After 7 Years, The Boys Just Had Its Most Important Scene

The Boys has had a lot of major moments throughout its five seasons, but the show’s most important scene yet just occurred. Despite the series being a dark comedy full of sex jokes, The Boys levies some pretty serious social commentary, discussing politics, celebrity culture, and more. However, all of its commentary has shared a common theme, one that The Boys just highlighted in full due to a moment in its final season.

The Boys season 5, episode 3 features the return of Stan Edgar, the former head of Vought who was ousted by Homelander. Despite not being a supe, he has managed to live this long due to how smart he is and his intricate knowledge of the systems that created Vought. This is highlighted in a speech he gives in the episode, where he discusses that supes aren’t the end product, but rather filling a necessary hole created by commerce and capitalism. Even if the Boys are successful in destroying supes, money still needs to be made. So, Vought will find a way to make money. Even if Vought is destroyed, shareholders still need to make money, so something else will take Vought’s place. Edgar knows that there is no way to stop things like Vought from popping up as long as the system of capitalism is in place. So, the best that the Boys can do is hope that the next alternative is preferable to supes.

Stan Edgar’s Speech In Season 5, Episode 3 Perfectly Sums Up What The Boys Is Really About

Stan Edgar’s speech lays out what The Boys has been discussing this entire time: capitalism. Supes in The Boys are a stand-in for a lot of things, but most of the things they’re being used to satirize are the results of the economic system that is in place. One of the biggest conflicts in The Boys is the supes attempting to maintain their public image. Despite them being horrible people, they must maintain a clean image in order to sell the Vought brand. Vought, like many real-world companies, cynically employs progressive politics, pretends to care about its employees, and attempts to sell consumers on things that make their lives worse in order to make a profit.

So, according to Stan Edgar, there is no way to change this unless the profit incentive is gone. The thing that the Boys are really fighting can’t be killed with guns, bombs, or viruses. Instead, social change has to be made in order to collapse this system and build a new one. The Boys are facing a giant that they will never beat, and rather than telling the Boys how to beat it, Stan Edgar hopes to benefit from it. Edgar is still an enemy of the Boys because he hopes to utilize this system to benefit himself rather than help change it to benefit everyone, a decision that many real-life capitalists make every day.

Related

All Seasons Of The Boys & Gen V, Ranked Worst To Best

The Boys universe has produced three seasons of the main series as well as a spinoff show, Gen V. Here is every season ranked from worst to best.

We Finally Know What Stan Edgar’s Endgame Is Now

Ever since Edgar was outed from Vought, we didn’t really know what his plan was. Edgar has mostly been in hiding, attempting to avoid the wrath of Homelander. However, he has clearly been operating in the background. Edgar and Zoe have been running around involving themselves with the activities of the Boys, Vought, and the cast of Gen V. However, they clearly don’t want to take down Vought, and they don’t want to kill all supes. While this has left fans scratching their heads for years, we finally know what Edgar is up to.

During his speech, MM realizes Stan Edgar’s true plan: he wants to take over Vought once all the supes are gone. While Edgar clearly has to keep his distance during Homelander’s reign, he can easily step in and reclaim his position in the company once it’s safe. Edgar understands Vought and the system of capitalism better than anyone else in The Boys, with this being his superpower. While he is helping the Boys due to the barrel of the gun now being turned on him, he still wants to be the one pointing the weapon in the end. So, he will probably be making moves as The Boys ends in order to get back into the seat of power.

However, there is a chance that he could be stopped. MM plainly says that he will put a bullet in Edgar’s head if he attempts to take over Vought, making things between him and the Boys even more hostile. The Boys could kill Edgar by the end of the show, preventing him from being the captain of Vought once again. Edgar betrayed the Boys by leaving them to be killed by the Deep and Black Noir, and while this plan backfired, it gives the Boys reason to hunt Edgar down and get revenge.

However, the Boys may not get an opportunity to hunt Edgar down. At the end of episode 3, he is subdued and captured by Black Noir, who is subsequently knocked out by the Deep. The Deep takes Stan Edgar to Homelander, meaning that he is now a prisoner of the Seven. There is a high chance that Edgar could be killed by Homelander or one of the other supes, meaning that his plan to take over Vought won’t work out.

Is This How The Boys Season 5 Sets Up More Spinoffs?

Vought will never end, and as long as Vought is around, there will be stories for The Boys to tell. Stan Edgar’s speech seems like it could be setting up more The Boys spinoffs, as he is explicitly saying that even after killing Homelander, the Boys cannot win. This may sound exciting to fans, as the world of The Boys could seemingly continue on forever based on what Edgar is saying.

However, it’ll be hard for the world of The Boys to continue without supes. If supes are gone, Vought will have to switch to a different product. A The Boys TV show about characters taking down Vought cell phones that have built-in planned obselence isn’t nearly as fun as Butcher and Homelander getting into superpowered fights, so it wouldn’t work as a spinoff. It seems likely that either supes will live on after the events of The Boys, or that the spinoffs will be prequels, like the upcoming Vought Rising TV show.

Release Date

2019 – 2026-00-00

Showrunner

Eric Kripke

• 
  

•