Gen V season 2 episode 5: What are Marie's powers? How does that major cameo from The Boys change the entire show?

Gen V season 2 is well underway... and one of the most frustratingly evil characters in The Boys universe has entered the chat.

We're five episodes into the new season, with episode 5 absolutely upping the ante in what is already a pretty dark and intense season. And if you thought there were already plenty of cameos in the first four episodes, a major supe from The Boys is here to make everything a whole lot more complicated for Marie Moreau and her friends. There's also a revelation that changes the entire universe of The Boys as we know it, and makes things look a little more than bleak for Homelander... and we definitely did not see that coming.

Scroll on down for a brief recap of episode 5, as well as answers you might have about Gen V season episode 5. Warning: There are spoilers for Gen V season 2 ahead, so make sure you're caught up with the first three episodes before continuing.

Gen V season 2 episode 5 recap

At the beginning of Gen V season 2 episode 5, we flash back to one month prior to Marie and the gang returning to Godolkin U. In the flashback, we see Cipher at home, tending to his garden and taking care of that burned old man that he keeps alive in a hyperbaric chamber (whose identity remains unknown). Sister Sage appears, and we quickly learn that she and Cipher are engaged in a pretty serious romantic relationship.

We cut back to the present, where Marie and Jordan are being ushered out of the Vought arena after their fight. If you recall, Marie only won the fight because Cipher took control of Jordan's body, nearly killing Marie, and therefore pushing her to the height of her powers. The two learn that Cate has been sent to Elmira (which is karma in a way, given that she sent Marie and co. there at the end of season 1). Elsewhere, Sam goes to visit home for the first time since his brother's self-immolation in front of the entire school in Gen V season 1, but quickly learns that his parents are afraid of him and his powers. This conflicts with Marie, Jordan, and Emma's plans to break out of Elmira, as Sam has the strongest powers in terms of physical strength/busting through walls – and the trio becomes worried that they will get recaptured and thrown back into Elmira...which is exactly what happens.

We learn that Cipher (with the help of Sage) has kidnapped Annabeth, Marie's long-lost sister (who is the motivation behind all of Marie's actions/decisions for the entire show). Thanks to some quick thinking, Marie, Jordan, Emma, and Cate manage to break free from their cells. They head over to Annabeth's cell, but find her dead with her throat slit. Marie, in the biggest turn of events that alters the entire Boys universe, uses her powers to bring Annabeth back from the dead.

How does Sister Sage fit into Gen V season 2?

For the first four episodes, it did seem as though Cipher was acting alone in his spooky ooky plan to push Marie to become even more powerful than anyone thought possible. As it turns out, he had some help from "Madam Vought, CEO." While we don't know the extent of their romantic relationship just yet, we do find out that Sage has been conspiring with Cipher the entire time.

After the gang gets sent back to Elmira, Sage tells Cipher that he "got what he wanted." Meaning, she's well aware that the asylum is the perfect high-stress environment to push Marie to use her powers beyond their limits. She's also the one who brought Annabeth to Elmira, referring to her as a "little present" for Cipher. After this revelation, Ciper tells Sage that he succeeds with Marie, "Homelander's gonna have feelings about how powerful she really is." Now that we know Marie is technically more powerful than Homelander, if not the most powerful supe in the entire world, we can imagine he'd be, uh, pretty angry about that. Sage quickly tells Cipher not to worry – meaning that whatever she and Cipher have planned is much, much bigger than Vought and Homelander combined.

It's worth noting that Sage is also well aware of who the old man in the hyperbaric chamber is, and the two make long eye contact during a rather raunchy scene in the bathroom of Cipher's home. While we don't know who he is (though we now have a much bigger hunch), it seems like he's directly involved with their evil plan.

What are Marie's powers?

We know that Marie has the same powers as the late Victoria Neuman: Blood manipulation. Before her untimely death, Neuman was able to make heads explode and also heal injuries (though she rarely ever used it for that). We learn in Gen V episode 4 that Cipher is training Marie to use her powers the same way Neuman did... but that there's much more to the story. If Neuman was just as powerful as Marie, Cipher would've most likely gone after her instead. It's only until the very end of Gen V episode 5 that we learn why Cipher is so obsessed with Marie: she has the power to manipulate blood in a way that brings people back to life.

When Annabeth is found dead, Marie is able to essentially put all of the blood back in her body and seal the wound in her slit throat. This makes her the most powerful supe in the universe, as no other supe possesses this power. We also know that this has something to do with Thomas Godolkin's Project Odessa, which seems to involve a level of Compound V that is either mutated or a level that is much more powerful than anyone could have anticipated (which is why it kills all the scientists at the beginning of episode 1). It seems as though Marie was "born" with her powers the same way Homelander was (as we can infer from that photo of Cipher holding Marie as a baby)...which changes the entire game. Now that we know the full scope of Marie's power, we have an inkling as to how things are going to go in The Boys season 5.

Is this the end for Homelander?

God, I hope so. Marie's ability to not only heal, but bring people back from the dead, technically makes her a stronger supe than Homelander... and therefore the only entity in the entire universe that can bring him down. Homelander is a super-soldier whose strength is no match for any other supe, and this is because he was technically genetically engineered by Vought. Not only was Marie seemingly born the same way as Homelander (as part of Project Odessa), but she also possesses a power that Vought couldn't even dream of creating: Homelander can't be killed, sure, but Marie can bring anyone back from the dead.

Because Starlight initially approaches Marie about Project Odessa in Gen V season 2 episode 1, it's likely that Starlight already knew about the scope of Marie's power... and that she was and still is hoping to get Marie to join the resistance and bring down Homelander once and for all.

Gen V season 2 is streaming now, with the first five 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.