Gen V’s newest episode just unveiled an aspect of what’s going on in The Woods — and it’s worse than anyone could’ve imagined. Vought, the company that has a finger in all the pies across The Boys and Gen V, is also highly involved with the happenings and inner workings at Godolkin University. Vought rigs the top 10 student stats and the company has frequent communication with the Dean of Godolkin (Shelley Conn), as we’ve seen Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) appear in an earlier episode. But their biggest collusion between the larger-than-life company and the Supe school is the one that nobody knows about — The Woods.
What’s Happening in The Woods on ‘Gen V’?
While it isn’t hard to assume malicious intent from the way The Woods is depicted, the revelation that a Supe-killing virus is what they’re toiling on down there comes out of left field, at least at first. As we learned during the episode, Dr. Cardosa (Marco Pigossi) is experimenting on a girl with what look to be electrical abilities. When Dean Shetty visits to check on his progress, he explains that the virus he’s injected has dampened her powers and also made her extremely sick. The girl is breaking out in hives and violently coughing, which only seems to excite Shetty. Despite Cardosa’s visible concern, Shetty congratulates him on his work and instructs him to concentrate the dose, making it more potent.
We’ve established that Shetty, much like Vought’s hero management teams and CEO, are not Supes, so they’re immune to the virus. That’s why it initially seemed as if Shetty’s intention with the virus would be to dampen Supes’ powers, perhaps even taking the Compound V out of their system entirely. Considering Vought is such a control-oriented company, it would make sense that they’d want the power to unmake Supes just as easily as they created them, and Godolkin University would be the perfect front to do just that — advertise a University for superpowered individuals to thrive and feel welcomed, with the promise of maybe even making it onto The Seven, only for it just to be a farm of sorts where they can tag and keep track of the Supes they’ve created.
No Supe is Safe — Not Even The Seven
This would explain why Sam Riordan (Asa Germann), brother of Goldokin’s number one student, the recently deceased Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger), was being held down there. They recognized his incredibly dangerous skill set and unstable behavior, making the decision that his actions could hurt their pristine image and locked him away, a lab rat until he dies. Death is looming larger than ever for the subjects of The Woods as a result of the concentrated virus being powerful enough to kill Supes outright, as Dr. Shetty finds the girl from earlier has died. Her next request for Dr. Cardosa? Make it contagious to all Supes.
If Dr. Cardosa is successful in making the virus contagious, it could spell doom for the Supe population. Infection isn’t something that can be controlled, meaning any Supe could contract the virus if it gets out in the open. And unless a vaccine is created to cure it, Vought’s biggest assets are at risk of contracting it — even Homelander (Antony Starr). It’s arguably already in pretty scary hands with Dean Shetty, but if this virus makes it out of The Woods it could be massively politicized and further divide the country, not to mention what would happen if Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) got his hands on some. Godolkin University was already eerie enough with the discovery of an evil laboratory beneath its campus, but the idea that said evil laboratory is actively working on a virus specifically meant to target its student body is mortifying.
Does Vought Know Dean Shetty’s True Plans?
We still don’t know much about Dean Shetty, but it seems that her feelings for Supes extend beyond money and power, veering more towards sheer resentment. Sam even says it himself, “She hates us.” So far, we’ve seen her step in as a guardian figure for both Marie (Jaz Sinclair) and Cate (Maddie Phillips), coercing them both into trusting her when she is the root of their problems. She’s calm and well-spoken, but when she sees the dead Supe, she loses her usual composure and heaves deep breaths — seeing a dead Supe provides a sort of catharsis for her. While we have yet to see her backstory, it’s clear that she has been waiting a long time for this virus to come to fruition, and she intends to take it one step further.
The idea to create a Compound V-eliminating virus makes some sort of twisted sense, sure, but a disease that eliminates a specific group of people isn’t only terrifying but also goes against Vought’s M.O. Vought doesn’t care about one death or two thousand, even if it happens to the Supes they created, but they will take issue if it begins to affect their image, specifically within The Seven. This notion, however, does not seem to bother Dean Shetty. Herein lies the disconnect between the two parties. Shetty wants to make the virus contagious, but Vought would likely oppose such a notion, as Dr. Cardosa was taken aback by her ambition. He’s terrified that they’ve killed a Supe, which alludes to the idea that this wasn’t part of the discussions with Vought.
The initial request from Vought was likely the first dose we see Dr. Cardosa present, one that sickens and drains Supes of their power. But Shetty, who, theoretically, isn’t out for power or money, requests the dosage increase and calls for it to be made contagious. Going rogue with all of Vought’s resources at her disposal seems like something Shetty would think to do, but it is entirely speculation until we peel back the layers of her past. Regardless of whether she succeeds or if she’s keeping Vought in the loop, her raw ambition alone makes her one of the scariest villains of The Boys universe yet.
The Big Picture
- Vought’s collusion with Godolkin University on Gen V goes beyond rigging student stats, as they are secretly working on a virus in The Woods that can kill Supes.
- The virus, if made contagious, could pose a significant threat to the entire Supe population. It’s currently in the hands of Dean Shetty, who intends to take the virus one step further.
- While Vought wants control over Supes, Shetty wants to make the virus contagious, which could jeopardize Vought’s image within The Seven.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
