This article contains spoilers from The Boys season 4, episode 5, “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son.”

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke discusses Ryan being pulled to the dark side. Homelander wants to make Ryan more like him, a task that has proven more difficult than Homelander anticipated given Ryan’s sweeter nature and the values instilled in him by his mother, Becca Butcher, who raised him for most of his life. In The Boys season 4, realizing that Ryan can’t be swayed by the usual trappings of fame, glory, or power, Homelander has to get creative in his efforts to transform his son.

In an interview with TVLine, Kripke explains how Homelander is able to elicit a darker side of Ryan in The Boys season 4, episode 5. He relates this to the internal conflict that has been waging within Ryan since he was first introduced and how Homelander weaponizes that for his own ends. He also teases what Ryan’s choices may mean for his character moving forward. Check out Kripke’s comments 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 Choice Between The Light And Dark Side Will Determine How The Boys Ends

Homelander Is Not The Only Force Trying To Guide Ryan

Numerous characters in The Boys have pointed out that Homelander has the power to destroy global infrastructure and annihilate scores of people if he chooses to do so. His need to be seen as a hero and be loved by his supporters, and his son as well, are largely what prevents him from becoming an unchecked apocalyptic force. If Homelander can push Ryan further to the dark side, there may be no stopping the combined might of Homelander and Ryan.

While The Boys is unafraid to get bleak, Homelander and other villains, including Stormfront and Soldier Boy, are usually thwarted by the end of a season, even if it’s only temporary. The Boys is unlikely to end with worldwide annihilation, meaning that Ryan needs to ultimately choose the light side. Billy Butcher has the greatest potential to make this happen as he is Ryan’s only living connection to his mother, and Butcher promised Becca he would protect Ryan. With only six months left to live, time is running out for Butcher to honor his promise.

Butcher has done his fair share of horrific deeds in The Boys, most recently severing a man’s leg and holding him hostage so that man can create more of a supe-killing virus. Nevertheless, Butcher usually makes the right decision when it counts the most. He is proof that even when making a choice based on the dark side, it’s never too late to go back to the light, something he can teach Ryan to save him, and to save the world from the combined forces of Ryan and Homelander.

Source: TVLine