There are plenty of questions about Cipher, and Gen V season 2, episode 5 gives us a little insight. It’s still not enough to figure out who he is or what he wants.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Gen V season 2, episode 5.
With plenty of theories about who Cipher is, we’re more and more intrigued by his story. Gen V season 2, episode 5 even opens up with the promise of us getting some answers. We’re taken to a month earlier, with Cipher helping to take care of the man in the hyperbaric chamber.
While he’s doing this, Sister Sage walks in, clearly working with him in whatever this plot is. There’s also a relationship going on, which makes it clear that Sister Sage continues to work against Homelander. And we don’t need later in the episode to confirm that.
Jordan felt everything in Gen V season 2, episode 5
We then jump back to the present day, where Jordan shares that they felt everything while Cipher was using them as a puppet during Gen V season 2, episode 4. They were sure that Marie was going to kill them, but it’s clear that Marie can control her powers. Cipher walks in to share that he wants to get back to training, and if they don’t, then all of them will end up back in Elmira.
By the way, that’s where Cate has been taken after her actions. She tries to fight back, but it’s no use.
Marie can’t leave Cate to rot in Elmira, though. While it is dangerous going in, she’d never be able to live with herself if something happened to Cate. Jordan and Emma agree, and so they create a plan to sneak in. Well, that goes as well as you would expect.
The three are captured and locked up in Elmira. Emma is placed in a cage next to Cate, while the other two are locked in cells opposite each other. Cate is shocked but heartened that the group came to help her, even if it did fail, while Marie learns that she’s been given anticoagulants so that she can’t use her own powers.
Cipher just watches the group, as Sister Sage walks in. It turns out that she is now the CEO of Vought, and the two are creating a plan to take down Homelander. Sister Sage makes it clear that Cipher doesn’t have long, so he needs to push Marie already. I’m starting to question whether they’re the villains of the story.
Marie finds out where Annabeth is
Cipher makes it clear that he will force Marie to train her. He claims that he’s all-powerful and how it felt great to control Jordan, but Jordan points out that she felt how much pain Cipher was in. He decides not to entertain that, and he orders Marie to follow him.
That’s when he takes her to another cell, where a woman is sitting. That woman? Annabeth!
Marie tries to get to her sister, but the guards take her down. They then take her back to her cell, and Marie knows that she needs to do what Cipher says if she wants to save her sister.
Well, Cate has other plans. She took out one of her staples to unlock her neck chain and disarm it. When a guard comes in, he goes in to check on why she’s bleeding, only for her to use her broken powers on him. While she doesn’t quite get the control she wants, she does get the keys, and she and Emma are able to get out.
They rush to Marie and Jordan, letting them out. Marie wants to head straight to Annabeth’s cell, and Jordan is shocked to realize that nobody is following them. Is this something that Cipher wanted?
It seems so, because when Marie gets to Annabeth’s cell, she finds Annabeth dead from a slash to the throat. Marie uses her powers to heal her sister, although it causes pain for the others around them. We’re left with alarms blaring, but at least Annabeth is alive. And now we see just how powerful Marie could be in Gen V.
Sam learns more about home in Gen V
While all that is going on, Sam heads home, although nobody is there when he gets there, so he has to literally break down the door. Naturally, his parents think that someone has broken in, and they’re shocked to learn that Sam is back. Clearly, while his dad is happy, his mom is worried.
It turns out that they were told that Sam had died when he was taken into the Vought facility. That’s why they left him behind. They didn’t even know that he was alive when he escaped until they saw him on the news, and then Vought just passed it off as a mistaken identity when confirming death.
Wow!
Sam starts to warm up to his parents, but then he sees his mom on the phone. Scared that she’s calling God U or Vought, he fights for the phone back and accidentally uses his powers against his dad. Fortunately, his dad is going to be okay, and this offers him and his mom a chance to connect.
His mom shares that she gave Sam the V because she thought it might protect him from what could be in his future. His uncle was mentally ill, suffering from delusions and hallucinations. The V didn’t break Sam, but it did make him more dangerous. As Sam realizes that his issues are genetic, there’s a sense of acceptance in it all.
Of course, his mom says to blame her for it. Well, it’s not her fault that their genetics are wonky. Someone somewhere in the past is to blame, but not his mom. I am intrigued at where this storyline is going.
I’m also intrigued by Polarity, who tries to attack Cipher while they have lunch together. In the end, Polarity is at home when the digital photo frame starts to fritz out. Suddenly, Polarity collapses as his powers get out control and metal objects fly everywhere.
Gen V airs on Wednesdays on Prime Video.