It was previously shown that Cipher’s house has a vault in it. In “Bags,” Cate and Jordan sneak into that house and the vault to see what Cipher is hiding. The answer? A horribly burned man in the hyperbaric chamber, who is still conscious enough to sense the two young people looking over him. During his scene with Cate at the end, Cipher says the man is his father.
There’s one existing narrative candidate for who it could be: Thomas Godolkin (Ethan Slater), the founder of God U. We saw Godolkin in the very first scene of this season during a flashback; several Vought scientists were testing unprepared Compound V on themselves, and their powers went haywire and killed them. One went on fire, causing the whole lab to burn and seemingly killing Godolkin. We don’t actually see the fire kill him, though; maybe he took some of the V himself, thinking he had nothing to lose, or he was blanketed by the V that caught fire.
Theory time: What if Cipher isn’t the telepath, but Godolkin is? The hyperbaric chamber suggests that Godolkin is totally immobile due to his burns, but he could still reach out psychically. So, under this theory, “Cipher” would just be a puppet he uses to interact and influence the world. We know Cipher can remotely control people with his thoughts, so what if Godolkin is controlling him?
If correct, that explains Marie sensing there’s no V in Cipher’s blood, because Cipher’s body isn’t the source of the telepathy. This could also be why Cipher is so intent on helping Marie get her powers under control; Marie’s control over blood cells might be what Godolkin needs to heal his body and burns. If Godolkin still has his original burnt body around, then he didn’t wholesale transfer his consciousness into Cipher, so he’d still want his true form healed.
This is all pure speculation, but from my perspective, the pieces fit together too well for any other option. Again, his name is Cipher, a system where a chosen symbol or letter is layered over the true meaning of a message. That name alone suggests there’s a twist about his identity, and I think there’s a good chance that the message hidden in this Cipher is spelled g o d o l k i n.
“Gen V” is streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes premiering on Wednesdays.
