The Boys Season 5, Episode 6’s Biggest Misstep Makes Perfect Sense (But Could Still Be a Setup)

The Boys Season 5, Episode 6 proves a turning point for the show’s final season, making Homelander more powerful than ever — and the installment’s big twist stems from a major misstep. SPOILERS ahead for The Boys Season 5, Episode 6. The Boys team spends most of the lead-up to “Though the Heavens Fall” planning to destroy the last vial of V1 before Homelander can get his hands on it. The alternative is releasing the supe virus before Homelander injects himself and becomes immune. Unfortunately, while they make strides toward both ends, they end up accomplishing neither.

In the show’s latest chapter, their efforts to get the V1 from Bombsight are interrupted by Soldier Boy. Sister Sage, who shows up to join The Boys as part of her “Phase 3,” insists that he won’t give the serum to Homelander, since he hates him more than anyone. Yet The Boys Season 5, Episode 6 concludes with Jensen Ackles’ supe doing exactly that. The result is main team’s worst nightmare come to life. And even Sage seems surprised by Soldier Boy’s decision. It’s a massive mistake on her part, but it makes sense when you really look at her flaws. It’s also possible it could be a setup on her part, as there are a few suspicious details scattered throughout the episode.

Sister Sage’s Misstep in The Boys Season 5, Episode 6 Makes Sense Due to Her Biggest Flaw

With Sister Sage regularly manipulating others like pawns on a chess board, her error in Episode 6 feels unbelievable at first. She’s the smartest supe, and she often takes other characters’ emotions into account when scheming. She knows how to use feelings to push situations in the direction she wants them. However, “Though the Heavens Fall” makes it clear that she’s overconfident in her abilities on this front. She condescendingly tells Mother’s Milk that people are predictable, using it as her reasoning for involving Soldier Boy in the V1 exchange. It’s that cockiness that makes her error less surprising. Sage completely undervalues the nuances of human nature, and doing so backfires on her. It’s not the first time her biases work against her either. She initially misreads Thomas Godolkin in Gen V Season 2 as well.

Sage is cold and calculating, and she can predict how humans act for the sake of love and pride, but she’s not as attuned to those feelings as she believes. Her analyses are too straightforward to account for Soldier Boy’s love for Clara warring against his hatred for Homelander. She also has no reason to know about Clara, which further sets her up to fail. It doesn’t help that Soldier Boy himself is more complicated and unpredictable than most characters in The Boys. Homelander’s and Butcher’s motivations are relatively straightforward, but someone like Soldier Boy is messier. This makes him a challenge for Sage, and she fails to view him as such. It’s realistic that this would become a problem.

Homelander Getting the V1 Could Still Be Part of Sister Sage’s Grand Plan

Although Sage’s misstep in The Boys Season 5, Episode 6 makes sense for her character, there’s a chance that this outcome is part of her bigger plan. Fans on Reddit and Threads are certainly speculating that this is the case, and there are a couple of details that support it. For one thing, Sage should be more doubtful of Soldier Boy, even with her overconfidence at play. When she gets Ashley to read his mind, they learn that Ackles’ character is coming around to his son. Sage knowing that information doesn’t align with her insistence that Soldier Boy won’t hand over the serum.

On top of that, Sage leaves a Taco Bell receipt out at The Boys’ hideout, which feels like an odd detail for The Boys to focus on. There’s no real reason Sage wouldn’t cover her trail, especially being as smart as she is. It’s possible she wants Homelander to know that she’s working with The Boys now, though to what end remains unclear. Sage claims that she’s planning to hide in her bunker and read, but this week’s episode suggests a greater endgame might be in the works. We’ll have to keep watching to learn what it is — and theories range from Sage working with Soldier Boy, to her scheming with Stan Edgar, to her replacing the V1. Whatever’s going on, there’s probably more to her error than meets the eye. Yet considering her biggest flaw, it could just as easily be the simplest explanation: she miscalculated.

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