The Boys Season 5 will end the show, which means it’s also going back to the beginning. As the battle with Homelander builds to its epic climax, whichever way it goes down, there is a fitting sense of things coming full circle. That much was clear from the end of the Season 5 premiere with the death of A-Train at the hands of Homelander, completing the speedster’s redemption arc for the murder of Robin way back in the show’s very first episode. Season 5, Episode 3, “Every One of You Sons of B*tches,” continues this theme. SPOILERS ahead from this point on.
One of The Boys‘ original villains returns in Episode 3, former Vought CEO Stan Edgar. Now working against Vought and Homelander, as we saw during the events of Gen V Season 2, he’s looking to ally with Starlight, Hughie, and the rest of the team. Working alongside him is Maverick, the invisible son of the (also) invisible Supe and member of the Seven, Translucent, who was killed back in Season 1. However, when Maverick learns the truth about his father, he turns against the Boys, leading to a great sequence and two big deaths.
How Translucent Died & How The Boys Season 5 Makes It Better
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Translucent was one of the major antagonists in The Boys Season 1, and got caught up in Hughie’s revenge mission against A-Train. After spying on Hughie tapping Vought Tower, the Boys ended up capturing the Supe and locking him in a cell, with a fair bit of time spent on figuring out exactly how to kill someone who is near-indestructible. That method, of course, was an explosive device planted up his ass, which Hughie eventually detonated, getting covered in blood and marking his first kill.
That was no small moment for Hughie, but it’s something that, seven years later, The Boys Season 5 adds much more weight to. While Maverick was initially lied to, he learns that Hughie was the one who killed his father. This leads to a fun fight sequence, but also an unpacking of the grief and trauma that both men hold. It allows Hughie to deal with his actions back then in a way he hasn’t fully, as well as the grief over his father’s passing, and the anger he had to let go of regarding A-Train killing Robin.
This is a perfect follow-up of A-Train’s own death, because it’s a similar moment of reckoning for Hughie – albeit one he survives. But it’s a creative, emotional way of revisiting one of the biggest moments in The Boys Season 1, and a turning point in Hughie’s life. It makes Translucent’s death tragic in a way it wasn’t before, due to the loss suffered by Maverick, and that’s then compounded by his own demise.
Why Cindy Killed Maverick, Translucent’s Son, In The Boys Season 5
Image via Prime Video
Maverick might actually have got his revenge on Hughie and killed him, if not for the arrival of Cindy. Her telekinetic powers make her one of the strongest Supes in The Boys Season 5, and that includes being powerful enough to kill Maverick… but that wasn’t her target. While it’s seemingly been a point of confusion among some viewers, Cindy was trying to kill Hughie. She couldn’t see Maverick standing in front of him given, well, he’s invisible, and so he became her accidental victim instead.
That brutal moment also led to Cindy’s own death, as her neck was snapped by Starlight. That itself was an impressive, important moment. Compared to most of the other Supes in the show, including those on the Boys, Annie has been reluctant to take lives. Indeed, Erin Mortiary told ComicBook a couple of years ago that if she is going to kill, “it needs to be under circumstances where she’s provoked at first because that’s her. She can’t just go and kill someone.” With Hughie’s life at stake, that would seemingly count as provocation, and thus she steps in to save the day.
New episodes of The Boys release on Wednesdays on Prime Video.
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