This show is consuming me I just remembered another thing I wanna ramble about-
Okay so in the last episode, we see Butcher in the White House where Homelander is. And- there's a certain look that Homelander gives him. A look of almost relief?? He seems glad that he's there.
I'd like to think that this is because as much as the two are rivals, their hatred for eachother runs so deep that it almost full circles to admiration. Butcher is the one who's never been afraid to stand up to him, who's been hunting Homelander this whole time without rest so long as he rises victorious.
And Homelander, while a deeply flawed character destined for failure, has only ever wanted to be loved. As we saw, he had the chance to kill The Legend but he didn't because he wasn't afraid of Homelander, he spoke to him openly and seemingly comfortably and even went as far as to welcome whatever fate Homelander had in store for him. And in turn, Homelander just let him go. Because the Legend treated him as an equal, like he was just another person. Homelander doesn't kill people who are unafraid of him.
To further this point, we see Homelander in season 1 back when he killed Madelyn Stillwell. He asked if she was afraid of him and she admitted to being so, that's when he used his heat vision on her in an almost tender way. She's someone he sought comfort in and knowing even she feared him, he hated it. So he killed her.
Butcher has never been afraid of Homelander, and for Homelander that's been a constant, bringing almost a sense of comfort to him.
And to further this point even MORE- we see him react similarly to Starlight during one of their interviews in Season 3. They are by no means friends, opposing eachother relentlessly behind the scenes. But during that interview, he says "I'm really glad you're here" to her, even going as far as to take her hand before pulling away. You could always chalk this down to their fake dating at the time and wanting to keep up appearances but if that were the case, they could have done so with something more exaggerated to really sell the whole dating act: a kiss for example, a hug even. But no, just a brief hand hold and his words only for her. He doesn't like her by any means but finds comfort in the familiarity of their rivalry, of her willingness to stand up to him, of her being someone unworthy in the moment of him killing.
Same goes for Butcher. Homelander even openly states that "it's too bad we're not going to have that last dance together" followed by "I'll miss us" when talking to Butcher. Followed by Season 5 Episode one where Homelander states when confronted by Butcher:
"I know we're not exactly equals but I'm compelled to say you are the only one who's ever challenged me. And there's a part of me that will be sad to see you go."
Most of what we've seen of Homelander has been an act, a front put up to maintain his supposed heroic persona. But in these moments, I truly to believe he finds some sense of comfort in those who oppose him, who don't fear him - Starlight perhaps being one of them, the Legend in the brief moment they shared, but primarily Butcher - the one who's always opposed him, who's been coming after Homelander since the very beginning, the one who's never backed down, the one who's even altered his body to take down Homelander.
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