- Generation V The penultimate episode of season 2 is now available.
- Confirm who the real villain of the show is.
- Reveal validates an old fan theory about Cipher
Generation V Season 2, episode 7 made its debut on Prime Video and confirms that Cipher is not the villain of the show.
Well, not exactly, at least. You see, while Hamish Linklater’s character has been seen as this season’s main antagonist, the man known as Cipher isn’t technically its Big Bad.
Full spoilers follow immediately for Generation V penultimate episode of season 2also known as ‘Hell Week’. Exit this page now if you haven’t seen it yet.
Thomas Godolkin is the real main villain of Gen V season 2
As ‘Hell Week’ reveals, Thomas Godolkin is the real villain of Generation V season 2.
This should not surprise many. After all, fans of the boysThe spin-off predicted many weeks ago that Godolkin would be the enemy of the piece.
In fact, ever since we saw a heavily scarred man in a hyperbaric chamber in Season 2, Episode 4, viewers have believed that this person is not only Godolkin, but also the individual manipulating events from the shadows. How could he do this? Controlling a human host, namely the man known as Cipher, played by Linklater. You can read more about this specific fan theory in my Generation V Season 2 Cipher’s powers explained piece.
More evidence was presented in last week’s episode, titled ‘Cooking Lessons,’ in which former Vought CEO Stan Edgar told Marie Moreau and company that Godolkin had the ability to control Supes.
Now, it is incredibly unlikely that Edgar meant that Godolkin could do so in a literal sense. After all, Edgar didn’t even believe the rumor that Godolkin survived the 1967 lab accident we saw in this season’s three-episode premiere.
However, it was another clue that the latest villain of one of Prime Video’s best shows could physically possess both humans and Supes. You can read more about what Edgar knew during his time running Vought in my Season 2 Episode 6 article that reveals more about the Odessa Project, Homelander, and Godolkin.
But let’s go back to Generation VThe last chapter. In an attempt to stop Cipher once and for all, Marie and Polarity (the latter of whom was completely cured of her life-threatening seizures thanks to Marie earlier in ‘Hell Week’) team up with the seemingly nefarious headmaster of Godolkin University (God U). Your plan? Polarity will keep Cipher busy while Marie locates Godolkin using her powers, heals him of his long-standing wounds, and convinces him to help her cause.
The plan also seems to work. After a battle in which Cipher uses Marie’s friends against Polarity and each other with her mind control abilities, Polarity manages to subdue Cipher. Meanwhile, Marie finds Godolkin and cures him of his ailments.
So it’s good news, right? No. As we learn, Godolkin has been controlling the character of Linklater, whose real name is Doug, during the second season of the Amazon TV Original.
No longer bedridden, the fully healed Godolkin leaves the room he was being held in and heads out to implement his master plan.
In last week’s episode, we found out that Cipher (i.e. Godolkin) wants to eliminate 75% of the Supe student population from God U, thus leaving the strongest 25% alive and, along with the current Supes loyal to Vought, help him achieve world domination. They even invite us to take a callous look at the immediate future. After a brief conversation with Hemple, one of God U’s “useless” students (Godolkin’s word, not mine), Godolkin uses his possession abilities to force Hemple to strangle himself to death.
With only one episode left, Generation VHe has to cover a lot of ground to conclude the overall narrative of this season.
Will he tell us how Godolkin survived the 1967 lab fire when he became Supe and/or why he chose Doug as his puppet? Will he succeed or will Marie stop him before he becomes so powerful that he can even control her?
If that happens, are Marie’s friends and/or Polarity able to save the day? If not, will Godolkin move on to the next stage of his and Sister Sage’s plan and try to possess Homelander as well? If the last of those possibilities presented itself, the boysThe fifth and final season will be a completely different proposition than any of us expected.
Hopefully, next week’s finale, titled ‘The Guardians of Godolkin’, will answer one or more of the questions when it arrives on one of the world’s best streaming services.
