Billy Butcher could have a tragic demise, indicating that he might be too far gone to be saved.

The Boys’ fifth season could just as well be a full-on bloodbath, as the show’s four previous seasons of deliberate build-up are over. Homelander is now in total control of the United States of America, and the cunning supe has taken The Boys hostage. Annie and Butcher are the only ones still on the loose, and one of them is hatched a plan to free her companions from Homenlander’s grasp.

Billy Butcher is plotting his strategy to battle and eliminate the Supe, while Annie January may be en route to liberate her allies and deliver the fight to Homlander. As of right now, Butcher plans to use the Supe Virus to eliminate Homelander. Butcher doesn’t think there could be an innocent Supe after seeing Ryan murder Mallory, and he doesn’t give a damn about starting a global holocaust to get rid of the one who harmed him.

The virus that Billy Butcher is carrying has the potential to destroy Homelander.

Since it is almost official that Butcher will succeed in The Boys, a hypothesis has been floating on Reddit on how the character would die. Most fans are certain that the character’s demise will mirror what has transpired in the comics, despite some conjecturing that he will go out on a high note.

This would indicate that the character would find himself 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed at the hands of Hughie if not one of his other allies. However, the nature of the specifics, the theory suggests, is going to be much more cathartic, playing into Hughie’s innocence, and showing how far gone off Butcher actually could be.

In the comics, Hughie put an end to Butcher’s murderous rampage against Supes by 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing him. Hughie is the only member of the team still alive; Annie gave up being a superhero entirely to move in with Hughie.

According to the notion, Hughie would attempt a last-ditch effort to help Butcher by healing his illness, only to discover that the monster—rather than the virus in his head—was Butcher all along. This might lead Hughie to put Butcher to death since, once Homelander is gone, he won’t exhibit any evidence of self-control.

It would be quite the twist if Butcher survives in Season 5

Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher and Antony Starr’s Homelander in The Boys.

Of all the things that are being speculated about The Boys, fans are certain about one thing: there is no way Karl Urban‘s Billy Butcher lives to see a happy ending of any kind. With Becca dead, his faith in Ryan utterly shattered, and his time limited thanks to his tumor, it all be expected that Billy Butcher is going all out against Homelander, to avenge his wife and rid the world of the superhero menace.

By the time the show finishes, it’s expected that Homlander, The Boys, or his disease would have taken his life. Butcher would be one of the greatest subversives in recent memory if he survived the program’s end (which would be in sharp contrast to the comic), and he would not face the same reaction for “subverting expectation” as one other show did.