Ashley Barrette’s outfit design s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁fully hinted at the Compound V twist that occurred towards the end of The Boys season 4. The fourth season of The Boys with Ashley Barrette starts off badly when Homelander demotes her for enlisting Sister Sage in the Seven.

Ashley thinks of quitting her job as a result, but she lacks the guts to do so. After Tek-Knight dies, Ashley’s life takes an even worse turn, and she starts to worry that Homelander will kidnap her after finding out about her covert partnership with A-Train.

Surprisingly, despite all the odds stacked against her, Ashley refuses to leave with A-Train when he gives her the opportunity to flee with him. Instead, she stays behind, with a mysterious plan in the back of her head. When chaos ensues towards The Boys season 4’s ending moments and Homelander orders The Deep and Black Noir to eradicate all Vought employees, including Ashley, Ashley takes a drastic step: she injects herself with Compound V. Her decision to take Compound V may be surprising, but it was subtly hinted at by her costume.

Ashley’s Dress In One The Boys Season 3 Scene Revealed Her Place In Vought

Ashley Zebra Print Dress Symbolizes Something Deeper

In The Boys season 3’s finale, Homelander insults Ashley and shows her where she stands in Vought International by forcing her to take off her wig. Although embarrassed, Ashley surrenders because she fears that Homelander will 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 her if she does not obey his command. After watching this scene, several viewers noticed that Ashley was wearing a zebra print dress, which perfectly symbolized her place in Vought. Just like a zebra is usually a prey for predators in the wild, Ashley, too, is a prey for powerful supes like Homelander.

…the more she feels like a prey in The Boys season 4 , the more she is drawn to the idea of injecting herself with Compound V.

She liked to believe that she had some semblance of control over others in The Boys‘ initial seasons. Even throughout The Boys season 4’s runtime, Ashley struggles to take back control but keeps getting looked down upon by almost every character. Not only does Cameron Coleman break up with her, but even The Deep asks her to step back from bullying him. However, the more she feels like a prey in The Boys season 4, the more she is drawn to the idea of injecting herself with Compound V.

Ashley’s Dress In The Boys Season 4’s Finale Foreshadows Her Rise To Power

Her Leopard Print Dress Hints At How She Could Be A Threat To Other Supes

Recalling how Ashley’s zebra-print dress perfectly symbolized her powerlessness in The Boys season 3, a viewer (via Reddit) realized that her costume in season 4’s finale could also have a deeper meaning. They noticed that Ashely Barrett was wearing a jaguar print dress in The Boys season 4‘s episode 8, which seemed to completely flip the symbolism of her attire from the previous season. While the zebra print dress in season 3 displayed her prey-like status and vulnerability in Vought, the jaguar print in season 4’s finale hints at a major transformation in her story.

Since jaguars are predators in the jungle, her new supe abilities will help her rise to power, potentially making her a threat to even some of the stronger supes.

As seen in The Boys season 4’s ending moments, Ashley injects herself with Compound V before The Deep and Black Noir can 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 her. Moments later, she starts turning into something beastly before the show cuts off to another scene, maintaining an air of ambiguity surrounding her supe powers. However, since she, too, is now a supe — likely a powerful one — she will no longer be prey. Since jaguars are predators in the jungle, her new supe abilities will help her rise to power, potentially making her a threat to even some of the stronger supes.

What Supe Powers Could Ashley Have In The Boys Season 5?

She Could Perfectly Parody A Marvel Superhero

In season four of The Boys, Ashley injects herself with Compound V, causing her to tumble to the ground and her wig to come off. Something appears to be growing inside of her head before the show switches to another scene. Her journey in The Boys has been mostly driven by her trichotillomania, or compulsive hair pulling, thus it seems to reason that her powers will have something to do with her hair, or lack thereof. She might be The Boys’ take on Marvel’s Medusa, who was last seen in live action in Marvel’s Inhumans, as The Boys frequently mock Marvel and DC superheroes.

No matter what abilities she gains in season four of The Boys, the costume theory predicts that she will advance and turn into a jaguar-like apex predator. It’s unlikely that she will be as strong as Homelander, but she could get strong enough to team up with the boys and fight the much weaker Teir 2 supes. The Deep may be in problems because of this because in The Boys season 4, he mistreated her.