ScreenCrush: The Podcast! - Gen V - Season 2 Episode 8 BREAKDOWN - THE BOYS Easter Eggs You Missed!

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

ScreenCrush The Podcast tackles all the movie and TV hot topics, offering reviews and analysis of Marvel, Star Wars, and everything you care about right now. Hosted by Ryan Arey, and featuring a panel of industry professionals.

The series finale of Gen V tease up the final season of the boys by teasing a huge resistance to Homelander's power grab. But what is Sister Sage's actual plan? Is she secretly working for the resistance? We're going to go over all of that in more because this is all of the Easter eggs references and little things you might have missed in the finale of Gen V. Welcome back Screencrush, I'm Ryan Erie, and the title of this episode is The Guardians of Godalkin. Now, if you remember, originally this was a title that the Vot publicity machine gave to Marie after Luke's death. So currently we're testing the Guardians of Godolkin. And after the Bloodbath in the season one finale, Vaught used the title for Sam and Emma to reframe them as superheroes. So what we've seen is that in the past, this title was used as a way to control the students.

But in this episode, they break free from that control of the institution and they actually save the school, becoming the true Guardians of Godalkin. Now, it's also important that this episode is when Marie learns to work with a team. So she goes from being the sole guardian of Godolkin to being part of something bigger than herself. Now, we're going to talk about this episode's theme of control that extends to the whole season as we go through the video. So the episode picks up right after the flashback that began this season, set to Frankie Valley's, I can't take my eyes off of you. Now, we see that after Godalkin couldn't hit the fire alarm, he injected himself with compound V, and notice that even before the fire hits him, his skin starts to scar,

an effect of his mutation that we see later on when he overtacks his powers. And this takes us to his vessel, Doug, who's coughing up blood and has a broken arm. So without Godalkin's influence, Doug's body is sure. showing weakness. And this is because Godalkin was never able to actually feel his pain, because, as he says later, Like living so fucking condom. Like wearing a condom or, you know, like having a puppet on your hand. To that point, Anderson props him up on the bed like a loose marionette.

Doug is now a puppet whose strings have been cut. Hey, can I leave? Yeah, you can go. Come on Bamanuts! We learned that Godalkin looks young because he took V1, the original version of Compound V that was developed in World War II. Remember, we saw that Godolkin was friends with the Nazi Frederick Vought, who gave this formula to his wife, who later became

Stormfront. And it's also the formula that kept Soldier Boy young, even though he's 100 years old. And by the way, how great is Hamish Link later in this scene? You really feel like he is two completely different people. I'm the second puppet. The first one is dead. I knew I could just climb inside you so easily, and you would give up, like, so weak. He talks about how he was ensnared when he was a VCR repair person. I do say right now. VCR, it's what you watched movies on before phones, you know, like this. Oh, is that what that is?

I just thought that was a book that only robots could read. And then Marie claims that her powers are too spent to help poor Doug. I'm too. From Good organ, I can try again in a few hours. Thank you. Thank you for trying. But as we find out, that's BS. The season has established that Marie's powers are tied to her self-esteem. And as we see later on, she's gone back to having low self-confidence.

She's just too powerful. No. No, I'm not. Doug and Jordan bond over what it's like for him to control you. I tried to fight back, but it was like I was in a box inside my own mind. Like being in the backseat of your own car. And this is exactly how Bruce Banner described Life with the Hulk in Thor Ragnarok. In the past, I always felt like Hulk and I each had a hand on the wheel. But this time it's like he had the keys of the car and I was locked in the trunk.

And just as we learned that Godalkin is too weak to control Marie, we transitioned to his art for the episode, evolution, and leveling up. We hear the Love and Spoonfuls daydream, a song about being free to walk in the sun and be with the person who you love. And this is what God God God God Godalkin has dreamed about really for decades, finally being able to feel and taste again. God, no wonder the guy almost killed himself last episode. And no wonder he was obsessed with finding Marie at the start of this season. If you really want to be a help, find Marie Moreau.

She was a key part of Sage's plan. What's her plan? Well, later Sage talks about Phase 2, and I wonder if Phase 1 of their plan was to get Godalkin healed. Now, it's very sweet here that Sage seems to be genuinely motivated by love for this man. In the boys, we saw that her intelligence makes her feel alone at all times, which is why she has to lobotomize herself for a hookup. But Godalkin is somebody who is so intelligent that she can actually fall for him. Now, we are going to talk more about her plan and phase two later in the video.

But for now, she's more than happy to share her foody passions with him. Remember, in the boys, we saw that when she lobotomizes herself, she loves to eat junk food. Now, it is very sweet to see how love struck Sage is. She's usually very calculated, and she sees everyone in the boys as her like domino's set up to fall. But here, she actually really cares about Godalkin and wants to have a future with him. But when she asks about moving into her apartment in Vought Tower, he acknowledges that this new version of her is not quite right for him. I've never seen you like this.

So vulnerable. Honestly, it's kind of a turnoff. And I think he means it. He is so obsessed with strength that when she gets even a little bit clingy, he probably decides to make his own plans without her. Now, Godalkin wants to initiate a purge of the student body, which will also help him to level up his own powers. And I think that part of the reason for this is so he can prove that he does not need Sage. I mean, like he said in the last episode...

It's annoying how smart she is. He does not want to be second place to Sage or Homelander or anyone else. This is true fascist ideology. There can only ever be one ruler. There is but one master of the ring and he does not share power. Exactly. And then Hamish Link later puts on a clinic. He plays Doug as the polar opposite of Cypher, a number

a normal, decent man who has practiced at finding the best and bad situations. He describes how he was not only able to observe while Godalkin drove his body, but he was also fully conscious and had his own observations. You would have been so proud of Andre. Tell me. I mean, I just love that kid. I loved this scene and how it gave Polarity the emotional catharsis that he needed to finally process the death of his son. Your son is the greatest hero I ever seen.

All he ever wanted was for his kid to be better than him. And once Doug's narrative purpose is done, So is he. So Black Noir 2 takes him out. Black Noir 2? Yeah, remember, Homelander killed the original Black Nomar and this guy is another soup actor who has replaced him. There's actually some really funny symmetry here. Black Noir is the second puppet for Vot and Sage, and he kills Doug, who is Godalkin's second puppet as well. And then there's this hilarious moment where he takes a selfie, because as we find out later on, he's a huge fan of Polarity's craft. Meanwhile, Marie is back to self-loathing and hating herself for being manipulated. I'm never going to be anything more than a girl who cuts herself when she feels sad.

And this is where Marie learns that finally she is stronger when she relies on others. And when Emma said, If you guys weren't around, I'd probably be puking my guts out and scarves in 16 pizzas. Part of my brain is like, that's a great idea to do it. Man, I really felt for her there. Anybody who's ever struggled with an addiction or a mental disorder or any kind of pain can relate to her exact same feeling. But Emma found her way through it with the help of her friends.

So she is able to help relieve Marie's similar feelings of shame and self-loathing. And once Marie can overlook her own problems, she forgives Kate in this beautiful scene where she fixes her brain. I'm sorry. Oh my God. Mary. Then Kate is able to read Marie's mind and she sees just how sorry she is. And also, she sees firsthand how much she hurt Marie in the past. So right here, two of them are like a circle of shared emotions. This is a symbol of unity and teamwork and it's a crucial step to Marie's final evolution,

accepting that she needs help from a team. Or hey, did kids' hand grow back? Oh, like, did Marie heal her hand? I don't know. I mean, they didn't show it, but probably. I mean, I think she can do that. She can heal, like, hands and stuff. So across the school, students are watching Godalkins' video, including Justine, who would love to have her chance to level up in the rankings,

while people like Good Guy Greg and Bushmaster look worried. See, Godalkin is baiting the kids by telling them they can be in the top 10. And by the way, he's not wrong. If they do prove that they are strong, he'll let them live and they'll survive to the top 10. But I want to point out the important symbolism here. Godalkin shares his name with the school. He is the literal embodiment of the institution. In the first season, the show is a metaphor for how colleges use and manipulate student athletes to earn money.

But this season is about the school in the older generation using and manipulating the younger generation to do what they want. In other words, this entire season has been about control, whether it's Vot using the kids to become child soldiers or Godalkin using the kids to be part of a PR machine for the school. Think about it. The villain mind controls others, and the heroes have to slowly learn self-control to overcome their own mental disorders.

So here where Godalkin offers the kids fame, fortune, and a spot on the seven, is just another element of control. And we can also relate to that in our own lives. In high school, we're told to get good grades, so we can go to college. But why do you go to college? You go to college to make money. Everything in our system is designed to use money and fame as a lure to control our actions. But this scene also touches on another important theme of the season,

real versus fake. The school wants the guardians to project a fake image, while the heroes are always struggling to feel and show something real. was symbolized by Cypher, a fake representative of Thomas Godalkin. And this whole scene with the phones illustrates that theme. Cadalkin says the school has been lying about him, creating statues and saying that he's dead, but he's about to show them the real Thomas Cadolkin. He was hiding behind Seifer, but now he's offering fame, a fake life, is a way to bait and kill these kids. But then Marie counters with her own very real social. No class, no rank is worth your life. And remember,

she rejoined the school by crafting a very fake social post. No joke, ma'am. Things were tough for a minute. So this has been her arc this season, to finally believe in herself enough to become a leader and be real with the people who admire her. But this is not going to work on everyone. As typical in the boys' universe, everybody is divided into two sides.

To ambitious kids like Justine and Rufus, Marie is just being self-serving. They're going to think that she just wants to preserve her spot in the top 10 and doesn't want them for competition. And I want to remind you guys of our Boys in GenV parody merch. We have the God You shirt, Billy Butcher as Punisher in his first appearance, Soldier Boy is Captain America in his first appearance and my personal favorite,

the Nirvana Baby, as the Laser Baby. Shopping our merch store helps to support our channel, and you can also become a member and earn free stuff. Links are below. Now, at the frat house, Sam tries to warn Rufus, and Emma says, A thousand-year-old guy rises from the grave, takes over and it just Lombowski chill, bro? Referring to the famous Jeff Bridges character, Mr. Lobowski.

I am not Mr. Lovowski. You're Mr. Lovowski. I'm the dude. After Rufus uses his powers to pull a mean frat prank, they wake up with a picture of the deep behind them, since remember he is one of the elder statesmen of this frat. He actually made a cameo appearance a couple episodes ago. And I think this Homeland poster behind them is advertising maybe some kind of Axe body spray. It's another example of how Homelander's image has slowly become more and more prominent in every episode, reflecting how he's

taking over America and plastering the country with his image. And in the danger room, Sage is wearing a Detroit shirt, because that is her hometown. Godalkin assigns himself the same button test that he gave to Jordan and Marie earlier this season. So this is really important. He could have easily made himself the Vicar in this situation, the guy who stops the students from pressing the button. But instead, he's trying to train himself so he wants the students to try to stop him. And before the test, this girl points out, not anymore, sir, he doesn't have a dick. Which is true. Marie blew it up last season, and actually, maybe now she could heal him and bring it back, but she won't. Rufus tries to call himself a polymath, someone with a wide range of skills in many disciplines. Really, he's a dushy fratbrough

whose one power is to be a living, forget me now. So in this scene, think of Godalkin like an old crotchety man who thinks the newer generation's too soft. For instance, this girl has a useful power, but he admonishes her for wasting it doing improv comedy. And while Godalkin is using the students for his own self-improvement, the students are practicing the art of forgiveness and teamwork. Jordan forgives Marie. She's also forgiven Kate and Sam this season, but she does finally realize the Marie does not see her as an equal partner, so they have to agree to just be friends. Now, one of my few gripes about this episode is like twice in a row, characters just run up to them. It's like phones don't exist all of a sudden. In the seminar room, which like I said is similar to the X-Men's danger room,

Godalken admits that he wants to become as powerful as one of his Odessa's subject, so he can control Homelander. And he resents Homelander because the Odessa Project was meant to create the next generation of a superhuman. But he sees Homelander as just weak-willed. For instance, he name drops deep in the firecracker as lame soups in the seven and blames Homelander for their membership. Her homelander is so fragile, he's so fucking weak. And this also echoes Stan Edgar's opinions of Homlander. Homelander is a gaping abyss of deep need and sociopathy.

And this cuts to the core of who Homelander is. The strongest man in the world is also the weakest because he craves and needs the approval of others. But Sage says, Our plan, Phase 2, remember which Homelander is a vital part of? So what is her Phase 2 plan? Well, in Season 4 of The Boy, she told HomeLandah, she told HomeLandah, homelander, the democracies always fall into dictatorships. She sees this as inevitable, like she says this episode, everything ends the same. So she knows that democracy is going to fall and then a dictatorship

will rise up. But I think what she wants is for the right people to become dictators. In other words, for her to become the dictator. I think she wants to implement a more efficient system for the world to follow. And to implement this new world order, they still need homelander because he is the only person strong enough to be their figurehead. But Godalkin, like all fascists, can't share power so he blows up the plan. His ego drives him to break away because, in his mind, only the strong survive. And we think that this is the moment when Sage decides that Godalkin is a lost cause. Remember, when she was a kid, she actually researched a cure for cancer, but the human scientists ignored her, setting her down the path of becoming a human-hating mastermind in the present.

So now, Godalkin ignoring their carefully laid-out plan is reminding Sage of those doctors who once let her down and allowed her grandmother to die. Godalkin, meanwhile, discovers the joys of a dance party, manipulating the students to dance like marionettes to come on get happy. And the song choice is appropriate because Godalkin is forcing them to dance, like he's saying to them, come on, get happy, even making them smile as they frolic before him. Meanwhile, it turns out the Black Mar is a huge fan of Polarity's work, and he was dying to meet him. He sounds like he got into an elevator with Chris Evans at Comic-Con. I'm just saying the ending wasn't really earned. You killed the Alien Queen, which definitely should have

prevented any more extra hatch. He brings up studio interference and how the suits always want to plant seeds for sequels, which calls back to the boys universe. I mean, we've come a really long way, so it's easy to forget that season one of the boys was actually a commentary on superhero media. It made fun of the constant serialization and marketing that comes with superheroes. But maybe the reason he's such a super fan is because Black Mar is an actor. He spent all of season four trying to look for deeper meaning in his role until the Deep finally told him, Dude, see, what you're not getting is how horny killing me the old noir. And also, as a black actor, he probably idolized Anderson's movies and saw him as a soup role model. And I think

Polarity probably met Black Noir before, which is why he's confused. So, you can talk now? And when Sage visits Polarity, she's so melancholy. She's run the number. She knows by freeing him, she's going to end up killing Godalkin. And Sage doesn't ever get to truly be happy, but Godalkin knew the real her, but she just can't be with somebody that she can't control. So at this moment, she's probably thinking about the other deaths that she has suffered because less intelligent people didn't listen to her. And this, I think, is why she asked about his wife. Did you love your wife? What? Cancer. Because she discovered that cure for cancer that would have saved her nana if her lessors just would have listened to her. And then the second batch of fodder enters the danger

room, including Buck Guy, who keeps popping up this season and was wary of Godalkins too good to be true message earlier. Then Marie enters bringing the season full circle. Now, she is in the room where Godalkin honed her powers so she can use his own teaching abilities against him. If he would have never trained her in this room, then she wouldn't have been strong enough to kill him. He calls back to their training. By the way, I totally get why you use your hand. Because remember, he had told her, Drop the hand, the hand doesn't do anything.

But this is actually because Godalkin can finally use his hands to feel something. Like, frankly, he was a better partnering crime for Sage when he was an unfailing burned man. Now that he can feel sensations again, he's letting the pressure and adrenaline rush get to his judgment. He knows moving his hands around does nothing, but he doesn't care because it makes him feel good. He's on a real power trip. And then we see the real plan to smuggle the guardians into the seminar room and take down Cypher together. I think that when Annabeth saw her vision of Marie dying, this was actually a possible future where Marie never learned to work with her friends.

But because Annabeth interfered and reasoned with her sister, Marie accepted help and they're able to defeat Godalkin. There are so many great moments in this fight. For instance, the way Jordan's blast comes out of the butt like a fart, or how Greg and Sam double punch to save Emma. And best of all, when Emma demonstrated her emotional growth by growing on her own without food or drugs. And I love that in this fight, they are literally fighting the institution itself, Godalkin. For this whole show, they have been fighting the metaphorical institution, but now they're able to punch the real thing. Godalkin University forced the students into a pointless competition to be ranked the highest.

But now, it's the weakest kids who are able to take down the school's founder. In fact, he even made fun of the butt guy's powers, but they played a key part in stopping him. And this is such a perfect end for Godalkin. because he saw the strong as dominating the weak. But it turns out that the perceived weak can rise and defeat him if they work together. It's a real lesson for the 99% of us that don't control the world.

And Marie spells it out when she says, We beat you. All of us. Even the useless ones. Now, Allie, who is the lamest soup, holds him down while Harper stills his powers. But before Marie can bust him like a goat, he takes control of her body. Then all the blood rises just like in Annabeth's vision

and he's making Marie relive her worst nightmare. Once again, she is using her powers to kill her family. and the people that she loves. And in a season that is all about the system, trying to control the students, they're finally saved by one teacher who lets them make their own decisions. Polarity interrupts his mind control,

and she pops his head. Now, we've actually never seen Marie do this before. Obviously, we saw Victoria Newman do it many, many times, but we've only ever seen Marie blow up Kate's hand. And then the hand grow back? I'm telling you, I don't know. But I am wondering if, like, the whole Doug from Blockbuster thing could have been a reference to our Doug.

And if it was, thank you for doing that. And if it wasn't, sorry if that sounds egotistical, but, you know, recently we were referenced in Ironheart, so I thought, hell with it. We might be in the boys' universe, too. If you work on the show, let us know. Afterwards, Marie says,

which is a great tribute to the late Chase Pardomo, who died far too young before this season started filming. Pilarity then tells him to leave because Vot thinks they're starlighters, and Marie boldly takes a stand. No. Look, I've tried running. We all have.

We aren't going anywhere. And I love that Pilarity does not give a flying fly. I'm glad you all learned valuable lessons on all this shit, but I don't have time to argue. Anderson wants to be the scape. so maybe he'll end up in one of Holander's prisons and appear in season five of the boys. I could also see him teaming up with Kimiko or actually Frenchie, that would be a lot of fun. You've seen how Frenche can ask him to use his magnetic powers so they can do stuff together.

And also in season five, maybe Emma's inspiring words means that we'll see Greg again. So the team is on the run, looking for Stan Edgar's compound. Emma tries to give them directions, but Sam points out... Pretty sure you were in my pocket. Which is true, she wouldn't have been able to see anything. And there's another fun detail that Jordan changes to a boy so they can outside before we get to this incredibly moving conversation. Marie tries to pull the lassie trick with her sister, telling her to go away for her own good. But instead, she embraces her sister and says,

You're a hero, Marie. Remember, this is the whole reason Marie wanted to go to God You and join the 7. She wanted to show her sister that she was a hero so they could be together again as a family. And then, of course, the lights flicker as Starlight Lands. And remember, she mastered the power of flight in the final episode of The Boys Season 4. And then we also get this a source. cool, a surprise appearance from A-Train. Now, the last time we saw him, he was trying to get Ashley to run away with him. I loved this A-Train reveal. Remember, all the way back in Season 1 episode 1,

Marie and Annabeth's dad were talking about how Vought had just let the first black man into the 7. The family took pride in A-Train getting into the premier superhero team, although we know that A-Train was a corrupt doucheback whose drug use would kick off Huey's story in season one of the boys. But now, here in the present, A-Train is the actual hero of Marie's family envisioned him as. But he's not doing this as a celebrity. He is a rebel with the cause. He has something he wants to fight for.

This was all part of A-Train's redemption arc in season four of the boys when he saved Mother's Milk and felt like a true hero. And now, he's a fallen member of the Resistance, just like Generation V. You guys fucking rebels now. It's act like it. Now, this is so awesome. I mean, the boys' season four ended with all of the boys except for Butcher getting hauled in by Homelanders forces.

So who's left in any of resistance? There's A-Train, the GenV crew, Stan Edgar, and Zoe, who can also rescue the boys from Vought and the 7, all while Billy Butcher is out hunting soup solo and trying to resist a tumor monster in his head. It's a weird sentence. There are actually so many storylines from this season they're going to wrap up in season 5 of the boys.

And after the boys is over, could we see the Gen V crew appear somewhere else? Maybe in season 3 or a new spinoff because I doubt if they're going to go to college after all this happened. But for me, the big question mark is Sage. What is her end game? How does all of this fit into her plan?

Does she actually want to take control of the world? or is this all just part of her plan to rid the world of superheroes? I want to know your thoughts down in the comments, or you can find me and Ethan Ing, who, by the way, did a great job researching and co-writing this whole season of Gen V. We are on socials, or you can find us on our free-to-join Discord server. Thank you guys for watching all season long, and I'll see you with the boys' season 5. And if it's your first time here, please subscribe, smash that bell for alerts. For Screen Crush, I'm Ryan Erie.

Thank you.