In episode 7 of Gen V Season 2, Marie and Cate teamed up with Polarity to cure Godolkin so that he could help them take down Cipher. By the time Annabeth, Emma, Jordan, and Sam realized that Marie and Cate had left Stan’s safe house, the trio had already reached God U and were planning to confront Cipher at the Hero Optimization Seminar. Along with Greg, they tried to stop Marie, Cate, and Polarity from executing their plan because Annabeth had seen a vision where her sister would die in the middle of duking it out with Cipher. But Marie incapacitated the lot of them, with the exception of Annabeth, and then headed into the seminar hall with Cate and Polarity. When Emma, Jordan, Sam, and Greg came to their senses, all of them, accompanied by Annabeth, went after the trio. After reaching the seminar hall, Jordan, Sam, and Greg joined Polarity to take down Cipher, while Emma and Annabeth joined Marie and Cate to support them in their endeavor to revive Godolkin. As soon as Marie healed Godolkin, it was revealed that the old timer had been puppeteering Cipher, whose actual name was Doug, all this while. He had planned out this whole thing with Sage, and, thanks to Marie, he was now free to commence his plan to execute all the “unnecessary” Supes and bring all the superior Supes under his wing. What happened next? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Godolkin Commences His Culling Project
In episode 8 of Gen V Season 2, we get a flashback to 1967, where Godolkin was trapped in a lab with his colleagues, who had taken a bunch of Compound V—one of the earlier versions—and started a fire. Realizing that he was about to get burnt to a crisp, Godolkin injected the V into himself in the hopes that it’d manifest some kind of a power that’d keep him from dying. The effects of the V created boils on his skin, which was worsened by the fire, of course. The way this scene plays out makes it seem like Godolkin just sat there, waiting for the fire to engulf him. But I think the V immobilised him somehow. Anyway, in the present day, Godolkin is seen living it up with Sage after being trapped in that hyperbaric chamber and having to virtually enjoy the simple pleasures of life through Doug for decades. Sage asks Godolkin if he wants to move in with her in her apartment in the Vought tower. Godolkin accepts the offer, and that gets Sage thinking about how she’ll introduce Godolkin to Homelander without making him feel threatened. However, Godolkin interrupts her train of thought by revealing that he’s going to the campus for “one last class.” Sage is clearly against this decision, but she is unable to dissuade Godolkin from going to the campus.
Godolkin reaches the principal’s chamber and uses God U’s official social media handle to announce his arrival. He resets the hero rankings to zero and invites everyone to the seminar hall to show off their powers, get judged by him, and access all kinds of lucrative deals via Vought. So, instead of going around the campus, asking the students about their powers, and then killing them, Godolkin has decided to use the Hero Optimization Seminar to face off with them and “cull the herd.” Meanwhile, his puppet, Doug, is at Polarity’s house, where he’s constantly puking blood because of the beatdown he has just received from all those superpowered kids and Polarity. As he stabilizes a bit, he is bombarded with several questions from Polarity, Marie, Cate, Emma, Jordan, and Sam. For starters, they question Godolkin’s age and how he looks young despite being around 90-100 years old. The answer to that is pretty simple: it’s the Compound V. Soldier Boy and Stormfront were given the same concoction, and that’s why these Supes don’t age. That’s when Polarity points out that, while it makes sense that Godolkin doesn’t age, as a regular human being, Doug does age. But he doesn’t look like he is in his 90s either. Doug clarifies that he is Godolkin’s second puppet; the first one is dead. He was summoned by that first puppet, whose name was Dr. Fielder, and when Godolkin got into Doug’s head, he got him to kill Fielder.
Marie, Emma, and Sam try to keep the students away from Godolkin
Emma arrives at Polarity’s house with some meds and an ice pack for Doug. Marie tries to use her powers to fix Doug, but apparently she’s too weak to do that after fixing Godolkin. She promises to try after a few hours of rest. Annabeth asks Doug why Godolkin was using him to train Marie instead of just taking over her mind. Doug says that Godolkin couldn’t control Marie because she is just too powerful. Apparently, while Marie was in Elmira, Godolkin (via Cipher) did try to get into her mind, but he failed. So, even though Marie doesn’t want to admit that she’s one of the most powerful Supes in the world, this proves that she actually is a cut above the rest. Unfortunately, they have to bring this cross-questioning to an end because Doug’s health is deteriorating by the second. Polarity says that he has a friend who can fix up Doug, and while he tends to him, the kids go back to the campus and “lay low.” After getting to Marie’s dorm room, the stupidity of this move is addressed by Emma, because they are technically in Godolkin’s lair, and she thinks that they should go somewhere else. Cate says that they don’t have anywhere to go, but the truth of the matter is that they do: Stan’s safe house. I mean, I understand that they have to push the plot forward so that the final confrontation between Marie and Godolkin can happen. But if you want to set things up so the characters have nowhere to go and have to stay at God U and hence face Godolkin, then maybe don’t introduce a character as well as their safe house that can serve as a shelter for the protagonists.
Anyway, coming back to the plot, Marie gives Annabeth a change of clothes so that she leaves the room, and she can have a conversation with Cate and May about the next step of their plan. They have a little bonding moment about how their powers have evolved through this tumultuous period. When Emma leaves the room as well, Marie holds Cate’s hands and fixes her brain so that her powers are restored. I am going to be honest; I was expecting something to go wrong on either Marie’s end or Cate’s end. I stand corrected; Marie has become powerful enough to use her powers responsibly, and Cate actually has become nice enough to not immediately turn on Marie and turn her into her puppet. This little therapy session is interrupted by Sam and Jordan as they inform them about Godolkin’s invitation to the seminar hall. Since they know about Godolkin’s “culling the herd” plan, they immediately realize what he is going to do to those kids. They also understand that Godolkin expects Marie to come save all those kids so that he can trap her. So, Marie tries to avoid that outcome by using her social media reach to inform the students. Emma and Sam go to the frat house with the same message. Rufus not only stops them in their tracks but also uses his “roofie” powers on the duo so that he can give them the slip and make it to the seminar. Surprisingly enough, Black Hole stays back, because the seminar doesn’t exactly match his vibe.
Sage Turns Against Godolkin
While en route to this friend of Polarity, Doug talks about Andre and all the amusing things he used to do at Elmira to get on the nerves of Cipher and the institution’s staff. Just as the sweetness of this exchange sets in, Black Noir comes literally out of nowhere, pierces the roof of Polarity’s car with his sword, kills Doug, throws a smoke grenade into the car in order to bring Polarity to a halt, and then apprehends Polarity after taking a selfie with him. Godolkin begins his culling with the first set of students that have arrived at the seminar hall. He simply tells them that he is going to go from one end of the hall to another and push the button that opens the blast doors. The students have to prove that they have it in them to stop him or die trying. Sage, who is watching Godolkin say all this to a bunch of kids, is shocked because, evidently, this wasn’t a part of her carefully constructed plan to (probably) put a leash on Homelander. But since Godolkin has already begun fighting the students, Sage has no option but to watch from afar as he ruthlessly makes his way through all those kids. One of the Supes who can teleport through walls manages to escape from the seminar hall before Godolkin can get to him, and warns Marie and Jordan about what the founder of God U is up to. Marie thinks that she has no option but to confront Godolkin, but Jordan doesn’t want her to sacrifice herself without considering whether or not they have any other alternatives.
Marie understands that Jordan’s fear of abandonment is acting up, and that’s why they are unwilling to let go of Marie once again. Marie apologizes for making Jordan feel that way, and Jordan forgives her. As they cherish this sweet moment, Annabeth, Cate, Emma, Sam, and Black Hole bring them back to reality by reminding them what Godolkin is up to. On this note, they begin strategizing how to take down the master puppeteer without losing their lives. Going back to Godolkin and Sage, the former is mighty proud of the fact that he has successfully puppeteered so many people. However, it’s evident that the act has taken a toll on his body, because painful-looking boils have formed all over his skin and he has become extremely dehydrated. Sage is unable to stop herself from asking why Godolkin is doing all this, especially since this isn’t a part of their scheme. Godolkin explains that he is pushing himself so that his evolution is triggered. Then he’ll be able to control not only Marie but Homelander as well. Sage is against this move, but Godolkin is too motivated to become the controller of two of the most powerful Supes in the world; hence, he won’t listen to reason. He ignores Sage’s pleas to calm down and instead begins puppeteering all the injured students in the seminar hall like it’s a musical. Hence, Sage goes over to the holding cell in which Polarity is being held captive and essentially frees him because she knows that due to his newfound ability to withstand Godolkin’s mind manipulation, he’s the only one who can stop him.
Thomas Godolkin Is Dead
The second batch of students, which includes Black Hole, enters the seminar hall, and Godolkin wakes up the first batch to battle them. Cate mind-controls Vance into opening the doors to the seminar hall one last time for Marie, and that intimidates Godolkin quite a bit, and he ends up admitting that he isn’t powerful enough to take on Marie yet. Marie sees that as an opportunity to attack him, and, in retaliation, Godolkin unleashes the wrath of all the students there. While fending them off, Marie unveils her secret weapon, which is Black Hole, who has stored Jordan, Sam, Greg, Harper, Ally, and Emma. When they join the fight against Godolkin and his puppets, Godolkin begins to feel the heat. Emma knocks him down, Ally holds him with her “bush,” and Harper copies his powers. That allows Harper to momentarily control Godolkin and free all the students from his clutches. While Godolkin gets back his bearings, Marie and her friends usher all the injured students out of the hall. Once they are out, Marie confronts Godolkin, while Annabeth, Emma, Cate, Jordan, Greg, and Sam stand behind her. This turns out to be a bad move, because when Marie starts using Godolkin’s blood to levitate him off the ground, Godolkin gets into her mind, and he turns her against her own friends and family. Polarity finally reaches the seminar hall and sets off a pulse blast to knock down both Marie and Godolkin.
As Marie comes back to her senses, Polarity throws all the metal debris strewn around the seminar hall at Godolkin. When he is at his weakest, Marie pays homage to Victoria Neuman and explodes Godolkin’s head. Polarity tells Marie that Vought is on their way to Godolkin, and they need to get away from God U. Polarity decides to stay, though, because with Doug and Godolkin dead, he is technically the Dean of God U, and that will allow him to establish a narrative that will keep Vought away from the kids for the time being. Since Emma was the one who had pulled Polarity out of the depressive state that he was in after Andre’s death, she is afraid to let him be on his own. Polarity assures her that he’ll keep fighting the good fight and honor Andre. When Emma hears that, she gives him a hug and proceeds to leave. Harper stays back on campus. Greg doesn’t want to go either because his sister, Ally, can’t leave. Emma understands Greg’s position and takes his leave after giving him a kiss for all the amazing work he has done. In the ending of Gen V Season 2, far away from God U, Marie, Annabeth, Cate, Jordan, Sam, and Emma make a pit stop. It turns out to be the rendezvous spot for a meeting with Annie and A-Train, who invite them into “The Resistance” that’s supposedly been fighting Homelander’s fascist forces. Of course, the former God U students accept the offer, because they know that until and unless Vought is destroyed, nobody will ever be free.
