The Boys Season 4: Kimiko’s Loss of Speech, Explained

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Boys Season 4, Episode 7, “The Insider.”

The Boys‘ latest installment, “The Insider,” gives viewers new insight into why Kimiko doesn’t talk. So, what’s the full reason for Kimiko’s loss of speech?

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Why Can’t Kimiko Speak in The Boys?

Kimiko’s mutism is a symptom of the intense trauma she suffered as an unwilling member of the Shining Light Liberation Army, a global terrorist organization. Before being forcibly drafted into the SLLA’s ranks, Kimiko and her brother, Kenji, saw their parents murdered. Next, they underwent brutal combat training that turned them into ruthless child soldiers. Kimiko and Kenji then undertook missions on the SLLA’s behalf, and both were eventually injected with Compound V. It’s all very messed up, and explains why (as Kenji explains in The Boys Season 2) Kimiko soon lost the ability to speak. That’s not the full story, though.

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As Kimiko explains (via sign language) in The Boys Season 4, Episode 7, she never shared the true reason she can’t speak with Kenji. It turns out the Boys’ resident powerhouse didn’t lose her voice because of what was done to her, but rather what she did to someone else. On her first night in an SLLA camp, Kimiko killed a fellow recruit without making a sound as part of a training exercise. Disgusted with what she’d done, the young Kimiko found she couldn’t form words once her instructor allowed her to speak again. What’s more, this event – and others like it – still haunts her.

Is the Cause of Kimiko’s Mutism Different in the Comic?

Yep – indeed, none of the above applies to Kimiko in Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Boys. Heck, Kimiko’s name isn’t even Kimiko in the comics. Instead, she’s always referred to by her codename, the Female (short for “The Female of the Species”). In the comics, the Female is the daughter of a Japanese Vought employee. As a baby, she tumbled into a vat of Compound V runoff and developed superpowers. Vought promptly captured the Female and experimented on her throughout her formative years.

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So, in that sense, Kimiko’s comics and live-action incarnations are the same: both went mute because of childhood trauma. It’s just that the circumstances involved are wildly different. Both Kimiko and the Female have selective mutism, as well. Notably, Kimiko and the Female can audibly laugh (although the Female’s laughter is more pronounced). But unlike her comics self, Kimiko is yet to utter a complete sentence (outside of The Boys Season 2’s daydream sequence).

The Boys Season 4 is currently streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes dropping Thursdays.