When The Boys was in its initial stages, Billy Butcher was nowhere near what he is today.
He was firmly the hero, the protagonist whom Homelander had wronged in such terrible and heartless fashion that his actions made perfect sense.
And while, at first glance, it makes poetic sense for Butcher to land the final blow and kill Homelander, even if it is the last thing he does, I believe there are reasons this should not happen.
To reach Homelander, Butcher formed and led the Boys, embraced extrajudicial tactics, and escalated.
He murdered Mesmer after the telepath betrayed them.
In The Boys Season 4, he pursued a supe-killing virus, kidnapping Dr. Sameer Shah and pushing for a strain strong enough to fell Homelander, despite warnings it could go airborne and wipe out all supes.
The “Joe Kessler” driving him toward genocide was later revealed as a tumor-spawned hallucination.
So, is he the same, vengeful man who has been slighted in an unbelievable manner, or is he now part of the very things that he has always stood against?
This Version of Billy Butcher Will Not Get Even His Wife’s Approval
Becca ultimately died during the Season 2 climax, tragically due to her own son Ryan.
Since then, Butcher has slid from grim avenger to antihero bent on outcomes Becca would not have sanctioned, from killing informants to contemplating mass extermination via virus.
Whatever “hero” he was is gone; his own mind now splits between Becca’s humanizing memory and Kessler’s monstrous urge.
While the show may eventually feature Butcher landing the final blow, does it make poetic sense anymore?
Is Butcher the unlikely hero who was forced into power, or is he himself now a supe, and exactly the kind of individual he set out to free the planet from?
There is little doubt that the showrunners will no longer portray it as a “triumph of the good guy,” if he does end up killing Homelander.
The problem over here is that Butcher killing him does not poetically solve the “moral question” that existed in the initial seasons.
This is no longer a fight between good and evil.
Instead, it is a battle between evil and the epitome of evil, in Homelander.
Billy Butcher built his life around one idea: the world gets safer if you take Homelander off the board.
He’s ruthless, tactically sharp, and now partially “supe” himself after Compound V and the tumor it sparked.
He has already crossed lines, killing supes like Mesmer outright and showing he’ll weaponize anything that works. That history supports a finale where he takes the shot.
Further, while he appears well aware of his own cruelty, there are obvious reasons why Homelander’s death should come at the hands of someone inherently good, and even a situation where Ryan delivers the final blow may make more poetic sense.
Why Butcher Should Not Deliver the Final Blow to Homelander
The fourth season pushed him further.
The Joe Kessler twist made plain that Butcher’s worst impulses have a voice in his head.
That explicitly frames Butcher as a man at war with himself, capable of the victory and the atrocity in the same breath.
If Butcher kills Homelander and walks away as “the hero,” the show betrays its thesis.
I would be happier with a situation where Butcher, well aware that he himself does not deserve to live anymore, sacrifices his own life to rid the world of Homelander.
However, an actual battle where he walks away with his life after delivering the final blow no longer makes sense.
Butcher, after all, does not deserve to live as well and has broken every principle that he himself once stood for.
Billy Butcher Is Merely Purgatory
Butcher has contemplated an endgame that would wipe out every supe alive to reach one target.
Even before the virus, Butcher’s moral record is ugly: extrajudicial killings and manipulation of his own team have been the norm.
He’s never been the “good guy” and is instead the blunt instrument the show uses to ask, “How far is too far?”
In such a scenario, poetic justice dictates that a truly good supe (Marie Moreau, anyone?) ends up becoming the person who lands the final blow.
Ryan being portrayed as a brainwashed teenager who finally figures out what he has to do and kills his father also comes at a close second, in my opinion.
Hence, even if Butcher ends up delivering the kill, it should come after he realizes his own follies, and does it in a way that does not validate genocide and does not make him a saint.
The show has always been about power without accountability.
The final image should close that loop: Homelander gone, Butcher accountable, and Ryan choosing something better.
That appears more honest to the text, and should invariably include Billy Butcher’s death in Season 5, as well, alongside a range of other characters.
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