Starlight's Ending Is Way More Depressing Than She Deserves

Starlight's one of the few supes in The Boys who isn't a vile and corrupt villain-in-disguise, but even so, her fate is still undeservedly depressing.

Summary

• Starlight's ending in The Boys is incredibly depressing, as she is trapped in a loveless relationship where she can't even use her powers or be her true self.
• The Boys has a grim parody of the superhero genre, portraying all superheroes as corrupt and morally bankrupt, including Starlight.
• Starlight's fate in The Boys is a punishment for simply having powers, as the series rejects the idea of a "good supe" and portrays her as being ultimately doomed.

Despite being one of the few supes who actually makes it out of The Boys series alive, Starlight still got a way more depressing ending than she deserves. It didn’t matter that she never let the degradation she suffered by the other members of the Seven corrupt her, or that she never used her powers for nefarious or immoral reasons. Starlight was always destined to have a sad ending for one reason, and one reason only: The Boys truly hates superheroes.

While The Boys does have interesting characters and rich lore in its own right, it’s no secret that it’s also a pretty grim parody of the entire superhero genre as a whole. Every ‘supe’ is reminiscent of a classic hero from either DC or Marvel Comics, and they always paint that hero in the worst light imaginable. Homelander is a villainous Superman, Tek Knight is a sexually deranged Iron Man, and Professor Godolkin is a pedophilic Professor X.

Not only are the supes themselves sick reimaginings of classic heroes, but the teams and organizations they belong to perpetuate and cover-up their horrific behavior. Basically, all superheroes in this universe belong to a system that’s irreparably corrupt, making them just as guilty of wrongdoing as any other supe, even if they are good people. This isn’t just true within this world’s continuity, either, as the series itself makes supes pay for who they are in a meta-sense. This is done through story beats that graphically depict these supes’ violent deaths and otherwise miserable fates.

Related

The Boys' Homelander Respects 1 Other Supe (& They're Not on the Seven)

Homelander holds only contempt for those around him, including & especially members of the Seven, but there's 1 supe in The Boys he actually respects.

The Boys' Starlight Is In a Sad Relationship & Can’t Use Her Powers

In the epilogue follow-up to The Boys comic series, The Boys: Dear Becky by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun, it’s revealed that Hughie Campbell and Annie January are engaged, and living in Hughie’s hometown. While on the surface that may seem like the perfect ending for the two of them, given how the main The Boys series ended, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The reality of their relationship is much more depressing, as Hughie spends most of the series lying to Annie about having Butcher’s journal, adding a layer of mistrust to the life they’re trying to build together. Plus, Hughie proposes but then keeps putting off the wedding for years, leaving Starlight in a state where she doesn’t truly feel wanted or trusted by the man who’s supposed to love her. It's also clear that Hughie can't stop unburdening himself of all the horrors he witnessed as a member of the Boys, even though Starlight has asked him time and again to stop. But more than anything else, Annie is no longer allowed to be Starlight.

Starlight Can Never Be a Hero Again

The Boys: Dear Becky confirms that following Homelander's attempted coup, Supes are universally hated and banned from using their powers, with the CIA still quietly killing off 'problem' Supes and covering up new Compound V activations. Despite spending her life before the Seven helping people, Annie can never be seen using her powers again, and she and Hughie have even spent periods living off-grid to keep her former identity a secret. Any other superhero series would have likely rewarded Starlight for overcoming adversity and assisting in the collapse of the corrupt system she was unknowingly a part of. However, The Boys isn’t like any other series, and despite all the good Starlight could do with her powers, The Boys' version of a happy ending is that superhumans are permanently stamped out in every form.

There is no world where Starlight could be a ‘good supe’ and use her powers to save the day like a classic superhero, since there’s no such thing as a ‘good supe’ in The Boys. So, while she lives and is with Hughie by the official end of The Boys, Starlight must keep what makes her exceptional a constant secret, while constantly pushing Hughie not to return to the shadowy, selfish behavior he learned from Billy Butcher.