The origin of Black Noir from ‘The Boys’ solves a great mystery of The Patriot

Here are spoilers for the seventh episode of the third season of ‘The Boys’

BlackNoir has continued to be an enigma during the last two seasons (and most of the third, to be honest) of ‘The Boys’, a series that is broadcast in our country by Amazon Prime Spain. Until now.

We finally got through that black armor and get into the mind of the stoic super. Frankly, it’s a disaster. It’s crazy, a ‘Looney Tunes’ chaos. Bring more cartoon forest creatures. We’d be happy to put up with an hour of this kind of madness.

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Nevertheless, this episode from ‘The Boys’ -one of the best series of 2022- of the “Saturday morning, watching cartoons with cereal” type did more than just leave you with childhood nostalgia. Revealed more about Black Noir of what three years of grunts and gestures have been able to reveal.

As we see in Chapter 7 (will he make it into the top 10 fan favorites for ‘The Boys’?), Black Noir has had the unfortunate displeasure of bowing down to two of Vought’s superleaders. First, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) in the 1980s, and now The Patriot (Antony Starr) today.

Until recently we didn’t know much about Noir’s time with Soldier Boy, although we did catch a glimpse of something damning during a flashback episode with him in Nicaragua.

However, we have known the dynamic between him and El Patriota and… it’s just weird. No matter how reprehensible the acts of El Patriota are, Noir is unwaveringly loyal.

He degrades and bullies his troops and Noir is still there. Go out and conspire with a Nazi? Noir stands tall, ready to take orders—and let’s not forget, he’s a black man and would therefore suffer under a white supremacist regime, but never mind. The Patriot asked for it, so he must obey.

It’s crazy, absolutely crazy.

That said, it’s not exactly like Noir gets nothing out of the deal. He is the only member of the Seven who is not mistreated by El Patriota. Dare we say The Patriot may even respect Noir, and to that end they have a mutual understanding of some kind.

The origin of this understanding is unclear, at least on Noir’s part (The Patriot’s affinity with Noir is explained later).

Only the revelation of Black Noir’s past during the delicious skit of the seventh episode takes a step towards the resolution of this mystery.

It seems that Noir’s history with Soldier Boy may hold the answers to understanding his relationship with The Patriot. Unlike the current leader of the Seven, Noir had a rocky relationship with Soldier Boy. Well, not difficult for Soldier Boy. He gripped the strings of Noir’s puppet so tightly that we’re surprised he didn’t cut off his blood circulation.

Under the leadership of Soldier BoyNoir was demoted, abused and degraded in the most casual way.

So when Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) asked him to help orchestrate a plan that would lead to the capture and arrest of Soldier Boy, Noir didn’t need too much convincing. Years of abuse have a way of softening you up into rioting.

Although the operation was successful, in a way. Noir isn’t stupid, he knew that the chances of Soldier Boy surviving whatever was to come would be high, and that the possibility of his coming back would be inevitable.

Knowing this, it would make sense that Not to go ally with someone of great strength.

Their aalliance with The Patriot it is probably deliberate and motivated by survival. A tactical decision to create a closeness with El Patriota makes more sense than an unwavering loyalty “just because.”

noir knew that the only person with the potential to defeat Soldier Boy it would be El Patriota and, knowing that the day of reckoning would come one day, it is plausible that he created a contingency that would increase the chances of keeping all his members.

It would also explain what we now know to be his unusual behavior in the spin-off ‘The Boys Presents: Diabolical’. For this, it is convenient to analyze the keys of the 8 chapters of ‘The Boys: Diabolical’. The animated series shows the association of The Patriot and Noir in its beginnings, before the leader of the Seven became a murderer.

When civilians are accidentally killed during a failed mission, Noir rushes to cover up The Patriot’s mistake by killing the sole survivor. Shortly after, he jots something down on a piece of paper that calms an extremely nervous Patriot.

This act is contradictory to the kind-hearted man we saw during the flashbacks in the third episode.

Explaining his behavior, Nathan Mitchell, the actor who plays Black Noir, told DigitalSpy: “What I would say is that he definitely wrote something in an unconventional way.” “But the essence of it is, ‘I’m your friend. I’m here to help you. I’ve got your back. We’ll get through this.'”

This devout sentiment makes no sense, especially considering that this was their first mission together.

Rather than an act of kindness (damn kindness, but still), it was more of an attempt at manipulation on Noir’s part to forge a bonding relationship.

Despite Noir’s lack of ethics and the reputation of “silent villain” that he has earned in ‘The Boys’, the walk through his mind of the seventh episode alludes to the fact that, ultimately, Black Noir is not bad to the core.

As Mitchell explained to Express: “[Noir] He’s got some demons and some fears that he thought he’d gotten rid of and it turns out he hasn’t.”

“So he has to wrestle with them and make some tough decisions.”

With Soldier Boy back on the scene, there’s no telling what’s about to unfold – and whether The Patriot will be able to count on Noir’s support once he’s discovered Soldier Boy is his father, Soldier Boy’s turn in ‘The Boys’ to prepare a major reveal.

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