Close-up of Karl Urban as Billy Butcher in The Boys season 4 and an image of him with tentacles coming out of his chest

Billy Butcher takes a dark turn in The Boys season 4 finale, and the episode’s opening minutes tease his villain twist long before he kills Victoria Neuman. The Boys season 4, episode 8 raises the stakes for the main characters, with Homelander and Sister Sage gaining more political power and Butcher giving in to his crueler impulses. After realizing Joe Kessler is the devil on his shoulder, Butcher tries to strike a balance between his hatred of Supes and his humanity. However, Ryan’s actions in the season 4 finale push Butcher to embrace Kessler and the Supe genocide he suggests.

This means Homelander won’t be the only villainous character in The Boys season 5; it seems the show’s heroes will need to contend with Butcher as well. Although Homelander and Butcher will be on opposite sides of the looming conflict, they’re rapidly on the way to becoming mirrors of one another. And a clever moment from The Boys season 4 finale foreshadows this turn of events, drawing a clear connection between the two characters.

How The Boys Season 4’s Finale Foreshadowed Butcher Becoming As Bad As Homelander

They Both Face Down Their Mortality In The Last Episode

Billy Butcher looking sad with Kessler behind him in The Boys season 4's episode 8

Within the first 10 minutes of The Boys season 4 finale, both Butcher and Homelander find themselves in similar situations — and the series seamlessly transitions from one to the other to highlight this fact. Butcher’s first scene in episode 8 finds him on his deathbed, where Kessler continues to push for a Supe genocide. Then Grace appears, and Butcher lights a cigarette and asks for a pint. He knows that he’s dying, and he faces his mortality by embracing his vices one last time. He’s not the only one staring down his own mortality when the episode opens, either.

The Boys hints at these characters being similar by showing them going through identical issues.

Butcher’s first scene transitions to a shot of Homelander looking at his collection of gray hairs, proof that The Seven’s leader is aging. Homelander is disgusted by how rapidly it’s happening, and it’s clear that he’s just as fixated on his mortality as Butcher — even though Homelander has plenty more time at this point in the show. The Boys hints at these characters being similar by showing them going through identical issues. And although Butcher evades his death at the ending of The Boys season 4, the finale’s last moments prove he’s as bad as Homelander.

Is Butcher Really As Bad As Homelander After The Boys Season 4?

Both Characters Have The Same Goal For Season 5

Antony Star looking down as Homelander in The Boys season 4 finale

Butcher with blood on his face in The Boys season 4 finale

Butcher is an easier character to root for than Homelander throughout The Boys, but season 4’s final episode proves he’s just as bad as the Supe. Both characters have the same goal heading into The Boys’ fifth and final season: they both intend to commit genocide, just against different groups of people. Homelander wants to round up non-Supes and traitors and place them in internment camps, ensuring the U.S. is only safe for superheroes. Meanwhile, Butcher wants to use a virus on Homelander that could start a global pandemic among Supes.

Needless to say, Butcher and Homelander will both be villains in future episodes of The Boys. This makes their final showdown more tragic, as Butcher becomes just like the people he hates in order to enact his revenge. Unless his visions of Becca or The Boys can talk sense into him, it seems Butcher is doomed to die the villain. He’ll go down with the other Supes in The Boys season 5, and he seems happy to do so, as long as his plan works out in the end.