Gen V: Season 2 - What Are Cipher’s Actual Powers?

This nonfiction contains spoilers for Gen V Season 2 done Episode 4, “Bags.”

One of the biggest mysteries of Gen V Season 2 connected Prime Video isn’t a thing, it’s a person. Who is Cipher, the caller Dean of Godolkin University, played by Hamish Linklater? Heck, “mystery” is astir virtually his name, arsenic a cipher is defined arsenic “a connection successful code.” As of the season’s 4th episode, we person immoderate answers, astatine slightest successful presumption of 1 facet of that peculiar mystery: Cipher’s powers. But there’s much to come, truthful let’s get into it.

In the episode, portion Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) and Jordan Li (London Thor/Derek Luh) are forced into a mixed martial arts-style cage match, the remainder of the pack – present reunited with erstwhile “villain” Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) – investigates Cipher successful bid to unopen the combat down. One cardinal constituent to the plan? Marie, who has blood-based powers, is capable to archer that Cipher doesn’t person immoderate Compound V successful his system. That means, according to our scrappy Guardians of Godolkin, that helium is not a Supe, truthful what is a regular ol’ quality doing moving a Supe supremacist schoolhouse similar God U?

Complicating plans a spot is that they unpaid Cate to usage her “push” powers to unit Cipher to confess his humanity. The lone occupation with that is that Cate’s powers are messed up since Marie, Jordan, and Emma (Lizze Broadway) cracked her caput unfastened successful the play premiere. So without really being capable to bash what she’s being asked to do, Cate is sent to propulsion Cipher into confessing helium has nary powers connected a camera that Emma sneaks successful via her shrinking powers done the toilet successful a backstage suite implicit the “Hostility astatine the University” combat nighttime betwixt Marie and Jordan. Follow each that?

With this peculiar drama of errors already flawed astatine the start, things lone get worse erstwhile Cipher reveals helium knows each facet of their program and seems wholly tickled by the gang’s fumbling successful the dark.

“Okay, you figured it out,” Cipher says. “I’m human. And I stake you’re wondering however I got distant with it for truthful long.”

He past reveals helium knows astir the camera and that Cate can’t usage her propulsion powers properly, and erstwhile Cate blurts retired that there’s nary V successful his blood, helium figures retired that Marie provided that info arsenic well.

“Here, ticker this,” Cipher says, and that’s erstwhile we get the large reveal.

Dean Cipher of Godolkin University, arsenic played by Hamish Linklater

What Are Cipher’s Powers On Gen V? Meat Puppet Powers, Baby!

While Cate watches, and Marie tries to unopen down the combat by kissing Jordan, Cipher fundamentally takes implicit Jordan’s body. Cipher makes them question to the Dean’s box, talks done Jordan’s mouth, and mostly controls Jordan “like a nutrient puppet, with nary strings.”

While Jordan beats the crap retired of her, Cipher is intelligibly utilizing the accidental to manager Marie. He pushes her until Marie uses her humor powers to marque Jordan interval successful the air, but a broadside effect is that Marie manages to propulsion Cipher’s power retired of Jordan’s assemblage arsenic well, thing helium seems amazed about.

Marie also astir makes Jordan popular similar the small humor container they are; that’s Marie though. Let’s speech astir Cipher.

To enactment it much plainly, helium tin puppet radical and possibly animals arsenic good (alhough TBD connected that past point). That’s beauteous non-specific, and intelligibly much needs to beryllium explored here, but it seems wholly imaginable based connected a cautious survey of the root worldly (meaning: watching each occurrence of Gen V) that his powers are blood-based conscionable similar Marie’s. The reasoning determination is that successful the archetypal season, we discovered that Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) wasn’t a specified “head popper” arsenic seen connected The Boys, but she had powers based successful humor manipulation, giving her a bonding constituent with Marie.

If Cipher besides has blood-based powers, that would spell a agelong mode to explaining a batch of his wide involvement successful Marie, arsenic good arsenic however helium coaches her successful this precise episode. The rubric “Bags” takes its sanction from a series wherever Cipher lays a fewer humor bags connected a array and asks Marie to determination them from 1 array to another. After a mendacious start, she does determination them, truthful they upgrade the workout to a goat named Elon Musk, with Cipher explaining that surviving beings aren’t overmuch antithetic than bladed integrative bags holding blood. “What if I termination Elon?” Marie asks, with Cipher answering, “That’s wherefore we named them for assholes.” While it’s much analyzable than simply making Jordan (or Elon Musk the goat) interval successful the air, that definite seems to beryllium what Cipher is capable to bash arsenic good – manipulate a quality assemblage to bash immoderate helium wants, including speaking the words helium wants it to speak.

Is this, perhaps, the eventual improvement of Marie’s powers? Is this what Cipher has been coaching her towards each along? There’s a just magnitude of paternality successful the relationship, and we’ve already seen that – arsenic Dr. Gold – Cipher wasn’t conscionable successful the Elmira situation that held Marie and friends betwixt seasons of Gen V, but was besides determination astatine Project Odessa, which helped make her. Maybe Cipher looks astatine Marie arsenic his heir, oregon – portion he’s referred to arsenic “Yoda” successful this occurrence – possibly a much close examination constituent is Darth Vader. After all, acknowledgment to genetically creating her done Project Odessa, Cipher is 1 measurement distant from telling Marie, “No, I am your father.”

There’s 1 itty-bitty small complication here, though…

What About The Lack Of Compound V In Cipher’s Blood?

The information of the substance is that Marie inactive didn’t observe immoderate Compound V successful Cipher’s blood, which throws a large wrench into this full powerfulness reveal. Everything successful the satellite of The Boys and Gen V is based connected Compound V being the root of superpowers – not getting bitten by a radioactive spider, coming to Earth from an alien planet, oregon immoderate different comic book-style origin.

There are variations connected Compound V, including V24 (also known arsenic Temp V), but determination haven’t been immoderate people occurring powers successful the franchise arsenic of yet. Maybe Cipher is the first, but that isn’t peculiarly likely, chiefly due to the fact that we’re heading towards the last play of The Boys; to abruptly present people occurring superpowers halfway done a spinoff would beryllium a weird swerve that would alteration the crippled successful unpredictable ways.

We’ve got a large clue, though, successful that contempt being enigmatic – erstwhile again, it’s close successful the sanction – Cipher hasn’t lied astir thing each play agelong arsenic acold arsenic we know. Take a look again astatine the punctuation above, successful which helium tells Cate that he’s human; helium doesn’t contradict it, oregon accidental Cate doesn’t cognize what she’s talking about.

To crib a enactment from I Think You Should Leave: Oh my god, helium admit it! What that admittance means is simply a bully question. Let’s accidental Cipher is erstwhile again telling the truth, and helium is human. How does helium besides person powers? There’s a large hint to this mystery, but for that we request to speech astir another enigma successful this episode.

What About Cipher’s “Dad,” aka The Burnt Man In The Hyperbaric Chamber?

Previously, we were teased astir a unusual locked country successful Cipher’s house. Thanks to intrepid investigators Cate and Jordan, we recovered retired what was down Door #1: Cipher’s father, horribly burnt, successful a hyperbaric chamber…or astatine least, we’re told that’s Cipher’s father.

Putting unneurotic immoderate pieces that Jordan and Cate bash not have, backmost astatine the opening of the play premiere, we met Thomas Godolkin, played by Wicked prima Ethan Slater. Godolkin was moving connected Project Odessa, which seemed to beryllium processing immoderate unstable serum – perchance a variant of Compound V – which didn’t work. It killed astir of the scientists who utilized it successful horrible ways, and the past we saw of Tommy, helium was being burned to decease successful an out-of-control laboratory fire.

It’s not excessively overmuch of a agelong to deliberation the horribly burned antheral we spot successful Episode 4 is, indeed, Thomas Godolkin, arsenic opposed to an wholly different, unrelated horribly burned man. How helium survived, if that is him, is an open-ended question, but Godolkin being Cipher’s begetter would surely explicate however Cipher came to beryllium Dean of the school. It would besides explicate wherefore Cipher instantly brought backmost Thomas Godolkin Day successful the erstwhile episode.

And…it besides mightiness possibly explicate however Marie can’t observe the V successful Cipher’s blood. Perhaps immoderate Project Odessa was processing was not precisely Compound V, but thing else. If Cipher gets his powers from that, it mightiness not beryllium detectable by Marie, astatine slightest not successful the aforesaid way.

There’s different possibility, though, which is powerfully suggested by the full “meat puppet” thing, but we don’t privation to get excessively up of our skis connected that one.

As of the extremity of Episode 4, Cipher’s powers are carnal and caput manipulation, fundamentally marionetting different surviving beings. As to the different parts of the mystery? Well, that’s 1 cipher we’ll beryllium unraveling implicit the remainder of Season 2.