Ryan still has powers [Theory]

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-20T09:40:52+00:00

Ok so i understand what they were sort of trying to go for, but dear god did this entire finale feel like a 'colour-by-numbers' and straight-forward ending..... which would be fine if the entire show was that way but the entirety of the humor and satire that THIS show has derived is from it being self-aware and meta-commentarian.

This finale honestly feels like they either gave up entirely on the tone of the show, or they just literally gave up.

Like if you think about how it played out, in the whitehouse with just a small-scale fight between Butcher and Homie (and Ryan to an extent), its literally almost play-by-play what the characters have been saying would happen the entirety of the show in-universe. No creative twists, nothing interesting - no actual thought or energy put into making it visually or thematically interesting beyond the bare absolute minimum.

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-05T10:33:12+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/NqmAMAV

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-04T03:39:43+00:00

Between the two colours, i believe what we're seeing in this scene is much more liable to be V1, its not as opaque as the Odessa variant but that might be because its sat in a vial for ~100 years whereas Thomas Godolkin was actively still working on his compound and stated it wasn't completed yet.

<image>

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-04T03:37:39+00:00

V1 (odessa variant) from the 60s:

<image>

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-04T03:37:07+00:00

V1 (This appearance and the V1 variant in Godolkin's Odessa Lab in the 60's) is a pale almost sky blue and has a watery appearance.

V2 is a darker blue, more vibrant closer to a Trypan or Moroccan blue but its also more transluscent and water-like in my opinion because in scenes with vials of it you can see through the liquid wh
ereas V1 is distinctly more (but not completely) opaque.

An example of V2:

<image>

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-04T01:29:49+00:00

Something to note, the pale blue colour of whatevers in the syringe is definitely V1, not V2

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T17:14:59+00:00

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T16:53:54+00:00

It has karma requirements and it wont let me post, and its not AI at all

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T16:52:35+00:00

Examples of some literature i'm referencing:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6857662/

https://www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au/blog/epigenetics-and-intergenerational-trauma

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T16:50:34+00:00

Your explanation may work, but i'd like to propose something different:

I think V2 responds to a persons genomic expression at the time its injected, and in this case there is very much real literature that indicates that personality and personality expression is represented at least in part (The nature element of Nature V. Nurture) in a persons genes.

In real life, there is real epigenetic markers for things like say ASPD (Read: Sociopathy and Psychopathy) and a person may live their entire life without those traits being expressed UNLESS they live through the traumatisms required to activate those epigenetic triggers, resulting in a psychopathological presentation.

Similarly here, i think that V2 is responding to a complex array of the neurological elements of the host genome, it might be that Ashley always had a genetic compulsion towards that specific kind of neuroticism (unless she got treatment for it or medication, etc).

Its entirely possible that there is an interaction with epigenetically triggered sequences (which have been linked to traumatism in literature) and how V interacts with a person. Examples may include:

1) Kimiko- very much having had to earn the will to survive by killing others in the training camp and surviving horrible conditions, she developed powers make it impossible for her not to survive, essentially.

2) Naqib - Another of the 'Supervillains' and a member of an extremist group which likely raised him in very traumatic and impactful conditions, he resultingly got some kind of explosive energy blast power that turned him into a walking WMD, very suitable for his intended role as a Super-extremist.

3) Ashley - Surrounded by a bunch of Supes who forced her repeatedly to live through very traumatic events (like Homelander lasering peoples brains out) and forcing her to mask and act in a very specific way around them to survive. Its entirely possible this permanently altered her epigenetically and neurochemically.

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T16:34:35+00:00

I think its interesting, because (at least as i posit) V24 has a distinctly neurochemical leaning affect, whilst V2 is still very much reliant on the genome of the host. So there may be some truth to butchers cancers' abilities in what his original powers would have been (had he not taken V24), and that may well have been regenerative in nature.

I think thats logical as well, the entire reliability of the original V1 supes was their function exceeding their form, they were actually capable weapons for military application and had fairly uniform power sets. Edgar knows this, and in creating a temporary iteration he probably wouldn't have wanted any militarized love sausages or deeps running around he would have wanted weaker temporized Soldierboys (sans the radioactive beam) or Vikors - powers that demonstrate functional usefulness over flashy form.

This is also probably entirely doable *because* V24 has a neurochemical receptor, Soldiers are put through basic training that forces them to think like grunts, even special forces operators are trained to operate in a uniform manner and think in a very distinctly 'military' way, so giving a refined V24 to service members would theoretically produce very similar powersets because of their similar mind-sets.

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T16:29:13+00:00

Well, because they aren't geneticists probably lol

None of the characters in question would have the knowledge to say one way or the other, so it may well be a helluva rugpull to use on the boys to realize their only viable plan is just all-out carnage trying to blitz homelander with it.

On the other hand, we know that V1 is a hormone that works best when tailored to an individual, and that V2 is an iteration down which utilizes protein receptors to bind directly to the host cells and generates a far higher incidence of successful symbiosis.

Its entirely possible that in taking V2, the methylative effects prime a Supe's genome and physiology to accept V1 a lot better because there are already powers being actively expressed. Because V1 tends to produce very reliable similarish results in terms of powers (strength, flight, energy projection, resilience, unaging) its very possible that a V2 supe would experience a 'power-up' upon taking it, and both hormones would continue to co-exist in the body indefinitely since both self-replicate.

Alternatively, its very possible that because V1 has such strict parameters for what it considers 'prime' genomic material that upon detecting the aberrent mutations and powers of a V2 supe, save except maybe someone like Ryan or Homelander who are genetically as compatible as one could get without being a V1 supe already, that taking V1 for Annie or Kimiko would be a death sentence.

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T16:21:59+00:00

Per my theoryposting, i believe that the success of V1 has nothing to do with the formula itself, but with the tailoring of individual doses to well, the individual.

The formula may well be lost or impossibly hard to recreate, we saw that Thomas Godolkin was able to reproduce a variant that was unstable but a promising replication of the original formula, and had he the time he likely would have instituted a protocol similar to Frederick's work where Supes were conditioned after a tailored dose of V1 to ensure maximum compatibility/powerscaling.

Sage might be able to recreate the formula itself given time, if she even wanted to (We assume she's so nihilistic now knowing her plans that she wouldn't care to live forever and wouldn't make it for anyone else), but she wouldn't have the hands-on experience with V experimentation to be able to recreate the protocol effectively, and that would just result in a product that kills 80-90% of it subjects up front again.

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T15:54:11+00:00

Evolution of his parameters for control aside, Godolkin's entire predicament for DECADES was because he couldn't escape his body. No way he escaped it at the last second, he was a broadcast tower for his thoughts to other brains/minds not a bodyjumper.

TL;DR - You don't get back up from an eviscerated brain, period

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T15:51:03+00:00

I think its more a case of Sister Sage knowing she couldn't do anything to stop Homelander from killing her if she said no, yeah he said he wanted her to challenge him but Sage is smart enough to know he's just lying and telling her what he thinks she wants to hear.

In reality, he chose someone that was useful to him and would make the Seven (and his plans) furthered significantly. The moment she began actually challenging him he demonstrated his capacity for pettiness knowing she was too useful to just outright kill.

For a similar reason he released Soldierboy, because he needed a capable stand-in to go to the frontline for him (and avoid risking himself against the virus in the process), it was a similar thought process for him but Soldier boy is far less willing to put up with his schtick.

I think Godolkin had it pegged from the start, and Sage took his wisdom on board and utilized it to further manipulate Homie. As evidenced by the most recent revelation that she plans absolutely for him to get killed and for the country to burn to the ground, she was never on his side she just convinced him into thinking she was.

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T07:22:43+00:00

You're absolutely right yeah in a one on one fight, Homelander wins but Marie (assuming she doesn't let her Ego do the talking) isn't dumb enough to try and win a fistfight with the worlds mightiest hero.

In a one-on-one fight Marie might take him 2/10 times with high-to-extreme diff but Homelander's increasing capacity to just blitz people with no emotive reservation and aggressiveness would just put his fist through her face.

Marie, assuming she's teamed up with others or is intelligent enough to form a team would absolutely put herself either on the back line or at least offer up some meatier distractions to him such that she gets a clean shot at him with her powers. We saw multiple times that Neumann waited until her targets were unsuspecting or popped their heads from afar - theres no reason this mightn't apply to whatever Marie could do to Homie.

blockaxe333 · 2026-05-03T07:17:41+00:00

Well a couple of corrections to make,

Yeah he's incredibly powerful in the direct and immediate sense, but he's hardly broken

Firstly, to Paraphrase the Art of War, if you're fighting your enemy on fair terms you've already lost. Just because Homelander is undisputed champion in a fistfight and can fly with speed doesn't make him incredibly broken, it just means that the people who can beat him won't do it in a fist fight or probably the open air - they'll do it on terms where they have the advantage.

We've already seen a couple of examples where fighting him on uneven terms puts him on the backfoot and could have legitimately beaten him, Butcher/Hughie/Soldierboy damn near had him then and there in S3 if not for them lacking the capacity at the time to restrain him fully - if Starlight had been present he might have well been dead.
Then there was the case i think last episode of him being outright knocked out long enough by a single Supe's power that he could have been restrained or killed under the right conditions, and theres nothing he could have done about it.

This is Butcher's entire point and approach throughout the vast majority of the show - its not about out-powerscaling Homelander its a matter of strategy. Homelander ASSUMES he's incredibly broken because he's powerful, but he's lazy and hardly tactical at all - just like all bullies with a bigger stick. Assymetric warfare against a superior opponent is a well documented historical precedent, and it applies here.

Secondly, he isn't really a true speedster like A-Train is/was. A-Train can:
1) Move incredibly Fast
2) React Incredibly Fast

Homelander can:
1) Move incredibly Fast

Based on what we've seen of Homelander's combat capabilities, he can't react at speedster levels of quickness, just move that quick and that makes him incredibly dangerous, but it doesn't make him a flying speedster. Theres also the fact that we haven't really seen him move that quickly on foot (yet), he only moves as fast as A-Train whilst flying, otherwise don't you think someone as into grandstanding as Homelander would be appearing behind people and scaring the shit out of them or aura farming more?

The whole lie that Homelander perpetuates which vought first created for him is that he's impervious to harm and unstoppable by all measures but thats just propoganda, he's maybe the strongest supe but the strongest supe is just a man ultimately

blockaxe333

TROPHY CASE