‘The Boys’ Season 4 reveals the real reason Kimiko can’t speak

Season 4 of The Boys has been delving into the tragic past of its titular antiheroes. For Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), this means exploring the true reason behind her inability to speak.

In previous seasons, we learned that Kimiko was forcibly recruited by the Shining Light Liberation Army, a terrorist organization that destroyed her village and killed her parents when she was a child. Kimiko was trained as an assassin and brainwashed to follow the organization’s orders, eventually leading her to the U.S., where she was subjected to Compound V experiments. 

Until Season 4, Episode 7, Kimiko’s past as a child soldier was blamed for her muteness, which was believed to be psychological. It was thought that the horrors she witnessed from an early age had caused her to lose the ability to speak. However, the truth is more nuanced than that. In fact, Kimiko cannot speak because she is haunted by her own past mistakes.

Kimiko’s backstory gets even more tragic

In Season 4, Kimiko discovers an active Shining Light Liberation Army cell in New York City. Determined to exact revenge, she decides to hunt and kill the terrorists. During her attack, Kimiko encounters a woman with a facial scar who holds a grudge against her. It’s revealed that Kimiko herself had kidnapped this woman for the Shining Light, committing the same horrible acts her captors once did to her. 

While Kimiko is undoubtedly a victim, she isn’t blameless, having helped the terrorist organization exploit other children and grow its ranks. Episode 7 takes this revelation a step further. Kimiko confides in Frenchie (Tomer Capone) about her first night at the Shining Light camp. She was forced to fight another girl, with both children given knives and ordered to remain silent to demonstrate their skills as stealth assassins. The first girl to scream would lose the fight. 

When Kimiko’s opponent slashed her arm, she let her rage take over and murdered her rival. She didn’t have to take a life, but with a blade in hand, she didn’t hesitate to kill a girl who was just as lost and afraid as herself. After being allowed to speak again, Kimiko found herself unable to do so. Her mind had become trapped in that moment, the fateful night when she became a silent killer.

This revelation packs a powerful emotional punch. Season 4 of The Boys is about realizing that both sides of the Supe war have flawed characters who have committed unspeakable acts. It’s not enough to condemn the enemy’s mistakes; the protagonists must also seek redemption for their own sins. 

Kimiko is learning to navigate this path by recognizing that her speech blockage is a subconscious response to her first kill. At that moment, Kimiko accepted the identity of a silent killer, and something broke inside her. If she ever hopes to heal, Kimiko must realize she’s much more than what the Shining Light wanted her to be.