The Boys just pulled off a big twist of Darth Vader proportions. Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) is Homelander’s (Antony Starr) father! In “The Instant White-Hot Wild,” Butcher (Karl Urban) pushes for a final showdown with Homelander, despite the latest revelation.
RELATED: The Boys Recap (S03E07): Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed
That address that Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) gave to Homelander was the location of his son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti). He pays the kid a visit and convinces Ryan that they belong together. Ryan thought Homelander was mad at him for killing his mother. Homelander says accidents happen. And he understands and loves his son, no matter what he does. That’s all Ryan needed to hear.
Starlight followers and Homelander followers clash in front of Vought. The Attorney General gets involved to look for Maeve (Dominique McElligott). Ashley (Colby Minifie) and Deep (Chace Crawford) are frantic and decide to hide Maeve before they can get there. They knock her out with gas and then transport her to another facility. But Maeve is stronger than that and escapes the transport van.
Butcher is ready to finish their mission. He’s even convinced that Homelander is not Soldier Boy’s son. They head out and while at a pit stop, Butcher knocks out Hughie (Jack Quaid), leaving him behind. He tells Soldier Boy that Hughie ran away.
Meanwhile, Homelander’s cool points drop. Ashley informs Homelander about moving Maeve as Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) returns to Vought. Noir gives him a note, saying they have to kill Soldier Boy. Homelander is happy to have him back.
Frenchie (Tomer Capone) delivers the nerve agent to Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) in a bottle of Starlight’s perfume. MM regrets hitting Todd (Matthew Gorman), especially since Janine (Liyou Abere) saw the whole thing. Frenchie says MM is the best person he knows and tells him to get back on his anxiety meds.
A-Train (Jesse T. Usher) visits his brother Nathan (Christian Keyes), who’s adjusting to his wheelchair. A-Train got a new heart. He’s about to get all of his endorsements and asks Nathan to coach him. He feels bad for what happened to Nate and wants to make up for it. Nate’s only question is if A-Train killed Blue Hawk (Nick Wechsler). A-Train blames Blue Hawk’s death on Soldier Boy, but Nathan knows he’s lying. Nathan wanted justice, but he did not want Blue Hawk dead. He tells A-Train to leave and stay out of his life.
Hughie calls Annie (Erin Moriarty) to pick him up.He admits she has every right to be mad at him. She’s concerned whether or not Butcher told him that Temp V would kill him. Hughie realizes that Butcher saved his life by knocking him out. He apologizes to Annie for going on his bender with Butcher. He even gives her permission to say ‘I told you so’.
Annie gets a phone call from Maeve and picks her up. They all go back to MM’s apartment. Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) hits Frenchie for continuing to do drugs. He thinks he’s trash, just like Little Nina (Katia Winter) said he was. Kimiko says their past is not who they are. She sees the good in him though.
Hughie informs everyone that Soldier Boy is Homelander’s father. Annie calls Vought and tells them to evacuate the Tower because Soldier Boy is on his way. The Vought receptionist hangs up on her. They need to save about a thousand people before Soldier Boy gets to the tower. Or take down Soldier boy. Hughie wants to save Butcher too, but MM and Annie don’t think he can be saved. Hughie says they save everyone, especially if they don’t deserve it.
Butcher takes Soldier Boy to the Boys HQ. They talk about their fathers. Soldier Boy was a spoiled child who went to boarding school. His father wasn’t around much and would often be reminded what a disappointment he was. He volunteered for the Vought Compound V trials and became a superhero. Even that wasn’t good enough for his father.
Soldier Boy always wanted kids. He wanted to be a better father than his own. Homelander is the only blood he has left. Butcher realizes that Soldier Boy is having second thoughts about killing Homelander. Soldier Boy doesn’t say anything, he just leaves to get some air.
Black Noir prepares to face Soldier Boy by sharpening his sword. Homelander asks what Soldier Boy was like. Noir writes the word ‘bad’ on a piece of paper. Homelander found the proof in the Vought archives that Solider Boy is indeed his father. Noir writes that they must kill Soldier Boy, but Homelander isn’t sure he wants to. He asks Noir if he knew Solider Boy was his father, and he did. That makes Homelander sad. He kills Noir for not telling him. Noir’s cartoon friends surround him to say goodbye. RIP Black Noir.
Butcher only has a couple of vials of Temp V left. Maeve, Annie and The Boys pay Butcher a visit. They are there to stop Soldier Boy from attacking Vought. Kimiko is holding the perfume bottle full of the nerve agent. Soldier Boy isn’t there, but there’s a lot of drama to settle between the Boys and Butcher. And none of them are backing down. When things calm down, Hughie says he thinks he can save Butcher. That’s when Maeve takes the perfume bottle and throws it out the window. She also breaks MM’s gun.
Maeve is on Butcher’s side and says Homelander needs to die. No matter what it takes. Annie powers up, ready to stop Maeve and Butcher. Soldier Boy returns. It’s basically three on one.. They all know the real fight is with Homelander, but only Annie can stand up to three supes. Butcher puts them in the safe and turns off the power so Starlight can’t blast her way out.
Ashley, A-Train and Deep advise Homelander to evacuate the tower. Homelander isn’t scared and doesn’t want to evacuate. Deep wants to use Noir as bait to lure Soldier Boy, but Homelander informs them that Noir is dead. He humiliates Ashley, sends Deep to do something treasonous and instructs A-Train to tell the world that the Seven are the true justice. He reminds them that he doesn’t need them and leaves. The treasonous act that Deep has to do is kill the front runner for Robert Singer’s VP candidate.
Annie is able to get the safe open. They need to go to the tower, but no longer have the nerve agent. Frenchie may know of a lab that could whip some up. It’s really the only way to stop Soldier Boy. They grab as many weapons as they can find before leaving. Hughie finds a vial of Temp V and picks it up.
Homelander watches old videos of his father when Butcher, Maeve and Soldier Boy show up. Soldier Boy wants Noir, but Homelander killed him. He only wants to talk to his father. He knows what it’s like to be betrayed by his team. Butcher tells Soldier Boy not to listen to Homelander, saying that’s not his son, but Homelander insists that he is. Homelander pulls Ryan from hiding and introducing him to his grandfather. Soldier Boy feels bad for missing out on so much. Homelander says they’re not alone, attempting to pull at his father’s heart strings. It doens’t work. Soldier Boy calls his son weak and a disappointment.
Soldier Boy powers up, ready to kill Homelander. Butcher tells Ryan to leave, but instead Ryan blasts Soldier Boy with his laser eyes. Soldier Boy hits Ryan, sending him flying against the room. Homelander runs to Ryan’s side. Butcher gets angry and turns on Soldier Boy. He blasts Soldier Boy with his temporary laser eyes and Homelander joins him.
Soldier Boy goes flying into the next room. Butcher goes out to face him while Homelander tends to Ryan. Soldier Boy doesn’t understand why Butcher turned on him. Butcher says Ryan is his wife’s son and he made a promise to keep Ryan safe. Soldier Boy thinks Butcher is weaker than Homelander.
Ryan wakes up and he’s okay. Homelander gets up to join the fight, but Maeve hits him. They fight in one room. Butcher and Soldier Boy fight in the next room. This goes on for a while. Long enough for the other Boys to get there. Annie actually saves Butcher from being killed.
Meanwhile, Frenchie and Kimiko break into Vought labs to look for the nerve agent. Hughie breaks into the security room and tells everyone to evacuate. The security guards show up to stop Frenchie and Kimiko. Kimiko turns on Maniac from Flashdance and fights off the guards.
Maeve is doing pretty well against Homelander until he smashes in one of her eyes. In the next room, Butcher and Annie fight Soldier Boy. And Kimiko tears the guards apart. Another guard enter the lab and shoots Frenchie in the leg. Frenchie keeps going and finds the nerve agent while Kimiko kills the guard. He tells Kimiko to take the spray to MM.
Soldier Boy knocks out Butcher, just in time for Kimiko to get upstairs. He stops her from attacking him, leaving him and Annie to face each other. Hughie sees it on the security cameras and contemplates taking the Temp V to stop the fight. Instead of taking the Temp V, Hughie turns up all of the lights, giving Annie more power. Soldier Boy runs at her and she blasts him with her light, throwing him back. Kimiko and Annie grab Soldier Boy’s arms. MM grabs the nerve agent and sprays it in Soldier Boy’s face. Soldier Boy says he won’t go back and starts to power up. Butcher gets up and sees Ryan enter the room.
Maeve is still fighting Homelander. She jams a straw into his ears, making him disoriented. This gives her time to see what’s going on. Butcher shields Ryan, while the others stand still waiting for Soldier Boy to explode. Homelander pulls out the straw and goes back for more. Maeve hits him hard in the chest, throwing him across the room. She runs at Soldier Boy and tackles him. The two supes fall out a window at the top of Vought Tower. Soldier Boy releases his blast of energy, exploding as they fall.
Frenchie and Hughie join everyone, happy that they stopped Soldier Boy from completely destroying the tower. Homelander and Butcher check on Ryan. Ryan asks his father if they can leave and calls him ‘dad.’ It’s obvious that Butcher doesn’t want Ryan to do with Homelander, but he doesn’t do anything to stop them from leaving. Butcher’s nose starts bleeding and he collapses
Vought News pays tribute to Queen Maeve, assuming that she died in the blast. mButcher is in the hospital. The doctor says there’s nothing they can do to help him. He has about a year to live.
MM tells Janine about their family and how they died at the hands of a Supe. He didn’t want to bring her into it, but she deserves to know. She should be proud of her grandfather and the fight for justice. Janine says MM is her hero.
Maeve is alive, but beat up. She lost her powers because of Soldier Boy’s blast. Annie visits Maeve as she prepares to leave with Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude). They are going far away where Homelander can’t find them. Maeve says Annie saved her when she arrived in the Seven. But Annie doesn’t need her anymore. She can fly now.
Ashley and Also Ashley (Sabrina Saudin) watch the security footage from the night Soldier Boy attacked the tower.. They sees MM pick up and carry Maeve to a van. Ashley decides to delete the footage. Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) watches as Soldier Boy is put in a cryo-chamber. Deep cries while watching Cassandra (Katy Breier) on a talk show. She wrote a book about her journey to freedom. She says they wouldn’t like Kevin if they knew the real him.
Annie gets rid of her super suit and joins The Boys. Everyone thinks Butcher will hate having her there, but they all vote to keep her. Butcher walks in as a new report comes in. Presidential candidate Robert Singer just selected Congresswoman Victoria Neuman as his running mate. That’s why Deep killed the other guy. No one is happy about this. Butcher says Victoria has to go.
The protests of Homelander and Starlight continue. Homelander decides to visit his fans and introduce them to Ryan. The crowd is elated to meet Ryan until a Starlight supporter throws something at the kid. Homelander kills that guy in front of everyone. Todd is there and starts cheering for Homelander and everyone joins him. There really isn’t anything Homelander can do to make the people hate him. And Ryan loves it.
RELATED: Catch up on all the supe shenanigans with The Boys recaps!
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E07) I Could Not Prevent It - June 24, 2024
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E06) Like the Light by Which God Made the World Before He Made Light - June 17, 2024
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E05) Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start The Tape - June 10, 2024
