Homelander's personality in The Boys Presents: Diabolical is similar to his nicer half in The Boys season 3, with both showing naivete to the outside world and cutting the image of a frightened puppy. Being a father to Ryan might allow the better side of Homelander to regain control because of the lack of parents.
Homelander's evil twin in Amazon's The Boys isn't a clone hiding beneath a mask, but a specter dwelling within his own personality. Like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, The Boys frame Homelander's situation as a vaguer angel/devil divide.
The bad half gradually consumed the good, who's now barely visible beneath the mass of terribleness, thanks to Homelander's animated origin story. The Superman parody rescues innocent children from criminals, but at the end of the show, he's going to destroy a private plane to save face. There's still good in the devil, as a wise, sister-kissing Jedi once said, even though the devil might be dominant right now. As the comics concluded with Noir and Homelander going head-to-head, could The Boys now finish with Homelander battling his other self as payback for all the dark actions "Gollum" said needed to be done?
The final episode of One Plus One Equals Two has been confirmed as a canon to The Boys season 3, and takes place on the day Homelander first aired. Behind the scowling face and unabashed arrogance, this human speck of Homelander's soul means he might've actually felt a shred of remorse for every victim between The Boys season 1 and now. Until now, the two sides of Homelander have been his public facade and his true self, but since season 3's TV outburst, Homelander has more or less dropped the act. When the split happens, Homelander's dark half speaks from the mirror, while the more innocent persona stands in the real world.
When The Boys season 1 begins, Homelander's devil is very much in control, begging the question of when those scales began tipping in his favor.
Here's what this shocking revelation means for Vought's megalomaniac boss after Homelander's mirror personality completely rewrites his The Boys past. There is a part of Homelander that is not comfortable with playing the ruthless dictator role, and that part would rather receive the love he never experienced as a child than slaughter folk. The latter is Homelander's true nature, and the bad best friend is just a way of dealing with too long of a wait. The internal battle between a naive child and an absolute monster will define Homelander's duality from "Herogasm" onward. One of Antony Starr's most significant scenes in The Boys so far is when a Homelander retreats to his personal quarters after being terrified that Soldier Boy could destroy Vought.
It's probably for the best that The Boys doesn't try to attach a medical diagnosis to Homelander's inner conflict. Compared to The Boys where he doesn't flinch in the slightest, the rookies genuinely wants to save innocent people and is distressed when accidentally causing damage. There were two sides to the red, white and blue man- baby.
In a huge disappointment to Homelander's legal team, The Boys season 3's mirror twist doesn't justify his past crimes.
When Homelander spent time with Ryan Butcher in The Boys season 2, their connection exposed unfamiliar qualities such as kindness, understanding, and compassion.
The way Homelander reacts to his reflection in The Boys season 3, episode 6 is confirmation that these one-on-one conversations are nothing new. It is possible that Homelander was conflicted over how to handle all these situations, but his darker half wanted control and encouraged the path of violence, cruelty and destruction.