Gen V Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Guardians of Godolkin
Fans of Gen V may have to watch the Season 1 finale twice just to believe it. Gen V Season 1 Episode 8, “Guardians of Godolkin,” addresses your questions about where these characters are headed but the answers will surprise you.
Written by Brant Englestein and directed by Sanaa Hamri, the episode is one of the shorter ones of the season but the most impactful. ( Warning this review goes into major spoilers territory).
The good news? It turns out that even with the offer of joining the Seven dangled in front of her, Marie is a “good guy,” and doesn’t betray her friends. The bad news? Good guys don’t win in this universe.
The most important thing this finale reminds viewers is that characters in this universe don’t get happy endings. If you were hopeful for Marie’s future after her talk with Neuman and seeing her take on the role of de facto leader in trying to stop Sam and Cate, you are inevitably let down.
The majority of the episode is taken up by the conflict of Sam and Cate releasing students from The Woods and causing a massacre of humans on campus. There’s no shortage of gore as the slaughter happens, but some emotional moments are thrown in as well.
Sam hallucinating Luke is less affecting than it should be, but his nasty turn on Emma accusing her of only helping him because she’s desperate to be liked is a gut punch. While Cate’s heel turn is built up and earned, Sam’s sudden meanness in reaction to his past mistreatment is just depressing.
After saving the Godolkin trustees on campus, including Vought CEO Ashley, Marie gets a nice moment where she saves Jordan from Cate. It seems like a straightforward victory until Homelander shows up in the most shocking cameo of the season, accuses Marie of being an animal who attacks her own kind, and blasts her with his heat vision.
If you yelled, “What the f***?” at your television at this shocking twist, you aren’t alone.
You probably didn’t stop asking that question when we see a flashforward to Cate and Sam lauded as the new “Guardians of Godolkin” on Vought News while Marie, Andre, Jordan, and Emma are all framed for the massacre and put into a locked hospital. After a season full of investing in these characters and their entanglement with Shetty, it takes just one visit from Homelander to rewrite your expectations of the show.
Given the shocking direction of the finale, I once again found myself mourning what could have been, which is an actual show about superhero college and the ensuing antics that we got some glimpses of in the season (I admittedly may be in the minority). Gen V‘s sleight of hand starting as one premise and taking it in a different direction isn’t a bad thing, but Season 2 will be the real measure of whether it pulled it off.
It’s not just cameos or fun Easter eggs but the fates of the characters that now seem dictated by the broader franchise. Whether you love it or hate it, Gen V‘s future is inextricable from The Boys now.
Will Cate join the Seven now that they’re in dire need of a female member? Will Butcher, who appears in the post-credits scene visiting The Woods, stage a jailbreak of Marie and her friends?
I’m relieved to know there’s more in store for these characters, especially ones I didn’t think were surviving the season like Cate, while simultaneously anxious to see how it plays out. There is a world of possibility, and potential frustration, set up on this finale to follow through on.
Additional Thoughts:
- Dramatic inconsistency in episode lengths on streaming shows is frustrating. I hope that doesn’t continue in the second season.
- A joke about Ina (Garten) having a “farm-to-table f*** fest” ranks highly in the wildest of the season. Bless Colby Minifie’s delivery.
- In case you hadn’t already figured it out, Maverick is confirmed to be Translucent’s son. And yes, they are both perverts.
- The subplot about Andre and his father’s powers causing them slow brain damage would have been better served somewhere else in the season. It’s a good reminder these powers are a curse though.
- The joke about Andre’s special skill being a British accent is on point.
- “Josh Hartnett has more stage presence than this man here” must have been scripted before his Oppenheimer comeback. Put some respect on his name!
What did you think of this episode of Gen V? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Gen V Season 1 is streaming now on Prime Video.
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Breeze Riley
Breeze Riley is a pop culture enthusiast who decided to turn her love of watching too much TV into a hobby writing about it. Although she's a convention-going sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she's just as likely to be watching an off-beat comedy or period drama. She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic.