This actually makes alot of sense... 

Imagine having super hearing and not being able to tune it down so you have to endure hearing every single noise in your area, including little things like heartbeats and flies

Homelander breaking the vent as he pops his head into the vent is scary😂

Every time the Deep is up to some shit in his room I wonder if Homelander is watching him

Homelander can't see through zinc and the vent is galvanised in zinc

Think about it this way. You can hear one person talking in a room just fine. Now add 20 more people all talking. You still hear all of them but unless you're focusing on one person you won't be able to differentiate one conversation from another.

This makes great sense. With the same logic, it's not like his laser eyes are always turned on, but only when he focuses and decide to use it. I feel like all power like this, Homelander also dosen't also use his super strength all the time either, that's almost the same I would say.

or he couldnt user x ray vision because the vent it self was made out of zinc remember what deep said in s1

Plot twist he got damaged by Maeve lol

the problem is that he was having a super secret conversation with numan, it would make no sense for him not to be using super hearing to ensure nobody is listening in on them

That makes sense. Kind of like his power to fly and heat vision. He doesn't constantly have them activated. He concentrates and chooses to activate them. Likewise could be applied to his super senses.

That is sound logic. It's like a gymnast having the coordination and balance to be an Olympian, but still has the same risks as all of us of falling down the stairs if they are not mindful.

IIRC, he outright tells Ryan in s2 that he has to tune things out to deal with the sensory overload. Ryan starts getting overwhelmed while being out in public, and that's when Homelander mentions it

I’d say yeah, his hearing is so good, that he should realistically be able to hear most of the conversations happening within the tower. But somehow he doesn’t. It’s likely because it’d be too much of a headache😂

This would make sense in a crowded area but make no sense in secluded and quiet spaces like in the tunnel scene of the whale crash

The vent thing has been explained in that video. Vents are typically lined with Zinc due to the elements they carry and the sound was being drowned out by the musical. Also when people want to avoid Homelander like Annie they would start playing loud music to disrupt his hearing. Or A-Train going all the way to Canada to call MM. Homelander is an expert at his hearing; so much he can use it to tell intent. It’s also why he’s insulted by Supes like Tek Knight or Blindspot because he’s just a better version of them. They don’t explain A Train warning Ashley but chances are that A-Train scoped out the building before entering.

Just because I have pipes doesn't mean I'm always singing!

Also Homelander stated that he cannot see through zinc and vents are coated with zinc to prevent them from rust.

I can counter this. In season 2 when butcher put all those speakers together to play an ultra sound that affected only homelander and ryan, homelander could’ve simply turned off the hearing according to this logic, but he was in pain until he lasered the speakers.

he would still hear the vent even if hes not focusing. 2 meters above him

If he wasn't able to tune it down he would be hearing so many noises and convorsations he probably wont pay attention to all of them so if he is distracted it still makes sense why they can catch him off guard

He rarely ever uses his super hearing during conversations, because their voices would sound like litteral ear-r@pe

That’s how i saw it. Mainly because when A-Train is about to run, you hear the noise first. Like if his power is activating instead it always being on

also huey being in a vent while there's a literal Broadway musical rehearsal happening under PROBABLY HELPED

It also makes sense when you go back to the earlier seasons, whenever Homelander was trying to creep in on a conversation in another room, he just Stares at a wall really intensely, so intensely that people have to call/shout his name several times or even tap him to get his attention even though he’s just standing there

he and Ryan heard the Vought sonic speakers from hundreds of meters away without focusing in season 2 finale

Like how speedsters not always in their speed force

Once Homelander was aware Hughie was in the vents, he should have been able to pinpoint his exact location with super hearing and hit him with lasers. He knew he needed to use his powers by then.

"GODDAMMIT, WHY ARE THESE VENTILATION SHAFTS MADE OF ZINC?!"

Same reason we don't run everytime we need to walk

I mean we see this play out to a degree in this scene itself, as Homelander is using his laser eyes and focusing a great deal of attention, he gets a bright light in his face, and he flinches.

Same with telepathy. If you don’t find a way to screen those “incoming calls,” you’ll go insane and lose track of which are your own thoughts versus everyone’s around you

"Because the plot has to happen" is the real answer. That's the real reason anyone does anything in fiction. In universe? People miss obvious things all the time, every day, when we're not paying attention. How often have you missed seeing something obvious because you were thinking about something else?

If you see properly hue was on his left, his left ear was stab by queen mave.. so I think he deaf on one ear now…

I would also add the fact that Homelander is a lazy selfish asshole who faces no real threats or challenges, so there's been no incentive for him to learn how to use his powers more effectively. He's not flying around the city like Superman looking/listening for people who are in danger. We see him use his super senses mostly just so he can lord his power over others by pulling a Sherlock scan. That doesn't require him to be able to pinpoint sounds from far away.

Sounds right. Like how Superman probably could hear anywhere around the world but he chose not to.

dude got snuck up on one too many times considering his senses

You also got to think about how super hearing works. It is pretty much a amplifier. Every sound around Homelander is amped up when he is using super hearing. So imagine someone nearby trying to start a conversation while he is using it. It would be very painful.

I think its also a situation where, his ego believes no would dare attempt to get the drop on him, because they would not get away with their lives, thus also him relaxing and not using his powers.

I think it's best to just to chalk it up to plot convivence. Because somehow he was able to hear an explosion from super far away, hear Becca and the doctors conversation from 30 minutes away by car, and was able to hear Ashley from across the room in the sound room. That also doesn't explain why he didn't just fly to him

The exact reason why homeland we didn’t hear or see hughie is because of two things, homelander can’t see through zinc and the vent was made of zinc, the second reason is the singing that was happening directly behind homelander overwhelming his hearing and not being able to hear hughie.

My adventures with superman dedicated an entire episode to this when he got his super hearing.

All of these reasons like the vent being made out of zinc or HL simply not focusing is a valid point honestly, however, there's still many things he could've done. Like flying close to the vents and use his super hearing to know where hughie could possibly be, or just fly inside the events and again use his hearing to track him. Anyways, this more seems like another case of plot armor in work

I usually just explain it to people this way. You have the ability to run. This lets you get to your destination faster than walking, so why don't you do that all the time? Because it's very taxing for you. This is no different.

This was my exact thought, I called it selective hearing where he chooses what he wants to listen for. Kind of like dogs that can smell an array of things but if you give them a scent to follow they will follow it to a T.

I think this is really well put. It's easy to think "Well he has X-ray vision, he should've seen this" but that falls apart when you really think about the logistics. I think it's silly to think that his X-ray vision is active at all times. Though we don't know exactly what he sees, assuming it's similar to the X-ray pictures at the doctor or Samus' X-ray visor from Metroid Prime, it would be ridiculous to imagine that's just his vision. Even if it is just being able to see through things though, then all he would see is things in his peripheral vision and zinc because everything else would be see through

I was just thinking about this yesterday too. You gotta think with EVERYTHING he can hear, I’d imagine it would be pretty hard to listen to a single distant conversation

Yes, it does make sense.

In one of the animated Superman movies Supes was able to beat Brainiac when Brainiac was overwhelmed by the sensory input of life on Earth, having been used to the sterile conditions of his ship, Superman grew up with that sensory overload and learned how to tune it out. Same thing happened in Man of Steel when the Kryptonians suits lost integrity and couldn't buffer all of the noise and light.

This reminds me of the flashback scene in Man of Steel. A young Clark Kent was having difficulty controlling his super hearing and vision. It was overwhelming to the point where he had to secure himself in a closet.

I think there was a Superman comic where Clark explained this in detail on how he need to control his power and kinda switch on and off depending on the situation.

You’re absolutely right, because of Hughie in WebWeaver’s and WebWeaver in general. In both cases he probably would have been overwhelmed 😂

Man of Steel addressed these very topics. When Young Clark had a freak out in school. When Superman expressed to Zod what he was feeling at first when he lost his protection.

the boys producers ignore anything that doesnt apport to the plot. Remember when soldier boy was radioactive AF? yeah, they dont LMAO

It's basically the same thing we do with our regular hearing. We tune out most things except for the thing we're focused on because, yeah, otherwise our brains would be overwhelmed and couldn't actually focus. And for situations like, say, a loud concert where it's so much noise that we can't tune it out as well, we have to concentrate. And even within those boundaries, it's still also a matter of picking out what you actually want to focus on. You technically might be able to hear the people behind you at that concert, but unless there's a reason for you to focus on it instead of the person you're with that you're talking to, you're just not going to register what they're saying unless they do something that actually grabs your attention (or you choose to focus on them).

His ability to detect lies is completely underused

In the first 2 seasons, you'd be terrified whenever Homelander appeared on the screen Something that's missing in this season. I understand that this was done for the story and is absolutely necessary. But the final season should embrace it again. No more sneaking around, meetings, & fights without any steaks. Most of the last season SHOULD treat Homelander as an horror-like entity. Any time he appears on screen, he should just straight out finish someone. So that the fear we had in the first 2 season comes back.

It’s actually cause the pipes are made of zinc

Homie is always preoccupied thinking about 🍼 milk

Yeah this is something that's talked about a lot with Supers. Superman constantly suppresses and holds back all his powers and senses. Flash has to intentionally slow his brain down, or one moment would feel like an eternity for him and it'd drive him insane. The heightened senses typically have to be focused or the sound, sudden movement or visible action has to be so grand, it triggers their instinctual defenses. Not to mention he was holding a conversation during a musical rehearsal. If he used his super hearing all the time there, he'd probably end up with a splitting headache after a few seconds.

Homelander is not God guys. He's human still, and just like us we don't use our senses correctly or in that case he couldn't hear because of the loud noises in the background

Honestly.. makes perfect sense. Even Doppelganger (the shapeshifter from season one) described their power to be like a muscle, only activating when they try hard to and also not being able to maintain it for extended periods of time.

It is just plot armor.

Also Homelander just keeps hearing that eerie screeching white noise every time he's angry and he's always angry lol

We see how Ryan gets overwhelmed in crowds but Homelander dosent. Just goes to show his control of the muscle

This truly doesnt explain well how he was unable to hear the gunshot in the kinky batman episode seeing that the shot happened in the same house that he was. His powers are not magically activated or not.

The Vaught on ice was also being performed while it happened, so it was probably difficult to hear when they were in the background

I feel people have just lost the ability to infer information. This should be common sense but I see so many people be like "why didnt he just look up into the vent". Why would he? If he has no reason to be "on" so to speak, why would he

There was a WHOLE BROADWAY ON ICE SHOW REHEARSAL. that's the simple reason, his super senses were being obscured/blurred, and he clearly doesn't have as that absurdly high just like how his strength isn't that absurdly high (when scaled to other comic book shows with similar powers)

I assumed this was how it was since S1, he clearly focuses his eyes on Frenchie's van to see through it

In s2e8 Butcher used pile of speakers to stun Homelander (and Ryan) and neither could "turn their hearing down". So I think X-Ray vision works like a switch on/off, while hearing is passively on but just requires enough concentration to distinguish useful information from useless noise. He might've heard something in the vents but just didn't think anything of it.

Remember when he would watch Stilwell through a wall to her office? I’m pretty sure the camera was kinda showing that it’s not some instantaneous process like he flips a switch, he’s actively focusing his vision to see through things.

He also has insane speed and reflex as it can be seen when he saved Butcher in Season 1 finale.

I have Asperger's Syndrome, an autistic condition, and I have hypersenses, and I can only stand so much before it too much and I have get out of the situation because it can get disorientating and painful. Before I knew I had AS, at 42 (now 64), I had anxiety issues which lead to me becoming angry or depressed. I often went depressed for a few days at a time, which affected my life detrimentally - esecially mentally. After I found out, I had to learn a lot, including what triggered my anxiety, and am still learning, and how to cope with it. As well as teach people around me - at work, church, such friends I had - why I was as I was, and am. Some don't care, but many do, and respond as such. It's not such a surprise that a Cape such as Homelander (and I don't like the character) is such a neurotic sociopsychopath, and uses his powers in a way that is destructive because, in they way he was developed at Vought, in every wrong way possible, he was never taught to cope well with the incessant input he was subjected to through his hypersenses. So I get it. He gets frustrated then angry as a result, then acts out - typical classic autistic behaviour. Only with *real* autists, it's often everyone around them who do not understand who exacerbate the situation. Autism *cannot be 'cured' but only managed!* So learn to help them - us! Anyone who says otherwise are dangerous charlatans and snake-oil merchants and carpetbaggers, no matter how many white costs they wear or have any number of letters after their name! And autism is a *strength and even superpower,* if managed well! An asset! So,now you know! Peace.

I feel like the comic explanation is the better one and perfectly fits with his character - he's just lazy. Homelander considers himself a God among men, and with that comes a level of indifference and total apathy for his surroundings which is why he never thought of looking under Noir's mask in the comic, and why he carelessly takes the head off a protestor in front of a crowd of people at the end of S3. Supes being incompetently overpowered is perfectly in line with how Ennis was portraying them in the source material, there really isn't any need for a logical explanation.

You forgot super smell, apparently. Lol

On even the last season of Smallville, Clark still had to stop what he was doing to turn on X ray vision or Super hearing

Man of Steel showed this perfectly when Clark was still a kid. He would hear everything and be overwhelmed and couldn’t turn off his different vision. Took mama Kent to make him able to focus haha

This theory is actually supported in Marvel comics (don't know about DC). I remember one Daredevil story where an enemy either copies his powers or takes over his body, don't remember which, and the enemy has a very hard time coping because he gets overloaded with sensory information, so it shows that Daredevil has a mental conditioning/training that he controls or suppresses his super senses to normal levels when he doesn't need to use them. Also, just look how Tek Knight used his senses in the last episode, first he noticed Hughie's hand or chest THEN he focused his senses to analyze his heartbeat and twitching

Yes, it is a valid theory.

Also he's put in a lot of pain by just having a certain loud sound play. Surprised they don't just modify a couple tank chasis or something with that to help immobilize him. They have riot control vehicles like that with something on it that's supposed to he non nonlethal but I forgot what it was called

I know were just arguing about a show based off a comic but there are limits to their powers. The boys is pretty good about giving character limits or reasons not to do things. The episode where Homelander was told he was conditioned to want approval is the perfect example.

Also a lot of industrial fixtures are galvanized to prevent rusting, which means they are coated in zinc, which Homelander can't see through.

I think it makes sense that Homelander didn't hear Hughie in the vents because Homelander's hearing got impaled from Queen Maeve's metal poll in s3, and the show in the background certaintly didn't help either.

Also when Ashley eavesdrop the seven meetings I was like can't homelander see or hear her on the other side of the door. 😂

Makes total sense. I also like the idea that even with his strength if he isnt focusing on say being powerful he wont. another words I imagine if the literalists were correct the guy couldnt use a salt shaker without it exploding in his hand when he grabbed it.

This AND the fact he possibly no longer has hearing i both ears due to being stabbed in the ear last season, making even his super hearing weaker

You can even see some moments in the series where he doesn't hear people talking directly to him while he is focusing on something else, so I woud say this theory does have a lot of merit.

In a previous season homelander also said to one of the 7, that he cant see through zinc and the vent being made out of zinc is possible

I appreciate your take also straight to the point and I definitely appreciate that.

I think it’s a valid theory considering Superman also has super senses and in Man of Steel, he had to fine tune his senses to a point where he wouldn’t be overwhelmed all the time. That’s how he beat Zod since Zod wasn’t acclimated to Earth yet and his senses went haywire. Minus the neck snap. I think it follows with Homelanders senses since he would go crazy otherwise hearing everything. Oh wait.

Imagine you trying to sleep and you hear a mosquito flying around your ears, but it can be anywhere within 2km. I'm pretty sure he has to focus to active his power, like lasers or flying

As someone that cannot filter stuff I hear everyone at once and have to try very hard to stay stable and follow all of it or I cannot make sense of anything because everything all at once blurs everything together in a mess of senses. Trying to concentrate or focus on one single thing is extremely hard and only possible up close, most of the time the loudest thing just wins if I’m focused. So yeah heroes that tune everything down unless they need to makes total sense in my book

It made sense that he couldnt see Hughie through the vents (since it contains zinc). BUT crawling through a vent is loud af, loud enough to hear it when you have a conversation and that person crawls right above you in the same room. They even had silence in the convo while Hughie was crawling. It's an arena, but the area Homelander and Vicky had the convo in was quiet, apparently pretty soundproof. So that scene was way too convenient just for the sake of a shock moment. Another thing in that scene was: Hughie was very slow in the vents, but when his sweat dropped on Homelander he was out in like 1 second (despite being in the opposite direction of where he had to crawl). I understand visual storytelling cant always rely 100% on realism, but in this case they could have found a different way to make it suspenseful. E.g. maybe a drop of his sweat drops in the vent and slowly starts moving towards the edge, while he is on his way out. Homelander says out loud "wtf! Who is in those vents?!" and cut to Hughies shocked face picking up the pace. A main premise of the show is about a more realistic take on superheroes, so scenes that are highly unrealistic like a non supe Hughie vanishing instantly sticks out like a sore thumb. I still love the show and think S4 gets more hate than it deserves. The Hughie in the vent scene was the only scene that really stood out of me in terms of "okay this is too impossible"

I think that's part of the answer. I also think Maeve damaged his hearing quite severely and we're also seeing him age so IMO all these things contribute

Hughie was literally banging in the vent above him. Even normal hearing can pick that up.

Imagine you're trying to sleep, but hear that annoying mosquito flying in your room. Now imagine you can hear every mosquito in 10 miles radius.

They didn’t tune out his powers in that scene, there was a musical happening literally right next to them so his hearing was being muddled. MM also turned up the music when after Hughie as for him to be more disoriented.

This is usually not explained in fiction but yea it’s usually because they basically have to use it manually it’s not something that’s always activated. It’s like how some people with super speed get hit when they’re off guard

This theory makes a lot of sense when Homelander didn't need to cover his ears when they deployed the high pitched noise devices to get becca and Ryan. It also means it takes practice to learn how to tune out the powers they have.

Superman's senses used to overwhelm him until he learned how to hone it and eventually increase its range. Remember when Superman movies used to feature him floating on the stratosphere? It's because it's the furthest he could hear the most people and if he went any further, he would hear nothing. (sound doesn't travel in a vacuum)