Billy Butcher has gone crazy, this time in concerning ways!

The Boys Season 4 may have been criticized for its slower pacing thus far, but things are heating up with every episode. The recent episode 6, which might have been the second-most shameless of the lot since Herogasm, saw fans get a clue about everything that is wrong with Bully Butcher, expertly portrayed by Karl Urban.

There is no doubt that Butcher has completely lost his s**t, and the recent episode gave us clues about the extent of the damage his brain tumor has caused. The V-ued up, former The Boys leader who was seen kidnapping  Dr. Sameer Shah in the previous episode, was seen coming to terms with the two personas that have taken over his mind.
Karl Urban in The Boys / Amazon Prime Video
While Billy Butcher was known to be getting visions of his deceased lover Becca since last season, he realized that even Joe Kessler is merely a hallucination his brain has conjured. That, alongside a range of implications for The Boys, also sets up parallels with a Marvel character for Butcher himself, that of The Sentry.

The latest Billy Butcher inconvenience suggests callback to Marvel’s The Sentry

Billy must stop talking to the man inside his head! | Amazon Prime

Butcher’s already delusional brain did not quite need the damage that had been instigated by the cocktail of V that he was seen previously injecting in his body, and the tumor that he walks around with. Becca, who fans would already have guessed represents the good, holistic side of our barely functional hero, Kessler was revealed to be the representation of everything that is wrong with him.

While Becca has been consistently asking for Butcher to take up a more patient, and less violence-oriented approach, Joe Kessler has done nothing but ask him to destroy everything and everyone in his path, and opt for an approach aimed at completely decimating superheroes. This moral conundrum and dual behavior have obvious similarities with Marvel’s Robert Reynolds, who after being implanted with a psychic virus, also struggles and continues to swing between the heroic Sentry and the villainous Void.

The Marvel character, who before being taken over by the virus goes by Robert Reynolds, effectively showcases the same kind of moral ambiguity and restlessness that Billy Butcher’s two personas have shown, setting up yet another superhero reference for The Boys. Though unlike some others, this one might be a matter of convenience, rather than deliberation.

And thus, while Billy Butcher ambles towards his death as we amble towards Season 5 of The Boys, much about his future will depend on who, among Kessler and Becca, end up victorious, in this weird, mad, and gory internal battle of his mind.

Billy Butcher’s demise into chaos 

The Boys – Billy Butcher vs Homelander | Prime Video

The beloved Billy Butcher must gain control over his mind. After all, after Kessler shouts ‘shut up, b**tch’ to Becca, Urban’s character further loses the little semblance of sanity he was holding on to. He realizes at once, that rather than his recent stands being a result of a partnership with Joe Kessler, they were merely a single madman’s attempt to bring some sense into his life, which has been marred by unimaginable biological and emotional damage.

And suddenly fans realize the sheer length to which Butcher single-handedly went to, listening to his own voice disguised as Kessler, as Becca’s importance in his brain appears to reduce with every passing episode in Season 4. What will follow, will undoubtedly be a defining moral quandary for Billy Butcher, who is currently in the process of coming up with a way to completely destroy supes in The Boys universe.

Should he heed Kessler’s side of his mind, which also appears to give him better access to his powers, or should he go with Becca’s side of his brain, which continues to hold him back and wants him to do his best to save Ryan, and Ryan alone? The answer to that, may as well hold the key to how The Boys concludes, even though it is almost certain to include the death of Butcher.

Knowing Butcher, and what his heart desires, one can assume that the character will eventually see sense, and will not opt for a complete decimation of superheroes. After all, that will be against everything the well-loved character stands for, in addition to all the madness that he has been capable of.

While things are getting worse with every passing episode and Butcher is only drowning deeper into the quicksand of his f***ed up, completely diabolical, and biologically damaged brain, there is still hope for redemption, without which there might not even be much of a difference between him and Homelander, his adversary.

The Boys continues to be a roller-coaster ride, and fans can be a part of it by tuning in to the series on Amazon Prime.