‘The Boys’ has been no stranger to killing off its characters, but season 5, episode 6’s death is deeper than most. Not because it is shocking, but because it feels so inevitable.
Black Noir doesn’t die at the hands of an enemy. It was from a trusted source. This is what causes it to sting.
Black Noir Actor Nathan Mitchell Calls “The Seven” A Toxic System That Destroys Its Own
The heart of this tragedy is the Seven’s dysfunctional relationship, which is driven by fear, ego, and the need for acceptance, particularly by Homelander. That pressure cooker environment is what pushed Noir and The Deep into the spiral, according to Nathan Mitchell.
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“I think the core reason is Homelander. He creates this narcissistic family structure where everyone has to compete to stay in his good graces. And so you take that, and you combine it with Deep’s insecurity and his need to be loved by Homelander. And that really puts us in a toxic place,” Mitchell told SR.
Once, the two were brothers. Not in a sentimental way but in the messy, competitive, sometimes supportive way that ‘The Boys’ does best. Add to that insecurity, however (namely The Deep’s desperate need to remain in Homelander’s good graces), and that bond begins to fracture.
It starts as a rivalry and escalates rapidly. One betrayal after another, each trying to outdo the other, prove something, take back control. “Once Noir feels betrayed, it’s kind of like two brothers, two kids who are going tit for tat. “You take my toy, I’m going to take your toy. You took my toy, so I’m going to hit you with this bat.” And it just escalates.”
A Death That Felt Inevitable, And Personal
Black Noir’s last error wasn’t that he was going to take revenge, but that he was boasting about it. Noir didn’t intend to die, as Mitchell says. He wasn’t sure that The Deep would go to that length. “I think it was a surprise. I think he knows killing is a part of the job, and you kind of just have to do it, but he didn’t think it would apply to him,” Mitchell explained.
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That’s a very human, arrogant thing to assume. People think they know what they can expect from people around them, until they don’t! That is the scene that embodies that sudden change. One minute it’s a confrontation, the next it’s a conflict. Then it’s deadly. No buildup, no dramatic pause, it is just a violent snap. And somehow, that’s what makes it real.
The moment was also significant behind the scenes. In ‘The Boys’, death still matters. ”I think in The Boys Universe, death is pretty final, and that’s what gives things stakes because we know once people die, they don’t come back. So yeah, this is a swan song for Noir,” as Mitchell says. There are no easy resurrections, no safety nets.
But with just a few episodes remaining, Noir’s death leaves a void, not just in the Seven but in The Deep’s already shaky psyche. He wasn’t only killing a competitor, he was killing the best friend he had. In this world, that sort of loss doesn’t just go away. It lingers.
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