‘The Guardians of Godolkin’ doesn’t refer to who you think it does. And that’s not the only twist and turn in the season finale of Gen V. Alliances break and are formed, the ever-present question of who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy and is there anything that is NOT a shade of gray at this point still not solved. Am I complaining? Hell no.
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON 1 OF GEN V!
The Question of Right and Wrong
We pick up where we left off. Everyone is shocked that Cate killed Shetty, but she insists she did it for all of them, that she’s being a hero. Surprisingly, Sam agrees, saying Shetty sucked, that he’s not an experiment – that he wants to be a hero too. He tells himself that he’s doing it for Emma, echoing Hughie in The Boys – after Emma saved him, he thinks maybe it’s time for him to save her. He tells himself it’s for the right reasons, partly to keep Emma and the others from being tortured the way he was if they’re found out.
It’s the question that the entire The Boys universe poses again and again. Is doing something terrible okay if you’re doing it for the “right” reasons? If that isn’t a relevant question right now in the real world, I don’t know what is!
I think Sam does want to do the right thing. But Sam is angry too – and free for the first time to make his own decisions. This show is all about the choices we make, especially when we’re young and able to direct our own lives for the first time. Most of us don’t get through all that without some regrets.
Jordan, on the other hand, isn’t so sure that freeing the kids trapped in the Woods is a good idea, wanting to call campus Security instead (which unfortunately is not a good idea either). There’s always that temptation, when everything is falling down around you, to fall back on what has always been the status quo, trust whoever you thought you were able to. Marie knows that’s a mistake, though.
The Price of Power
Meanwhile, Andre watches over his father, ignoring Marie’s phone calls. He gets the bad news from the doc that every time his dad uses his powers, a micro tear occurs in the neural pathways, damaging his brain. (Asking if Andre himself has had any symptoms lets us know it’s not only his dad who’s being destroyed by using his powers). What can they do? Unfortunately he just recommends physical therapy, which sounds like what everyone with a chronic condition hears over and over again. How does this show always get it so right?
Doc: And no more using powers.
They always come with a price on this show, in this universe.
