When it comes to casualties, The Boys TV show rarely holds back. The series prides itself on gore, resulting in some of The Boys’ most memorable kills. But outside the graphic moments, there are slow burns as well to add emotional weight to the high-octane, intense action series.

Season 4 takes the latter approach, opting for a death that comes with strong emotional weight. But there are some chaotic events that come before. It all takes place as a major character dies, which is sure to have a significant impact on Hughie Campbell Jr.’s life.

The Boys’ Daphne Campbell Revives Her Husband With V

The Boys Season 4, Episode 4 ended with Hughie obtaining Compound V from A-Train and contemplating injecting the serum into his father’s veins. Hughie Sr. had a stroke and was comatose. His son thought that maybe V would make him superhuman and prolong his life. V does tend to heal and cure people permanently, at times. It’s a risk Hughie was willing to take. But he backed out at the last second.

Hughie’s mother Daphne, however, found the vial and injected her husband. It woke him up, but fans had no clue if this was a good reaction. Episode 4 picks up with Hughie Sr. happy and excited to go home. He wants to restart his family. He forgives Daphne for leaving them decades ago. All he sees is a bright future and a second chance. Hughie embraces this notion, and decides to let bygones be bygones. All that matters is that he has the man who sacrificed and toiled for him for so many years.

Unfortunately, however, there are warning signs that something is off. The biggest red flag comes with Hughie Sr. forgetting his wife went to the bathroom just seconds before. Hughie plays it off as a minor side effect. But deep down, he senses an error. He gaslights himself by planning a vacation and cooking up the dream life he never had as a kid. It’s very sympathetic, as it builds on Hughie’s trauma and anxieties of the past.

Not having Daphne around left him with insecurities and a lifelong fear that people he loved would abandon him, directly or indirectly. It’s why Hughie suffered mentally when A-Train accidentally killed Robin in Season 1. And why he didn’t mind breaking rules with Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher to protect his new love, Starlight. Hughie always had a family complex, hence why he values the Boys so much, whether they’re in the right or wrong. But with his parents back together, he has that human, non-military life he wanted for so long. He simply wants to make up for lost time.

The Boys Turns Hughie Sr. Into a Killer

Unfortunately, Hughie Sr. becomes erratic at the hospital. Apart from the memory loss, he gains phase-shifting powers akin to Kitty Pryde from the X-Men. He has some super-speed as well, like the Flash. Hughie is petrified. He knows how terrified his father must be, because when Hughie took Temp V to power up in Season 3, he kept teleporting around uncontrollably. His father’s case is a lot more graphic. He’s not in the right frame of mind. The Boys’ Hughie and Daphne find him with someone’s heart in hand. For some reason, he yanked it out. He then shifts through walls and people, blowing them apart. He also ends up in a patient’s body in a truly gory sequence.

Seeing and hearing the panicked man screaming creates truly jarring scenes. Hughie and Daphne eventually confront him and try to calm him down. However, Hughie Sr. becomes enraged at seeing Daphne, and his pain and anger over her leaving swell up. He can’t even recognize Hughie. It seems like he’ll kill her, but Hughie steps in and starts restoring his memories. He lets him know that he’s safe and with loved ones. This breaks Hughie as he badly wanted a restart. He informs Daphne that they can’t let the man suffer like that. Hughie Sr. is a risk to himself and a liability to others. Daphne’s agony must also be considered, as she left the family because she was young, depressed and unprepared for marriage and motherhood.

Hughie Sr. and Daphne reconnected, but he her away from her son, as he wasn’t sure Hughie could process her return. He did give her power of attorney in case he ever got sick. He knew Hughie wouldn’t take him off life support. Daphne thought she could fix things, give him his life back, and piece their household back again. In that sense, she feels guilty because she didn’t grant him a peaceful death as planned. Instead, she made him a weapon and an accidental monster. Innocents are dead because of it. Luckily, Hughie shows compassion towards her. He knows that her mind and heart were in the right place. At least they got a brief reunion.

The Boys’ Hughie Has to Mercy-Kill His Father

Hughie knows there is only one thing left to do in The Boys Season 4. He conjures up a serum with drugs from the clinic. He learned this from Frenchie, his chemist colleague who taught him a lot about chemicals and drugs. Hughie injects it into the IV and his father’s bloodstream. Hughie Sr. quietly passes away in one of The Boys’ most heartbreaking sequences. He had been Hughie’s bedrock for so long, and, he, like Daphne, wanted to see Hughie marry Annie and start a family of his own. It does show growth and maturity on Hughie’s part, and that he’s prepared to deal with mortality. All series long, he struggled with these big decisions and the very concept of fate. Here, Hughie accepts the hand that destiny dealt him.

Sadly, the timing couldn’t be worse. Hughie has to worry about Antony Starr’s Homelander and the Vought International supporters. This despotic movement wants to take over America, not to mention Homelander has agents hunting Hughie, his friends, family and workers. Hughie has to remain steeled up for the war. How hard this death hits him remains to be seen, but he must stay strong. It’s what Daphne and his father would want. Hughie has to help take care of Annie as well. The show’s Firecracker (Valorie Curry) outed nasty Starlighter secrets and helped get her booted from President Singer’s team. The Starlighter movement has lost credibility, so she is at her lowest and is relying on Hughie for support.

This turn of events could impact how he works with Butcher, too. With his biological father gone, Hughie might end up listening to Butcher more. If so, they may keep secrets, cross ethical lines and blur the morality of The Boys again. Butcher is already doing this with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Joe Kessler. He is very vulnerable and could become their pawn. With Homelander manipulating Ryan, Butcher is getting desperate to get the boy back. Ultimately, he could prey on Hughie and make him a blind acolyte again, even with outlandish, puerile plans. Weaponizing a tragedy has always been one of Butcher’s strongest points, and now, he may have his son back.

The Boys Season 4 debuts new episodes Thursdays on Prime Video.