so why would he bother killing a ragtag group of anti-supes that don't really pose any threat to him? He's more concerned with world domination at this point and becoming the Earth's God-King.
Bullshit. He asks Sage to use Firecracker to kill them and he is pissed that Butcher is interfering with Ryan. And he hates Starlight for political reasons. He has enough incentive to want them all dead
They still have the flight video of homelander.
I know he says to starlight if it was ever released it wouldn’t bother him, he’d happily live being feared instead of loved.
But still, it would do a lot of damage.
MM also says to A-train about the amount of dirt they have on him.
They also have all the files about where Neuman grew up.
And Sage did almost get them killed, if Butcher hadn’t of turned up.
They’ve also got the backing of Mallory/the CIA.
Does Homelander actually know where their base is? I don’t remember him ever finding it.
If the flight video matters, why try to kill Hughie? Even if he just somehow couldn't find the building they all go to, most of them have been to the Starlighters HQ which is very public, he could tail them from there.
Homelander loves the challenge and won’t try too hard to kill them unless he’s directly compromised or already in a fit of rage like the ice rink scene
They directly work for a wing of the government that is anti supe already
Homelander would kill any of the boys except butcher as seen with him smelling hughie and trying to kill him (he didn't try hard because he doesn't deem hughie as enough of a threat)
And he doesn't kill butcher because he is entertaining and Ryan likes him, so killing butcher would make Ryan hate him, plus butcher is already dying soon
I think it goes back to his struggle with no one challenging what he says. I think a part of him loves that there is a group out there wanting to fight him. He doesn’t believe in his arrogance that they will ever succeed, but for him there is the fun and thrill that he has opponents to “fight”.
I don't agree with almost any reason I see here, I would say that it plays into Homelander being tired of being surrounded by yes men and sycophants. The Boys are always after him, sometimes even on his level, and it probably provides Homelander a form of entertainment that he has been able to toy with them for so long without killing them. As you said, he *could* kill them, but he chooses not to.
In the comic books it was a governmental agreement.....of sorts. A kind of uneasy truce which was broken.
That said The Boys TV series has seemingly only really taken names from the source material. So if I were to put my finger on it. I would say Homelander likes them chasing him. If you think about it the boys, in particular Butcher are the only consistent relationship he's ever had.
I imagine it's kind of like the relationship between Joker & Batman. When Batman 'dies' the Joker despairs that 'crime has no punchline'.
1. It makes no sense for Homelander to not be bothered with The Boys because they are just cockroaches when we have seen Homelander killed Anika so casually. However, Homelander sees non-supes as toys, and that is why he won't bother hunting down The Boys.
2. Homelander won't kill Butcher because he is dying and is no longer a threat. He finds sick pleasure watching his arch nemesis die slowly. Also, Homelander is afraid to lose Ryan's trust and love if he kills Butcher.
3. Homelander won't kill Starlight because that would make her a beloved martyr, and his ego won't be able to handle it.
4. Homelander is like a toddler.
If he kills them they'll release everything they have on him and he'll have to go to plan B: hostile takeover. Right now he's still running plan A: Be messianic and take it relatively quietly.
Homelander would prefer plan A so he isn't going out of his way to kill them. If they're caught spying on the vice president then he'll have to do what it takes to protect her but otherwise they're safe for the time being as long as they stay low.
I’m pretty sure that The Boys have some kind of a safety net just in case Homelander or VOUGHT get any funny ideas not enough to bring them down but enough to get them in deep shit
Homelander enjoys the fact that there are people out there working day and night to take him down. It boosts his ego. I think it’s very much a Batman / joker scenario, they both give each other fuel to keep going.
Homelander wants to 1) be loved and 2) be in control. Killing the Boys puts both at risk because Ryan would hate him for killing Butcher and Starlight would directly confront him for killing Hughie. Even if he can easily kill Starlight, he also looks down on unnecessary killing of Supes and prefers working with alternate methods (like psychologically torturing them lol.) It‘s like asking “why doesn’t Putin just nuke Ukraine” like sure he could, but it pushes a controllable conflict into a chaotic, uncontrollable one.
That’s the irony of the show. Homelander COULD destroy the world, but he’s trying to find every alternative (no matter how evil) to not do that. But, things are heating up and Homelander might be going apeshit sooner rather than later.
You are right. It’s a mistake by the writers. They must’ve pondered this. you think they would’ve put some reason into the script. it would be too politically damaging or something? Doesn’t even have to kill butcher. Just Kill Frenchie and MM who are virtually unknown. Besides home knows that Butcher will die soon. Who’s that leave?
He doesn’t necessarily want to kill them. He wants to beat them, to win. Him being in power and them failing to take him down means more to him than just outright eliminating the threat. His ego is his biggest weakness.
In my mind, it’s the same reason a cat will play with a mouse time and time again instead of killing it. It thinks it will always have the upper hand, and could potentially kill it anytime they want, so why not enjoy the fight. We see a lot of homelander moments where he feels better than everyone, which probably gets boring after a while, so maybe he enjoys having adversaries he knows he’ll always beat but at least they’ll make things interesting.
A few eps before, he hardly even gave a shit about them. Secondly, he was in vought (an institution where wishes to stay to help in and grow). Later as when the boys gets annoying and on his nerves, he is already too late because they are an institution - the boys themselves.
They should go viral and just have a main character die like in succession how it was kept under wraps. Idk who exactly but maybe starlight based on the current storylines
Off the cuff thought here but could it be that The Boys give Homelander the personal attention that he craves. After-all they know more about him than most do anyways. I mean the whole core of their mission is to bring him down but they can’t seem to get the job done weather it’s due to him just out matching them strength wise or due to the teams own emotions. He could see them as a driving purpose. Perhaps they give him motivation. Season 4 already showcased that he is seemingly bored of not being challenged. Everybody just follows his orders out of fear, but The Boys defy him constantly and show courage to stand up to him and I believe he needs that. Anyone feel free to reply I’m interested in seeing all the different viewpoints as to why Homelander does what he does :)
Meta answer: Most villains never ever kill the heroes before the climax.
Story answer: It feels like the Boys amassed enough blackmail on everyone that them dying would only serve to make things worse for Homelander and Neumann.
I will say I find it entertaining that The Boys and the 7 constantly just meet up and not fight, just upping the ante with blackmail and vague threats. Makes the story have a sort of Game of Thrones theme in terms of the politics.
The boys know how to play around him. They pretty do everything they can to avoid direct confrontations, and pretty much run away whenever they’re in his sights. They only confront him when they know they have the means to fight him.
I think Homelander enjoys keeping Butcher alive.. it's a Joker-Batman thing.. Its more fun to keep proving to him he's a lion in a lambs world for as long as he can.. We're past what he can and can't get away with..
Yeah it makes no sense. Sage tried to kill them in episode 2 in the cheesiest saturday morning cartoon way possible, leaving them alone with goons. Instead of just bombing their hideout or something.
Killing Butcher and therefor the Boys would end his whole relationship with Ryan. He knows that Ryan still feels connected to him and that he even likes his team, especially Kimiko it seems. Homelander will only kill the Boys when he doesn't care anymore, which seems to be the case soon.
They are ants to him nothing more. Most people don't go out of their way to kill ants unless they are directly bothering them. When Hughie was spying he was annoyed enough to kill him at that moment. As for Butcher it's sort of a game to him and with Butcher dieing murdering him wouldn't be fun. He'd rather let him suffer and die.
This is what is known as a "plot hole". If you want it to work in the story, you just kind of have to assume it's because Homelander is arrogant or something so he doesn't see them as a threat, even though Homelander clearly doesn't value human life whatsoever and would just squash them like bugs without a second thought. Or maybe Homelander enjoys them trying to kill him and it's entertaining for him so he keeps them around or some shit. I dunno. Whatever.
The comments prove how stupid this show is 😭 he doesn’t kill them because the show has one season of material and just constantly recycles the same season for the next. There’s no advancing the plot or real change from season 1-4. He doesn’t kill them because the show will never change or advance.
Bc they have plot armor. They can't be killed and they can't kill Homelander. Regardless of how much that makes no sense something will prevent them from killing the other until the show deems its time
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Homelander doesn't see them as any sort of legitimate threat, so why bother with them? Even on Temp V last season, Butcher and Hughie weren't able to harm him (none of Butcher's blows actually caused him any damage). Only Queen Maeve and Soldier Boy were genuinely able to injure him, and as far as he knows, they're both dead and no longer available to back up any of team's plans. Besides, he seems to find them somewhat amusing and clearly enjoys the fact that Butcher's so obsessed with him. He might occasionally become irritated with one of them enough to try and kill them in the moment (like with Hughie this week) but for the most part, I don't think he gives them much thought or cares enough to even bother hunting them down.
He also gets a lot of sick pleasure toying with them. Like he's allowing Butcher to live because it's funnier to watch him die slowly now he's no longer a threat. Also he is actively trying to kill Hughie when he sees him.
Yeah to him Hughie is what a mosquito is to us. If we see them we try to kill them but we don't go out of our way to hunt down and kill a mosquito
Speak for yourself, I’ve been tracking this fckin mosquito for three days now
this comment really caught me off guard lmao
It took my sleep and my blood, I’m not letting it get away with it
The good news is that if it's a male mosquito you just have to wait about another week
Im not letting him take the easy way out, I will find him
You need to send a message to his brothers and sisters
**Burn them all**
Calm down Aerys.
Male mosquitoes don’t bite
Aren’t female Mosquitos the only ones that suck blood tho?
So even though you are Homelander to this insect, you struggle to take it down? Seems like this is all I need to know to forgive Homelander not succeeding in killing Hughie
They’re so small and there’s a lot of them but when I see it I’ll know
I think there was a Breaking Bad episode like that...
You got this Pete, I believe in you.
“Be wewwy, wewwy quiet …”
This is such an accurate description of what Hughie is to Homelander 😂
Hughie telling his mom he had a “rough day” right after dodging Homelander lasers lmao
Great monologue from Hughie’s Mom btw.
Humans are just toys for him to play with. The Boys are his favorite toys??
Yeah homelander considers himself a literal god. It's like worrying one day that your hamster is going to kill you.
> Like he's allowing Butcher to live because it's funnier to watch him die slowly now he's no longer a threat. That was maybe the case before ( I don't remember). He def can't do it now because of Ryan, yeah plus the ticking clock means its an issue that will solve itself.
You are correct. Honelander views humans as playthings. The Boys aren't worth his time hunting down. That would give them validity that they matter to him. And he tries to kill Hughie in the moment because he's impulsive. He basically has a tantrum due to the audacity that Hughie keeps showing up in random places. When he gets home, he's over it. Bored and on to the next thing he worries about. If you view his behavior as a Toddler, it becomes relatively consistent. Or, more accurately, a grown man who has a mental condition that makes him still act as a toddler.
When Ryan is sad about Butcher, or the other two times Butcher comes up between HL and Ryan- I thought HL was gonna fly out the window and try to be rid of Butcher immediately. Ryan is giving plenty of motivation for HL to kill Butcher.
HL knows if he kills Butcher, he will completely lose Ryan's love and trust.
Whaaaat?! All HL does is gaslight Ryan. He can lie about this too. Just steal Butcher at night and drop him over the Atlantic somewhere. "Well he was terminal, Ryan. Even dogs go to be alone when they die. We'll miss him" He doesn't even understand why Ryan is still involved with Butcher.
Ryan isn’t an idiot when it comes to Butcher, Ryan knows something is wrong if he can’t find Butcher or doesn’t buy Homelander’s flimsy explaination what happened to him.
I don't think HL realizes or accepts anything like that. I'll compromise though, and say that after Ryan met with Butcher, he probably couldn't be tricked. HL doesn't understand or recognize anything going on in Ryan's head though.
Lol fr, he could just be like “The brain cancer finally got to him” and it’d be completely believable.
he didn't try to kill hughie just because he's impulsive, he tried to kill him because he has good reason to lol. i think it actually really does weigh on him heavily. last season, when he was left with a black eye from a fight he had with them, it was a huge humbling moment for him. and plaything or not, he's not an idiot. i would think, logically, that he would obviously want to kill them and be done with it. but then we wouldn't have a show.
it feels like plot armour tbh. At least with Neuman they have blackmail.
Yeah he basically spells this out when he's trying to calm Ryan's nerves in the premiere. "Would you be scared of a bunch of cockroaches?" and "They're just toys for our amusement" aren't just comments about the people in that room; it's how he sees literally every non-supe (and probably a lot of actual supes too). The Boys are no exception
sure, he can say that, but those cockroaches have almost taken his powers away and almost killed him -- two things he obviously would not want. so you'd think he would take it a bit more seriously.
Exactly! Also if Butcher didn’t give a shit about Ryan, then HL would have lost again. So yeah, they are a threat and HL not immediately finding and killing them is odd. Hell he killed Anika very quickly and with barely any evidence that she was the mole. And yet, when it comes to the boys who have successfully killed supes before and have been gunning for him for a while now, he’s just like, “eh, who cares?”. Makes no sense to me lol
yeah i brought up the point about anika in another thread. he will absolutely kill a cockroach just for looking at him the wrong way, so...really don't think that's the reason he wouldn't have killed at least *some* of the boys already lol.
It’s why I think this show should have been 3 seasons max. It feels like they’re stalling, but at least it’s still entertaining for the most part lol Sucks tho, think S1 will always be the best one
i honestly think seasons 3 was very strong apart from the ending -- and the ending wasn't strong because they refused to end it lol. i would definitely have been ok with the story wrapping up there.
Same! That’s what it felt like it was building up to but they gotta make that money I guess. At least they confirmed S5 being the last one so that’s nice lol
Oh my fucking god Homelander is turning into Gilgamesh! Seriously Anthony Starr would be the perfect voice too.
"So why bother with them" doesn't make sense when he kills very indiscriminately. Compared to literally any other civilian group, the boys are the biggest threat
butcher, hughie and soldier boy were about to take his powers away last season. i would think that would definitely count as a legitimate threat and be concerning lol
Yeah that's my thing. Pre season 3, I'd agree. But they actually had Homelander, for the first time in his life, up against the ropes. ***Twice***. They almost actually killed him. The boys clearly have the capacity, if left to their devices, to pose a legitimate threat. That on top of all their shit just making his life complicated and harder (leaking V, complicating things with Ryan, turning supes against him, killing his girlfriend, etc etc) I don't buy that he ***still*** doesn't see them as a threat.
He needs them. His relationship with Sage shows that. He needs them to make sense of his life. And, they are not a threat to him so he doesn’t care.
>so why bother with them? How would he kill them? He doesn't know where they are hiding.
Homelander's "kryptonite" is people not liking him. That was the purpose of the cracked mirror scene and why he tries so hard with Ryan. If he kills the boys, his fans may love him but he'll turn his literal enemies into beloved martyrs. And the idea of his own son not loving him will destroy his ego. It's concievable that the end game is he loses Ryan and then goes apeshit at which point the entire world may want to destroy him.
I think we’ve moved past his kryptonite being people not liking him.. he wouldn’t have killed that Starlighter otherwise or doing the “I’m better” speech. His biggest “weakness” to him rn is Ryan. It’s his last tether to humanity or being halfway decent. He’s probably gonna kill Ryan in the finale to complete his transformation into his best self that he always wanted.
God, if he kills Ryan that's fucking nuts. I hope it happens now.
Homelander killing Ryan would probably be what pushes Butcher into commiting to a full blown supe genocide plan.
I don’t think he’s beyond it completely, it reads more like he snapped in the moment and yet he got away with it. It seems like that taught him that the people who love him, actually love him and what he stands for. He’s been emboldened but he still needs their validation, hence the mirror scene.
Why does homelander, the largest supe, not simply eat the boys?
Well the show would be over if he did. That’s all I got really. In the comic the boys had all sorts of dirt on Homelander and had powers themselves so eliminating them would have been really messy. I think at one point there was a report done by Vought on what would happen if the two groups fought and the 7 always came out on top but with 3 or 4 fatalities of their own in the process. Mutually assured destruction is what kept the boys alive and the show hasn’t really got that anymore. Kinda need the main cast to take V and get serious blackmail material on Homelander (not the same as the comic though, it was pictures of him eating a baby and it was gross).
Bear in mind in the comic originally V was **just** for The Boys and gave just enough powers to survive regular hits from people with super strength and not just be ignored by them. It was only later that it changed to V being the source of all supes and the boys just getting a refined and controlled version.
My memory is quite fuzzy because I read it like 12 years ago but I kinda remember that The boys in the comic were basically A-lister supes. Like, no flight, no lasers, just insane durability and strength. They were killing off supe teams like those were first timers, only the seven were on their level
Bear in mind there’s a lot more goofy supes in the comic.
Well yeah, but Stormfront wasn’t a goofy supe and he and his whole team (I don’t remember the name, it was an homage to the Avengers) got obliterated by The boys. And those were hard hitters, second best team.
The Boys were one step below the absolute top-tier supes. They could shred anyone besides Stormfront and HL. Butcher was able to stand and trade with SF for a bit then the whole gang plus Love Sausage stomped him to death. The gang would lose to HL but they’d bloody him.
Yeah, the boys were acknowledged to be a legitimate threat but one that they could work with.
Neither Homelander, nor anybody else working for Vought can just go around openly murdering government agents without the company facing some serious repercussions.
Come on, you remember that scene where homelander made deep and Noir to kill those supporters, it was a test as well, homelander noticed that these people would do anything because they are scared of him and that is true for everyone else as well, he killed someone in broad daylight and the justice system just let's him go. I don't think he cares wether the boys are government or deep state. I think he did not kill butcher because of Ryan. And he almost killed hughi last episode (but why did he just flew away rather than trying to find hughi)
Someone mentioned he thought Hughie was still on V and teleported away.
That really doesn't make sense though. Why wouldn't he have just teleported away to begin with? Also surely Homelander would deduce that teleporting leaves clothes behind. It's not like Hughie is choosing to go into battle naked. I liked the scene but it doesn't really make sense as a whole. There's no way Hughie should have survived there. He could have just flown up there and grabbed him at any point. I think he just thought Hughie ran away and so he left. Because the previous actions didn't make sense so why not continue with it, you know?
Realistically he wouldn't but the boys have plot armor. My headcannon is that Homelander can't use XRay vision and heat vision at the same time as he needs to focus (in season 1 like when he scanned Frenchie's van or Madelyn's office) so he had to rely on sound which was hard due to the singing. Why he didn't Blitz him? Honestly could be asked for many scenes, I guess Homelander is just that lazy. Though this is a problem for anyone with superspeed in almost all comics and characters.
I liked the theory that he can't see through the vents because it is galvanized steel. But, right, if he couldn't use xray for whatever reason why didn't he just fly up there and tear the venting down. Or just fly through it. How come he just stood around while Hughie ran across the scaffolding.
Remember how lazy he was when killing the terrorists in that one episode? Just stood around lasering people and not moving much? He doesn't think he needs to put in effort to kill people.
Yeah. They killed 3 terrified civilians. So what? You think The Boys are going to react like that when they're under threat? The criminal justice system didn't just let him go. He stood trial. For murdering a civilian. Now imagine what would happen if he killed a group of government agents with a direct line to the next president. A president whom Homelander WANTS to see elected, mind you. Ryan is still a factor, so one more reason not to go after them. And, one more time, seeing as it's the crux of my argument, Homelander does not view The Boys as a threat to him.
I really think we need to rule out any chance of the trial being legit or homelander not having any sort of influence over the result. The people on the jury wouldve been scared of Homelander and what'd happen if they found him guilty. Theres also the possibility that Vought has influence in the legal system or that they paid the judge off or smth like that or any possible thing a company as powerful as Vought could do to make sure Homelander was considered innocent. The only possible reason he could be keeping any of them alive is Ryan and even then he'd just need to keep Butcher alive and wait out the 6 months till he drops dead. He could easily murder them all except maybe butcher and vought would find a way to cover it up.
It's not just Vought anymore, though. The next president and Vicky both have reason to find leverage on Homelander, too. And Grace is still gunning for him. Also, killing a public figure such as Starlight isn't going to be an easy cover-up. Ryan is almost certainly a factor, and I agree that Homelander's "trial" should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
Okay he stood trial, do you think if there was an average person standing for trial for murdering someone infront of a crowd. Do you think the verdict would have been same. At the end of the day wether a human is a government agent or an average civilian they die the same. Remember homelander threat that they can release the plane video if they want, homelander prefers to be loved but he will not hate being feared, if he wanted he can just fly into the white House or congress and kill everyone, no one can do anything about that. That's why the justice system just let's him go with a not guilty verdict, because they fear that if they convict him guilty can they convince him to just freely go into a supe holding facility, what if he said no...... No one can do anything. That's the horror, our human world works because we can hold someone responsible for their actions, but it's not true for homelander that's why even the cia wants to kill him. It's the same equivalence of what happens when one person gets too much power
I'm not going to argue with any of this because it only serves to strengthen my main point. Homelander doesn't view The Boys as a threat to him. Why would he?
I am not disagreeing with you, I just feel homelander at this point considers himself above the law, he has a god complex not surprising. I just love how the show has captured existential horror. Remember that Cia friend of butcher, he said "we have to start doing something before they start rounding us up and dumping us" Chills....
because they almost took his powers away and almost killed him?
> And, one more time, seeing as it's the crux of my argument, Homelander does not view The Boys as a threat to him. He *can't* view them as a threat. He'd have to confront the fact that they got close and then got away. And doesn't he still think they're Neuman's creatures anyway, so why would he shoot his own horse in the foot?
I think he knows that they don't work for Vicky anymore. Other than that, your analysis is spot on.
He absolutely could kill all of them without incriminating himself and he blatantly attempted to kill Hughie.
How so? He'd need to eliminate a high-profile public figure in Starlight and a team of government agents who are being monitored by the next president of the United States, his vice-president, and the C.I.A. on top of that. All very powerful people who would love to knock Homie down a peg. And he'd need to accomplish all of that without any excessive use of his powers to hide the fact that it was him. (And plenty of people would probably just assume it was him anyway)
He has superspeed, super hearing, and x-ray vision, it's a matter of going to where they hang out, beating them to death and throwing their bodies in the oceans. And none of those groups you mention have any real power over Homelander other than exposing him which will just result in him destroying everything.
And he doesn't want that. He doesn't want to be exposed. He doesn't want to be hated. Homelander destroying everything is a last resort. And that's exactly why those groups I mentioned *do* hold power over him. He wants to be loved, and that won't happen if they turn everyone against him. (Or worse, Grace might unleash Soldier Boy again if things get too out of hand, or Ryan might turn on him) Vicky put it best, mutually assured destruction. It's what's keeps everyone in the show, including Homelander, in line. Also, I think you're downplaying Annie's capabilities here. I don't think that Homelander could easily kill her without using enough of his power to make it fairly obvious that it was him.
Annie got beat up by Black Noir who Homelander easily killed. The rest he could easily kill once finding them without any proof he did it.
Dude Newmans daughter murdered two guys unprovoked lol. Protective details should always have two left in the room the protected person sleeps to ensure it’s you know… safe. The guy was like “maybe you should go outside” and that crazy ass bitch ate his face lol
Pretty sure that those two guys worked for Vicky anyway, and they were nobodies. She likely wouldn't have had a hard time covering that up. Killing a public figure like Starlight would be a completely different kettle of fish.
POTUS literally says “she killed two guys off my detail”. They were SS agents and the SS is federal, like the CIA, actually more so cuz the CIA will deny you ever worked for them, so it’s actually easier to kill one of their black ops guys and get away with it.
And who's his vice-president again?
Again, irrelevant, your argument is they can’t kill feds and get away with it. Spooks are not even on the books and can be burned at any time, thus more expendable, unlike SS agents like the two murdered. Starlight is the only one they couldn’t get away with since she is a public figure after all
Huh? The Boys are faceless government agents that no one knows about. They could be killed in an instant and nothing would change
how do they know it's him who did it? he can grab a baseball bat and beat them to death without being linked to it?
He might be able to get away with doing that to civilians, but government agents with a direct line to the next president? And Homelander has been previously linked to them? That'll cause investigations. And it's not like they'd go quietly. There'd be a big scene. Maybe even some explosions. And there's Annie. And Homelander doesn't see them as a real threat anyway.
i mean homelander got away with a clear homicide in front of everyone, i don't think he would have trouble getting away from a murder where there is no evidence of him doing it, even if they think he has a motive it wouldn't be nearly enough for someone like him.
Homelander was put on trial for murdering a civilian whom he had no connection to. Now imagine him killing a group of government agents whom he has been previously linked with. No evidence? How is Homelander killing all of The Boys without using his powers? Because they aren't just going to let him beat their brains in. How is he beating Annie without using his powers? And even if he could accomplish all of that, there's still the problem that Vicky, Grace, and the future president would all know that he was responsible anyway. It's a massive risk just to take out a group of people whom he doesn't view as a threat to him anyway.
He lasered up an entire team of CIA agents at the end of season 2. In his house.
Pretty sure those guys worked for Vought. Stan Edgar, specifically. Edit: Just rewatched the episode, and those guys definitely worked for Vought. No government connections whatsoever. So...big ooft for anybody who upvoted a statement which is factually incorrect. 😬
The series literally just established that connected supes can kill government agents and get away with it though. Neumann's daughter killed two secret service agents in Neumann's hotel room and got off scot free. There is absolutely no in-universe reason Homelander can't show up at the Flatiron Building, break everyone's necks, and burn the place down.
First, Homelander can be irrational and impulsive also Vicky killed... many lmao. And some people know that was her at this point.
You’re right he’s just damn near invincible and only butcher wants to fight em
Didn’t they literally pop the head of the FBI director in season 2? Btw, I still wonder what was the dirt she managed to figure out.
The Boys are UNOFFICIALLY CIA agents meaning they can disavow their actions if caught.
Irrelevant to this post but I hate how MM is written in this season. He almost got the gang and Hughie killed on 2 separate occasions. And I really don't understand why they didn't grab Sage when they had the chance. They could've cut off her potential threat for the rest of show right there and then.
It was Butcher who fucked up the plan in episode 1. In order Butcher didn't put on his disguise, didn't stay by the door, confronted Ryan who was distracting Zoe. How was that on MM? If he stays by the door Kimiko and Frenchie leave the room, two guards are alive and Newman never finds Hughie. You say they should have jumped Sage but Sage already knew she was being followed so you think she just gonna take it? Hey let us jump the one black woman in this convention while not being noticed. Oh and she is the worlds smartest person and is a supe in which we don't know her limits. Much better plan than trying to figure out what her actual motive is.
I honestly feel like Sage probably thought about that, and had a plan for it. We know she can manipulate situations and thinks through all the possible outcomes.
Honestly, the writers kind of wrote themselves into a corner and it's a logical question to ask, but the only answer is for us to come up with dozens of "grasping at straws" reasons. Meaning, the key thing in the early seasons and even the comic was the whole notion of "mutually assured destruction" between Homelander and The Boys that kept both sides from going too far against the other. But with the TV show going the way it has, nearly all the leverage The Boys have against "exposing" Homelander is gone. Him doing what he did last season and what we see in the current all but proves any notion of blackmail or getting the public to turn on him is out the window for Butcher and crew. A lot of commenters are saying "Well, he still just can't kill government agents" or "He doesn't want to make them martyrs" and while that may be true, it doesn't explain why he doesn't just discreetly snatch them up at superspeed and drop them into the ocean or something. On the other hand, as far as Butcher himself, from what we've seen in their interactions over the years, I think Homelander genuinely deep down likes having an "arch nemesis", especially since weirdly, Butcher's probably the only person in his life that is 100% honest and stands up to him, even if it's all negative.
Butcher and homelander have this whole joker/batman relationship going.
expect homelander (batman) is the bad guy
Everyone cowers in fear because Homelander could kill them. Homelander could also kill Butcher and yet, weirdly (from HL's pov anyways), Butcher also stands up to him. It's gotta be partly curiosity, too.
Well he also attempted to kill Butcher but I guess he’s over it now
Why would he? Since the boys have started targeting him, he's gotten: * to know his origin and meet his father * find a son he never knew he had * become the head of Vought * obtain a devoted legion of followers willing to do anything for him * is an election away from having the US become a supe autocracy Before the boys started meddling, he was just a glorified action figure. If anything, he should be thanking The Boys. Their meddling has given him everything he has ever wanted.
minus the part where they almost took his powers away and almost killed him most of the rest of that is to stormfront and his own doing (a la scaring neuman into ousting edgar, resulting in him taking over vought)
I would say plot armour.
I think Homelander genuinely enjoys torturing Butcher with Ryan and is getting off on the idea of him dying soon from brain cancer. The rest, I just don't think he thinks they're worth his effort of going out of his way. He tries to kill Hughie when he sees him but unless something changes, I just don't think he cares that much about them.
Agreed. It’s just plot armor. The boys could have died by homelander easily season 1
Homelander never interacts with The Boys in Season 1 while knowing who they were until the end where he saves Butcher from suicide, which was revealed to be because Becca threatened to commit suicide and blame Homelander if he killed him. He could have killed them in early Season 2 when they were in the tunnels instead of just waiting for Kimiko's brother to drop the train on him.
Yup, people in this thread are trying way too hard to find a justification. It's just plot armor, plain and simple.
Since we're talking about plot armor, don't you guys think that homelander could have easily killed hughie in the latest episode? Didn't homelander have the capacity to see through walls and stuff? (I remember him using it once in season 1 when he was stalking stillwell in her offiice). He could've easily saw where hughie was in the roof and lasered him but he kinda just forgot he was able to
Too much zinc in the airducts, The Boys used a zinc box to hide Translucent's body in the first season.
Honestly, I think it's a Joker/Batman thing and on some level, Homelander knows he'd be damned bored without butcher around to break up the monotony.
This is definitely the reason imo. This season has specifically shown him to seeking out someone who is willing to stand up to him and specific shows him annoyed with all his yes men. I think it's been clear since the end of season 1 where homelandee goes out of way to save butcher after butcher just tried to kill him. And brings him to Becca. He likes them
Came here to post exactly this.
Honestly, no good reasons. Its just plot armor. If I were Homelander I’d track them down and throw them to space or something. Or order some supes to kill them.
I honestly think he enjoys their existence. He's bored being surrounded by yes men and having no resistance. They're some fun for him on some level.
“They’re toys for his amusement”
Homelander doesn't consider them worth wasting his time thinking about or even dealing with them. He considers all humans beneath him like insects, so why would he bother killing a ragtag group of anti-supes that don't really pose any threat to him? He's more concerned with world domination at this point and becoming the Earth's God-King.
Bullshit. He asks Sage to use Firecracker to kill them and he is pissed that Butcher is interfering with Ryan. And he hates Starlight for political reasons. He has enough incentive to want them all dead
i mean he literally just killed anika on a whim for upsetting him and she's the most human of all humans lol. i don't know if this reason makes sense.
Plot armor. They all have it to milk the homelander arc way past it's expiration date.
They still have the flight video of homelander. I know he says to starlight if it was ever released it wouldn’t bother him, he’d happily live being feared instead of loved. But still, it would do a lot of damage. MM also says to A-train about the amount of dirt they have on him. They also have all the files about where Neuman grew up. And Sage did almost get them killed, if Butcher hadn’t of turned up. They’ve also got the backing of Mallory/the CIA. Does Homelander actually know where their base is? I don’t remember him ever finding it.
At this point flight video would not do anything other then lowering approval rate.
It’s in 3rd most prominent building in NYC. He wouldn’t have trouble finding it
If the flight video matters, why try to kill Hughie? Even if he just somehow couldn't find the building they all go to, most of them have been to the Starlighters HQ which is very public, he could tail them from there.
Because there wouldn’t be a fucking show if he killed the Boys
The show would be over logically his ass should just laser them all to death, but the show would be over. Lol
Can his laser penetrate plot armor? no. he ain’t strong enough. don’t even ask
Homelander loves the challenge and won’t try too hard to kill them unless he’s directly compromised or already in a fit of rage like the ice rink scene
He doesn't care about them the way they care about him, maybe he'll casually try to kill them when he sees them, but he's not going to work for it
They directly work for a wing of the government that is anti supe already Homelander would kill any of the boys except butcher as seen with him smelling hughie and trying to kill him (he didn't try hard because he doesn't deem hughie as enough of a threat) And he doesn't kill butcher because he is entertaining and Ryan likes him, so killing butcher would make Ryan hate him, plus butcher is already dying soon
I think it goes back to his struggle with no one challenging what he says. I think a part of him loves that there is a group out there wanting to fight him. He doesn’t believe in his arrogance that they will ever succeed, but for him there is the fun and thrill that he has opponents to “fight”.
I don't agree with almost any reason I see here, I would say that it plays into Homelander being tired of being surrounded by yes men and sycophants. The Boys are always after him, sometimes even on his level, and it probably provides Homelander a form of entertainment that he has been able to toy with them for so long without killing them. As you said, he *could* kill them, but he chooses not to.
In the comic books it was a governmental agreement.....of sorts. A kind of uneasy truce which was broken. That said The Boys TV series has seemingly only really taken names from the source material. So if I were to put my finger on it. I would say Homelander likes them chasing him. If you think about it the boys, in particular Butcher are the only consistent relationship he's ever had. I imagine it's kind of like the relationship between Joker & Batman. When Batman 'dies' the Joker despairs that 'crime has no punchline'.
1. It makes no sense for Homelander to not be bothered with The Boys because they are just cockroaches when we have seen Homelander killed Anika so casually. However, Homelander sees non-supes as toys, and that is why he won't bother hunting down The Boys. 2. Homelander won't kill Butcher because he is dying and is no longer a threat. He finds sick pleasure watching his arch nemesis die slowly. Also, Homelander is afraid to lose Ryan's trust and love if he kills Butcher. 3. Homelander won't kill Starlight because that would make her a beloved martyr, and his ego won't be able to handle it. 4. Homelander is like a toddler.
If he kills them they'll release everything they have on him and he'll have to go to plan B: hostile takeover. Right now he's still running plan A: Be messianic and take it relatively quietly. Homelander would prefer plan A so he isn't going out of his way to kill them. If they're caught spying on the vice president then he'll have to do what it takes to protect her but otherwise they're safe for the time being as long as they stay low.
It wouldn't be a fair win
I’m pretty sure that The Boys have some kind of a safety net just in case Homelander or VOUGHT get any funny ideas not enough to bring them down but enough to get them in deep shit
Homelander enjoys the fact that there are people out there working day and night to take him down. It boosts his ego. I think it’s very much a Batman / joker scenario, they both give each other fuel to keep going.
Homelander likes toying with them and having them as his arch nemesis. That's all it comes down to.
Homelander could laser the planet and he'd still have gray ball hair.
Coz the writers and director don't want him to, simple!! /s
Homelander wants to 1) be loved and 2) be in control. Killing the Boys puts both at risk because Ryan would hate him for killing Butcher and Starlight would directly confront him for killing Hughie. Even if he can easily kill Starlight, he also looks down on unnecessary killing of Supes and prefers working with alternate methods (like psychologically torturing them lol.) It‘s like asking “why doesn’t Putin just nuke Ukraine” like sure he could, but it pushes a controllable conflict into a chaotic, uncontrollable one. That’s the irony of the show. Homelander COULD destroy the world, but he’s trying to find every alternative (no matter how evil) to not do that. But, things are heating up and Homelander might be going apeshit sooner rather than later.
Because their would be no story and no cash grab
Plot
Homelander knows their base?
Related question but who currently has that airplane footage?
You are right. It’s a mistake by the writers. They must’ve pondered this. you think they would’ve put some reason into the script. it would be too politically damaging or something? Doesn’t even have to kill butcher. Just Kill Frenchie and MM who are virtually unknown. Besides home knows that Butcher will die soon. Who’s that leave?
In the trailer for season four you see black noir and the deep attack their headquarters with starlight and butcher fighting them off
He doesn’t necessarily want to kill them. He wants to beat them, to win. Him being in power and them failing to take him down means more to him than just outright eliminating the threat. His ego is his biggest weakness.
Is he stupid?
In my mind, it’s the same reason a cat will play with a mouse time and time again instead of killing it. It thinks it will always have the upper hand, and could potentially kill it anytime they want, so why not enjoy the fight. We see a lot of homelander moments where he feels better than everyone, which probably gets boring after a while, so maybe he enjoys having adversaries he knows he’ll always beat but at least they’ll make things interesting.
A few eps before, he hardly even gave a shit about them. Secondly, he was in vought (an institution where wishes to stay to help in and grow). Later as when the boys gets annoying and on his nerves, he is already too late because they are an institution - the boys themselves.
Humans are toys for his amusement
They should go viral and just have a main character die like in succession how it was kept under wraps. Idk who exactly but maybe starlight based on the current storylines
Off the cuff thought here but could it be that The Boys give Homelander the personal attention that he craves. After-all they know more about him than most do anyways. I mean the whole core of their mission is to bring him down but they can’t seem to get the job done weather it’s due to him just out matching them strength wise or due to the teams own emotions. He could see them as a driving purpose. Perhaps they give him motivation. Season 4 already showcased that he is seemingly bored of not being challenged. Everybody just follows his orders out of fear, but The Boys defy him constantly and show courage to stand up to him and I believe he needs that. Anyone feel free to reply I’m interested in seeing all the different viewpoints as to why Homelander does what he does :)
Homelander wants someone to legitimately oppose him, that's what the boys do. He enjoys it because he knows he can stop them whenever he chooses.
Bad writing lol. People here overanalyze this show.
Meta answer: Most villains never ever kill the heroes before the climax. Story answer: It feels like the Boys amassed enough blackmail on everyone that them dying would only serve to make things worse for Homelander and Neumann. I will say I find it entertaining that The Boys and the 7 constantly just meet up and not fight, just upping the ante with blackmail and vague threats. Makes the story have a sort of Game of Thrones theme in terms of the politics.
I've been asking myself this question since season 2
It's gotta be some sub conscious ego thing, or he feels threatened by Neuman so he doesn't.
Homelander would lose his son forever if he killed butcher. As for the rest, I don’t know.
A narcissist like Homelander secretly loves that these guys are so singularly obsessed with him.
What would we watch then?
The boys know how to play around him. They pretty do everything they can to avoid direct confrontations, and pretty much run away whenever they’re in his sights. They only confront him when they know they have the means to fight him.
Plot
Ever heard of a concept called "storytelling"?
Better question. Why doesn't Homelander just take over the world?
I think Homelander enjoys keeping Butcher alive.. it's a Joker-Batman thing.. Its more fun to keep proving to him he's a lion in a lambs world for as long as he can.. We're past what he can and can't get away with..
Yeah it makes no sense. Sage tried to kill them in episode 2 in the cheesiest saturday morning cartoon way possible, leaving them alone with goons. Instead of just bombing their hideout or something.
The Boys existence lets Homelander believe he's the Hero.
To paraphrase the great YouTube channel Pitch Meeting, so the tv show can happen
Is he stupid?
Because the boys are cia now
Killing Butcher and therefor the Boys would end his whole relationship with Ryan. He knows that Ryan still feels connected to him and that he even likes his team, especially Kimiko it seems. Homelander will only kill the Boys when he doesn't care anymore, which seems to be the case soon.
They are ants to him nothing more. Most people don't go out of their way to kill ants unless they are directly bothering them. When Hughie was spying he was annoyed enough to kill him at that moment. As for Butcher it's sort of a game to him and with Butcher dieing murdering him wouldn't be fun. He'd rather let him suffer and die.
This is what is known as a "plot hole". If you want it to work in the story, you just kind of have to assume it's because Homelander is arrogant or something so he doesn't see them as a threat, even though Homelander clearly doesn't value human life whatsoever and would just squash them like bugs without a second thought. Or maybe Homelander enjoys them trying to kill him and it's entertaining for him so he keeps them around or some shit. I dunno. Whatever.
Plot armor
Then there wouldnt be a show
Homelander after watching The Dark Knight: “You Boys com-ple-te me.”
The comments prove how stupid this show is 😭 he doesn’t kill them because the show has one season of material and just constantly recycles the same season for the next. There’s no advancing the plot or real change from season 1-4. He doesn’t kill them because the show will never change or advance.
Bc they have plot armor. They can't be killed and they can't kill Homelander. Regardless of how much that makes no sense something will prevent them from killing the other until the show deems its time
Plot armour