Chapter Summaries

Edgar stopped Homelander from killing Starlight and explained why Vought had kept him away from the attack on Sage Grove. He then showed Homelander footage of Soldier Boy’s return, leaving Homelander determined to kill him before the public learned he was alive.

• Edgar entered the conference room and persuaded Homelander to release Starlight, while Ashley fled after Edgar ordered her out.
• Edgar explained that Vought’s enemy had exposed Compound V and destroyed Sage Grove, and that he had kept Homelander back because the unknown enemy might be strong enough to challenge him.
• Edgar showed Homelander surveillance footage of a powerful stranger’s group arriving at a mansion, and Homelander recognized the leader as Soldier Boy.
• Edgar warned that Soldier Boy’s return threatened both Vought and Homelander’s public standing, while Homelander realized the footage could cost him his fame.
• Soldier Boy gave the surveillance camera the middle finger, and Homelander insisted that he had to kill him before he appeared in public.

Butcher and the others regrouped at Mallory’s Safe House and debated how to take on Vought and Payback. Butcher handed command to Soldier Boy, while an unnoticed phone connection remained open.

• Soldier Boy and Mallory argued over the deaths at his wartime camp, and Mallory stormed out after he flirted with her.
• Butcher warned that Vought would prepare traps and that its enormous number of supes made a direct fight dangerous.
• Frenchie told Soldier Boy that Vought had established a university for supes, prompting Soldier Boy to reconsider the scale of the threat.
• Soldier Boy said his goal was to kill Payback, and Butcher offered him command of the mission.
• MM and Frenchie reacted with disbelief as Butcher gave Soldier Boy their intelligence and left the next steps to him.
• Butcher’s phone had remained connected throughout the conversation, though no one noticed.

Butcher handed command to Soldier Boy as Zhang Ye prepared to use Vought’s weakened state to provoke a final battle between its forces and Soldier Boy’s allies. Zhang Ye kept Becca in his custody to ensure Butcher followed the plan, setting the stage for a public war.

• Butcher questioned Zhang Ye about letting Soldier Boy take command, and Zhang Ye said Colonel Mallory’s departure had cleared the way for their plan.
• Butcher warned that Vought could overwhelm their forces, but Zhang Ye insisted they had to press ahead while the company was vulnerable.
• Zhang Ye let Becca speak with Butcher, and Becca told him she and Ryan had been held under house arrest by Vought.
• Zhang Ye ended the call by promising to return Butcher’s family if he carried out his part, leaving Butcher with little choice but to obey.
• Zhang Ye crushed the phone and explained that he had exposed himself while defeating The Seven to help the rescue and then disappear from Vought’s attention.
• Zhang Ye watched Becca and resolved to keep her safe but under his control as Vought and Soldier Boy’s forces moved toward a public battle.

Zhang Ye told Becca he needed Butcher’s help to bring down Vought Corporation and explained how Vought had turned heroes into commercial spectacles. He showed Becca a live scene of protesters and Supes gathering at Vought Tower, leaving her to watch as the heroes were about to take the stage.

• Zhang Ye reassured Becca that he was Butcher’s friend and could protect her and Ryan from Vought’s surveillance.
• Zhang Ye revealed that he was a Supe without a Vought tracker and said he needed Butcher to help topple Vought Corporation.
• Zhang Ye showed Becca records linking Vought Tower computers to films and stories about Supes, then asked her to consider what made people worship heroes.
• Becca realized that Vought exploited the idea of heroes and turned them into spectacles for the public.
• Zhang Ye showed Becca footage of protesters and lesser-known Supes gathered outside Vought Tower and told her to watch as the heroes took the stage.

Vought Tower faced growing protests and political isolation as Edgar blamed Homelander for exposing Vought’s distribution of Compound V. Soldier Boy arrived at the tower, and Homelander went to confront him while Edgar prepared to leave by plane.

• Ashley reported that protesters and Supes were gathering outside Vought Tower and that the Senate would not help Vought.
• Edgar blamed Homelander for secretly distributing Compound V, while Starlight remained trapped in the conference room and wanted Supersonic to leave Vought.
• Edgar said a violent clash could benefit Vought and revealed that he was waiting for Soldier Boy to arrive.
• Starlight saw Soldier Boy leading a group through the crowd toward Vought Tower, and Homelander left to meet him.
• After Homelander and Starlight left, Edgar asked Ashley about the plane, learned the helipad was ready, and headed out.

Homelander confronted Starlight in the elevator and attacked her when she hesitated to side with him. He left her injured as Soldier Boy confronted Vought’s heroes outside and launched the first blow, making a peaceful resolution unlikely.

• Homelander demanded that Starlight choose between him and his enemies, then choked and threatened to kill her when she objected to civilian casualties.
• The elevator reached the lobby, and Homelander threw Starlight into the wall before leaving her behind with broken bones.
• Soldier Boy arrived outside Vought Tower, where the protesters and the superheroes—including White Ant and Magnetic Master—recognized him.
• Soldier Boy dismissed the heroes and said he had come to settle a score with Edgar.
• When White Ant tried to bar Soldier Boy from entering, Soldier Boy struck him with the Eagle Shield, sending him through Vought Tower’s glass doors.

Soldier Boy and his allies clashed with Vought’s superheroes outside Vought Tower, and the fight caused civilian casualties and widespread chaos. After Soldier Boy killed Shockwave, Homelander intervened with a laser and faced him.

• Soldier Boy pushed past Magnetic Master, whose magnetic blast hurled Soldier Boy into the crowd and killed three civilians with his shield.
• Butcher and Frenchie watched from a rooftop as Butcher fired at Magnetic Master, who stopped the bullet but redirected it into a passerby; Cindy then blew off Magnetic Master’s right arm.
• Shockwave knocked Cindy away, and the superheroes fought Soldier Boy’s group while Electromagnetic Woman disrupted Magnetic Master’s powers.
• Shockwave tried to attack Poison Dart Frog, but Soldier Boy struck him with his shield, crushed his face, and killed him.
• Homelander arrived at Vought Tower and blasted Soldier Boy with a laser, bringing the battle to a halt.

Homelander confronted Soldier Boy outside Vought Tower while protesters rallied behind the returning legend. Their fight ended with Homelander blasting Soldier Boy away and ordering the frightened supes to attack the protesters and other opponents.

• Homelander recognized William Butcher on a distant rooftop and confronted Soldier Boy as he rose and headed toward Vought Tower.
• Soldier Boy and Homelander traded insults while Soldier Boy insisted his goal was revenge against Edgar, and Homelander blocked his way inside.
• A protester urged Soldier Boy to fight, and the crowd erupted in support of him while condemning Homelander and Vought Corporation.
• Soldier Boy charged through Homelander's Heat Vision, knocked him down, and nearly drove his shield into Homelander's face.
• Homelander unleashed a powerful blast that shattered Soldier Boy's shield and sent him flying, then ordered Elongated Man, Magnetic Master, and the other supes to attack.

Homelander ordered Vought’s superheroes to fight Soldier Boy’s group, and the ensuing battle left civilians dead as it played out on live television. The conflict spread nationwide, where superpowered people split into factions and Godolkin University descended into violence after Anderson killed Isa.

• Homelander ordered Vought’s superheroes to attack Soldier Boy’s group, and they fought without regard for nearby civilians.
• A reporter described the escalating battle in New York as explosions and casualties mounted, while the country watched the live broadcast.
• Anderson tried to leave Godolkin University to reach his father, Magnetic Master, but students blocked his way and argued that Soldier Boy would defeat Homelander.
• Anderson injured students with his magnetic powers, then killed Isa with a metal strip after she attacked him with water.
• Luke tried to stop Anderson and calm the students, but they attacked Luke and Anderson, and the university erupted into a widespread fight.
• Superpowered people across the country joined opposing factions and fought in the streets as police stayed away.

Lamplighter attacked Edgar’s helicopter and killed everyone aboard, while Zhang Ye defended the devastation of the superhuman war to Becca. The chapter ended with Zhang Ye warning Becca to check on her child.

• Ashley reported that superpowered people were fighting across the country, and Edgar said he expected Congress and the military to exploit the war and cooperate with Vought.
• Lamplighter intercepted Edgar’s helicopter and blamed Edgar for ruining his life and family.
• Lamplighter unleashed a burst of fire that destroyed the helicopter and killed its occupants.
• Becca confronted Zhang Ye over the deaths and destruction caused by the war, then pointed a pistol at him.
• Zhang Ye told Becca that the war could not be stopped and urged her to check on her child.

Zhang Ye refused to help Becca retrieve Ryan, and Becca went alone to the school where Vought mercenaries had come to seize him. After the mercenaries killed Becca, Ryan’s powers erupted and he attacked them with a laser.

• Becca realized Vought would try to take Ryan and demanded Zhang Ye help her, but he refused unless she was in danger at home.
• After Becca left, Zhang Ye examined three cards and revealed the middle card, which depicted Destiny, Irene Adler.
• Becca reached Ryan’s school and confronted Vought’s mercenaries, who ordered her to leave and then shot her dead.
• Ryan heard Becca and saw the mercenaries kill her, then screamed in grief and rage, shattering glass around the school.
• A laser beam burst through the school wall and cut the mercenary leader in half as Ryan faced the remaining soldiers with glowing red eyes.

As the superhuman war engulfed the country, Ryan stood beside his dead mother, Becca, after killing the mercenaries who had attacked them. Zhang Ye offered to bring Becca back if Ryan lent him his body, and Ryan accepted.

• Storm clouds and torrential rain covered the country as the battle between Homelander and Soldier Boy's followers escalated into nationwide chaos.
• Ryan stood among the dead mercenaries on Vought Corporation's secret community lawn, grieving Becca and blaming himself for failing to save her.
• Zhang Ye appeared with Ryan's red umbrella and offered to help him fulfill any wish, including bringing Becca back to life.
• Zhang Ye said someone else had paid the price and asked Ryan to lend him his body; Ryan agreed to accept his power.

Zhang Ye took control of Ryan’s body, reclaimed his power, and discovered that The Boys universe was a world inside the contamination mirror, where corrupted heroes affected worlds beyond it. He arrived at Vought Tower after the battle ended and faced the sole survivor, Homelander.

• Zhang Ye took over Ryan’s body as Zhang Wei and Becca lay dead, then used green flames to restore their corpses.
• Zhang Ye flew through a contaminated storm and found heroes from different worlds slaughtering one another on the battlefield.
• Zhang Ye realized that The Boys universe existed inside a mirror of contamination and that its heroes’ actions could infect worlds outside it.
• Zhang Ye flew to Vought Tower and found Soldier Boy, Butcher, Frenchie, Cindy, White Ant, and Magnetic Master dead, while Homelander survived with severe injuries.
• Homelander noticed Zhang Ye approaching beneath a black umbrella and stared back at him.

Zhang Ye confronted Homelander amid the bodies of the fallen, and Homelander claimed he had won and could rule freely. A voice from the sky revealed that the world’s Supes were products of Vought’s corruption and declared that there would be no more Supes.

• Zhang Ye questioned Homelander’s claim to be a god and pointed out that he had treated the fallen Supes, including White Ant, as disposable.
• Homelander accused Zhang Ye of plotting with Butcher, freeing Soldier Boy and the Sage Grove villains, and admitted that he had killed Starlight.
• Zhang Ye took a photograph of Soldier Boy, and Homelander blasted Zhang Ye with Heat Vision, believing he had killed him.
• Homelander celebrated the chance to rule the world without restraint, then noticed a terrifying shadow gathering in the clouds.
• An unknown voice condemned Supes as products of Vought and declared, “No more—Supes.”

Zhang Ye restored the dead, healed the injured, and erased every superpowered person's abilities, leaving Homelander powerless and surrounded by his victims. As the crowd closed in on Homelander, Zhang Ye declared that everything was back on track.

• A white radiance healed Homelander's wounds and ended the storm, while Starlight rose from the dead.
• Starlight's powers failed, and she discovered that she could hurt Homelander, whose own abilities had vanished.
• Starlight realized that the light had stripped every superhuman of their powers, and she saw the resurrected crowd come back to life.
• Zhang Ye explained that he had rewritten the world's laws and restored everyone's bodies and souls; Starlight reunited with Hughie, while Zhang Ye acknowledged Butcher.
• Homelander charged at Zhang Ye, but Soldier Boy knocked him down, and the crowd surrounded him as he failed to fly away.

Zhang Ye explained that he had erased the source of superpowers while leaving a path for their eventual return, and entrusted Cindy’s group and Butcher’s team with protecting the world. He prepared to leave the universe with Lamplighter, leaving Butcher with a final suggestion to wear an eyepatch.

• Zhang Ye explained that he had removed the special element behind Compound V, preventing superpowers from disrupting the universe, and said they could return once civilization advanced.
• Colonel Mallory and Butcher described the aftermath of the conflict, while Starlight reflected on losing her powers and the public backlash that followed.
• Zhang Ye told Cindy, Jetstream, and the others that his flames would let them keep their abilities and charged them with protecting the world.
• Zhang Ye entrusted the superpowered group to Butcher and Colonel Mallory, warning that he would intervene if they abused their powers.
• Zhang Ye turned Lamplighter into a small flame so he could take him away, then told Butcher he believed the team could bring peace and asked him to look after Little Cricket.
• Butcher asked Zhang Ye for advice, and Zhang Ye suggested that he wear an eyepatch.

After Zhang Ye returned from Sentry’s mental world, a creature followed him into Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. Zhang Ye recognized its bat-like appearance as Batman’s, and he, Doctor Strange, and Punisher moved to contain it.

• Zhang Ye tried to leave Sentry’s mental world but was attacked by a formless consciousness, which he wrapped in energy as it rushed at him.
• The black liquid in Doctor Strange’s secret chamber boiled and exploded, and Zhang Ye emerged warning that something had come with him.
• Punisher attacked the fleeing shadow while Doctor Strange cleared the room and protected the unconscious Sentry.
• The shadow revealed a tentacled, slime-covered creature resembling Batman, and Zhang Ye explained that his companions would not recognize the character.
• Doctor Strange, Punisher, and Zhang Ye advanced from different directions to surround the creature and restrain it.

The Punisher, Doctor Strange, and Zhang Ye fought and captured a monstrous Contaminated Batman, which Zhang Ye identified as a creation of Barbatos, the Final Dragon. Zhang Ye began explaining the Dark Multiverse and its connection to Barbatos, but the chapter ended before he could address the others’ questions.

• The Punisher charged the Contaminated Batman while Doctor Strange and Zhang Ye protected and trapped it with magic.
• Zhang Ye realized the creature was not the Batman he remembered and called on Miss Minutes to analyze it and provide stellar energy.
• The creature transformed into a dragon, bat, and tentacle-covered monster, but Zhang Ye and Doctor Strange restrained it while the Punisher severed its tentacles.
• Doctor Strange and Zhang Ye sealed the creature inside a magically reinforced cage.
• Zhang Ye explained that Barbatos consumed dark universes created by the World Forge, and the Punisher asked whether the creature was a scout from the Dark Multiverse.

Zhang Ye identified the Contaminated Batman as a flawed echo of Arthur Arkham from the City of Madness, though he could not explain how it had appeared in Sentry’s contaminated mental world. He left the creature and the unconscious Sentry in Doctor Strange’s care while he investigated what he had learned.

• Zhang Ye recognized the Contaminated Batman as Arthur Arkham, a tragic child transformed by Barbatos and tied to the City of Madness.
• Zhang Ye concluded that the creature was a flawed duplicate and possibly an echo created by contamination, not the real Arthur Arkham.
• Zhang Ye told Doctor Strange and the Punisher that the real Arthur Arkham and the Contaminated Batman were dead in his memories.
• The Punisher objected when Zhang Ye planned to leave, asking what would happen to the creature and the unconscious Sentry.
• Zhang Ye asked them to keep the contaminated creature imprisoned and let Sentry recover, explaining that Sentry’s contamination and Zombie Virus were gone.
• Doctor Strange agreed to handle the situation, and Zhang Ye promised there would be no secrets between them.

Zhang Ye returned to the House of Mystery after spending a year and three months in The Boys universe and learned what the Overseers had done in his absence. A Watcher arrived to praise his accomplishments, leaving Zhang Ye to demand that he get to the point.

• Zhang Ye returned to the House of Mystery and asked Miss Minutes where the others were and how long he had been gone.
• Miss Minutes reported that Pietro and Kara were helping rebuild the Wasteland Universe, while the Bat-Family had dealt with escaped Leviathan in the Supernatural Universe.
• Miss Minutes reassured Zhang Ye that the Overseers understood why he had left without warning and would not blame him.
• A Watcher appeared in the hall and told Zhang Ye that his deeds had spread throughout the Watcher race.
• Zhang Ye covered the Watcher's eyes and told him to state his business or leave.