Chapter Summaries

Homelander learned that Soldier Boy had resurfaced after a deadly blast in Upper Manhattan, and Queen Maeve urged him to act before the revelation threatened Vought Group. Homelander was shaken by news of his genetic father but agreed that finding Soldier Boy could become a high-profile mission with Spider-Woman.

• Queen Maeve warned Homelander that recruiting Spider-Woman and the Lizard could expose Vought Group, but Homelander insisted he trusted Spider-Woman and planned a public partnership with her.
• Ashley Barrett received breaking news that an explosion in Upper Manhattan had killed at least nineteen people, and The Daily Bugle identified the suspected attacker as Soldier Boy.
• Homelander froze when he learned Soldier Boy was alive, then ordered Ashley Barrett to reassure the public that Vought had the situation under control.
• Queen Maeve confronted Homelander about the urgent threat, and he warned her to watch her tone.
• Queen Maeve suggested that Homelander and Spider-Woman find and kill Soldier Boy before other groups could reach him, presenting it as a chance for Homelander to appear as New York's savior.
• Homelander recalled learning from Vought's classified files that Soldier Boy was his genetic father, a revelation that had surprised him but no longer consumed him.

Homelander overcame his fear of Soldier Boy after Slaanesh urged him to face the threat, then arranged a Daily Bugle interview to shape the story. Meanwhile, Billy Butcher and Hughie investigated Soldier Boy’s blast site, confirmed his involvement, and decided to seek Marvin’s help as Homelander prepared to address the public.

• Slaanesh urged Homelander to overcome his fear of Soldier Boy, and Homelander agreed to give a live interview with The Daily Bugle.
• Nick Fury berated Billy Butcher over Soldier Boy’s escape and ordered him to stop Soldier Boy from causing more trouble.
• Billy Butcher and Hughie Campbell reached the blast site, where Hughie improvised an explanation for his healed arm after running into Ivy.
• Billy Butcher used a radiation detector to confirm Soldier Boy had caused the explosion, while Hughie regretted the nineteen deaths and proposed they find Marvin for leads.
• John Jameson interviewed Homelander about the attack and prompted him to explain Soldier Boy’s identity and Vought’s concealment of him.

Homelander used a friendly Daily Bugle interview to announce Spider-Woman as a candidate for the New Seven and boost his public approval, unaware John Jameson planned to expose the truth behind the attack. Meanwhile, Billy Butcher and his allies captured Crimson Countess to use her in negotiations with the returning Soldier Boy.

• John Jameson asked Homelander about Soldier Boy, the terrorist attack, and the mayor’s proposed curfew, while Homelander blamed Vought’s past leadership and promoted his own leadership.
• Homelander announced that Spider-Woman was one of three candidates for the New Seven and urged the public to report Soldier Boy’s whereabouts to Vought.
• After the interview, Ashley Barrett showed Homelander his rising approval rating, while the narration revealed John Jameson had learned from Carl that Nick Fury helped Billy Butcher’s group obtain Temporary Compound V.
• Carl had learned about Nick Fury’s involvement through Selene, whose Coven owned the hospital where Starlight was staying, and John Jameson planned to target Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. with the story.
• Billy Butcher, Hughie Campbell, and Marvin captured Crimson Countess at a remote campsite, and Marvin told her that Soldier Boy was alive and coming to find her.

Billy Butcher drugged Marvin to keep him from confronting Soldier Boy, then offered Soldier Boy a partnership to help him find Payback and adapt to the modern world. After Soldier Boy dismissed the need for help, Billy showed him a video of Carl and the Thunder Warriors fighting demons to warn him that powerful people now existed who could kill him.

• Crimson Countess begged Billy Butcher and the others to release her before Soldier Boy arrived, but Billy planned to use her as bait.
• Billy secretly drugged Marvin’s water, leaving Marvin paralyzed as Soldier Boy arrived.
• Soldier Boy recognized Billy as the man who had freed him from the E-Rossians’ laboratory.
• Billy offered to help Soldier Boy find Payback in exchange for his help dealing with a superpowered person.
• Hughie Campbell and Billy warned Soldier Boy that the world had changed and showed him a video of Carl and the Thunder Warriors fighting a demon army.

Soldier Boy agreed to help Billy Butcher kill Homelander in exchange for help hunting down Payback, then killed Crimson Countess and attacked the TNT Twins. Homelander welcomed the chaos until Ashley Barrett reported that Soldier Boy could disable other supes’ powers, leaving Queen Maeve alarmed and Homelander considering the threat.

• Billy Butcher persuaded Soldier Boy to help him kill Homelander after Soldier Boy finished taking revenge on Payback.
• Soldier Boy confronted Crimson Countess, learned she had betrayed him without being paid, and killed her in an explosion.
• Billy Butcher convinced Hughie Campbell to keep working with Soldier Boy, and Hughie sent Marvin home before they headed for Montpelier to find the TNT Twins.
• Ashley Barrett told Homelander that Soldier Boy had killed the TNT Twins, other heroes, and civilians in Montpelier, and Homelander let the news spread to build panic.
• Ashley Barrett reported that survivors of Soldier Boy’s explosion had lost their powers, prompting Queen Maeve to warn that Soldier Boy could strip the Seven of their powers during a fight.

Homelander learned that Soldier Boy was his biological father, but rejected Soldier Boy’s attempt to provoke him and grew furious that Black Noir had kept the secret. That night, Soldier Boy and Billy Butcher’s group arrived at Vought’s studio to confront Homelander, who said Spider-Woman would join the fight.

• Homelander told Queen Maeve that Spider-Woman’s powers could make her crucial against Soldier Boy, then took Soldier Boy’s call.
• Soldier Boy described the experiment that had led to Homelander’s birth and tried to provoke him by offering to pass his glory on to his son.
• Homelander rejected Soldier Boy’s claims, ordered Ashley Barrett to find files on his past, and accused Black Noir of betraying him by hiding the truth.
• Soldier Boy, Billy Butcher, Hughie Campbell, and Kimiko arrived at Vought’s studio; Kimiko had regained her powers with permanent compound V.
• Marvin and Frenchie accompanied them to develop Novichok so they could incapacitate Soldier Boy after the fight, while Billy Butcher treated Soldier Boy as a disposable tool.
• Billy Butcher taunted Homelander about Spider-Woman’s absence, but Homelander calmly insisted she would arrive and warned Butcher to survive until then.

Homelander fought Billy Butcher and Soldier Boy at Vought while waiting for Spider-Woman, but Butcher used temporary Compound V to gain powers and joined Soldier Boy in overwhelming him. Spider-Gwen had been intercepted in an alley several blocks away, leaving her unable to reach the battle.

• Homelander revealed that Black Noir had betrayed him and taunted Billy Butcher about his wife and Ryan, provoking Butcher to attack and starting the fight.
• Kimiko engaged Queen Maeve, while Hughie Campbell teleported to the broadcasting room to warn the building's employees to evacuate.
• Homelander and Soldier Boy fought, with Homelander overcoming Soldier Boy's shield and knocking him back.
• Billy Butcher returned unharmed with laser vision and superhuman strength from temporary Compound V, then fought Homelander head-on.
• Soldier Boy grabbed Homelander's cape and joined Butcher in a two-on-one assault, while Queen Maeve struggled to break free from Kimiko.
• Five minutes earlier, a strange gust and a wall of earth stopped Spider-Gwen and Peter Parker in an alley, where an attacker announced he had caught them.

Blackheart confronted Spider-Gwen and Lizard Peter, demanding to know who had taken the Spirit of Vengeance, while Wind Demon nearly suffocated them in a whirlwind. The Hellstrom siblings intervened and freed them, and Satana guessed that Mephisto had lost the Spirit of Vengeance.

• Blackheart demanded that Gwen reveal who had taken Mephisto's Spirit of Vengeance, but she and Lizard Peter denied knowing anything.
• Blackheart ordered Wind Demon to attack, and Wind Demon trapped Gwen and Peter in a whirlwind that drained the air and made his elemental body difficult to hit.
• Gwen and Peter struggled to escape as Wind Demon repeatedly attacked them and their oxygen ran low.
• Satana Hellstrom arrived with Daimon Hellstrom and engulfed Wind Demon in Hellfire, forcing Blackheart to extinguish the flames before Wind Demon's soul was destroyed.
• Gwen helped Peter leave for the Vought Group building, while Blackheart challenged the Hellstrom siblings for letting her go.
• Satana mocked Blackheart and guessed that Mephisto had sent him to Earth to recover the Spirit of Vengeance.

Daimon and Satana Hellstrom persuaded Blackheart to cooperate in killing their fathers, while secretly manipulating him for their boss. As the Hellstrom siblings departed, Blackheart plotted to betray them, and the fight against Homelander continued at Vought Group headquarters.

• Satana dismissed Blackheart’s accusation about the stolen Spirit of Vengeance, and Daimon proposed helping him kill Mephisto in exchange for cooperation.
• Satana claimed the siblings wanted revenge on Marduk, and Blackheart eagerly agreed to join them and asked for Marduk’s Hell Dimension.
• Daimon made Blackheart sign a soul contract to keep the plan secret, and Blackheart excitedly proposed names for their team.
• After the Hellstrom siblings left, Blackheart told his demons to wait in Sulfur Harbor and planned to eliminate the siblings after they helped kill Mephisto.
• Hughie Campbell ordered Vought Group employees to evacuate while Soldier Boy and Billy Butcher kept attacking Homelander, who remained difficult to subdue.

Homelander fought Soldier Boy and Billy Butcher while Hughie Campbell’s reckless arrival disrupted their teamwork and sparked a brief clash between Billy and Soldier Boy. After they reunited and pinned Homelander down for Soldier Boy’s Chest Blast, an unknown figure burst from the elevator as the blast was about to fire.

• Queen Maeve fought Kimiko while Homelander refused to use Slaanesh’s power, insisting that the battle was his trial.
• Hughie Campbell joined the fight after finishing the broadcast, but Homelander provoked him into attacking recklessly and disrupting Soldier Boy and Billy Butcher.
• Soldier Boy punched Hughie away, and Billy Butcher threatened Soldier Boy to protect Hughie, prompting Soldier Boy to briefly offer Homelander his help.
• Homelander attacked them, so Soldier Boy changed sides again and agreed to work with Billy; the two coordinated their assault and pinned Homelander down with Hughie’s help.
• Soldier Boy charged his Chest Blast as Queen Maeve tried to reach Homelander, but Kimiko knocked her down.
• The elevator doors opened, and a slender figure shot out just as Soldier Boy’s Chest Blast was ready to fire.

Spider-Gwen and Peter Parker helped Homelander fight Billy Butcher’s team, and Hughie Campbell, Frenchie, and Kimiko died amid the battle. Marvin sided against Billy Butcher and gave Queen Maeve the Novichok to use on Soldier Boy, leaving her to incapacitate him while Homelander fought him.

• Spider-Gwen arrived with Peter Parker, kicked Soldier Boy away from Homelander, and webbed Billy Butcher and Hughie Campbell.
• Hughie repeatedly teleported at Spider-Gwen but could not evade her Spider-Sense, and she killed him with her Hell Spider Spears.
• Peter Parker attacked Billy Butcher, while Billy’s wild laser vision killed Frenchie and then Kimiko; Queen Maeve crushed Kimiko’s head to stop her regeneration.
• Marvin refused to help Billy Butcher and handed Queen Maeve the Novichok he had brought to incapacitate Soldier Boy.
• Queen Maeve attacked Soldier Boy from behind and clamped the Novichok breathing mask over his face.

Spider-Gwen killed Soldier Boy during the studio fight, and John Jameson’s livestream exposed Nick Fury as the person who supplied Billy Butcher’s group with Soldier Boy files and temporary Compound V and ordered them to kill Homelander. The revelation sparked public outrage, while Homelander restrained his anger because S.H.I.E.L.D. was a United Nations agency.

• Spider-Gwen pierced Soldier Boy with her Hell Spider Spears and drained his energy until he died, saving Homelander and Queen Maeve.
• Homelander praised Gwen and Peter Parker, while Gwen reminded him that she expected him to honor the limits she had set for joining The Seven.
• Ashley Barrett gave Homelander a tablet showing that John Jameson was about to reveal new information on his livestream.
• John Jameson aired footage of Nick Fury giving Billy Butcher’s group Soldier Boy files and temporary Compound V, then pressuring them to kill Homelander within a month.
• John Jameson identified Nick Fury as the man in the footage, prompting viewers to condemn S.H.I.E.L.D. and plan a protest outside the White House.
• Queen Maeve warned Homelander not to attack S.H.I.E.L.D., and he admitted he wanted to kill Nick Fury but knew the agency was too powerful to confront.

After The Daily Bugle exposed Nick Fury’s plot against Homelander, Fury traded his support for Project Insight to Alexander Pierce for protection from the fallout. As Fury prepared to launch his Symbiote Soldier Project, a mysterious visitor entered Arnim Zola’s hidden computer program.

• Homelander vowed revenge on Nick Fury, while Queen Maeve and Ashley Barrett worried about the consequences for Vought Group.
• Nick Fury blamed Maria Hill for the leaked hospital footage and ordered a campaign to shift public attention toward Homelander.
• Nick Fury convinced Alexander Pierce to publicly protect him by agreeing to advance Project Insight, though they intended different uses for it.
• Nick Fury told Alexander Pierce he planned to launch a spacecraft for the Symbiote Soldier Project and ordered Maria Hill to find Dr. Reed Richards with Invisible Woman’s help.
• A blue mass of Fire of Change appeared inside Arnim Zola’s computer program and recited his history, startling him.

Tzeentch tempted Arnim Zola into abandoning Hydra and pledging himself to the Lord of Change, while Susan Storm tracked down Reed Richards for S.H.I.E.L.D. The chapter ended as Reed’s warning system detected a helicopter approaching his hideout in Panama.

• Tzeentch showed Arnim Zola the threats facing Earth and persuaded him to pledge loyalty as a mocker of fate.
• At the Triskelion, Susan Storm analyzed Reed Richards’s online activity and found a way to locate him.
• Maria Hill’s team traced Reed’s location, and Nick Fury sent the Thing to bring him back alive.
• Reed worked on a plan to reverse the cosmic-ray mutations affecting himself, Susan Storm, and the other two.
• Reed’s alarm detected an airspace breach as a helicopter approached his cabin in Panama.

Reed Richards was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and persuaded by Susan Storm to correct the agency’s shuttle trajectory algorithm, though he refused to join. Susan also tried to warn Jonathan Storm about S.H.I.E.L.D., but he insisted on becoming a superhero and staying with the New Avengers; Nick Fury then ordered the Explorer’s launch preparations completed for the next morning.

• Reed Richards fled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with his research drive, but Ben Grimm knocked him unconscious after rejecting his promise to find a cure.
• Susan Storm visited Reed in custody and persuaded him to cooperate by appealing to her safety and Jonathan’s future.
• Reed corrected the shuttle’s trajectory algorithm while refusing Nick Fury’s offer to join S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Susan warned Jonathan that S.H.I.E.L.D. intended to use him, but he declared himself a member of the New Avengers and refused to listen.
• Nick Fury ordered Maria Hill to prepare Eddie Brock and three other astronauts to launch the Explorer the next morning.

A new, heavily armored Kaiju named Knifehead emerged off Alaska, and the PPDC deployed Unit 001, the Female MUTO Jaeger, to stop it from reaching Anchorage. The Jaeger blasted Knifehead into the sea, and its pilots believed they had won as Emma Russell headed to witness the battle.

• A massive Kaiju emerged near Cook Inlet, destroyed a fishing boat, and was identified by the PPDC as a powerful new Category Three creature.
• Stacker Pentecost ordered Unit 001, the Female MUTO Jaeger, to intercept the Kaiju, which the PPDC codenamed Sicklehead and expected to reach the Anchorage coastline.
• Emma Russell learned that the Jaeger would fight the Kaiju and persuaded Alan Jonah to take her to the Anchorage coastline so she could confirm something in person.
• The Female MUTO Jaeger confronted the Kaiju, which the pilots called Knifehead, on the continental shelf and stopped its charge with a forelimb strike.
• The Jaeger fired its Giant Plasma Cannon and knocked Knifehead into the sea, leaving it badly injured as the pilots reported a perfect kill to Stacker Pentecost.

The [Female MUTO] defeated [Knifehead], and its Rangers helped recover the carcass before its toxic blood could contaminate the sea. Emma Russell failed to control the Jaeger with her [Sonic Orca] but decided to accelerate her plans by awakening [Monster Zero] at [Outpost 32].

• Stacker Pentecost warned the Rangers that [Knifehead] was still alive, and the Kaiju ambushed the [Female MUTO], severing one of its forelimbs.
• The Rangers restrained [Knifehead] and killed him with the [Plasma Cannon], then recovered his body to prevent its toxic blood from poisoning the sea.
• The Rangers began returning to base as the command room celebrated the [Female MUTO]'s victory.
• Emma Russell used a modified [Sonic Orca] infused with [Slaanesh Psionic Power] to interfere with the returning Jaeger, but she could not control it.
• Emma Russell told Alan Jonah that the PPDC's growing Jaeger program threatened her plans and decided they should awaken [Monster Zero] at [Outpost 32] in [Antarctica].

Emma Russell agreed to join Alan Jonah, who sent his men to collect Madison, while Mark Russell learned that Emma and Madison had been kidnapped and Monarch suspected the New Orca was involved. Serizawa and his team tried to recruit Mark to identify the device’s Titan frequencies, but Mark and Serizawa clashed over the ORCA and Carl Mala’s control of Kong.

• Emma Russell agreed to go with Alan Jonah after asking him to pick up Madison, and he welcomed her aboard.
• The Female MUTO recovered after the Sonic Orca interference ended, and Stacker Pentecost decided to ask Reed Richards to inspect the Jaeger.
• Ishiro Serizawa and Vivienne Graham told Mark Russell that Emma and Madison had been abducted, and Vivienne showed him footage and a photograph linking the kidnapping to the New Orca.
• Mark blamed the ORCA for risking another disaster, while Serizawa argued that Emma’s work could help protect humanity and asked Mark to help find her and Madison.
• Sam Coleman explained that the New Orca incorporated Titan bioacoustic signatures, and Mark agreed to examine its data as Monarch disclosed that it had located fourteen Titans.
• Mark and Serizawa argued over whether Titans should be protected, and Serizawa angrily accused Carl Mala of stealing Kong from Monarch.

Monarch debated how to respond to Emma Russell and Madison's abduction while Alan Jonah's mercenaries seized Outpost 32 and prepared to awaken King Ghidorah. At Castle Bravo, Godzilla approached the base and began circling it as the staff prepared to fire.

• Vivienne Graham and Colonel Foster briefed Monarch and the military on Alan Jonah's suspected plan to capture Titans with the ORCA Device, while Mark Russell argued that Jonah intended to seek out the biggest monster.
• Alan Jonah's plane landed at Outpost 32 after Emma Russell entered the emergency code, and his mercenaries killed the base personnel.
• Emma Russell and Madison entered the underground facility, where Alan Jonah revealed the frozen King Ghidorah and urged Emma to begin calibrating the ORCA Device.
• Alan Jonah's mercenaries placed sonar receivers around King Ghidorah's ice prison to collect its bioacoustic frequency for the ORCA Device.
• A red alert sounded at Castle Bravo as Godzilla rapidly approached, and Colonel Foster ordered the teams to stand ready while he circled the base.

Godzilla warned the humans at the coastal base about a powerful creature awakening, then headed for Antarctica. At Outpost 32, Monarch confronted Alan Jonah’s mercenaries as they prepared to free King Ghidorah, while Mark Russell intercepted Emma and Madison but failed to persuade Emma to leave.

• Godzilla calmed down and left the coastal base after sending a signal that Ishiro Serizawa and the others realized was a warning about a threat in Antarctica.
• Mark Russell and Ishiro Serizawa learned that Godzilla was heading to Antarctica and traveled aboard the Argo to Outpost 32, where Monster Zero was imprisoned.
• Ishiro Serizawa identified Monster Zero as a likely natural enemy of Godzilla, while Monarch discovered Alan Jonah’s forces were preparing to release King Ghidorah.
• Alan Jonah’s mercenaries ambushed the arriving Monarch soldiers, and the frozen King Ghidorah’s heartbeat grew stronger as Emma Russell and Madison withdrew with the detonator.
• Mark Russell shot the soldier carrying the detonator and confronted Emma, but she refused to leave and picked up the detonator.