"My name is Mallory. I'm the person who can get you Payback." - a Boys conspiracy theory
It’s curious how Mallory introduces herself to Butcher (after showing him the Becca tape), considering Payback is the name of the team Stormfront is a part of in the comic - basically the second rate Seven, the Avengers to their Justice League. Could just be a funny little detail… or foreshadowing.
My theory is - Stormfront isn’t Liberty, Mallory is, and she is Stormfront’s mother. Her aim isn’t to police Vought, but to take down the Seven and put Payback in their place, and that’s why she recruited Butcher, to be an outside destabilizing force bent on revenge. Lamplighter was her previous insider, and Stormfront is the new one.
We keep getting told about her grandkids getting incinerated, but here’s an interesting detail - there were no teeth left. Which means there’s no way to verify who the bodies belonged to.
Raynor stresses how dangerous it is to pursue Homelander. Mallory, meanwhile, sends Butcher straight at him, and suggests Stillwell as a way to get to him. She even triggers the “breakup” between Butcher and Hughie, since the latter might strike her as a mellowing influence. The “Lamplighter Incident” is also what set Frenchie and MM against each other.
Meanwhile, Homelander is pretty explicitly manipulated by Edgar, Stormfront, and Doppelganger. Notice how he acts with Becca - at times he seems confused why she hates him and wants him gone. When he confronts Butcher, he claims the encounter between them was consensual. We’re meant to assume he’s just a delusional narcissist and just doesn’t care/assumes everybody wants to sleep with him, but whenever we actually see him have sex on-screen, he’s actually careful and mindful of consent (he stops when Stillwell tells him to, stops lasering when Stormfront tells him it hurts, even with Becca, he backs away when she tells him “stop”.)
Mallory tells Butcher that Becca was alone with Homelander for three hours. She fast-forwards the tape, and we see a slight difference in the position of the door - as if it’s been opened at some point.
Which would make sense, if Doppelganger was involved.
There’s also the leader of the Church, Alistair Adana - strange how he and Edgar both got the picture of the “super terrorist” at the same time, while Mallory was aware of his location and probably had contacts in the police. Mallory also sows distrust within the Boys, instigating the mess with Kenji.
Kenji’s story is also interesting - he mentions a superhero tearing their village apart, but doesn’t mention them by name. Meanwhile, Homelander points out to Edgar that as the face of Vought, everybody knows his name. That would imply a different hero destroyed the village.
I believe they’re all working together (Mallory, Stormfront, Lamplighter, Edgar, Adana), and this is the “coup from the inside” Raynor referenced.
the way this makes so much sense and is way better than the comics >>>>>>
