Prime Video subscribers have had a lot of new content to enjoy so far in 2026, but it was especially difficult to say goodbye to The Boys, which aired its final season over the course of six weeks. Fans of The Boys had to watch several beloved characters perish, but this was to be expected coming into the final season, especially after so much blood was shed through the first four seasons of the show. The final season of The Boys was a hit with critics, enough so to earn a strong 92% on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, but it was hit with review bombing from fans, who rated it a Rotten 49% on the audience-driven Popcornmeter.
One of the most shocking moments in The Boys Season 5 came early, at the end of Season 5, Episode 1, “Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite.” A-Train (played by Jessie T. Usher) had flipped on Homelander (played by Antony Starr) and The Seven and had been working with The Boys for a while, and his actions finally caught up with him at the end of the Season 5 premiere when he found himself running for his life from Homelander after saving Hughie’s life. Homelander ultimately catches up to A-Train and kills him, effectively kicking off the Season 5 bloodshed.
Collider’s Maggie Lovitt recently moderated a panel for The Boys stars Jessie T. Usher and Laz Alonso at Big Lick Comic-Con in Roanoke, Virginia, and a fan asked about A-Train’s decision to save a woman in his path, allowing Homelander to catch up to him and kill him. Fans will recall the very first episode of The Boys, when A-Train kills Hughie’s girlfriend Robin by running through her while moving at high speed. Usher confirmed that this was a conscious moment for A-Train in Season 5, to make the right decision and save this woman, saying: “It’s kind of hard to tell in the edit because it all happens so fast, but it is a conscious decision — he does know what’s going to happen. It’s really hard to pick up the nuance of that scene with everything that’s going on and how fast the looks have to happen.”
A-Train Is a Changed Man in ‘The Boys’ Season 5
Jessie T. Usher continued to explain how A-Train could have escaped from Homelander in The Boys Season 5, Episode 1, but only if he sacrificed this innocent woman in his path. “The way it’s written on the page is that A-Train starts to get away from Homelander, or starts to lose him,” he said. “That last look back isn’t to see where Homelander is, it’s to give him a look like, ‘I’m about to get away.’ He looks back almost cocky. And then, when he turns back around, there’s the girl.” As fast as A-Train was moving at that moment, he didn’t even have a fraction of a second to choose to save this woman. He even admits that A-Train was “thinking, ‘I could get away, just keep going, take this person out, and live to fight another day.’ But he will not make this same mistake again. He’s replaying that entire story in his own head.”
It’s at this moment that A-Train remembered Hughie’s girlfriend Robin, and he made the right call — the one a hero makes — to put himself in danger to save an innocent person. “I’ve seen what happens when I make these choices,” he said. “And even if it costs me my life, I’m at the point now where I will not do that again, so I’ll take my chances. So to answer the question directly — yes, he absolutely knew what would happen, and he did it anyway.”
Check out all five seasons of The Boys on Prime Video and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the future of the franchise.