This article contains spoilers for “Gen V” season 2, episode 4, “Bags.”
“Gen V” season 2, episode 4 (“Bags”) ends with a big and much-advertised fight between the gender-swapping Jordan Li (London Thor and Derek Luh) and the show’s mysterious protagonist Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair). Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater) has his own reasons for setting up the match (namely, he’s punishing Jordan by casting them in the villain role and forcing Marie to outdo herself against a stronger opponent), but it’s clear from the beginning that such superhero fights are a longstanding tradition among Godolkin University’s highest-ranked students. Vought has learned to commercialize these clashes like massive UFC events or boxing championship showdowns, too. Intricate hype vignettes of the battle not only introduce the two contestants to the viewers, but they also highlight previous fights.
An interesting point about the ad: One character decidedly doesn’t fit in with the others here. The previous contestants named in the fight ad are Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), the Deep (Chace Crawford), Eagle the Archer (Langston Kerman), and Blindspot (Chris Mark). Just as the viewer starts imagining the kind of glorious curb-stomping Maeve must have given to the Deep in their “Battle of the Sexes” tussle, the ad lumps franchise big bad Homelander (Antony Starr) in with the capes who participated in the God U supe vs. supe brawls while studying there.
Interestingly, the graphic avoids revealing who, if anyone, Homelander fought. Instead, it shows him all by his lonesome, with the voiceover framing him as a “hero who became a god”. In other words, it seems that Vought is actively trying to associate Homelander with God U’s best and brightest … but why? Did he actually go to the university? Or is there something else at play here? Let’s find out.
Homelander’s academic history, or lack thereof, isn’t delved into much on either “Gen V” or “The Boys.” However, other aspects of his formative years very much are.
The key moments of young Homelander’s development unfold in “The Boys” season 4, episode 4 (“Wisdom of the Ages”) and “The Boys: Diabolical” season 1, episode 8 (“One Plus One Equals Two”). Their events confirm that Homelander never had a normal childhood. Instead, he grew up in tightly-controlled laboratory conditions where he was constantly subjected to cruel and painful tests to find out his limits. The extent of his education doesn’t get much attention, but considering the high-security nature of his existence, it’s highly unlikely that he was allowed to leave the lab on school days. Instead, whatever Vought-mandated education he has is likely the result of carefully supervised homeschooling.
As such, Homelander almost certainly did not go to God U and is only associating himself with the school for clout. The push to associate him with the university, much like the statue of him in front of the main building, is likely just propaganda for the dual purpose of inspiring the students and making Homelander himself look better. This, of course, is only par for the course for the character, who’s long since transformed into a self-aggrandizing Donald Trump parody.
“Gen V” season 2 is streaming on Prime Video.