Gen V season 2 episode 4 explained: Who wins the fight? What is Cipher's power?

Gen V season 2 has arrived, and things are heating up. The first four episodes are now available to stream on Prime Video... and so much has happened already. If you thought freshman year was tough, sophomore year is even worse. There's a new Dean and a new array of various dangers... that all seem to point right back to Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair).

The fourth episode takes us into a rather strange fight in a Vought arena (that's meant to mimic the likes of live boxing events like Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, etc.) with potentially fatal consequences. There's also the continued question of: Who is Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater)? What is he up to? And why is he obsessed with Marie?

Gen V season 2 episode 4 recap

At the end of Gen V season 2 episode 3, Jordan tells the entire school the truth about Vought and Godolkin University. Episode 4 begins with an enraged Cipher telling Jordan and Marie that there is only one way to remedy this: an arena fight broadcast in front of the entire world, where the two compete for the coveted no. 1 ranking at Godolkin U. Jordan and Marie initially refuse, but Cipher threatens to send them back to Elmira.

Not wanting to go through with the fight, Jordan and Marie enlist the help of Cate and Emma. Cate and Jordan go to Cipher's house with the intention of digging up dirt in order to blackmail him in some way. While inside his house, they find an old man covered head to toe in burns inside a hyperbaric chamber. Back at school, Cipher forces Marie to work on honing her powers, which involves moving a bag of blood from one table to another without bursting it. He has her try the same with a goat, which unfortunately explodes. After the training, Marie, Jordan, Emma, and Cate devise a plan: because Marie can't sense Compound V in Cipher's blood, she figures he must be human. Cipher also doesn't know that Cate's powers are currently broken. Cate will go to Cipher's box during the fight and get him to admit that he's human, while Emma (with the help of Harper and Ally) makes herself small and hides in the office with a tiny camera to capture the admission. The hope is that if this is broadcast to the world, the fight will stop.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work out. The fight begins, and after Cate tells Cipher that she "knows he's human," he doesn't emote. Instead, he finds the camera and puts an end to the plan. He tells her to "watch this," and immediately begins controlling Jordan's body just by looking at them. Jordan slams Marie to the ground, and waves over to the dean's box. Marie tells them to stop, but Jordan replies, "I told you, Marie, don't wave your hand...it doesn't do anything," repeating what Cipher told her earlier during training. The fight continues, and after Cipher pushes her to her absolute limit, she uses her newfound levitation powers to lift Jordan up into the air. Cipher leaves Jordan's body, and they beg Marie to stop (lest they meet the same end as that goat). Marie puts Jordan down and looks around in horror as the crowd chants her name.

Who wins the fight between Jordan and Marie?

Marie wins the fight, but it isn't a fair one. Though the fight itself begins with a cheeky kiss between the two, to show the world that they aren't enemies, Cipher promptly takes over Jordan's body and makes them battle Marie. The initial plan was that the fight would stop mid-broadcast after Cate manipulates him into admitting he's human, though this just makes Cipher finally demonstrate his powers. Marie ultimately wins, but because Cipher pushes her to her absolute limit and causes her to lift Jordan into the air by their blood. It's possible that, if she hadn't stopped, she would've made Jordan explode just like the goat from her training session with Cipher.

What is Cipher's power?

While we aren't entirely sure yet, we can safely say that we haven't seen anything like it in The Boys universe. There are three supes we can compare him to: Doppelganger, who appeared in The Boys seasons 1 and 2 and possesses the ability to shapeshift into any individual and mimic their voice; The Shifter, who we meet in season 4 and has the ability to transform into any being she makes physical contact with (and is even able to read their thoughts and recall their memories), and Gen V season 2's Harper, who is able to mimic anyone's powers for 60 seconds.

During the fight, Cipher is able to control Jordan just by looking at them, and even has them wave to the camera after punching and slamming Marie to the ground. Because this power seems more akin to possession than shifting or mimicry, and because he's able to do it without straining or using very much energy at all, it's highly likely that we are yet to see the true scope of what he can do. It's also important to note that there doesn't seem to be any Compound V in his blood, or, it's simply undetectable for Marie, the way Cate is also unable to read his mind. Cipher might be just as powerful as Marie and Homelander, if not more, but only time will tell.

Gen V season 2 is streaming now, with the first three episodes in tow. All other episodes are set to drop weekly. For more, check out our Gen V season 2 review, or make sure you never miss an episode with our Gen V season 2 release schedule.