Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Mike Redmond | TV | May 12, 2026
WARNING: Spoilers for The Boys Season 5 below.
Credit where credit is due. Dustin has not been a fan of The Boys final season because — on top of being eerily prescient week after week — the show became the one thing it was supposed to be mocking: a superhero drama. Case in point, welcome to a theory post complete with sewer-level fan complaints.
Heading into the final two episodes, last week saw what appears to be a major game-changer in the escalating battle between Butcher’s team and Homelander. All season, both sides have been trying to get their hands on the original Supe-creating formula V1. Homelander wants it so he’ll be immortal, and The Boys want it so he will not be. They can’t kill him if he’s immune to the Supe-virus they’ve been trying to unleash for the past six episodes.
In the midst of all this, Soldier Boy has been a reluctant helper on Homelander’s quest. I’m talking Sister Sage has been banking on Soldier Boy not letting his whacked-out son become an all-powerful god. She even deflects to The Boys and gets them in the same room as the V1 where everything goes sideways.
To wrap this up quickly, Soldier Boy gets his mitts on the V1 first, which seems like Sage’s plan is working. There’s no way he’s going to give it to Homelander, except he does exactly that. Homelander wastes no time injecting himself, and whoops, he’s now more powerful than ever. While this goes down, Sage is with The Boys yelling at Butcher that this wasn’t supposed to happen. She’s seemingly crashing out as hard as they are — but was it an act?
The Sage Knew Theory
When Sage teams up with The Boys, she makes two things very clear: 1. She’s been easily tracking the idiots the whole time. She showed up in their hideout like it was on Google Maps. 2. She flat-out tells them that they should not trust her. It’s practically the first words out of her mouth.
Prior to joining The Boys, something also very key happened: Ashley read Soldier Boy’s mind and learned that he’s actually proud of Homelander, but he doesn’t want to tell him. That revelation prompted Sage to immediately bolt and initiate “Phase 3.” Knowing that Soldier Boy was starting to feel paternal towards Homelander, she really shouldn’t be shocked when he hands over the V1. Everything we know about Sage, and what we’ve seen on-screen, points to her fully expecting this outcome, and I’d put cash money on that being the case.
The Sage Didn’t Know Theory (a.k.a. Idiots Be Idioting)
Considering a subsection of The Boys’ fanbase thought Homelander was the good guy for several seasons, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that a vocal portion of them absolutely hate Sister Sage. (You’ll never guess why!) When that Episode 6 bombshell dropped, they were practically giddy at the opportunity to mock her for not being smart enough to predict Soldier Boy’s actions and/or mock the writers for writing such a “stupid” character. It’s all gross, and I hate how my algorithm tosses these posts in my face because I write about the show.
That being said, and without lying down with the pigs, is there a chance Sage was truly caught off-guard? Maybe! It doesn’t seem likely given everything I highlighted above, but I have seen decent theories that her super intellect works on statistical percentages and she can’t account for the unpredictability of human emotions. She honestly may not have seen the V1 move coming.
However, there’s another piece of the puzzle. Sage claims her endgame is to be the last person alive after triggering a Supes vs. human war so she can read in peace. Except she was already doing that before Homelander came knocking. Maybe that pissed her off enough to launch her plan, and in her defense, the guy is annoying. She immediately clocks that nothing will ever make Homelander’s twisted mind happy, which makes him insanely dangerous. But I have a hard time believing Sage couldn’t have easily gone back into seclusion.
She’s playing at something else, and we’re about to find out.
