Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘The Boys’ returns for the fifth and final season, to bring a conclusion to the war against Homelander and the fascist regime that takes over the country at the end of the fourth season. The two-episode premiere sets up the ultimate showdown between the characters, but it also lays down a tragic fact of war: people are going to die. The first episode itself puts the protagonists face-to-face with Homelander, bringing them dangerously close to getting lasered by him. But the sacrifice of one hero changes the game, allowing them to continue the fight. SPOILERS AHEAD.
A-Train Gets a Redemption Arc in The Boys Season 5 Premiere
‘The Boys’ is full of many black-and-white characters, and often, we see the arc of the good turning to bad, and the bad getting worse. Still, there is a rare variety of characters who go through a different arc, turning from villains into unlikely heroes that save the day, and A-Train is somewhere at the top of that list. He started out as a villain, kickstarting the events of the show by killing Hughie’s girlfriend by running through her while high on V. As an important part of Homelander’s the Seven, A-Train remained a villain, through and through, at least for the first season. But slowly, and steadily, a change began to appear in him, and by the end of the third season, it was clear that he didn’t want to be a part of Homelander’s cruel and violent plans anymore.
While A-Train didn’t want to be a villain anymore, he was still driven by self-preservation. When he saw that Homelander was winning and that Butcher and his team had little to no chance against him, he decided to get his family out of the country and disappeared with them. Of course, his sudden departure put him at the top of Homelander’s list of people who had betrayed or abandoned him. This is why A-Train knew better than to cross his former leader. He knew that the moment Homelander found him, things would get bad fast, and there was rarely, if ever, a chance that a person, no matter whether they were a Supe, would make it out of that interaction alive.
Still, with all the bad that happens in the country and around the world, A-Train is repeatedly asked by people like Starlight to join them in the good fight. Still, he continues to prioritize his family’s safety and prefers to stay as far away as possible, especially if he knows Homelander will be there. This is why, when Starlight asks for his help in rescuing Hughie, MM, and Frenchie from a Freedom Camp, he refuses: not only does he know this is a trap laid specifically for them, but, more importantly, he knows Homelander will be there. Had it been anything else, he would likely have helped out Starlight, but this time, he refuses to put his life on the line. Or at least, that’s what he does initially.
A-Train Sacrifices Himself for the Greater Good
After refusing Starlight’s request, A-Train returns to his family in France. It turns out that they have been moving around for the past couple of years, knowing that Homelander is looking for them. So far, A-Train has managed to keep them out of harm’s way, but he comes close to losing everything when Deep shows up. Because they receive a heads-up, A-Train manages to get his family out of the place before Deep shows up. Still, he sticks around to talk to his former friend and colleague. He tries to reason with Deep, calling him out for his fear of Homelander, but by the end of the conversation, he himself is left to wonder that he and Deep are not that different. While he confronted Deep for being a coward and still working for Homelander, A-Train himself has never faced his fear and has been running away himself.
Considering how close Deep came to finding his family, A-Train is forced to consider the possibility that one day, they won’t receive the warning signs, and once Deep finds his family, Homelander will be alerted, and all will be lost. The only way that A-Train can save them for good is by getting Homelander out of the way, and to do that, he has to help Starlight. This is why, against his best judgment, he shows up at the camp to help with the rescue, only to discover that things have already gotten out of hand. Hughie is on the verge of getting lasered by Homelander, so A-Train gets him out of the way, getting injured in the process. Though Butcher, Hughie, and Starlight are still there, as soon as Homelander sees A-Train, his priorities change.
He has an old score to settle, so he chases after A-Train, leaving the rest of his enemies to their own devices, allowing them to walk out of the camp without any further issues. A-Train tries his best to escape, but a woman inadvertently comes in his way. This is a callback to the first scene, where he ran through Hughie’s girlfriend. This time, however, he saves the woman by changing directions, but that costs him dearly. He slips and falls and doesn’t get enough time to get back on his feet and run away. Homelander finds him while he is still down, and there is no way for A-Train to escape now. Knowing that these are his final moments, A-Train refuses to be scared of Homelander. He laughs in the villain’s face and mocks him, which makes Homelander angrier, and eventually, he kills A-Train by snapping his neck, bringing his redemption arc to a tragic end.
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