Recaps

Vogelbaum arranged a staged security drill to test Joanna’s reaction while Lin Mo played with her. Joanna instinctively protected Lin Mo and badly injured one guard, then prepared to strike him again.

• Vogelbaum told Lin Mo that security personnel would rush into the Game Room during a drill and asked him to keep Joanna from realizing it was staged.
• Marty briefed the guards to approach Lin Mo without striking or using weapons, and Edgar ordered the drill to begin.
• The guards entered the Game Room and moved toward Lin Mo, but Joanna intercepted the first guard before he could touch him.
• Joanna threw the guard into a wall, breaking his arm and damaging his armor, then grabbed him again and drew back her fist for another blow.

Lin Mo stopped Joanna from killing a guard who had attacked him, then guided her to let the medics treat the injured man. After the rescue, Joanna returned to Lin Mo's side, and he wondered how to teach her to show concern for others.

• Lin Mo caught Joanna's wrist before she could strike the injured guard again and reassured her that he could not hurt him.
• Joanna released the guard and carefully checked Lin Mo for injuries, focusing entirely on his safety.
• When the emergency alarm sounded, Joanna refused to let the medics enter because she believed the guard deserved to suffer.
• Lin Mo persuaded Joanna to move across the Game Room with him so the medics could carry the guard out.
• Joanna watched the medics warily as they removed the guard, then told Lin Mo that he was gone.
• Lin Mo wondered how to get through to Joanna, and she lightly touched his hand to gauge his reaction.

Lin Mo tried to teach Joanna that protecting him did not justify nearly killing a subdued security guard. Joanna could not understand his rebuke and concluded that Lin Mo was taking the guard’s side, leaving their conflict unresolved.

• Lin Mo confronted Joanna for continuing to attack the security guard after she had stopped him, while Joanna insisted she had acted to protect Lin Mo.
• Lin Mo explained that the guard might have been coerced and that even someone who did wrong did not deserve to be killed outright.
• Joanna argued that anyone trying to capture Lin Mo was bad, and that the people who ordered the guard to do it were bad too.
• Lin Mo told Joanna she could restrain the guard or wait for help, but could not kill him just because she disliked him or feared he might return.
• Joanna accused Lin Mo of helping the guard, interpreting his refusal to praise her as betrayal.

Lin Mo tried to resolve Joanna’s silent standoff by explaining why he had stopped her from killing the injured security guard. Joanna began to question her belief that anyone who threatened Lin Mo deserved to die, but she still struggled to accept that the guard might have someone who cared about him.

• Lin Mo stayed beside Joanna in the Game Room while Edgar extended the observation session to see who would speak first.
• Joanna finally asked whether Lin Mo liked the injured security guard, and Lin Mo explained that he had stopped her from killing him.
• Joanna questioned why Lin Mo had protected a man who had tried to capture him, and Lin Mo said a person’s wrongdoing did not mean they deserved death.
• Lin Mo told Joanna he was grateful she had protected him but objected to her continuing to hurt the guard after he could no longer fight back.
• Lin Mo suggested someone might care about the guard, and Joanna doubted it because neither of them knew who that person was.
• Lin Mo compared the guard to himself before Joanna knew him, arguing that not knowing someone’s loved ones did not mean they did not exist.

Lin Mo explained to Joanna why killing the security guard was wrong and reassured her that their argument would not make him leave. Joanna agreed not to kill anyone, though she only understood that Lin Mo disliked it, leaving her grasp of his deeper principle unresolved.

• Lin Mo told Joanna that the guard might be loved and that doing wrong did not mean someone deserved to die.
• Joanna worried Lin Mo was angry and might leave, but he reassured her that he would keep seeing her and work through disagreements with her.
• Joanna carefully attached the plane’s final wing after Lin Mo insisted the task was separate from their argument.
• Joanna asked when she could use force to protect Lin Mo, and he said killing was only acceptable if there was no other choice or she had to do it to survive.
• Joanna agreed not to kill anyone because Lin Mo disliked it, while Lin Mo realized she had not yet understood his broader reasoning.

After Lin Mo guided Joanna through a conflict, she resolved to keep protecting him while hiding any actions she thought might disappoint him. Lin Mo then overheard Vought covering up records about Nicaragua and Soldier Boy, realizing the betrayal was about to happen.

• Joanna stayed close to Lin Mo and secretly decided to conceal future threats she eliminated from him.
• Researchers discussed how Joanna’s certainty that Lin Mo would not abandon her might make her hide her actions, while Edgar believed it would deepen her concern for his feelings.
• Lin Mo noticed Vought moving staff, restricting access, and urgently cleaning up records across the research bunker.
• After a defensive test, Lin Mo overheard staff ordering the Nicaragua operation roster revised and records about Soldier Boy and the Soviet side removed from ordinary systems.
• Lin Mo connected Nicaragua, the team, and Soldier Boy, and realized the 1984 betrayal of Soldier Boy was imminent.

After learning that Vought had betrayed Soldier Boy and concealed his fate, Lin Mo concluded that the Homelander Project would become more important and put Joanna under greater pressure. Vought ordered Research Center personnel to watch a Soldier Boy press conference the next morning, and Lin Mo realized its public-relations campaign was beginning.

• Lin Mo overheard that Vought had secretly handed Soldier Boy to the Soviets after his teammates attacked him, and that the company was covering up the betrayal.
• Lin Mo watched researchers destroy records and evidence about Soldier Boy while Vought employees remained unaware of the truth.
• Barbara found Lin Mo and carried him back to his room, where he considered how Soldier Boy's disappearance would strengthen the Homelander Project and affect Joanna.
• The Research Center announced that all nonessential personnel had to watch a special Soldier Boy press conference the next morning, and Lin Mo recognized that Vought's public-relations campaign was starting.

Lin Mo and Joanna watched Vought announce that Soldier Boy had died on a secret mission, while Lin Mo recognized the statement as a cover story. Joanna sensed something strange about Soldier Boy’s photograph, and the broadcast ended by presenting Payback as a close-knit family of heroes.

• Vought ordered Lin Mo and Joanna to watch Soldier Boy’s press conference, while managers and researchers gathered in the Observation Room.
• A Vought representative announced that Soldier Boy had died protecting his teammates and the American people during a classified military operation, without offering verifiable details.
• Vought showed old footage and praised Soldier Boy’s supposed achievements, presenting him as a national hero whose legacy would endure.
• Joanna studied Soldier Boy’s photograph and told Lin Mo that something about him felt strange, though she could not explain why.
• The broadcast showed Payback’s group photo as the representative described the team as a close-knit family of heroes.

Lin Mo and Joanna questioned Vought’s announcement that Soldier Boy had died, while the company prepared to shift its focus toward the Homelander Project. Lin Mo explained that companies could lie, leaving Joanna to wonder whether Vought had done something wrong.

• Joanna noticed that Payback’s smiles in the group photo looked false, and Lin Mo stayed quiet under the Observation Room cameras.
• Vought announced memorial events for Soldier Boy, while researchers predicted Payback would be reorganized and the Homelander Project accelerated.
• Joanna asked Lin Mo whether Soldier Boy was really dead, and Lin Mo pointed out that he had not seen proof.
• Joanna asked whether Vought could lie, and Lin Mo explained that companies could lie for many reasons.
• Joanna asked Lin Mo whether Vought had done something wrong.

Lin Mo told Joanna that Vought might be hiding the truth and admitted he might lie to her someday, refusing to promise otherwise. When Joanna asked how she could tell, she used her sharp hearing to notice a researcher's heartbeat speeding up during an announcement.

• Lin Mo explained that Vought's experiments could serve both Joanna's health and the company's interest in her abilities.
• Joanna wondered whether Soldier Boy had been imprisoned and whether he would be angry about people saying he was dead, and Lin Mo said he did not know.
• Joanna asked Lin Mo whether he would lie to her, and he admitted that he might while insisting he was telling the truth then.
• Lin Mo told Joanna to ask questions, observe people's actions, and decide whether to believe them rather than rely on promises.
• Joanna heard a researcher's heartbeat speed up during the announcement that her viewing time was over, then looked to Lin Mo for confirmation.

In 1990, Lin Mo and Joanna had grown stronger while Vought began preparing Joanna for a public image as Homelander. Lin Mo overheard staff discussing her costume and headed to meet her, unaware of how Vought would shape her debut.

• Joanna asked whether she could ignore Vought if it was lying, and Lin Mo told her she could seek the truth for herself.
• Six years after Vought reported Soldier Boy's death, Lin Mo had developed heat vision and flight but kept those abilities hidden, while Joanna's powers also advanced.
• Vought used Lin Mo's presence to motivate Joanna's training and planned to gradually introduce her to cameras and government contacts.
• Lin Mo descended to the seventh underground level to meet Joanna and overheard researchers discussing public-speaking lessons and revisions to her costume.
• The researchers said the Board of Directors wanted Joanna's outfit to emphasize red, blue, and gold and retain a cape, while Lin Mo continued toward Joanna's classroom.

Lin Mo watched Joanna’s hero-image training, where Vought taught her how to perform for cameras and shape her public persona. After the lesson, Joanna rushed to Lin Mo for his approval, and his praise made her smile naturally.

• Lin Mo watched Joanna’s class from the observation area while she practiced the gestures and expressions Vought wanted from a hero.
• Joanna questioned why she had to wear a cape, then agreed to keep it after Lin Mo said it made a hero look impressive.
• Joanna performed a simulated rescue interview, telling the camera that every life was worth risking herself for, though she privately felt otherwise.
• After training ended, Joanna ran to Lin Mo and asked how she had done.
• Lin Mo praised Joanna and ruffled her hair, making her smile more naturally than she had during the camera exercise.

Joanna told Lin Mo how Vought trained her to perform as its ideal hero, while he recognized that she was hiding her true feelings and resentment behind a practiced smile. When she used her extra free time to ask to see a real flower, Lin Mo took her hand and went with her to the observation area.

• Joanna told Lin Mo that her teacher praised her camera performance, and Lin Mo said her on-screen smile looked unfamiliar and too perfect.
• Joanna teased Lin Mo by pulling his cheeks, then immediately resumed her trained smile when she noticed the camera.
• Joanna told Lin Mo she no longer needed to hate Vought's researchers but would remember what they had done.
• Joanna asked to visit the third-floor observation area to see a yellow flower she had never touched.
• Lin Mo took Joanna's hand, and they left the training room together to see the flower.

After turning eighteen, Lin Mo activated the Dimensional Shuttle System and learned that influencing the world could earn him energy. The system awarded him 1,800 points for changing Homelander’s fate, then began explaining how plot changes generated energy.

• Lin Mo reflected on Joanna’s approaching debut as Homelander and considered leaving Vought’s Research Center to explore the world.
• At midnight, Lin Mo turned eighteen and the Dimensional Shuttle System officially came online.
• The system explained that changing characters’ fates, disrupting major events, or killing important characters could earn energy according to the scale of the world’s deviation.
• The system detected Lin Mo’s past influence on the world, including the irreversible divergence caused by changing Homelander’s fate, and awarded him 1,800 energy points.
• The system told Lin Mo he could receive 50 energy points each day and began explaining the two types of energy-producing plot changes.

Lin Mo learned how the System Mall and dimensional travel worked, then discovered that his current energy points were insufficient to choose a world. The system classified The Boys as a medium energy-level world, leaving Lin Mo with the cost and danger of future travel still to consider.

• Lin Mo learned that changing character arcs and altering destinies generated energy points, and that the System Mall exchanged points for goods while dimensional travel consumed them.
• Lin Mo browsed the System Mall, saw that powerful items such as the Kryptonian Bloodline had restricted prices, and decided to save his 1,800 energy points.
• The system explained that random travel to a low energy-level world cost 1,000 points, while choosing a world and a time and location required additional energy.
• Lin Mo ruled out random travel because an unknown world could be dangerous, then asked how the system classified world levels.
• The system said The Boys was a medium energy-level world and described low energy-level worlds as lacking extraordinary powers or advanced technology.

Lin Mo asked the system how it classified fictional worlds and learned that a world’s level could change as its powers and threats developed. He left the discussion wary of ultra-high-level worlds and unable to travel to them until he gained more energy points.

• Lin Mo questioned why some superhero worlds were mid-level, and the system explained that the same fictional setting could contain multiple power levels.
• Lin Mo learned that worlds could rise in level over time and that the system judged them by their full potential, not just early events.
• Lin Mo asked about high-level worlds, and the system cited worlds with planet-destroying powers and cosmic threats.
• Lin Mo asked whether One-Punch Man was high-level, and the system said its rating could rise because some individuals had an uncertain growth limit.
• Lin Mo learned that ultra-high-level worlds could involve multiversal interference and reality-altering powers, but the system said he lacked the authority to travel to them without enough energy points.

Lin Mo learned how the system ranked worlds and decided that a low-energy world with valuable resources would be safest for his first trip. He discovered he could bring Joanna for an additional 1,000 energy points and calculated that he could afford the trip in twenty-four days, then asked whether he could return afterward.

• Lin Mo asked about special worlds, and the system warned that lethal rules and anomalies could bypass physical strength.
• The system described low-, mid-, high-, ultra-high-energy, and special worlds, prompting Lin Mo to rule out the most dangerous destinations.
• Lin Mo agreed that a low-energy world with unique resources would suit his first crossing.
• The system confirmed Lin Mo could bring Joanna and estimated her travel cost at 1,000 energy points.
• Lin Mo calculated he needed 1,200 more points and would reach the required amount in twenty-four days, then asked if he could return from another world.

Lin Mo learned how dimensional travel, time anchoring, and identity services worked, and discovered that returning to his native world might eventually be possible. After reviewing his status, he decided to use his power to disrupt Vought and gain more energy.

• Lin Mo learned that he could revisit recorded worlds and adjust the time ratio, with World Anchoring costing energy and allowing time to pass up to one hundred times slower in his original world.
• The system told Lin Mo that it lacked complete coordinates for his native world but could attempt to trace his route after he upgraded its permissions and gathered enough energy.
• Lin Mo learned that world recommendations and identity services cost energy, and calculated that he could not yet afford the dimensional trip he wanted.
• Lin Mo considered targeting Vought executives and disrupting the story to earn energy, noting that Queen Maeve and other familiar Supes were about to appear.
• The system generated Lin Mo's status panel, listing his Kryptonian Bloodline, 1,800 energy, daily income of 50, and unlocked dimensional travel and World Anchoring.
• Lin Mo explored the system while Vought's executives continued changing their plans for him and Joanna.

Vought’s executives debated whether Lin Mo should join the Super Seven, with several opposing his selection because he was Asian. Edgar argued that Lin Mo’s abilities and Joanna’s attachment to him made excluding him both discriminatory and dangerous, leaving the Board facing the problem of how to keep the pair together.

• Stan Edgar opened a Vought board meeting about Lin Mo’s place in the Super Seven after Joanna had already been selected as Homelander.
• A board member and the marketing executive argued that Lin Mo’s Asian identity could hurt his acceptance as an American hero.
• Edgar challenged their reasoning, citing Lin Mo’s qualifications and Vought’s interest in Asian audiences.
• Edgar presented evaluations showing that Lin Mo was Joanna’s only stable emotional anchor and said she would likely demand to leave the Research Center with him.
• When a board member suggested refusing Joanna, Edgar warned that she could destroy the underground Research Center and asked whether Vought could stop her from taking Lin Mo.

Vought’s board postponed its decision on whether Lin Mo could join The Super Seven, while Edgar argued that accepting him served the company’s interests. Edgar planned to visit Lin Mo and Joanna in secret and ask Lin Mo to become a hero.

• Edgar defended Lin Mo’s value to Vought and challenged a board member who opposed him on racial grounds.
• The board postponed the vote for three days, and the head of marketing warned Edgar that the members would resist Lin Mo joining The Seven.
• Edgar decided that offering Lin Mo status, freedom, and a chance to leave the bunker with Joanna could secure his cooperation.
• Edgar told his assistant to arrange a private visit to Lin Mo and Joanna at the Research Center the next day, without informing the board.

Joanna visited Lin Mo early in the morning and tried to persuade him to sleep with her after watching an uncensored romance movie. Lin Mo refused and realized Vought had exposed her to far more than he had expected.

• Joanna went to Lin Mo's room without asking the researchers and asked him to do what she had seen in a romance movie.
• Lin Mo refused, reminding Joanna that neither of them was an adult yet.
• Joanna explained that the movie had shown the boy and girl taking off their clothes and more.
• Lin Mo asked whether the movie had been edited and learned that Joanna had watched the uncensored version.
• Lin Mo stopped Joanna from describing the rest and criticized Vought for teaching her about sex through the movie.

Lin Mo refused Joanna’s advances until she became an adult, then tried to reassure her that they would leave the Bunker soon. Joanna pressed him for details, and his refusal to tell her what was planned made her turn cold.

• Lin Mo told Joanna not to make advances until she was an adult, and she accepted that she would have to wait.
• Joanna cuddled up to Lin Mo and fell asleep in his arms.
• Joanna asked when they would leave the Bunker, and Lin Mo said it would be sooner than before.
• Lin Mo said he could not yet tell Joanna where he planned to take her, and she sat up, angry at being kept in the dark.

Lin Mo reassured Joanna that he would not leave her behind, then decided to meet Edgar alone to learn what Vought planned and how it might affect their departure. Joanna reluctantly let him go, though she remained wary of Edgar and Vought.

• Joanna asked Lin Mo to promise he would never leave her behind at Vought, and he assured her she could always come with him.
• A researcher told Lin Mo that Edgar had arrived and wanted to speak with him alone, prompting Joanna to threaten the messenger and refuse the meeting.
• Lin Mo told Joanna he still needed to hear Edgar out, and she insisted that Vought could not be trusted.
• Joanna suggested secretly listening in or killing anyone who knew about her, but Lin Mo dismissed both ideas and explained that he needed to learn Vought's plans before they left.
• Joanna's fears eased when Lin Mo said the meeting was probably related to their departure, though he warned that Vought would not willingly let them go.

Lin Mo left Joanna to meet Stan Edgar after promising to return within thirty minutes, and his new confidence toward Vought shaped his thoughts on the meeting. He arrived to find Edgar waiting alone in an isolated meeting room.

• Joanna resisted Lin Mo leaving, bargained over how long he could be gone, and made him promise to return and spend time with her.
• Lin Mo promised not to lie to Joanna and left after the researcher agreed to start a thirty-minute timer.
• Joanna warned the researcher that she would come find Lin Mo if he exceeded the time limit.
• Lin Mo walked through the bunker, noted how Vought's staff looked down on him and Joanna, and followed the researcher to the meeting room.
• Lin Mo entered the room and found Stan Edgar sitting alone.

Lin Mo confronted Edgar about Vought’s plan to put him and Joanna on The Seven, recognizing that the offer was a way to profit from them and control Joanna. When Edgar warned that they could not leave without Vought’s permission, Lin Mo rejected his assumption that he would comply and hinted that he was ready to use force.

• Edgar offered Lin Mo and Joanna places on The Seven, promising public identities, resources, and freedom in exchange for their service.
• Lin Mo accused Edgar of treating them as products and using him to keep Joanna stable while Vought profited from her.
• Edgar admitted that Vought wanted both of them as profitable heroes and argued the deal served both sides.
• When Lin Mo asked what would happen if he refused, Edgar warned that Vought would not let its assets leave and claimed Lin Mo would avoid an all-out conflict.
• Lin Mo challenged Edgar’s assumption that he was only willing to reason with Vought.