Homelander’s narrative gets immensely more terrible as a result of one major revelation in The Boys season 4, episode 4. Homelander’s history has been hinted at in flashes throughout The Boys seasons 1-3, with additional facts provided through web shorts starring young Homelander and The Boys: Diabolical.

The specifics of the supe’s past, however, have remained mostly unknown. The Boys season 4, episode 4, “Wisdom of the Ages,” eventually lifts the veil from Antony Starr’s character, revealing the horrible secrets of Homelander’s youth in all their awful grandeur.

“Wisdom of the Ages” sees Homelander take a real journey down memory lane when he visits his former lab, reuniting with the scientists who had ruthlessly probed and prodded him in the past. Predictably, a slaughter unfolds, but before Homelander redecorates the “Bad Room” with an assortment of unrecognizable meaty parts, several important details about his background emerge. When the credits roll, Homelander remains the cruel, disgusting villain of The Boys season 4’s cast, but it’s impossible not to see him in a new light.

Barbara confirms that Homelander’s need for approval was a deliberate part of Vought’s design

Vought’s Experiments Look Even More Cruel After The Boys Season 4, Episode 4

Ever since The Boys began in 2019, Homelander’s desperate need for love and approval has been abundantly clear. From sucking away at the nipple of Madelyn Stillwell in season 1 to pining for an emotional father-son reunion with Soldier Boy in The Boys season 3, Homelander has always sought validation. In The Boys season 4, episode 4, Barbara – the head scientist responsible for Homelander’s development – reveals that Vought identified this trait and recruited “the best psychologists in the world” to “engineer” that desire as a means of controlling Homelander.

“Homelander is responsible for his own actions, and no event from the past can justify the many murders committed at his hands.”

In plain terms, Homelander’s ceaseless quest for love and acknowledgment did not occur as a natural aspect of his personality – it was intentionally cultivated by Vought during Homelander’s childhood. Vought wanted Homelander to feel unworthy and unloved, hoping the gaping hole in the test subject’s heart would ensure he always remained loyal to the likes of Stan Edgar and Madelyn Stillwell. All they had to do was keep Homelander chasing the approval he so strongly craved. This revelation completely changes the audience’s perspective on Homelander’s story in The Boys.

Not only did Vought make the grave mistake of birthing a supe with enough power to destroy humanity, the company deliberately gave him an emotional itch that could never be scratched. Ultimately, Homelander is responsible for his own actions, and no event from the past can justify the many murders committed at his hands. At the same time, it cannot be denied that Vought intentionally gave the most powerful man on Earth a deep-seated psychological reason to be constantly angry at the world around him.

Has Homelander overcome his greatest weakness since The Boys Season 4, Episode 4?

Is Homelander Finally Over His Need For Approval? Not So Fast…

Homelander visits his old lab because he is immensely dissatisfied when The Boys season 4 begins. The other Seven supes all cower in fear, the public cheer his every move without question, and his relationship with Ryan is tempestuous. Returning home and 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing the scientists who once tortured him is Homelander’s attempt to exorcise those lingering demons from decades gone by. Homelander is perhaps hoping that by murdering his way through his oldest tormentors, his unquenchable thirst for validation will disappear.

Barbara was, in essence, the closest Homelander had to a mother figure during his formative years.

Unfortunately for Homelander, the psychological weakness Vought bestowed upon him will not be so easy to shake off. Homelander’s target for approval has constantly shifted during The Boys, and when one potential source of love lets him down, he typically drops them and moves onto the next. Since The Boys season 1 began, Homelander has been emotionally reliant on Stillwell (𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed by Homelander), Edgar (betrayed by Homelander), Black Noir (𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed by Homelander), Stormfront, Soldier Boy (betrayed by Homelander), and now Ryan. Killing the scientists, therefore, does not guarantee that Homelander has successfully found closure.

Homelander not 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing Barbara is another telltale clue that his demons remain intact. During Homelander’s lab visit in The Boys season 4, it becomes clear that Barbara was always the person he most sought to impress, as she was the only scientist to never show fear towards him. Barbara was, in essence, the closest Homelander had to a mother figure during his formative years. Crucially, she is the only lab worker not 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed during Homelander’s rampage, proving his longing for approval has gone absolutely nowhere.

Butcher’s Boys Can Use Homelander’s Weakness Against Him In Season 5

Homelander’s Loss Is Butcher’s Gain

As things stand in The Boys season 4, the character Homelander most wants to receive love and admiration from is Ryan. Between the youngster’s functional moral compass and the paternal shadow of Billy Butcher, however, Homelander and his son have been unable to connect on an emotional level. This is a situation Butcher’s team can exploit – albeit likely not until the final battle arrives in The Boys season 5. If Butcher can flip Ryan to his side, the Boys can take advantage of Homelander’s desperation to earn his son’s love and lure him into a trap.

That trap could even be Ryan himself, since Homelander’s son is the only supe harboring enough inner power to actually 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 Homelander. If Ryan tempts Homelander into a loving father-son embrace and slyly takes that opportunity to laser his dad to death in The Boys season 5, Vought’s team of world-renowned psychologists – the ones who deliberately made Homelander seek love and approval – would have played a direct part in the villain’s defeat.