The Boys season 3 ending was awesome and we got the big fight between Homelander, Soldier Boy, Billy Butcher, and The Boys that the entire season 3 was building to. Everything was at its high level when we got to this episode. With the discovery that Homelander was the son of Soldier Boy, Homelander uses Victoria Neuman to track down his own son Ryan, and Butcher and Hughie attempt to take more Temp-V despite the fact that they are both at risk of overdosing fatally.
But we assume that you have many questions regarding what happened in the season 3 finale when show’s credits rolled on its most recent season. Furthermore, we believe you’ll be interested in learning how The Boys’ most recent episode prepares for its previously ordered fourth season. Therefore, it’s fortunate that we are here to answer your most pressing questions about The Boys season 3.
Additionally, there were several unsolved character issues in the season 3 finale, as well as some rather significant revelations regarding a few significant departures. In order to evaluate where we might be going next, let’s analyze The Boys season 3 ending in detail. We’re about to enter a Serious spoiler zone. So before continuing, make sure you’ve seen The Boys season 3, episode 8.
The Boys Season 3 Finale Explained
Let’s first go through a quick recap of the finale to understand the Ending Explained section even better. As the Boys season 3 finale opens, Soldier Boy and Homelander are still in shock at the fact that they are indeed father and son. Homelander reacts to this by locating his own son Ryan, who has been living with Mallory as per Billy Butcher’s orders. However, Ryan is rather open to any parental affection now and after Butcher’s rejection of him earlier in the season, so he flies with dear old dad Homelander.
Homelander is still processing the revelation about who his real father is. The Seven’s leader learns that Black Noir already knew his secret when he returns to help him in the final battle. After betraying him, Homelander kills him and allows him to bleed to death. Homelander then orders the Seven’s decreasing number of members on what to do next. While A-Train goes to try and make amends with his brother, with very little luck, The Deep is ordered to kill the current Vice Presidential candidate.
On the other side Hughie, Butcher, and Soldier Boy are currently traveling to kill Black Noir, the final Payback member, without knowing that he has already been killed. Butcher quickly removes Hughie from the group, fearing that his continued presence would be too risky. As Starlight picks up Hughie and takes him back to meet with The Boys, then we find that Temp V is indeed deadly.
Kimiko, Frenchie, and MM are planning how to deal with Soldier Boy due to the threat he poses at the Flat Iron headquarters. Additionally, Queen Maeve, who managed to escape from Vought Tower offered some assistance. However, Maeve isn’t on board with their plan and instead coordinates with Soldier Boy and Butcher to take out Homelander as they return to the tower for the decisive battle.
The Final Battle
When Homelander and Soldier Boy meet, Homelander offers the idea of forming a superfamily. As he makes an appeal to Soldier Boy, he calls Ryan out, which makes things more difficult for Butcher. But Soldier Boy calls Homelander a coward and rejects him as his son. It’s certain that a battle would break out, but Butcher unexpectedly switches sides to try to protect Ryan. Maeve attacks Homelander as he turns his laser eyes to Soldier Boy. Despite the minor mishap of being trapped in a safe by Maeve, the rest of The Boys eventually join the battle too as Frenchie starts working on brewing some novichok while Hughie takes command of the control room.
Although Soldier Boy is facing up against Starlight, MM, and Kimiko, he is still victorious. Hughie sees his opportunity and switches on every light in the newsroom where the battle is taking place, amplifying Starlight’s power and giving the other guys a chance to attack Soldier Boy. But nothing is working. He begins to glow, leaving Maeve to decide whether to save Ryan and the others even if doing so will result in Homelander surviving. She grabs Soldier Boy and jumps out of the window, with both exploding above New York.
The Set-up For The Boys Season 4
But fear not, Maeve manages to survive the explosion, later she tells Starlight that she and her ex-girlfriend Elena are leaving the city and will live somewhere far away from Homelander. Soldier Boy also makes it out alive despite being re-sealed in a cryogenic chamber.
The remaining portion of the finale is devoted to wrapping up unfinished storylines and establishing season 4. Starlight has officially joined The Boys as they prepare to take on a fresh enemy. Victoria Neuman has become the new Vice Presidential candidate after The Deep killed her opposition. In a cool way, Butcher says that ”she’s got to go”. But he is also going to deal with a lot in season 4 because Temp V has severely damaged his body and the doctor told him that he only has months to live.
As the story comes to a close, Homelander introduces the world to his son and his amazing abilities. Ryan puts his skills to the test as his loving followers cheer him. However, there’s one bystander who throws a can at Ryan’s face, this makes Homelander furious and he kills him in front of everyone. The crowd waits for a beat before cheering in response, showing the crazy Supe’s ability to pull off just about anything.
The Boys Season 3 Ending Explained: Is Black Noir Actually Dead?
It seems so, but let’s take a step back to see why Homelander killed him. We discovered how scared Black Noir was of Soldier Boy throughout season 3. Throughout their time together as a superhero team named Payback, Soldier Boy had treated Black Noir quite horribly. Black Noir and the rest of Payback eventually grew tired of Soldier Boy’s arrogant behavior and planned & executed the scheme that resulted in Soldier Boy being taken hostage by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Anyway, Black Noir meets Homelander at Vought Tower with Soldier Boy on his way to kill Noir. Apparently out of fear for his life, Noir tries to convince Homelander to help him in killing Soldier Boy. But this doesn’t go well. Noir later admits knowing Soldier Boy was Homelander’s father when Homelander questions him about it. A furious Homelander who feels betrayed brutally murders Noir by punching his body and tearing out his guts. Homelander leaves Noir in the Seven’s conference room to bleed to death while being surrounded by his fictitious cartoon friends.
When it comes to death, the superhero genre doesn’t take it seriously for too long and eventually brings that character back to life. After all, is anyone really truly dead when you take into account multiverses and different timelines? However, The Boys hasn’t shown any interest in that (yet), thus the sight of Black Noir laying on the ground with his guts out is a very strong indication that he has died.
Of course, it’s still possible that Noir survived the attack. He doesn’t actually die on screen, which normally makes it possible for a character to unexpectedly return from the dead. But given Noir’s severe wounds and the fact that Homelander later shows his helmet and visor to Ashley, The Deep, and A-Train, who are all stunned, we’re quite sure (again) Noir has died.
How Is Maeve Still Alive?
To be honest with you, we don’t really know how Maeve escaped Soldier Boy’s explosion. It’s highly possible for Maeve, a fellow Supe, to escape a fight with the Captain America lookalike following a run-in with him, as Kimiko did in a previous episode. However, Kimiko lost her superhuman powers after making contact with Soldier Boy’s nuclear energy. If Maeve had experienced the same loss of her superhuman powers, how could she have survived her fall from that height?
If we’re being fair, we think that she survived that fall because Maeve has been a Supe since birth. Her mother received Compound V injections throughout her pregnancy whereas Kimiko received the drug as an adult. Because of this, she might have had a slightly greater level of power than Kimiko.
At the closing of episode 8, Maeve informs Annie that she plans to marry her on-and-off girlfriend Elena and live a quiet life as a “powerless doofus” now that everyone believes she has passed away. Annie asks her where she will be going now to which she answers: “Somewhere else where Homelander won’t be able to find me.” Before bidding farewell and heading for the door, Maeve recalls her very first meeting with Annie and confesses that she “saved” her. Maeve ends the conversation with: “It’s true that you don’t need me any longer. Although I could jump, you can fucking fly.”
Will Soldier Boy Return?
Maeve saved the day by kicking an exploding Soldier Boy out of Vought Towers’ window just in time. We don’t see what happens immediately after this, but Mallory locates the nuclear Supe before he can defend himself, most likely because of Frenchie’s novichok neutralizer. The villain played by Jensen Ackles is back in the sleeping chamber as he previously was.
Soldier Boy is currently out of the way, but he won’t be down for very long. The Boys creator Eric Kripke and Ackles have not yet commented on whether he will be coming back, but we expect Homelander’s father to cause more problems in the future. Also, The Boys has a record of bringing back villains, as they did with Stormfront at the beginning of season 3. Soldier Boy, though, is not likely to be easily controlled.
Butcher’s Fate
The season three conclusion reveals that Billy Butcher is actually dying from the inside. The foul-mouthed Brit has been punished for his continued use of (and abuse of) Temp V, which Starlight described as a “death sentence” in the previous episode.
The doctors have given Butcher bad news; they estimate his lifespan to be no more than 12 months. This implies he’ll need to move quickly on any plan of revenge against Neuman and Homelander, which is probably why at the end of the episode he came back to the group. Butcher is aware that time is running out. At this rate, death will eventually happen in season 4.
How Was Starlight Able to Fly?
During the season 3 finale’s big fight sequence, Soldier Boy sets his eyes on Annie, and this panics Hughie, as he sees this from Vought International’s monitoring room. After their argument about his arrogant need to constantly save her, he thinks about drinking some V and saving her, but then decides against it. Instead, he makes the hall where Soldier Boy, Annie/Starlight, and the others are brighter than usual, allowing Starlight to absorb all of the light energy. She levitates as a result of the boost, indicating that she is now capable of flying provided she has access to a great amount of light sources.
Annie throws away her Starlight costume at the end of episode 8 since, according to her, it ” really never gave her any real power” in the first place. She continues, “And Vought sure as heck didn’t.” It has always been just me. Mother’s Milk then offers her a position on The Boys team. Annie says Butcher won’t like it, but Kimiko, Frenchie, and Hughie vote her in and declare that the group will now operate as a democracy.
What Will Homelander Do With Ryan?
Poor Ryan! Son of Homelander has experienced so much hardship. In addition to mistakenly killing his mother, Butcher cruelly rejected him afterward in an unsuccessful effort to keep him safe. Craving for a father figure he then joins Homelander. He then joins his real father’s team and is even made public later at the end of the episode. Butcher is likely the only person who can now save Ryan; it is still unclear what the Homelander has in store for him.
We don’t exactly know what Homelander is trying to plan with young Ryan yet. But one thing is certain: at the end of the season, he is aware of his continued power. Along with being the CEO of Vought, he is now in a stronger position than ever before with an ally in the White House (more on that in a moment). Whatever he plans to do next, given the psychotic trajectory he’s already taken in season 3, will undoubtedly have significant repercussions for everyone involved.
Victoria Neuman
Robert Singer chose Victoria Neuman to be his running mate, putting her in line to succeed him as the vice president of America. Also, it really should be obvious what will happen. The narrative is already made up for it: there hasn’t been any discussion of the rival candidates (or the incumbent president), and Neuman’s potential vice presidential competitor Lamar Bishop was killed by the Deep on Homelander’s orders. Homelander will have direct access to the White House according to the Homelander/Neuman agreement, which takes effect immediately.
The transfer of power is another interesting aspect. Neuman would take Singer’s place as president in the event of his death, which is looking likely. There’s a decent probability that she’ll be seated in the Oval Office without much of a fight sooner rather than later because she just so occurs to have head-exploding powers. Is she being set up to serve as the ultimate Big Bad for Season 4? Certainly, that is how it appears.
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