Gen V: Cipher's Powers, Explained

This post contains spoilers for "Gen V" through season 2, episode 4, "Bags."

"Gen V" has a new big bad this season: Cipher (Hamish Linklater), the new dean of Godolkin University. So far, much about his character remains unknown. As our heroes Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Emma (Lizze Broadway), and Jordan (London Thor/Derek Luh) have noted, his name is literally Cipher, or a word referring to a personalized secret code designed to conceal a message. Cipher is sometimes used as a synonym for a "blank slate," because in theory, you can plug whatever you want into a cipher and create meaning.

What we do know is that Cipher was somehow involved in the "Odessa" project linked to Marie's birth, and he's very interested in helping her master her blood-control powers. Any "Avatar: The Last Airbender" fan knows how deadly the power of bloodbending is, and Cipher seems to believe that Marie can indeed become the most powerful supe there is.

But until now, we hadn't gotten any glimpse of Cipher's own powers. There's a Marvel superhero named Cypher, one of the X-Men whose mutant ability lets him instantly understand each and every language. Did Cipher have a similar invisible power? Turns out I was thinking of the wrong X-Man.

During her training with Cipher, Marie senses that Cipher doesn't have any Compound V in his blood, so she and her friends conclude he's actually a human pretending to be a supe. Cate (Maddie Phillips) tries to tell Cipher she's sensed his "secret" and record him admitting he's human. Cipher plays along until he reveals he knows he's being filmed, then he demonstrates he does indeed have powers: Mind control powers.

Cipher telepathically takes control of Jordan to make them attack Marie and push Marie to fight back with all her strength. So there you go, Cipher is a telepath, much like Cate, but quite possibly stronger; Cate needs to touch people to "push" them, while Cipher can do it remotely.

There's a lot of "X-Men" in "Gen V," so it makes sense the head of this superhero school is a telepath like Professor X. However, there's another twist surrounding Cipher in this episode that suggests he might not be the puppet master.

It was previously shown that Cipher's house has a vault in it. In "Bags," Cate and Jordan sneak into that house and the vault to see what Cipher is hiding. The answer? A horribly burned man in the hyperbaric chamber, who is still conscious enough to sense the two young people looking over him. During his scene with Cate at the end, Cipher says the man is his father. 

There's one existing narrative candidate for who it could be: Thomas Godolkin (Ethan Slater), the founder of God U. We saw Godolkin in the very first scene of this season during a flashback; several Vought scientists were testing unprepared Compound V on themselves, and their powers went haywire and killed them. One went on fire, causing the whole lab to burn and seemingly killing Godolkin. We don't actually see the fire kill him, though; maybe he took some of the V himself, thinking he had nothing to lose, or he was blanketed by the V that caught fire.

Theory time: What if Cipher isn't the telepath, but Godolkin is? The hyperbaric chamber suggests that Godolkin is totally immobile due to his burns, but he could still reach out psychically. So, under this theory, "Cipher" would just be a puppet he uses to interact and influence the world. We know Cipher can remotely control people with his thoughts, so what if Godolkin is controlling him?

If correct, that explains Marie sensing there's no V in Cipher's blood, because Cipher's body isn't the source of the telepathy. This could also be why Cipher is so intent on helping Marie get her powers under control; Marie's control over blood cells might be what Godolkin needs to heal his body and burns. If Godolkin still has his original burnt body around, then he didn't wholesale transfer his consciousness into Cipher, so he'd still want his true form healed. 

This is all pure speculation, but from my perspective, the pieces fit together too well for any other option. Again, his name is Cipher, a system where a chosen symbol or letter is layered over the true meaning of a message. That name alone suggests there's a twist about his identity, and I think there's a good chance that the message hidden in this Cipher is spelled g o d o l k i n. 

"Gen V" is streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes premiering on Wednesdays.