The Boys Season 5 finale finally gave fans an answer about Ryan’s future after the final battle against Homelander. The ending also hinted at whether Ryan lost his powers after getting hit by Kimiko’s depowering blast.
Does Ryan also lose his powers in The Boys finale?
Ryan returned in the final episode after recovering from the brutal beating Homelander gave him earlier in season 5. During the finale, Ryan helped Butcher and Kimiko fight Homelander at the White House.
Homelander used his Oval Office speech to present himself as an all-powerful and eternal God. However, the speech quickly fell apart when the word “father” deeply triggered him, causing him to completely lose control during the address.
His son, Ryan, rejected him and called out his growing power. After being triggered, Homelander dropped his public calm and openly threatened the American public, but Butcher and Kimiko stopped him.
Homelander started getting the upper hand against Butcher and Kimiko during the fight. However, Ryan joined the battle and helped them fight against his father. During the fight, Kimiko used a special depowering blast linked to the same experimental radiation that powers Soldier Boy’s abilities.
The blast removed Compound V from a supe’s bloodstream and successfully took away Homelander’s powers. Ryan and Butcher were also caught in the blast alongside Homelander. After the fight, Butcher strongly suggested that both he and Ryan had lost their powers and were now ordinary people.
The climax also supported this idea because Butcher later became willing to release the supe-killing virus. Earlier in the series, he avoided using it because he wanted to protect Ryan from dying, as he had promised Becca that he would protect her son.
In the end, Hughie killed Butcher to stop him from carrying out mass genocide against all supes. Still, the ending never completely confirmed Ryan’s situation. Unlike other supes, Ryan was born with powers naturally and never received Compound V through an injection.
It remains unclear whether Kimiko’s blast could fully remove Ryan’s abilities. The show never gave a clear answer about whether Ryan permanently lost his powers. Even though the ending strongly hinted that Ryan lost his powers, the show never fully confirmed his true fate.
