The Boys season 5 has already claimed its first victim — and it completes a redemption arc that began in the popular Prime Video show's first-ever episode | Tech Radar
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The Boys season 5 has already claimed its first victim — and it completes a redemption arc that began in the popular Prime Video show's first-ever episode
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Mine and whose reaction to The Boys 5's first big death? (Image credit: Jasper Savage/Prime Video)
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The Boys' final season has premiered on Prime Video
Its first episode claims the life of one of its longest-serving characters
Fans are devastated about the demise of said individual
The Boys season 5's first two episodes have debuted on Prime Video — and the show's final installment has already claimed its first victim.
Indeed, after being forewarned that "nobody will be safe" in The Boys' final season by stars including Karl Urban, fans expect there will be numerous casualties throughout its eight-episode run. However, I don't think many predicted that the first of those deaths would occur in its very first chapter.
Full spoilers immediately follow for The Boys season 5 episode 1. Do not proceed if you haven't watched it yet.
The Boys star says 'nobody' will be safe in the Prime Video show's final season
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The Boys season 5: release date, trailer, cast, plot, and everything else we know about the hit Prime Video's final entry
homelander kills A-train scene #theboys pic.twitter.com/zt NTv Wy 5w TApril 8, 2026
homelander kills A-train scene #theboys pic.twitter.com/zt NTv Wy 5w TApril 8, 2026
Yep — and it caps a redemption arc five seasons in the making for the speedster, whose real name is Reginald 'Reggie' Franklin.
Remember the opening scene of The Boys' very first episode? You must do, but, if you've somehow forgotten: A-Train is responsible for the death of Hughie's then-girlfriend Robin. It's a shocking incident that not only introduces us to the world of this satirical and sinister superhero series, but also inadvertently sets the show's entire plot in motion.
Ever since that harrowing moment, A-Train has been on the road to redemption. Sure, he did plenty more bad things in early seasons of the Amazon TV Original. With each passing season, though, it became abundantly clear that he was a reluctant villain who eventually saw the error of his ways and started to walk a more noble path from season 4 onwards.
It's his increasingly regular acts of heroism that make his demise in The Boys season 5's first episode all the more difficult to swallow.
A-Train fought for what is right til the end THIS LEGEND WAS GONE TOO SOON😭😭 #The Boys #The Boystv pic.twitter.com/j YTraig 1 Tx April 8, 2026
A-Train fought for what is right til the end THIS LEGEND WAS GONE TOO SOON😭😭 #The Boys #The Boystv pic.twitter.com/j YTraig 1 Tx April 8, 2026
Initially refusing to help Butcher, Starlight, and Kimiko break out the rest of the titular team from one of Homelander's detention camps in order to protect his family, A-Train soon returns to aid their cause — and just in the nick of time.
As part of a scene that humorously mocks those Quicksilver sequences from more recent X-Men movies, A-Train realizes that Homelander is about to murder Hughie with his heat vision. Using his superpowers, A-Train rushes over and rescues Hughie before he's killed by Homelander's lazer eye attack. Considering A-Train was the man behind Robin's untimely death, him being the one to save Hughie is a poignant moment of atonement for Reggie.
The speed of Homelander is absolutely insane #The Boys pic.twitter.com/P0CFqc Qo ZJApril 8, 2026
The speed of Homelander is absolutely insane #The Boys pic.twitter.com/P0CFqc Qo ZJApril 8, 2026
Fearing for his life, A-Train flees the scene but, armed with his supersonic flight ability, Homelander doggedly pursues a fellow Supe that he now considers to be a traitor.
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Just as it looks like A-Train might actually escape with his life, a near-carbon copy of the Robin incident ahem derails him. Indeed, he almost runs into (and kills) an unsuspecting woman who exits her car while on the phone. Luckily, A-Train manages to evade her at the last second, but doing so knocks him off balance. Entering a new stretch of the nearby forest that Homelander chased him through, an out-of-control Reggie crashes through numerous trees before coming to a stop.
Descending from on high, Homelander catches up with A-Train. Rather than plead for his life, however, the latter laughs at and mocks his adversary. Enraged, Homelander grabs A-Train by the throat, who continues to laugh in the face of his rapidly approaching death. It's a move that further infuriates Homelander and leads him to snap A-Train's neck, killing him.
How have The Boys fans reacted to A-Train's death in season 5 episode 1?
IM GONNA FUCKING CRY BRO ARE YOU FUCKIUKGN SERIOUS #THEBOYS pic.twitter.com/b Ccn QHIJrb April 8, 2026
IM GONNA FUCKING CRY BRO ARE YOU FUCKIUKGN SERIOUS #THEBOYS pic.twitter.com/b Ccn QHIJrb April 8, 2026
About as well as you'd expect. In the wake of Reggie's death, social media platforms, including Reddit and X/Twitter, have been flooded with posts from Prime Video viewers who, while heart-broken, believe A-Train was given a fitting albeit bittersweet send-off.
"A-Train saved his family, saved Hughie, redeemed himself from episode 1 by sacrificing himself to avoid running into a random woman, and laughed at death by Homelander right in the face," Redditor Hollow Loch fittingly summarized. "Welcome to the speedster hall of fame."
"A-Train started off accidentally killing Robin while running, only for him to ultimately die this episode because he didn’t want to it again to another person," Margiela Man 568 wrote. "Great storytelling. 9/10 ep[isode] for me."
"They perfected A-Train’s arc but I’m so sad," Team Vorpal Swords said, before Harry Hagaran opined: "That was a hell of a ride for A-Train... I'm glad he got a quick but meaningful closure with his brother, and that he saved the day with his very own 'X-Men Quicksilver moment."
"We all knew it was coming, but what a way to go for A-Train," Doctor Spuge said. "Him running into Robin started all [of] this and him avoiding that woman ended him. Development arc was brilliantly done and he finally got to stand up to the one person who was deathly afraid of without any fear. Literally laughed in the face of death."
"A-Train's death flag has been up for so damn long since his redemption arc started that the ending wasn't too much of a shock but DAMN was it still rough seeing it finally happen," italiambmt 1 wrote, while Mother_Literature 903 said: "Say what you want about this show. The writers f*****g nailed A-Train's story arc."
Xapros_mc also wrote: "A-Train dying because he didn't want to kill an innocent woman is awesome. He really did change". Meanwhile, byfo 1991 summed up a lot of fans' feelings by saying: "I never thought I will be sad to see A-Train go... Absolute top tier redemption arc. RIP A-Train, you were a real one in the end."
With seven episodes to go — including this season's second chapter, which is also available to stream right now — I imagine there'll be even more heart-breaking deaths to come. I suspect, though, that very few will be as brilliantly and tear-jerkingly executed as A-Train's was.
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The Boys season 5 has already claimed its first victim — and it completes a redemption arc that began in the popular Prime Video show's first-ever episode
