Where The Boys Series Finale Leaves Gen V's Characters After The Show's Cancellation

Contains spoilers for "The Boys" Season 5, Episode 8 — "Blood and Bone"

Even before "The Boys" series finale, "Blood and Bone," aired, we knew about one casualty already within the sprawling TV universe. The college-set spinoff "Gen V" was canceled after two seasons. And despite Season 2 ending with Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), Jordan Li (London Thor/Derek Luh) joining Starlight's (Erin Moriarty) resistance, we barely saw them in the final season of "The Boys." They pop up in the penultimate episode, but at least the finale lets us know that these characters will still be out there fighting the good fight.

Before the "Gen V" crew drives former Homelanders to Canada, Starlight has a heart-to-heart with Marie, telling the young supe that when she joined the Seven, she looked up to Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), who was already checked out of the whole hero thing. Starlight doesn't want the same thing to happen to Marie, so even though there's a slim chance they can kill Homelander, she still feels it's her duty to tell people to never stop fighting or resign themselves to their fates. 

Marie, Jordan, and Emma (Lizzie Broadway) take off for Canada, where they will likely meet up with the other main "Gen V" characters like Cate (Maddie Phillips) and Sam (Asa Germann). They don't take part in the big fight, but "The Boys" lets us know that they're still out there even if their show is not. And who knows? Since "The Boys: Mexico" is presumably still happening, maybe "The Boys: Canada" could be in the cards to bring these supes back.

"Gen V" Season 2 ends with the main cast agreeing to join the battle against Homelander (Antony Starr). But with Homelander officially dead, "Gen V" Season 3 would need a larger arc. While it might show us what everyone was up to during the events of "The Boys" Season 5, it seems like that theoretical third season would for the most part be about the main cast helping people in Canada, and possibly dealing with some new larger threat that emerges in Homelander's absence. 

Like Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) says, some other supe will probably wind up taking Homelander's place. Killing all superpowered individuals isn't the answer, which means good supes are still needed. And Starlight leaves Marie with some useful advice, so even though we probably won't see it, we have the sense that Marie will finally close out her character arc.

At the beginning of "Gen V," Marie wants to prove — especially to her estranged sister — that her blood-bending abilities don't make her a monster, and that she can make something of her life. With Starlight encouraging her to keep fighting for good even when all hope seems lost, Marie isn't just trying to prove something to herself. She's fighting to put good into the world, and at least we know she'll have her friends by her side.

"Gen V" Season 2 really positioned Marie and her ability to manipulate blood, which can cause people to blow up, as a potential source of Homelander's doom. But "The Boys" Season 5 undoes that arc with a single line, when Marie mentions that her powers have been greatly exaggerated. It's a weird thing to say because we've seen Marie's powers, and theoretically, she should be able to kill Homelander — or at least Homelander before he takes the immortality serum. 

Even if Marie couldn't kill Homelander, one would think she'd still be useful in the final fight, being able to explode other opponents. She might have contributed to the battle against Oh Father (Daveed Diggs), although we have no qualms over his death scene. 

"Gen V" Season 2 also shows how Marie can heal wounds and even resurrect people (as difficult as it may be). Anyone who's ever played an MMORPG could tell you the importance of having a healer on the team. But instead, Starlight tasks her with driving people over to Canada, which really seems like something Jordan and Emma could handle on their own. 

Of course, from a narrative standpoint, Marie can't be the one who kills Homelander. It's only ever made sense for Butcher to do the job. While we can take some solace in knowing that Marie and her pals will still fight bad guys, probably far away from Godolkin University, "Gen V" can't help but feel like a pointless excursion, especially since it got canceled way too soon.