The episode opens in Russia, where a group of soldiers infiltrates what is believed to be a CIA black site. After entering, they quickly realize there’s something in the house. We don’t get a clear look at what or who it is, but whatever it is, it’s super fast and super strong. The soldiers stand no chance as they get picked off and ripped to shreds, one after another. Then, cue the big reveal: it’s Ryan Butcher (Cameron Crovetti), who really doesn’t want anyone to know where he is.
Then, we’re back at Vought, where Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) is formally being welcomed into The Seven. Vought continues to paint Starlight/Annie (Erin Moriarty) as the villain and claims she’s the one who tarnished Soldier Boy’s good name. We then see Soldier Boy, who is fully recovered from last week’s ordeal with the virus, but there is no explanation on how he survived. Ashley (Colby Minifie) presents him with the first Democratic Medal of Patriotic Freedom.
Homelander (Antony Starr) is quietly freaking out and has a quick memory of Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue) before going off-script and telling the world that Soldier Boy is his father. He later tells Soldier Boy the stats, but Soldier Boy is understandably angry with him. Homelander tries to apologize but stops short of accepting any blame. Their argument is interrupted by Sage (Susan Heyward), who tells them Soldier Boy’s test results are in.
Meanwhile, The Boys watch coverage of the event and try to figure out why the virus didn’t work on Soldier Boy. Sameer (Omid Abtahi) reviews his notes and realizes Soldier Boy has V1 in his blood. V1 is the first iteration of Compound V and is highly unstable.
Soldier Boy also learns that V1 is what saved his life and learns that V1 only worked on Soldier Boy, Bombsight (Rob Benedict), Torpedo, Private Angel, and Liberty/Stormfront (Aya Cash). He has a noticeable reaction to hearing Liberty’s name, possibly hinting at some history there. The V1 also likely explains why Soldier Boy doesn’t age. Homelander wants to know whether he’s also immune to the virus since he’s Soldier Boy’s son, but Sage says no; he was only shot up with regular Compound V like every other modern-day supe.
Sameer tries to explain the science behind V1 to the Boys, and MM (Laz Alonso) just laughs when they realize that Soldier Boy is actually unkillable. Sameer warns that if Homelander manages to get his hands on some V1, he could become immune, possibly even immortal.
Cut to Homelander, who wants some V1 immediately, but Sage tells him it’s all been destroyed. Meanwhile, The Boys try to brainstorm where any remaining V1 may be stored, but Butcher (Karl Urban) is more focused on hitting Homelander with the virus today. The only problem is, there’s no way to draw him out of Vought Tower.
Soldier Boy finally confronts Homelander, calling him pathetic. He tells Homelander that he knows he was only defrosted to be a guinea pig for the virus, which didn’t work; now, Soldier Boy is looking forward to Homelander dying so that he can run the Seven.
The Boys break into a facility to meet Annie’s source. Hughie (Jack Quaid) wants both Annie and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) to take the V1 so they can also become immune, but the girls are worried about potential side effects. Suddenly, they are confronted by Zoe Neuman (Olivia Morandin), who seems ready to attack but stops when Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) steps out; Gen V’s Marie Moreau set up the meeting.
Annie starts to ask him about the V1, and he admits to knowing everything already, questioning why he should help them after what Butcher did to Victoria (Claudia Doumit). MM tells him that if Homelander gets the V1, then they are all finished—even him—which is enough to convince Edgar. He takes them inside where they are greeted by Translucent’s son, Maverick (Nicholas Hamilton), who thinks Homelander killed his dad even though it was Hughie. Everyone feigns ignorance upon the mention.
Edgar gives them all the details on V1 and how there were only five successes out of thousands of trials, and suggests they look through the files for clues. Hughie tries to talk to Zoe and apologize on Butcher’s behalf, but she’s not hearing it.
Elsewhere, Homelander is upset about what Soldier Boy said and begins to relive all the other times people have called him a pathetic disappointment. Then, he starts to get a vision of Madelyn, whom he misses very much. He tells her how everything is falling apart, and she tells him that he’s going to become a God—that he’s going to ascend—and begins to compare him to Jesus. She finally tells him to rid the world of the wicked and the non-believers. She then exposes her breasts and seems to self-complete.
Zoe exits the bunker from a secret hatch and shoots off a text. A few moments later, Ryan arrives to meet her. They’ve stayed in touch and are looking for Butcher. She wants to get revenge for her mom, but Ryan doesn’t want to kill Butcher and tries to tell her that he isn’t worth it. Zoe gets frustrated and goes back inside.
Ryan hears something in the bushes and his eyes glow red when Butcher steps out. Ryan isn’t happy to see him and is surprised to learn that he’s a supe now. Ryan wonders aloud whether he should kill him, and Butcher says he should but won’t because of his mom. Butcher tells him they need to kill Homelander as soon as possible.
Soldier Boy pays a visit to Homelander, who is bathing in breast milk. Homelander asks him for help finding the V1 and tells him he knows there’s some out there because an angel told him. Homelander is acting strange and promises a reckoning. Soldier Boy just calls him a freak and leaves.
The Boys find an old base called Fort Harmony, where V1 was initially tested. There’s some encryption on the file, though, but they think they can crack it. Hughie continues his apology tour and goes to talk to Maverick. They talk about their dads. Maverick wants to help them fight Homelander, but Hughie tells him to instead stay safe and find a new path.
Butcher tells Ryan he needs him to call Homelander and throw the virus in his face. Ryan asks what’ll happen to him if he does that, and Butcher tells him he’ll die, but Butcher will be there to die with him. He tells Ryan that if he kills Homelander, he’ll save the world. Ryan is conflicted.
Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko share a moment; they discuss their escape plan, and Kimiko begins to wonder whether V1 is actually the cure. Kimiko wants kids and Frenchie doesn’t; she wants to finally live a good life.
Butcher sneaks something into Ryan’s pocket during their conversation and admits to him that he did indeed kill his father in the premiere. He also finally tells Ryan that Homelander raped Becca. Ryan asks him if he thinks he’ll turn into his father, and Butcher says he doesn’t know, but knows that the world is safer without supes. Ryan finally agrees to the plan and says he’ll give Homelander the virus.
MM gets a lead on Fort Harmony and has an idea on where some V1 could be stored. The Boys are interrupted when they realize Black Noir II (Nathan Mitchell), The Deep (Chace Crawford), Cindy (Ess Hödlmoser), and Dogknott (Zach McGowan) have arrived outside. Edgar assures them the bunker will keep them safe, but they realize Zoe isn’t with them.
Kimiko and Frenchie return to home base and head inside, when it’s revealed that Zoe stowed away in their van. She breaks into the hideout looking for Butcher and finds her dad, Sameer. They have an emotional reunion. Frenchie is working on decrypting the old files when he hears a commotion and walks into the lab to find Sameer and Zoe destroying everything. Sameer knows the truth about Victoria and is very angry. Frenchie tells him he can’t let him leave, but Kimiko stops him and tells them to go.
Edgar leaves Zoe a message and tells her not to come back. Then, he tells the Boys that there’s a service hatch they can all escape from, but Noir is patrolling outside. MM asks Edgar for some firepower and they go to grab some guns. MM and Edgar share a smoke and commiserate. Edgar tells him he remembers his father—that he was a good man—but he couldn't win, and that’s why MM won’t win either. Everything that’s happening is bigger than Homelander, Vought, and so on. Something will eventually replace superheroes if or when they go out of fashion. MM realizes that Edgar is angling to run Vought again after this is all over and promises to kill him before he gets a chance.
Homelander asks Sage to divert all resources to looking for V1. He’s been drinking a lot of milk and ignores Firecracker (Valorie Curry) on his way out, which upsets her. Firecracker then interviews Soldier Boy and they get super flirty, which leads to them hooking up. She admits to him that she and Homelander have never slept together; he just prefers the "mommy" thing. Soldier Boy is disappointed in his offspring because he was only doing this as petty revenge. She offers Soldier Boy some perspective and tells him Homelander idolizes him.
Butcher brings Ryan back home and introduces him to Terror. Kimiko and Frenchie drop in and tell him what happened with Sameer and Zoe. Butcher is upset with Kimiko, but Frenchie diffuses the situation by telling him he should be able to make more virus, but won’t do anything if Butcher touches Kimiko.
Butcher is angry and Ryan asks him about the new plan, but Butcher says they’ll have to wait—maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe more, who knows. Ryan insists they have to strike now and begins to question Butcher, asking whether he actually thought he was strong enough to kill Homelander. Butcher gives him some harsh truths and tells him if they don’t have the virus, Ryan is basically going on a suicide run. Ryan leaves.
MM gives Maverick a grenade to use on The Deep. Maverick undresses to get completely invisible and heads out. Hughie tells Annie they should give some V1 to Maverick because he’s tired of the vicious cycle of killing. Annie kisses him; it’s been a long time since she’s seen anyone with his level of optimism.
Maverick gets close to The Deep when he’s grabbed by Dogknott, who was able to sniff him out due to his nasty Mango Thunder body spray. The Deep tells Maverick what actually happened to Translucent, and Maverick turns on Hughie and the Boys, giving up their location. The Boys go to plan B and start to escape, only to be betrayed by Stan Edgar, who locks them in while he escapes. However, karma is a bitch, and he gets immediately captured by Black Noir II.
Noir begins to load Edgar into their car when he gets knocked out by The Deep, who is still upset about what happened last week. He leaves Noir there and takes Edgar back to Vought.
MM, Annie, and Hughie keep trying to escape but are attacked. MM uses the Mango Thunder as a weapon, while Maverick attacks Hughie. Hughie tries to explain what happened, but Maverick doesn’t want to hear anything. Hughie manages to hit him with a golf club. Cindy walks in and takes aim at Hughie. She explodes him and is covered in blood! Oh no, Hughie is dead! Annie walks in and kills Cindy, then immediately starts to cry, thinking Hughie is dead. He gets up in the background, covered in blood, and we learn that Cindy accidentally killed Maverick. Hughie is alive!
Butcher is seen tracking Ryan, who has called Homelander to meet with him. Homelander is happy to see him, but Ryan wants to ask him something. Homelander wrongly assumes it’s about something else and tells Ryan that he’s about to become immortal. Ryan then asks Homelander whether he raped his mom, which throws Homelander off, but he denies it and instead calls it an affair. Ryan can hear Homelander’s heart racing and knows he’s lying. Ryan attacks Homelander! He’s done listening to Homelander’s lies, but even though Ryan is stronger, he’s not strong enough. Homelander hits back and easily overpowers him, then goes in for a brutal beatdown of his son. He beats him relentlessly into the ground and appears to go for a kill shot at the end.
MM, Hughie, and Annie finally make it home and regroup with Frenchie and Kimiko. Frenchie tells them he’s found something from the files. Annie is upset about everything that just happened and how close Hughie came to dying, so she leaves because she doesn’t want to put him at any more risk.
Homelander returns to Vought, covered in Ryan’s blood. The Deep arrives and gives him Edgar, which Homelander takes as a sign. He hugs Edgar and tells them they have much to discuss.
Finally, Butcher finds Ryan’s body. He doesn’t look good. Butcher searches for a pulse and we hear some breathing. Ryan is alive!
Read our previous recaps at the following links:
Plus, check out our The Boys season five interviews:
The Boys Season 5 will premiere the first two episodes on Wednesday, April 8th, followed by weekly episodes, leading up to the epic series finale on Wednesday, May 20th.
In the fifth and final season, it’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a “Freedom Camp.” Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen.