This article contains spoilers for The Boys. If you're not caught up yet, check out our spoiler free review of The Boys Season 3 finale.
Another year, another list of depraved shenanigans for Prime Video’s The Boys. Octopuses got boned — get it? It’s funny because they’re invertebrates — heroes were gasmed, Todd (Matthew Gorman) became everyone’s most hated character and Homelander (Antony Starr) slipped into whole new levels of awful.
Despite all that, Season 3 had its heart on its sleeve more than any previous chapter of The Boys. Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and Hughie (Jack Quaid) might be the show’s standard warm fuzzy types, but Maeve (Dominique McElligott) and even Butcher (Karl Urban) found themselves in unlikely heroic spots in spite of themselves this year.
With all that in mind, let’s break down that ending and all the burning questions that came along with it.
The Boys Season 3 Ending Explained
So, picture this. You’re at the finish line, your goal is in your grasp… and then a bunch of idiot egos get in the way and everyone starts kicking the hell out of each other. That’s basically where we sit in the finale of The Boys Season 3.
Butcher doesn’t tell Hughie that the V24 is turning his brain into swiss cheese. Instead, he punches Hughie and locks him in a rest stop bathroom so he and Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) can go do the merry deed of finally killing Homelander. (Yeah, peak Butcher.) The thing is, Butcher’s got bigger problems than he and his surrogate baby bro’s brains leaking out their ears.
Turns out Homelander is Soldier Boy’s kid, and there ain’t nothin’ more important to a Jensen Ackles character than family.
Thankfully, there ain’t nothin’ more deplorable to Soldier Boy than a grown man who cries. After calling out Homelander for being a weak little man-baby (true, but not because he cries) Soldier Boy goes to work on killing his only son for being a huge embarrassment to both him and America. Unfortunately, he manages to blast the kidnapped Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), setting both Homelander and Butcher off. So, Butcher takes on Soldier Boy while amped on V24 and Maeve goes after Homelander in a blind rage because conflict (and also comic parallels). It’s a messy little brawl that ultimately ends in the reveal that Starlight can fly with enough juice and Maeve really was a hero after all this time.
In the comics, Maeve has similar final moments where she risks her life to save Starlight. America’s golden girl lands safely after being hurled out of the way followed shortly after by Maeve’s head. The series, continuing its trend of cleverly deviating from its source material, had other plans. Maeve saves everyone by tackling Soldier Boy out of Vought Tower and absorbing the brunt of his power-removing blast. There’s a brief moment when we think she may be dead, but we see her powerless, beaten to hell, and ready to go live a simple life shortly after. Maeve gets what she’s always wanted, the government has control of Soldier Boy, and… oh yeah Homelander’s still a thing, huh?
Anthony Starr was forced to share the spotlight this year, but man what terrible (exceptional) team-mates he and Jensen Ackles turned out to be. They never technically team up in any way, but they each represent different kinds of problematic pillars in America. Soldier Boy, in all of his depravity, ultimately led to a more deranged Homelander. With his father calling him weak and his fierce paternal urge to do “right” by his son, The Boys’ flag-clad Supe is more of a danger than ever before. We immediately see this showcased when Ryan is hit by an errant Starlight protester and Homelander immediately blasts his head off. An act which is, of course, met by the immediate cheers of his misguided supporters led by Todd who, as a reminder, is the worst.
All of this culminates in Season 3’s final reveal: Billy Butcher is dying, and it’s all his fault.
Will Soldier Boy Be In Season 4 of The Boys?
Jensen Ackles doesn’t really deliver bad performances, but his turn as Soldier Boy was truly unmatched. All the sadness and rage of Dean Winchester was condensed into the monstrous representation of the “American Ideal” in an absolute knock-out of a season, so it’s hard to imagine that they’re going to let Soldier Boy waste away in some military bunker when we can have more of his awful shenanigans. Will Homelander’s desire for the perfect family push him to break pops out of the slammer? Or will Butcher make a hasty move thinking he can manipulate the super soldier to his will? Either way, that chest blast of his remains their only chance of finally offing Homelander.
Will Ryan Go To the Darkside Under Homelander’s Wing?
Ok, so the obvious answer here is yes, which has already been confirmed by Kripke, so the real question here is how can Ryan be saved? Adding children into stories like The Boys is always kind of a chore, but thus far Ryan’s involvement has been used about the exact right amount. Where do we go now that he’s going to play a more integral role in the nature vs. nurture vs. all supes are evil vs. ok maybe not these ones debate? Butcher’s got 12 months to live at best (until they find whatever miraculous cure in Season 4, of course, but more on that later), so what tomfoolery will he get up to as he desperately tries to keep his promise to Becca (Shantel VanSanten)?
Where Does Victoria Neuman Go From Here?
Now that she’s got Homelander in her pocket — tumultuous as their partnership may be — one has to wonder how Victoria Neuman’s (Claudia Doumit) story will play out from here. She’s been the antithesis of her comic counterpart Victor from the beginning, and we have to expect Kripke and his team will stray pretty far from the character’s original death given that the future VP is now a woman. (Vic the Veep is decapitated and then sodomized by Homelander in the comic.) But where does she go now that she has the Vice Presidency in her grasp? Obviously, Jim Beaver’s Robert Singer is one head-pop away from giving up his seat to the shrewd surrogate daughter of Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), but to what end?
Until now, Neuman has presented herself as a woman of the people who is done being trapped by the system and its miles of bureaucratic red tape, but what political position is more wrapped in tape than the Presidency? Executive Orders exist, sure, and there’s the fact that she can blow up the heads of anyone who disagrees with her, but she seems too sly for something so overt. It’s also worth mentioning that she’s completely mortal, head-popping notwithstanding. How long before the assassination attempts start rolling in, and will it be Homelander or The Boys who get to her first?
When Will We Get to See Todd Meet the End He Deserves?
All of this talk of Homelander and Soldier Boy while the real threat smiled away in his tacky khakis and his stupid nice guy grin. Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) punching Todd in the face was one of the most gratifying moments of the season, so we have to expect Kripke to have a particularly delicious demise planned for Worst Stepdad Ever, right? At the very least, here’s hoping we see Janine (Liyou Abere) start to see through his nonsense now that her dad’s given her some much-needed context on Supes and their family history.
What Miracle Cure Will The Boys Find For Butcher?
It’s unlikely that The Boys plans to end after Season 4, and even more unlikely that they’re going to off Billy Butcher both for primary protagonist and Karl Urban reasons. So, what miracle cure will get cooked up that keeps their British bastard alive? Will Frenchie (Tomer Capone) go to work with all his chemical magic, or is Butcher simply experiencing a long-term transformation into a permanent Supe?
What Happens to Vought?
How long until Stan Edgar is reinstated with the world’s greatest “I told you so”? Clearly, Homelander being outed as the domestic terrorist he is ends up being the PR nightmare to end all PR nightmares, but people’s memories are short, and Stan Edgar’s very good at what he does. Will the company continue its shift to pharmaceuticals now that the Supe business seems bankrupt? Kripke hinted to us that Vought and The Seven will rebuild in our interview, but to what end?
Homelander Killed Someone On Main Street With No Consequences. What Now?
Season 3 gave us a small taste of what an unregulated Homelander looks like. But what happens now that he knows he can blow up people’s heads and still be beloved by his maniac followers? Popularity points no longer matter, the team — sans The Deep and A-Train — are all dead, and he’s got his baby boy. Homelander has officially realized that there are absolutely no consequences for his actions, so where does he go from here? Does he skip off to the wilderness to train his son, or does he keep him amidst their adoring fans knowing that no one can hurt them? The world is truly Homelander’s oyster, and what a wildly terrifying idea that is.
Amelia is the Streaming Editor here at IGN. She's also a film and television critic who spends too much time talking about dinosaurs, superheroes, and folk horror. You can usually find her with her dog, Rogers. There may be cheeseburgers involved.