The Deep is gonna kill Homelander and you cannot convince me otherwise
I just feel like The Deep's entire arc as a character has been building towards to this moment and I don't see any other way they can wrap up his character unless they show him killing Homelander. They've spent so much time on him this season just to have him killed off for laughs or redeemed willy nilly without a true conclusion. Before you' think I've gone mad, I have severalvery strong hints that point in this direction:
1- He has nothing left to lose.
This is self-explanatory. The Deep has systematically been dismantled as a human being across the entire series, treated as nothing but humiliation porn this entire time. Every season he's been shown compromising his emotional and physical integrity for Homelander and the Seven believing in the end it would pay off. He's had to kill lovers and endure being framed for A GENOCIDE in the last season. All because of the Seven and Homelander...and what did it get him? Discarded like trash and have the team that his entire life revolved around disbanded in one conversation. He can't even return to the ocean where any hope of a normal, happy life was left. It's more than evident that his arc will end with him on the path of revenge against Homelander, possibly even playing a crucial role having him killed.
2- Sister Sage.
The first time Sister Sage meets Homelander all the way back in season 4 Sister Sage presents her plan as follows:
"If you crush the masses, who builds your monuments?
Who tongues your taint? Nah. The people will tear it apart themselves. Just gotta nudge 'em a little. Then you get to swoop in, be the one saving it. Like Caesar"
However, most recently in season 5 this exchanged is referenced once again:
"Homelander: You promised me Caesar.
Sage: He was stabbed by his best friends."
Last episode it's implied Sister Sage plan to prevent Homelander from getting the V-1 failed because she couldn't account for the unpredictability of human emotions, with Soldier Boy and Homelander bonding over the same woman instead of killing each other over Stormfront memory. However: on that same episode Soldier boy says he gave Homelande the V-1 because that's what Clara would have wanted, not because he has any sentiments for Homelander. This suggests Sage plan's failure wasn't because of "human emotions".
So what if this was Sage plan all along? She may have known that Soldier boy would feel compelled to give Homelander the V-1 out of respect for the memory of Stormfront. Homelander, being unable to kill him, shoves him back into cryo-sleep and goes and disband American democracy now that he's unstoppable, leaving a perfect power vacuum for her to eventually fill up once he's dealt with. BUT: This also implies that she may have known that with Homelander now being all powerful and self-absorbed on the living deity narrative he would no longer need the Seven, and HERE IS where The Deep comes in. Let's remember: one of the first things Sister Sage does in season 4 is getting to know The Deep. She seems to understand The Deep almost immediately after a few diqlogues, after all, she reads people extremely well, and quickly figures out that he is insecure, desperate for approval, and easy to manipulate.
If my theory holds, she may have been counting on The Deep to go Berserk over Homelander disposing of him like trash and ruining his life. But you may be wondering: why The Deep? He's surely not strong enough to beat Homelander, right?
3- A-Train.
This point may be weaker than the last two, but I feel like the quick chat The Deep had with A-Train will have a big impact in the end. Even if it doesn't: A-Train arc is the exact opposite of The Deep's: both kill people they love because of the Seven, both are humiliated by Homelander, both get pushed out from the Seven and then manage to come back. However: one–A-Tranin-eventually improves as a person and gets away from all of it to instead devote his life to what matters most: his family, and even then, he gets killed by Homelander anyways for doing the right thing.
What if this is the final point of divergence between their stories? What if, where A-Train died confronting Homelander, The Deep actually manages to kill him instead?
4- Symbolic meaning.
IF Homelander is God in this season, or at least, a Messianic-like figure...it would make perfect sense for him to be killed by a Judas-like figure...wouldn't it?
5- Homelander unspoken weakness.
Homelander three possible weaknesses that may help kill him in the final battle:
1- Radiation.
2- Soldier Boy's power-anulling ability.
3- The Virus.
All of which are stated as currently useless.
In the last episode, we saw him tolerating radiation much better than a few episodes ago, when Soldier Boy trapped him in a radiation chamber. Soldier Boys ability which Kimiko now supposedly has may fail or not work on him. And the V1 gives him immunity to the virus. The only way to kill him is by overpowering him, and there's no supe strong enough to defeat him at this point. It seems like so far Homelander has 0 apparent weaknesses and no realistic way to be stopped. If he defeated Ryan so easily while without the V1 nothing tells us Butcher, Ryan, Kimiko or someone else may stop him now.
However.
Can Homelander breathe under water?
There's nothing that suggests he may not be drowned...and If the final battle is anywhere near the ocean, The Deep has a home-field advantage that Homelander cannot counter. Plus! drowning is the most biological death possible—aspirating water, panicking, losing control. It's the opposite of a god's death.
If Homelander is playing God, the most The Boys ending imaginable isn't a heroic battle—it's the universe's biggest joke killing the universe's biggest narcissist. A washed-up, octopus-loving, cowardly joke dragging the "immortal god" into the abyss. How? That part I don't know. Maybe the Octopus homelander forced deep to consume was friend with a giant Kraken?
6- This may end like God Of War: Ragnarok.
[SPOILERS] At the end of God of War: Ragnarok, all the main cast refuse to kill Odin, even when they all lost people they loved because of him. Howeher, Sindri: the comic-relief germaphobic, cowardly dwarf ends up being the one to kill the God in revenge for the death of his brother. I feel like this will be just like that ending.
Perhaps Butcher misses the chance to kill Homelander because he chooses to save his friends, redeeming himself at the end, Kimiko may be incapacitated at some point by the danger she poses since she's the only one with a chance to get him killed for real. Ryan is getting slammed and I have 0 doubts about it, all the other characters either are unable to kill Homelander or don't have the emotional stakes to be the ones to deliver the final blow. But the Deep? The Deep has the means, the motive, the emotional stakes, and the best reason to kill Homelander.
Now, do I believe this will happen 100%? Absolutely not, but it would be so freaking hilarious.