The Boys Season 5 Episode 6 Rewrites the Power Rankings: The 5 Strongest, Ranked

Episode 6 finally shakes the snow globe, then smacks it right back onto the shelf. Short version: a new supe shows up and looks like a real problem... for about 30 minutes. By the end, the power board snaps back to normal, except for one very big, very laser-eyed upgrade.

Spoilers ahead for The Boys Season 5, Episode 6, aka 'Though the Heavens Fall.'

What actually changed this week

Mason Dye makes his debut as Bombsight, and for a hot second he can actually hang with Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy. Why? He has V1 in his system — the fancy upgrade that cranks powers up, makes you immune to the supe-killing virus, and, yes, comes with the immortality perk. But before the credits roll, Soldier Boy takes Bombsight's powers away in exchange for the vial of V1. So the new guy goes from 'potential top-tier threat' to 'civilian' in record time.

Soldier Boy then hands that V1 to Homelander. So not only is Homelander still number one — he is now number one with an asterisk that says 'good luck with that.'

Quick housekeeping on V1

If you need the refresher: V1 is the new hotness in their world. It supercharges abilities, grants immunity to the supe virus Butcher is banking on, and extends life in a way that makes the word 'immortality' feel uncomfortably literal. It does not stop Soldier Boy's radiation blasts from stripping powers, though — Bombsight is living, powerless proof.

Power ranking after Episode 6

1. Billy Butcher (5)
   Bombsight almost knocked him off the board, but with Bombsight depowered, Butcher stays at five. He can take a beating from the brickiest of supes (even Soldier Boy) and those tentacles give him nasty range for crowd control and quick disables. The ceiling is the problem: he lacks a unique trump card against Odessa subjects, anyone juiced on V1, or a natural-born powerhouse like Ryan. With Homelander now upgraded, Butcher holding his own is a reach — and his final line this week reads like a man who knows when to back off.
2. Marie Moreau (4)
   Gen V still hasn't crossed into The Boys Season 5 proper, so we have zero on-screen proof of how Marie stacks up against the main show's big guns. But blood manipulation is terrifying. She can hit from range, puppet your insides from the outside, and even heal and bring people back — nobody else has that toolkit. As one of Project Odessa's two survivors, the resume is serious. In pure muscle, she's probably behind Ryan, Soldier Boy, and Homelander, but her ability to potentially yank V1 out of someone's bloodstream could flip the table on both Homelander and Soldier Boy.
3. Ryan Butcher (3)
   Ryan showed up earlier this season, then ghosted after losing to Homelander. Not shocking — he has dad's loadout (flight, heat vision, absurd strength) but not the reps. I still slot him under Soldier Boy for now because Soldier Boy actually knows how to fight, though Ryan did melt Stormfront's face once upon a time, so let's not pretend there's no there there. Big wild card status. Also worth tracking: Ryan was born this way, no Compound V injection, so how he interacts with the supe virus long term is an open question. If Homelander is the upper limit of what a supe can be, his natural-born son might be the version that breaks the limit.
4. Soldier Boy (2)
   Pre-Homelander, he was the standard, and the fundamentals still apply: elite offense and defense, plus V1 in his blood makes him virus-proof. His radiation blasts take longer to wind up than heat vision, but they erase powers — and that worked on Bombsight even with V1 in the mix. On paper, he could still beat Homelander by depowering him. In practice, he has to get close enough to do it, and the newly juiced lasers probably end that attempt before he can inhale.
5. Homelander (1)
   He was already almost impossible to hurt, could one-shot most threats with heat vision, flies, moves fast, and wields political clout like a second superpower. Now add V1: immunity to Butcher's virus, a sturdier all-around build, and longevity that borders on forever. The lasers look nastier too. Could Marie's blood work, Soldier Boy's radiation, or Ryan's potential still crack him? Maybe. But if anyone does topple him, it won't be because they're stronger — it'll be because they found the one angle he can't brute-force through.

So where does that leave the season?

Functionally, right where we started... except Homelander just got a late-season stat buff. Bombsight would have shaken up the mid-tier (he would have slotted above Butcher and pushed everyone else down a peg, Homelander aside), but he's out of the game now. The path to beating the top dog is officially a puzzle, not a punch-up — and after this episode, the puzzle got a lot harder.