The Boys season 4, episode 7, director Catriona McKenzie reveals how the true Starlight can be discovered following the huge Supe announcement. Season 4 of Prime Video’s iconic superhero satire premiered last month, following Billy Butcher’s (Karl Urban) battle against Vought and Homelander (Antony Starr).

As the titular squad investigates the attempt to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 President Singer (Jim Beaver), a new, shape-shifting Supe enters the picture in The Boys season 4, episode 7. The episode concludes with the startling disclosure that this new character has assumed the identity of Starlight, with the real Annie being held hostage in a mystery place.

In a recent interview with Screen Rant, McKenzie discloses that there are certain subtle indicators fans may look for to identify the counterfeit Starlight, who she refers to as “the Shifter.” According to the filmmaker, the counterfeit Starlight moves slightly more robotically than the actual one. Look at McKenzie’s comments below:

Erin’s so amazing. We talked about her physicality, we talked about her eyes, and we talked about a stillness because the Shifter doesn’t have the same kind of emotional, intuitive, emotional intelligence that Annie does. And we’ve seen that in the episode; there was just a stillness that she brought to her performance where she’s just a bit more robotic. It was fun working that up with her.

And she’s a natural. Basically, everything’s the opposite of what she’s developed, and she just moved away from her instincts. I think, as a director, it’s more and more about the subtleties of working with actors and working on characters that I find brings such pleasure. The minutia of performative detail is where I think is the goal is, and I love that moment when she gets out of bed and walks past Huey. She walks over to the safe, and you just know we’re in for a ride.

The Shifter Creates A Major Problem For Butcher’s Team In The Boys Season 4 Finale

How It Could Set Up A More Dangerous Season 5

The Boys’ mission to stop the assassination of President Singer was already shaping up to be a major challenge, but the introduction of the Shifter means they’ll have no idea who to actually look for. Using her powers, the assassin can easily avoid security and get as close as she needs in order to accomplish the deed. While the Shifter’s powers can be used to get close to the president, they can also, crucially, be used to pin the blame on others in The Boys‘ cast of characters.

The end of The Boys season 4, episode 7, teases that the Shifter will be pinning the blame for the assassination directly on Starlight. The war between those who support Starlight and her ideals and those who support Homelander has been a major part of season 4 thus far, and pinning the assassination of the president on Starlight’s camp would be an incredibly effective way of vilifying them. Homelander’s opposition from regular American citizens would essentially disappear.

If the conspiracy to assassinate the president is successful, it will build up a very intense tale in The Boys season 5, which has been announced as the show’s final season. Butcher, Hughie (Jack Quaid), M.M. (Laz Alonso), and the rest of the squad may also be implicated in the assassination, making them all the most wanted people in America and making it much simpler for Homelander to justify 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing them. It’s unclear how events will unfold in The Boys’ season 4 finale, but the Shifter certainly complicates matters.