How Homelander Ironically Helped Cause Stormfront's Downfall In The Boys Season 2 Finale

It's no secret that Homelander (Antony Starr) has done some horrible things on The Boys; to list them all would take entirely too long and to try to decide which is the worst would be subject to much debate. But there's no denying that using his eye lasers to kill the mayor of Baltimore — in addition to his staff and even his son — was pretty awful, and that's not even the only airplane atrocity he's committed. There's no forgetting the passengers aboard the doomed Flight 37 whom he managed to kill with hubris and his aforementioned eye lasers; Homelander's reckless decision to cut the terrorist hijacker in half with his powerful ocular beams also shredded the jet's controls, thereby sentencing everyone aboard to death. If that wasn't enough, he threatened to laser anyone who got too close before he was able to talk Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) into leaving the entire lot of passengers to die so that there'd be no survivors able to challenge his version of events. Not only that, he even capitalized on the tragedy by using it to advance Vought-International's agenda to get Supes into the United States military.

Of course, there are less lethal but still terrible examples of his behavior. His elevator interrogation of Starlight (Erin Moriarty) was a pretty awful flex. Bursting Blindspot's (Chris Mark) eardrums was not only unnecessary but it also deprived the world of a perfectly capable Supe, whether he felt The Boys universe's answer to Daredevil belonged in The Seven or not. With all his foul deeds, it's pretty satisfying for viewers to see something good he tries to do end up blowing up in his face. After abducting his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) from his mother Becca Butcher (Shantel VanSanten), he attempts to be a father to the boy, which ends up costing him his girlfriend, Stormfront (Aya Cash), in The Boys season 2 finale.

After Homelander and Stormfront abduct Ryan from Becca Butcher, Homelander tries to train his son to use his powers, and, following his freakout at Planet Vought, tries to reassure Ryan that it was fine to be afraid of the throngs of people crowding around in the restaurant. When Ryan is unable to use his eye lasers on command — with one of The Deep's action figures as the intended target — both Homelander and his son are growing frustrated. But then it comes to him; he tells Ryan that, sometimes, it's easier to imagine someone he hates. Ryan rather adorably explains that — in addition to Becca having him put money in a swear jar for using the word "hate" — he doesn't really hate anyone. Oh well. Stormfront steps in and explains her warped white genocide theory; bad people will want to hurt Ryan and those like him just because of how they look and it will be up to him to protect their kind. They're about to get back to training when Stormfront gets the news that she's been outed as a Nazi and takes off.

Later on, in The Boys season 2 finale's climax, Stormfront intercepts the Butchers as they try to escape though the woods. She easily tosses Billy (Karl Urban) to the side and, not seeing Becca as a threat, tries to reach past her to Ryan, at which point Becca buries a knife in Stormfront's left eye. When watching Stormfront strangle his mother to death — she likes to "see the lights go out," after all — Ryan's expression suddenly changes; his fear and anger toward the woman hurting his mother is palpable. Ryan taps into his emotions, understands how hatred feels, and lets loose, crippling Stormfront. Were it not for the fatherly coaching of Homelander, he may not have been able to stop Stormfront. Tragically, his own mother was mortally wounded in the process; as it was his first time channeling his powers, Ryan lacked control. But Homelander ironically enabled his son to destroy his Nazi girlfriend by trying to be the father he never had.