Eric Kripke, the showrunner of The Boys, explains Ryan’s descent into darkness. Homelander wants to make Ryan more like him, but the process has proven more difficult than he expected given Ryan’s sweeter nature and the morals taught in him by his mother, Becca Butcher, who reared him for the most of his childhood.

In The Boys season 4, Homelander realizes that Ryan will not be seduced by the traditional trappings of fame, glory, or power, so he must be inventive in his efforts to alter his son.

In an interview with TVLine, Kripke discusses how Homelander can provoke a darker side of Ryan in The Boys season 4, episode 5. He compares this to Ryan’s internal strife, which has been ongoing since his introduction, and how Homelander uses it to his advantage. He also previews what Ryan’s decisions may entail for his character in the future. Check out Kripke’s thoughts below:

I think the light and dark in Ryan is always at war with each other. I think what Homelander did this episode that was pretty deviously brilliant is he used altruism to start to walk Ryan down a darker path. Bonnie, that poor PA, really did need rescuing, just not in the way that Homelander encouraged Ryan to do it. He’s, I think, seducing Ryan by letting Ryan do actually helpful things, but at the same time treating humans as objects. I think Ryan, in this episode, has taken a step towards the dark side, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t take a step back towards the light side.

Ryan’s decision between the light and dark sides will determine how The Boys ends.

Homelander is not the only force attempting to guide Ryan.

Numerous individuals in The Boys have stated that Homelander has the ability to destroy global infrastructure and annihilate scores of people if he chooses to. His desire to be viewed as a hero and loved by his supporters, as well as his kid, is essentially what keeps him from being an unstoppable catastrophic force. If Homelander can push Ryan any deeper into the dark side, the combined power of Homelander and Ryan may be unstoppable.

Homelander and other villains, such as Stormfront and Soldier Boy, are typically defeated at the conclusion of a season, even if just temporarily, unlike The Boys, which is known for its dark themes.The Boys is unlikely to conclude with global devastation, thus Ryan must ultimately choose the light side. Billy Butcher has the greatest chance of making this happen because he is Ryan’s only living tie to his mother, and Butcher promised Becca he would protect Ryan. Butcher has only six months to live, thus time is running out to keep his pledge.

Butcher has committed awful acts in The Boys, like chopping a man’s limb and keeping him prisoner to make a super-𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing virus. Nonetheless, Butcher typically makes the correct option when it matters the most. He demonstrates that it is never too late to return to the light, which he can instruct Ryan to do in order to save him and the world from Ryan and Homelander.