Quinn In The Boys Season 5 Explained: What Is His Connection With Soldier Boy?

The fourth episode of the ongoing season of “The Boys” has the rivalling factions searching for a coveted McGuffin for differing purposes, V-One, the most potent version of the supe creating concoction created by Frederick Vought – which has the potential to create immortal, nigh invulnerable supes and complete immunity to supe-killing virus. Its search brings both the opposing parties to the military medical and research facility Fort Harmony, the only place where the last vials of V-One are available. Even though none of them were able to obtain the miraculous drug, the horrid glimpse of its capabilities is seen through the predicament of one of its first test subjects, Quinn, and the full extent of his powers.

Spoilers Ahead

As the Boys reach the vicinity of Fort Harmony, corpses of humans and animal carcasses are seen spread around the area, and the number of corpses increase the further they venture inside the building. After a certain point, the Boys start acting erratically and turn on each other while moving towards the center. Frenchie deduces the vines growing all around the building are spreading the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, commonly found in cat feces, which can alter brain functions to induce explosive rage among the infected. The intensity of the parasitical load was so immense, that had it not for Frenchie’s quick-wittedness, the Boys would have killed each other off as they had completely given in to their hateful instincts. As shown later, supes like Homelander aren’t immune from the parasitical infection either, and even V-One dosed immortal supes like Soldier Boy found himself unable to resist the urge to lose himself in fury. Frenchie’s brain chemistry was altered due to extensive addiction, which is the only reason as to why he remained immune to the parasite. In the end, the person responsible for evoking the outrageous rage and hatred among everyone in close proximity turns out to be Quinn, one of the first supes and Soldier Boys’ contemporary who have been dosed with V-One as one among many test subjects of Frederick Vought. As Stan Edgar had mentioned in the third episode, Vought’s first experiments with V-One produced disastrous results, with only five individuals including Soldier Boy turning out to be surviving, regular supe specimens. The adverse effects of V-One sometimes subjects its consumers with fate worse than death, as Quinn’s predicament highlights. Unable to move or find help, he remained stuck inside a room and blended into the environment like a plant organism, producing parasitical spores which ensured brutal demise of anyone attempting to even get close. 

In a way, Quinn’s powers are symbolic of the bitterness, animosity Vought has injected among people, families, making them oblivious to the existence of the main adversary by forcing them to turn on each other. The fourth episode highlights how Starlight’s stepbrother, Mason, radicalized by Vought’s propaganda, reported her presence to the local authorities. In the past, Hughie attempted to save his father’s life by injecting him with Compound V, only to have him killed to spare him from a miserable existence later on. Disaster is a light term to define Homelander’s familial connections. Vought flourished by expanding on their hate and rage propaganda, and despite not willingly, Quinn’s existence perpetuated by spreading the parasite which triggered similar emotions in others. 

Now comes the most important aspect of Quinn’s character as hinted in this episode, which provides some serious character depth to Soldier Boy and allows fans to speculate about his personal demons. During the final phase of the episode, Soldier Boy goes through different emotions when it comes to Quinn. Initially, in his rage-filled mind, he mentions Quinn to be someone who acted condescending towards him for being a rich boy who was only posing as a soldier, never having the experience of real combat in the battlefield. Given Soldier Boy is a parody of Captain America, no wonder his bravado came from a vial of V-One, as Homelander previously mentioned during his altercation with him as well. It can be assumed that Quinn, presumably a real soldier who knew true honor and bravery, loathed Soldier Boy for hogging all the limelight and knew him for what he truly is. 

Then again, animosity wasn’t the only emotion which Soldier Boy felt when it came to Quinn, as after ending his misery by using his energy blast, Soldier Boy is affected with an immense sense of sadness. He is seen depressed to such an extent that he didn’t even contemplate resisting Homelander’s attack and wished to die instead. Seeing Soldier Boy act in a most uncharacteristic manner, even Homelander decided not to mess with him out of pity. Soldier Boys’ reaction to Quinn’s final fate indicates the duo shared a strong bond at some point before an inevitable fallout, and an insecure Soldier Boy possibly looked up to him. It’s safe to assume the duo might have an equation similar to what Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes share with each other, which explains why this incident turns out to be the only instance when Soldier Boy displays genuine emotions by coming out of his tough guy act. Frenchie has seen Soldier Boy apologizing to a deceased Quinn, and this can be exploited by the Boys to once again turn Soldier Boy against Homelander by pulling strings regarding his most personal, sensitive issue. 

There is this fan theory which speculates Quinn is actually Soldier Boy’s elder brother. Earlier in the episode, in his parasite infected state, Homelander revealed details about Soldier Boy’s past, mentioning he was jealous of his war hero brother’s reputation and begged their father to pay for his Vought trials. This seems plausible in the context that Quinn is Soldier Boys’ elder brother who deserved the recognition he received, and called out his brother for his false bravado after going through a fallout. Unlike Soldier Boy, Quinn wasn’t lucky enough to become a decorated poster boy of the nation and remained stuck in a hellish existence for several decades.