Summary

• Billy Butcher tricks Hughie into killing him in The Boys comic.
• Butcher's true role was to control and change Hughie, ending as the series' biggest villain.
• The TV show's conclusion is unlikely to mirror the comic, due to differences in character development.

Spoilers for The Boys comic book series belowBilly Butcher's death at the end of The Boys comic book series was committed by one of the last people you'd expect, as Hughie killed his former leader after he was lied to about the death of his own parents. In The Boys #71, Butcher strikes a disturbing smile as Hughie stabs him in the chest, as the Supe-hunter turned villain had nothing left to live for and tricked his former protégé into killing him. The shocking moment was a fitting end for Butcher.

In The Boys comic book series, Billy Butcher leads the titular team as they hunt down Supes, namely The Seven, who are acting as superpowered villains while the public believes them to be heroes. Due to his wife's assault and subsequent death at the hands of Homelander (later revealed to be Black Noir), Butcher made his mission to get revenge for his tragic loss by killing as many Supes as possible. However, by the end of The Boys, Butcher lost control and started murdering of his own team, leading to a final encounter with Hughie, which ended with him tricking him into killing him.

Hughie is Tricked Into Killing Billy Butcher

The Boys #71 by Garth Ennis, Tony Avina, Russ Braun, Simon Bowland, and Darick Robertson

Butcher's quest to kill every super-powered being on Earth ends with him losing control and shockingly killing Mother's Milk, Frenchie, and The Female. In the ensuing confrontation between Butcher and Hughie, the pair are seriously injured after falling off the Empire State Building. Talking about his late wife, Butcher shares details about his past and tells Hughie never to let go of Starlight, as he doesn't know how much time he'll have left with her.

But as Hughie prepares to leave a gravely injured Butcher to be captured, he tells him that he secretly killed both of Hughie's parents as a retaliation. Shocked and enraged, Hughie stabs Billy Butcher in the chest, killing him. Just as Billy planned, since he didn't really kill Hughie's parents at all.

Butcher Recruited Hughie For The Sole Purpose Of Stopping Him

Butcher's Final Plan Proved His True Role in The Series

Ultimately, Butcher chose Hughie to kill him as a sort of sick way to show how much working alongside him and The Boys had changed him. The fact that Butcher dies with a smile as he lies about killing Hughie's parents further illustrates that he knew his mission was over. And that that turning the most innocent member of The Boys into the man responsible for his death would represent one last hurrah. Butcher had nothing left to live for, giving Hughie a final traumatizing experience he would never forget. It's a fittingly awful sendoff for Butcher, and shows the power he wielded over Hughie until the end.

Butcher's death featured him going out in a blaze of glory, wiping out The Boys, and having Hughie kill him with a twisted lie. For the Supe-killer, he likely planned his own demise from the moment he added Hughie to his team. Butcher ended up being the series' biggest villain, controlled his surroundings until the very end, and by choosing Hughie to end his life, it was one final twist of the metaphorical knife into the man whose life he forever changed in The Boys comic book series.

Hughie & Butcher's Relationship Was A Complicated One

It's Unlikely The TV Show Will Go Down This Same Path

As he explains in the comic, Butcher specifically brought Hughie into The Boys because Hughie reminded Butcher of his dead little brother. Butcher knew he didn't have a conscience anymore (not with the death of Becca and his brother removing all bonds), so Hughie was brought in to prevent Butcher from going too far and destroying everything. Butcher's plan would've killed millions of innocent people, and yet in the end, he couldn't bring himself to call the plan off due to his hatred of Supes.

It's extremely unlikely that the Prime Video TV show will conclude its story in the exact same way. In the comic series, the entire reason Butcher killed the other of The Boys and began his global plot was to kill all Supes on the planet. But the show has made the decision to have of The Boys remain human, meaning Butcher would have no reason to kill them along with the Supes.

With Butcher having no reason to kill The Boys, there's no reason for him to need Hughie to stop him. So while this was a great ending to the comic, it's unlikely viewers will see Billy Butcher killed by this unlikely ally in The Boys TV series.