Episode Review: Gen V 1x8 - "Guardians of Godolkin"

Welcome back to the blog readers. I have been absolutely loving Gen V (2023-) thus far. It has greatly expanded the universe of The Boys (2019-26) in a way that was totally unexpected. A show about college students that is focused on the characters while only showing brief ties to its parent show? Sign me up. I am so saddened that we have reached the finale for two reasons: because I have to wait an unspecified amount of time to watch the show again, and because I will never see Chance Perdomo (who passed away after the season aired) get to play in this world again. Speaking of the finale, titled "Guardians of Godolkin," written by Brant Engelstein, and directed by Sanaa Hamri, would it be a worthy conclusion to a stellar season of television? Stick around to find out.

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I have absolutely loved getting to spend time with our characters and get to see their personal plights and struggles. The creators did an amazing job of making me actually want to go to Godolkin, as if it were a real school with real students and real stakes. I was a bit nervous going into the finale because I hoped we would not be going the Marvel route where the finale cannot stick the landing. Thankfully that did not happen this time around, but the stakes grew while staying character-centric. There are so many questions now going into the fourth season of The Boys and the second season of this, and I will address those in my full season review. But back to this episode, the performances (especially from Asa Germann and Maddie Phillips) and the conclusion of the story were all handled extremely well.

I want to start this review by talking about the performance of Asa Germann in this episode. I praised Germann's ability to deliver a stunning grounded performance as Sam Riordan in a previous episode, and I also pointed out that he could be special, given the right role. Germann getting to basically let loose in this episode was glorious to see. There is still so much pent-up rage in Sam that I had a feeling we were going to see an emotional explosion, and we got that and way more in this finale. The way he was able to perfectly create tension and a sort of justification for Sam's actions was breathtaking in my estimation. I cannot wait to see more of this kid in the second season, because he truly will be special for a long time.

The final performance I want to talk about has to do with that of Maddie Phillips. Back in an earlier episode, I praised her ability to portray grief in such a powerful and emotional way. She has become one of the big standouts of this first season for me. This time around, she absolutely does it again, but she is more menacing in her approach to guilt and grief. Now, we see a Cate Dunlap that is taking no prisoners and being as ruthless as ever before. Phillips has definitely turned a lot of heads this season, and I am more excited than ever to see how her story is continued in the second season. Her grief knows no bounds, and it will be insane.

And now, we have to talk about the crazy story that we get this time around. We pick up immediately where we left off last episode, in which Cate used her powers to make dean Indira Shetty slit her own throat. Marie, Jordan, and Emma are trying to make some sense as to what Cate did, and Cate is able to hear theirs and Sam's thoughts. While the former three are critical of Cate's actions, Sam is in the minority that what she did was right. Jordan tries to calm them all down and assess the situation, but Emma makes a valid point that the situation is bleeding on the ground. Marie is not happy that Cate made her not help Shetty, but Cate claims that she did it for all of them, and that they might one day see that she is a hero. Sam agrees with Cate and the two begin to leave together. Emma stops Sam and tries to tell her that Cate is not good for him, but he fires back that Shetty sucked and that he is no longer an experiment. Cate reveals her plan to release everyone from the Woods as Emma fails to convince Sam to not go. Jordan blocks their way, leading Cate to declare that they can beat her, but not Sam, leading them to hesitantly stand down. After trying to figure out what to do, the remaining three decide that they are going to stop Cate from releasing the members of the Woods. While all this is happening, Andre is at Vought Tower trying to get updates on his father, continually checking up on him before being confronted by a doctor that says there are dark spots in his brain that are caused by his powers. The doctor then says that since they have the same powers, there is a likelihood that Andre will have the same problem if he continues to use his powers. He goes in and speaks to Polarity, who apologizes to his son for being knowledgeable about the Woods and not saying anything. Andre tries to tell his father that their using of their powers will kill them, but cannot get it out as Polarity tells his son to call his costume designer and get his Polarity suit resized for him.

Back at Godolkin, Ashley Barrett (the CEO of Vought) is meeting with the trustees of the school for two reasons: to find a way to spin Luke's suicide and determine which of the students can get fast-tracked straight into the Seven. During this session, we learn that Maverick is the son of former member of the Seven Translucent (who was killed by Hughie in the first season). As this is happening, Cate and Sam make their way into the Woods, where Sam puts his fist through one of the guards' faces. Cate makes the other guard open the cells containing the other "inmates." When the group advances to the testing area, Sam stops and notices his own cell, where he has a hallucination of his older brother Luke. Luke asks Sam what he is doing, and Sam replies that he is helping Supes. Luke asks if he is doing that by hurting humans, and Sam asks if that was what Luke wanted. Luke says he killed himself over the guilt of hurting non-Supes. Sam accuses Luke of leaving him alone and closes the cell when Luke tries to convince him to not go through with this. The group discovers Andy's dead body from last episode. Sam tells the group that Andy was a good person before becoming depressed, and Cate tells the Supes that they were treated as if they were inferior to humans, but that they are superior and it is time to show it. She then tells the other guard eat his hands before she, Sam, and the other Supes leave the Woods.

The Supes make it outside and begin to wreak havoc, killing every non-Supe that they can find. One of the students who was livestreaming is cornered by Cate, who uses a device to make him explode his own head. Sam enters the performing arts center, where he interrupts a class led by Adam Bourke (aka the director of Dawn of the Seven) and almost chokes him out after Adam mocks him. Emma arrives and demands that he stop while asking what he is thinking. Sam asks what she is doing there. Emma asks him if he is ready to throw away their connection just like that, and he claims he is not and that this is her choice. She tells him that he should not hurt people, and he argues that people hurt him, and adding that he never asked her to rescue him. He claims that she did it for herself and never asked him what he wanted because she always told him what to do. She said that it was normal to want to save someone, and he claps back that he is normal, claiming she never had his life. Emma tries to tell him that she wanted what was best for him, but he says she only wanted what was best for her. She reminds him that she risked everything to save him, and he counters that she would do anything for people to like her and that she is not a hero. She is left in tears as he leaves her, and is shocked to find that her crying made her shrink to a miniscule size.

Sam is walking down a hallway when the hallucination of Luke returns. As Sam reunites with Cate, he asks her if what they are doing is right. She responds that what they are doing is very difficult. She also asks him if he wants her help as Luke tells him to stop her. After a bit of back and forth, Sam shuts his deceased brother out and allows Cate to destroy his ability to feel emotions. He tells her that he feels much better as the two continue to cause havoc. Marie makes it to Shetty's office and presses the panic button that she said she would, causing the entire school to go into lockdown. This also activates a sonic frequency that disables every Supe. However, one of them uses their voice to disable the frequency and make the non-Supes hold their ears. Ashley has one of her aides, conveniently called Also Ashley, to contact Homelander and tells the trustees to begin contacting the students. Ashley contacts Marie, who bribes her with a spot in the Seven and a meeting with her sister if she kills all the rampaging Supes. A helicopter arrives at the campus to escort Ashley, the trustees, and Adam (who has made his way to Ashley and the trustees) off the campus, but one of the Supes under Cate's command flies up and shoots the helicopter down. At this point, Andre (who had gotten a call from Cate asking for his help) uses his powers to prevent the helicopter from crashing. He and Marie attempt to chase down Cate to convince her to stop.

This attempt goes poorly, as Cate uses her powers to make Maverick go after Marie and Andre. Andre leaves her to go after Cate, leaving Marie to face Maverick. Since Maverick is invisible, Marie cannot see him coming to fight back until she recalls her conversation with Congresswoman Victoria Neuman and uses her powers to reveal his bloodstream, allowing her to knock him out. Meanwhile, Andre catches up to Cate and tries again to get her to stop, saying that bad things happen when they are not together. Feigning surrender, she bought enough time for Sam to ambush him. After a brief encounter, he is able to knock him out with a stun stick. Jordan arrives to the courtyard and protects Ashley, Adam, and the Godolkin trustees as they make their way to the downed helicopter. Marie tries to reason with Cate that she does not care about being a superhero and wants to be a good person. Cate counters that she is not a person to Godolkin and Vought, but she and everyone are just products. Marie and Jordan incapacitate and kill the other Supes with their powers and the two almost kiss. Marie notices Cate about to use her powers on Jordan and uses her own powers to burst Cate's arm. She is shocked over her actions until all of them are stunned into silence when Homelander (played by Anthony Starr) comes down. Marie tries to explain to him what happened, but she can only get one word in as he stops her from talking. He asks her what kind of animal she is and if she likes attacking her own kind. Marie tries again to explain but he tells everyone to stand back as he lasers her unconscious.

Sometime later, Homelander is watching Vought News and sees a story that blames Sam and Cate's attack on Marie, Andre, Jordan, and Emma, while the former two are hailed the new "Guardians of Godolkin." He stares at the television in satisfaction. Marie then wakes up in a sealed hospital room along with Emma, Jordan, and Andre, who commends her for taking Homelander's blast like a champ (and that any other person does not get up). The four deduce that they are imprisoned with no way out. In a mid-credits scene, someone is investigating the remnants of the Woods. It is revealed to be the leader of the Boys, Billy Butcher.

The Boys's first spin-off ends on a very satisfactory note, giving us great thrills, great character work and performances, and great intrigue for what comes next in the universe. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.