A major theme in The Boys has always been how men abuse power. Whether it’s Antony Starr’s Homelander, or his followers like the Deep, they’ve turned the Seven into a depraved unit. Of course, the show also touches on politicians and the military, illustrating how the patriarchy has existed for centuries, and helped fracture the world.

Season 4 of The Boys doesn’t let up on these statements, although some people like A-Train want to make amends. Ironically, Homelander’s son, Ryan, is now found making a stand against toxic masculinity, and he does so under the watchful gaze of the unlikeliest mentor: his own father. The thing is, Ryan can’t see that he’s becoming part of the problem he wants to fight.

The Boys’ Homelander Gives Ryan Newfound Freedom

Ryan has been struggling with his identity at Vought Tower. He knows that Vought’s Sister Sage has a big marketing plan to make him the next Homelander. But he doesn’t think that this life is for him. He’s scared, however, as he doesn’t want to disappoint a Homelander who’d get angry if he won’t follow in his footsteps. Homelander has raged whenever Ryan tried to be his own person, so it’s understandable why the boy is walking on eggshells.

Homelander makes amends after killing people at the Vought lab. He realizes he was made to be a weapon and doesn’t want Ryan to feel the same way. He urges Ryan to give his thoughts to director, Adam Bourke, over “Super School” — a teenage superhero movie Ryan is supposed to be in. Ryan lets Adam know it’s cheesy. In fact, he’s not into the Vought Cinematic Universe at all, which worries Adam, as Vought Studios has already invested so much money into Ryan’s bow on-screen.

Homelander embraces how Ryan takes charge of his life, and he’s living vicariously through Ryan, because his childhood was robbed from him. He was a guinea pig in a lab, so he wants Ryan to be happy, even if it involves some bullying. Homelander orders Adam to give Ryan his wallet and keys, which act as toys to play with. It’s a statement to show Adam they are gods above him and that humans are their pawns. Of course, Ryan doesn’t think that deep, as he doesn’t quite know what ego and narcissism are.

All that matters is that he isn’t on Vought’s media and entertainment leash. Homelander is being a father at last and lets him know he’ll never have to do anything he doesn’t want to. He’s not Vought’s slave, which is an arc that humanizes Homelander. After all, he had parent issues of his own after being grown in the lab. The villain genuinely wants his son to be comfortable, which will surely polarize fans as Homelander has killed so many innocents over the years.

The Boys’ Ryan Punishes Adam Bourke

Ryan gets hands-on later when he and Homelander meet Adam backstage at a presentation. Ryan notices Adam’s personal assistant, Bonnie, is present. She is uncomfortable from all the times Adam hit on her. At Homelander’s request, Ryan takes things into his own hands. He intimidates Adam and makes him get on his knees to apologize. Homelander then eggs Ryan on to get more extreme, and Ryan has Bonnie repeatedly slap Adam to send a message.

Vought’s entire ecosystem has been based on harmful men ordering women around, so there was a need to break the cycle. Even with former CEO, Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), and the Vought founders, the patriarchy was in the veins of the company. But at least one woman named Bonnie gets to literally fight back. Ryan doesn’t understand he is exhibiting a double standard by endorsing violence, even if his intentions are good.

Ryan doesn’t want to see Bonnie mistreated, which stems from how much he loved his late mother, Becca. She was a great role model, who died due to the incendiary rivalry between Homelander and Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher. Once more, it showed how collateral damage fell when arrogant men waged war on each other. Ryan may be too young to distill all this, especially because he does want Homelander’s approval.

He’s seen his father protect him from a mob, plus he admires Homelander’s powers and the fact he runs Vought. Part of Ryan wants to be a leader like this and create a better world. He thinks he’s starting by punishing Adam, but little does he know that Homelander is fostering an alt-right cult and a civil war in America thanks to Valorie Curry’s Firecracker. All Ryan sees is a hero to look up to and who will guide him in his newfound ambition of healing the world.

The Boys’ Homelander Could Corrupt Ryan Permanently

While Ryan learned about morals and ethics from Becca, Butcher and the CIA chief, Grace Mallory, this new Homelander could gaslight him for the worse. Ryan has been wary about Homelander, but he didn’t like Butcher condemning the man in the past. Ryan wanted to see if there was a good side to his father. Now, he thinks there is and has formed his own opinion. The Boys Season 4 is making Homelander to look like a good Superman in Ryan’s eyes, and not the vile dictator he is. It comes down to naïveté and Ryan being sheltered. He is fed what Homelander wants him to learn. He doesn’t know this is conditioning and brainwashing.

Bit by bit, Homelander can use these small victories on the job and make Ryan think his father knows what justice truly is. Ryan did smile at the end of Season 3 when Homelander killed a protestor who came after them. It shows he has an inherent darkness in him. Homelander is taking that seed and nurturing it. The more he does this, the more he will corrupt Ryan and possibly create a young Homelander. It’s a different take of the old adage from Spider-Man: with great power comes great responsibility. This rabbit hole is what Butcher feared. He has been hallucinating Becca all season long, begging him to stop this from happening.

Unfortunately, Butcher might be too late, as Ryan is feeling at home with Homelander. If Butcher has to save him, it might be by force, or worse yet, Butcher might have to kill the boy. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Joe Kessler warned Butcher about this. If they couldn’t turn Ryan to their side, they would have to put him down. Butcher doesn’t like the idea, and has remained steadfast and hopeful there is good inside Ryan. But this notion is slowly changing as Ryan’s affinity and love for Homelander is growing. Ultimately, this will give Homelander a physical weapon and a mental dagger to hurt Butcher and, by extension, the Boys.

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