Gen V: What’s Going on in the Woods?

Warning! This piece contains spoilers for the first three episodes of Gen V! 

If you were worried that The Boys’ college set spin-off Gen V was going to hold back on the brutality and grotesqueness that made the Prime Video series so beloved, worry no more. Set in the hallowed halls of Godolkin University, the alma mater of upstanding supes like The Deep and A-Train, the series follows a young blood-wielding woman named Marie (Jaz Sinclair). She’s spent her whole life working to get into the prestigious institution, but what she finds there is far from the hero-filled academy she dreamed of. Soon she’s entangled in a shocking mystery surrounding the nightmarish institution known as The Woods. And it’s that grim underground lair we’re here to talk about, because after the first three episodes of Gen V we have questions. 

What is The Woods? 

From what we know so far the best answer is an underground testing laboratory where super-powered youngsters are kept and experimented on. While we don’t know what they’re doing there yet, one thing is clear, the Woods is directly connected to Vought and Godolkin U. Not only does the Dean Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn) literally take part in the experiments on the teens who are supposed to be in her care, but we see her talking to Vought’s PR maven Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) about how they need to cover up the reasons behind Golden Boy suicide and its obvious connections to The Woods facility and whatever they’re doing there. So let’s dig into just what that might be and why Godolkin and Vought are so invested in it. 

Is Vought Trying to Create a More Powerful Compound V? 

This feels like the most realistic answer to what’s going on in The Woods. We know that the version of Compound V that Vought makes and sells is a bastardized version of the original serum created by Nazi scientist and all round evil war criminal Frederick Vought. According to the near-immortal neo-nazi supe Stormfront, the original version could transform fully grown adults into powerful supes as well as giving more all-round and impactful powers. 

It could be that Vought is still trying to perfect their version of the serum and is using teens to do that. We’ve seen them doing a spinal tap on one of their prisoners Sam (Asa Germann), implying that they’re definitely testing on the biologies of the supes in their captivity. From what we saw of Sam’s powers he’s incredibly strong which could be something they’re trying to synthesize for their new version of Compound V. The other, just as bleak option of course, is that this is alwayshow Vought has made Compound V, and now we’re just learning about the process. The giant corporation would want to keep it a secret that their superpower serum is made from torturing children. 

Are They Making an Antidote/Cure For Compound V? 

Seeing as the show seems to be setting up Indira as a villain who hates supes — and loves to exploit them — this could be an interesting twist. Perhaps she’s trying to find a way to take powers away from the supes because of her own personal issues with them. During her exchange with Marie, she reveals that she had a daughter who died. Could she have been killed by supes? Maybe her daughter was Hughie’s girlfriend who was killed by A-Train in the first season of The Boys? Or perhaps she was just another victim of the recklessness of supe-culture. 

In that case, why would Vought help? Well, think of all the times that Vought has needed to regain control of supes or those who have been given Compound V. They would surely like to have a way to take those powers back, especially as it would make it easier to clean up their many messes. Plus what a great way to control and threaten the heroes who work for them: If they don’t behave, Vought will take their powers away. 

What is Godolkin U / Vought’s Fascination With Sam?

One of the most interesting twists in the first three episodes is the reveal that one of the main characters of the series Luke AKA Golden Boy dies within the pilot. We’re then introduced to his brother Sam who we mentioned above. He’s not just Luke’s little brother though, there’s something about him that has made Godolkin and Vought fake his death and put him in the Woods. Not just that but it seems like Vought/Godolkin had a distinct focus on him and his powers even before he breaks out of the Woods in the first episode. We know his parents shot him up with Compound V, perhaps there was a different dose that he got and they want to see it affect him? Maybe he’s more powerful than Homelander and they’ve been keeping him drugged up to hide it? Or it could be connected to our final question… 

Do Some People Have a Natural Supe Gene?

Although we know that most supes are sterile, there is precedent for naturally born superheroes in The Boys universe thanks to Homelander’s son Ryan. That leads us to wonder if, since Ryan’s birth,Vought and Godolkin have been trying to find out if other naturally occurring supes exist. These experiments could be a part of that exploration — though we know that Sam and Luke’s parents did give them Compound V — to find other supes who were born rather than being made. It would be an interesting conflict to introduce especially as Gen V is definitely delving into the realities and moral complexities of what using Compound V means for kids and families. 

Whatever is happening in The Woods it’s clearly going to be central to the plot of Gen V as Marie and her new friends (and frenemies) at Godolkin U try to uncover the truth behind the “Best University in America” and attempt to survive their findings. 

Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.