Starlight's Powers in 'The Boys' Have Been Unreliable in Season 4 — Here's Why

The satirical heroic misadventures of The Boys continue taking fans on a roller coaster of super-powered mayhem. The series follows a group of ill-fated misfits who take on the politically corrupt "Supes" of Vought International, a mega-corporation that markets and monetizes superheroes all while sweeping their violent crimes and misdemeanors under the rug. Season 4 premiered in mid-June 2024 and sees the conflict approaching an intense climax.

Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), the terminally ill former leader of the Boys, attempts to return to the team's good graces after constant deceit. Meanwhile, Homelander (Anthony Starr) consolidates his power as a super-powered alt-right icon all while an election season threatens his standings.

Among this fight is Annie January (Erin Moriarty), the newest member of the Boys and a Supe formerly known as Starlight with the power to manipulate light. As of Season 4, though, she loses her powers. What happened?

When Starlight is first introduced back in Season 1, she is inducted as a member of The Seven, Vought's premiere superhero team. Though she joins the team with bright prospects of saving the world, she quickly comes to learn of The Seven's true nature as a band of self-serving and corrupt narcissists. Throughout the series, she becomes an icon after revealing some of her coworkers' sexual misconduct and even engages in an on-again/off-again relationship with Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), one of the Boys.

After her public image is used and abused by Vought, she quits The Seven and joins up with the Boys. She gets the chance to prove herself as a valued member of the team in Season 4, but things get complicated.

She is tasked with investigating her replacement, Firecracker, whom she knows to be a childhood friend whose life she ruined. That resentment, unfortunately, comes to a head.

Firecracker publicly reveals sensitive information about Starlight, including an abortion she had when she was younger and the fact that she once blinded a hostage with her powers in her early days as a hero. In response, Annie beats Firecracker on live television, tarnishing her public image.

As a result, she becomes unable to use her powers.

Power loss among Supes isn't entirely common, but Victoria Neuman presents an unsolicited theory amid their conflict. She suggests to Annie that she's suffering an identity crisis between "Annie" and "Starlight," which is compounded by the emotional stress from her public violent outburst. This identity crisis is apparently causing her powers to malfunction.

That said, there are certainly ways for Annie to address this, though she has a lot of emotional baggage to sift through in order to do so.

One of the major journeys Annie has gone through is trying to divorce her own identity from that of her Starlight persona, which she perceives as a negative aspect of her life. If she wants her powers back, she'll have to reconcile what being Starlight means to her and how she can move on.

Season 4 of The Boys is now streaming on Prime Video. The fifth and final season has also been greenlit.