The Boys Series Finale Leaves A Major Question About Vought Rising

This article contains spoilers for "The Boys" Season 5 Episode 8 "Blood and Bone."

If there's one group that might be disappointed by "The Boys" series finale, "Blood and Bone," it's Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) fans. He doesn't appear at all in the episode, unable to partake in the final battle after his spurned son Homelander (Antony Starr) threw him back into cryosleep in the previous episode, "The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man Called Mother's Milk." 

There's not even a second-long shot of a frozen Soldier Boy for a tiny bit more closure. As far as we know, he's still frozen and locked in Homelander's former apartment in Vought Tower. Now, on one hand, this could work as a karmic fate. Soldier Boy gave Homelander the V-One formula, handing the world over to a superman-child with a god complex all because he thought his one-time fascist sweetheart Klara Risinger/Clara Vought/Liberty/Stormfront (Aya Cash) would approve. 

Soldier Boy screwed the world to help Homelander, and Homelander, in turn, screwed him. He also couldn't commit to either fully embracing Homelander as his son or turning on him, and he paid the price. After spending decades frozen in a Russian prison lab, Soldier Boy is right back where he started: out of the limelight, in a prime position to be forgotten. 

But on the other hand, we already know this isn't the last we've seen of Soldier Boy. Ackles is reprising his role in a spin-off, "Vought Rising," previously reported as a 1950s prequel. Since Soldier Boy's ultimate fate has yet to be written, perhaps "Vought Rising" will feature more than just the past, but the present, too? 

"Vought Rising" being a prequel and a sequel to "The Boys" wouldn't be unprecedented. Most of "Better Call Saul" was about how Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) became criminal lawyer Saul Goodman, but the show also featured flashforwards of him hiding out in Nebraska after the events of "Breaking Bad." In the last stretch of episodes, the sequel story took over completely.

Or the short-lived "Dexter: Original Sin," which focused on Dexter Morgan's (Michael C. Hall) youth, but with the framing device of a near-dead Dexter's life playing back in his mind. Perhaps "Vought Rising" will use a similar frame of a frozen Soldier Boy subconsciously remembering better days?

"Blood and Bone" also ends with Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) back in control of Vought as its CEO; Homelander's gone, but the whole rotten tree still stands. Stan is definitely not a fan of Soldier Boy (he's the one who set him up to be kidnapped by the Russians), and could work as an antagonist for any potential present-day stories in "Vought Rising." There would be some fitting symmetry, too, if a prequel about Vought's earliest days also chronicles its enduring future.

"The Boys" Season 5 made sure to set up "Vought Rising," such as establishing that Soldier Boy and Clara's connection was more than just a fling. If there's one thing that's frustrating about prequels, it's the sense of narrative inevitability. Killing off Soldier Boy in Season 5 would've taken wind out of the "Vought Rising" sails. By instead sparing him, "The Boys" left a blank page for "Vought Rising" to fill, if it wants to.

"The Boys" is streaming on Prime Video.