Recaps

Edgar exposed Madelyn as his betrayer and had Duke kill her. At the Pentagon, the old general confronted Edgar and Marge with hundreds of Mutant Soldiers to seize the New Compound formula and technology, but Edgar hinted that their obedience could turn against them.

• Edgar tricked Madelyn into confessing that she had betrayed him, then Duke stabbed her to death on Edgar's orders.
• Edgar left his Pentagon office with Marge, intending to move to a secure location as Lynn and John approached.
• The old general sealed the corridor and surrounded Edgar and Marge with Mutant Soldiers.
• The old general demanded the New Compound formula, synthesis technology, and Edgar's case, threatening them with the soldiers' weapons.
• Edgar warned the old general that the Mutant Soldiers had been designed to obey orders absolutely.

Edgar seized control of the Pentagon and its Mutant Soldiers, killed the old general, and prepared to flee by helicopter with Marge and the New Vanguard children. He waited for Duke to return from dealing with Madelyn before escaping.

• Edgar used the serum’s neural controllers to turn the Mutant Soldiers’ weapons on the old general and his officers.
• Edgar ordered the soldiers to open fire, killing the old general as he left the corridor with Marge.
• Edgar gathered nearly twenty thousand Mutant Soldiers at the Pentagon and prepared a helicopter for departure with Marge and the New Vanguard children.
• Edgar reflected that he could have taken power in the United States, but Lynn and John’s presence had forced him to flee instead.
• Edgar waited one more minute for Duke to return after dealing with Madelyn before taking off.

Lynn led the Manor’s fighters and North American Aurors against a twenty-thousand-strong mutant army outside the Pentagon. After they carved a bloody passage through the enemy, Lynn walked toward the Pentagon.

• The Old Minister arrived with fifteen Aurors, and Lynn ordered them to clear the enemy rather than hold the defensive line.
• John attacked the mutant army from the air, then plunged into its ranks while Benjamin unleashed Chest Blast and Reggie used Bullet Time to eliminate gun crews.
• Black Noir and the four little turtles struggled against the armored soldiers until Kevin released Charlie, who grew into a giant deep-sea behemoth and attacked the enemy.
• Tommy lifted armored vehicles as shields, Annie fired a powerful beam of energy, and the Aurors trapped and froze the mutant soldiers with wide-area spells.
• Lynn crossed the battlefield after the fighters opened a passage through the army and headed toward the Pentagon.

Lynn and John reached the Pentagon rooftop, where Stan Edgar waited beside a running helicopter with Marge and Duke. Edgar admitted Lynn had defeated him and asked what Lynn planned to do with him and the world beyond the coming upheaval.

• John carried Lynn from the Pentagon grounds to the rooftop helipad, where Edgar, Marge, and Duke were waiting beside a helicopter.
• Lynn pointed out that Edgar could already have escaped, and Edgar replied that family mattered more than surviving.
• Edgar recalled how Lynn had earned John's trust with kindness rather than force, making him the one variable Edgar had failed to anticipate.
• Edgar acknowledged that Lynn had won and asked what he intended to do with him and how he would face the world once the door was opened.

Lynn and John confronted Edgar at the Pentagon, where Edgar escaped by exploiting the New Vanguard Camp children’s loyalty. John killed several of the children who tried to hold him back, then flew after Edgar’s helicopter with Marge, Duke, and other test subjects still clinging to his legs.

• Duke tried to stab Lynn from behind, but John caught him and crushed his wrist.
• Edgar stopped Marge from attacking and told the New Vanguard Camp children that Lynn would spare them if they did not resist.
• The children rushed out to protect Edgar, unleashing their powers while Edgar took the black case and escaped in the helicopter.
• Marge, Duke, and the children grabbed John’s legs to keep him from pursuing Edgar, and John killed several of them with his heat vision.
• John launched into the sky with the remaining attackers clinging to him and chased Edgar’s helicopter.

John tore into Edgar’s helicopter, but Edgar threatened to detonate a nuclear bomb beneath the Pentagon, where Lynn was fighting. John raced back toward Lynn as the bomb exploded, engulfing the Pentagon and everyone around it in white light.

• John ripped open the helicopter floor and entered the cabin after dropping Marge, Duke, and two unconscious children into the storm.
• Edgar revealed that separating John from Lynn had been his plan, then threatened to detonate a nuclear bomb beneath the Pentagon using the briefcase’s concealed button.
• John abandoned his attack on Edgar and raced toward the Pentagon to reach Lynn.
• As John neared Lynn, the bomb detonated underground and a blinding blast vaporized the Pentagon, its vehicles, and the mutant soldiers.

Edgar believed he had escaped with victory, but Lynn revealed that the nuclear explosion and his escape had been an illusion inside his Boundary. As Lynn prepared to finish him, Marge stabbed Edgar from behind.

• Edgar watched what he believed was a nuclear blast and thought Lynn had been eliminated, only to discover the helicopter escape and destruction were fabricated.
• Lynn explained that Edgar had been inside his Boundary since he arrived on the helipad, while John mocked Edgar’s farewell speech.
• Edgar accepted his defeat and admitted that family had proven more powerful than capital.
• Marge rose from the water and stabbed Edgar in the chest with a dagger she had taken from Duke.

Marge killed Edgar, and the battle seemed to end in victory as Lynn and John reunited with their allies. The Old Minister then ambushed John with a Killing Curse, and Lynn died after throwing himself in front of it.

• Marge held Edgar as he died, then carried his body away with Duke while John burned two more holes into Edgar to ensure he was dead.
• Lynn and John reunited with their exhausted allies and the surviving Aurors, and everyone believed the battle was over.
• The Old Minister noticed Buddy watching John and decided to kill John himself, then eliminate Lynn and the others to seize control.
• The Old Minister cast Avada Kedavra at John from behind, and Lynn tried to shove John out of the way.
• Lynn threw himself between John and the curse, and John caught him as his heartbeat stopped.

After the Old Minister accidentally killed Lynn, John’s grief unleashed a massacre on the Pentagon rooftop. The chapter ended with John killing the Old Minister and standing amid the dead.

• The Old Minister tried to kill John, but Buddy bit off his wand hand and caught the wand.
• John laid Lynn’s body down, then rose with a smile as his grief and fury took hold.
• John smashed through the Aurors’ shields and slaughtered the Aurors and fleeing New Vanguard Camp children.
• John crushed the Old Minister beneath his boot, leaving no one outside Long Island Estate alive.

After Edgar died and Vought Tower was abandoned, Marge retrieved the original compound V extracted from Stormfront’s body but hid it from Duke. She left the tower carrying Edgar’s body, while Duke followed, unaware that she had taken the serum.

• Marge carried Edgar’s body through Vought Tower’s deserted lobby, while Duke followed with his injured wrist.
• Marge told Duke to guard Edgar, then went alone to the underground laboratory.
• A scientist told Marge that Vought had successfully extracted a single vial of original compound V from Stormfront’s body.
• Marge took the serum and left the laboratory without telling the scientist what she intended to do with it.
• Marge lied to Duke that the laboratory was empty, then carried Edgar’s body out into the rain as Duke followed.

After Lynn’s death, John sent his companions back to Long Island and flew to Vought’s hideout, where he seized control of the company’s remaining assets. He killed an executive who challenged him and warned the others that anyone who disobeyed would die.

• John gave Lynn’s body to Black Noir and told him to take Lynn home carefully.
• John ordered Reggie, Raphael, Annie, and Tommy to return to Long Island and protect Lynn’s house.
• Benjamin told John that he and the others would stand behind him, and John flew toward New York.
• John broke into a secluded villa where Vought’s surviving directors were moving money and destroying records.
• John declared that all Vought assets, accounts, laboratories, and channels were under his control.
• John killed an executive who refused to comply and demanded to know whether anyone else objected.

John learned that Marge had taken the original Compound V, which he hoped could revive Lynn, and realized she and Duke had vanished into the rain. He decided to use the machinery of the state and its global surveillance network to find them.

• After the Vought executives handed over the company’s accounts and laboratory access, John tortured a director for speaking of Lynn and left with a hard drive.
• At Vought Tower, John followed the scent of Edgar’s blood and tracks left by Marge and Duke to the underground laboratory.
• A scientist told John that Marge had taken the original Compound V, extracted from Stormfront’s corpse.
• John learned Marge had left about half an hour earlier, but the rain had erased her and Duke’s trail across Manhattan.
• Unable to track them alone, John resolved to use the state’s global search capabilities to find Marge and the dose.

John negotiated with the Disaster Control Bureau after taking over Vought, demanding protection for his family and a worldwide manhunt for Marge and Duke. Marcus accepted the deal, and the warrants were set to reach the Bureau’s branches within half an hour.

• John waited in Edgar’s dark office as helicopters and troops surrounded Vought Tower.
• Richard threatened John’s family, so John killed him with laser vision.
• John demanded that the Bureau leave his family alone and issue warrants for Marge and Duke.
• John offered to preserve Vought’s operations and resume his public superhero role in exchange for the Bureau’s cooperation.
• Marcus accepted the deal and said the warrants would reach every branch worldwide within half an hour.

John stormed the North American Ministry of Magic, killed the Old Minister and dozens of wizards, and revealed the Minister’s crimes. He installed Joseph as the Ministry’s leader and ordered him to mobilize wizards to find Marge and Duke.

• John entered the Ministry carrying the Old Minister’s broken cane and declared that he had killed the Minister and the fifteen Aurors with him.
• When the wizards attacked, John slaughtered dozens of them with his heat vision and superhuman strength until the survivors dropped their wands in terror.
• Joseph emerged and asked whether John had killed his mentor; John said the Old Minister had murdered Lynn with the Avada Kedavra Curse.
• John revealed that the Old Minister had supplied wizards to Vought for Compound V experiments, used the dead Aurors to cover up the dealings, and planned to seize power.
• Joseph realized that he had unknowingly helped the Old Minister and collapsed in guilt as John declared that Joseph would control the Ministry and that his word was John’s word.
• John hauled Joseph to his feet and ordered him to mobilize North American wizards to find Marge and Duke.

John forced Joseph to remain and lead the North American Wizarding World, threatening to kill the wizards in the hall if he left. Joseph learned that Vought International had intercepted his family and, devastated by their likely deaths, committed himself to atoning for his actions and finding the person John sought.

• Joseph begged John to let him leave for Europe, but John said he had to stay or the wizards downstairs would die.
• John allowed Joseph to call his family, but they did not answer his phone.
• Joseph contacted a European Ministry of Magic official, who revealed that Joseph's daughter and granddaughter had never arrived in Europe.
• Joseph realized Vought International had intercepted his family and broke down in grief over their fate and his role in Lynn's death.
• Joseph vowed to repay the Long Island Estate and promised John he would lead the North American Wizarding World and find the person John sought.

After uniting the forces that threatened Long Island, John returned to the Estate with a cryogenic chamber and preserved Lynn’s body. He promised the grieving household that he would find a way to bring Lynn back and become a hero before he woke.

• John took a nuclear-powered cryogenic chamber from Vought Laboratory and flew with it to Long Island Estate.
• The household mourned Lynn as Black Noir cleaned his face and hands and laid him on the living-room sofa.
• John explained that the chamber would preserve Lynn until he could find original Compound V, and promised to bring him back.
• John and the others placed Lynn in the chamber, surrounding him with keepsakes and a blanket before sealing the lid.
• John pressed his hand to the frosted chamber and vowed that he would be a hero when Lynn woke.

Lynn repeatedly woke at different points in John’s childhood and died while trying to approach or avoid the dangerous boy. After his fifth death, he tried to build trust with six-year-old John through secret notes, but surveillance exposed him to Stan Edgar, who sent Black Noir to kill him.

• Lynn woke in Vought’s laboratory as John escaped his isolation chamber, but John killed him with Heat Vision.
• Lynn woke holding baby John, whose uncontrolled punch crushed his chest and killed him.
• Lynn offered eight-year-old John an apple, but John accidentally crushed Lynn’s wrist and tore off his arm.
• Lynn woke when John was ten and tried to avoid contact, but John’s outburst after Dr. Vogelbaum reprimanded him led to another death.
• As John turned six, Lynn secretly passed him notes for three months until surveillance caught their growing connection.
• Stan Edgar saw the footage, and Black Noir beheaded Lynn outside the laboratory’s changing room.

Lynn woke in an underground Vought laboratory, aged and facing the adult Homelander, who returned to punish the scientists for his childhood torment. Homelander began killing everyone with Heat Vision as Lynn stood in its path.

• Lynn woke to find himself in an older body and saw researchers casually playing games in the laboratory.
• Homelander arrived, recalled his childhood experiments, and told the scientists they would play a game called Childhood Memories.
• Homelander threw a scientist toward the incinerator and ordered the others to recreate the pain they had inflicted on him.
• When no one acted, Homelander unleashed Heat Vision, killing Bob and Barbara as Lynn watched without fleeing.

After countless deaths, Lynn woke as an old man in an isolated farmhouse and watched Homelander launch a global massacre after killing Butcher, Kimiko, and Ryan on live television. Homelander reached Lynn's courtyard but, unsettled by the old man's warm, proud gaze, lowered himself to the ground instead of killing him.

• Lynn awoke in the body of an elderly man who had survived the laboratory massacre by taking sick leave and spent decades hiding in the countryside.
• Lynn watched Homelander announce his rule over the world, then kill Butcher and Kimiko with his laser vision and beat Ryan to death on live television.
• Homelander broke through the White House dome and began slaughtering people across the United States as Lynn watched the destruction spread toward his town.
• Homelander hovered over Lynn's courtyard, but Lynn's look of fatherly pride reminded him of a warmth he had never known.
• Homelander's laser vision dimmed, and he landed in Lynn's courtyard instead of killing him.

Lynn revealed that he knew Homelander as John and claimed to come from another world. Homelander believed him and confided that he had long dreamed of an ordinary childhood with a loving family.

• Lynn called Homelander John, and Homelander recognized him as a former researcher who had survived the underground laboratory massacre.
• Homelander restrained his urge to kill Lynn when he saw that the old man felt no fear and regarded him with compassion.
• Lynn invited Homelander to sit, and Homelander accepted before Lynn told him he came from another world.
• Homelander said he believed Lynn because his heartbeat showed no sign of lying.
• Homelander recalled imagining a parallel life with a warm home and loving parents, fantasies that had comforted him during his years in the laboratory.

Lynn told Homelander about the loving family and home he had in Lynn’s world, and Homelander broke down in grief. As nuclear warheads struck, Homelander shielded Lynn with his body, but Lynn died again—his 314th death.

• Lynn described how John had lived as part of a caring family in his world, where he was loved and called a good boy.
• Homelander sobbed as Lynn comforted him, believing at last that he had found a home.
• Nuclear warheads launched by the world’s nations descended on the town, and Homelander feared for Lynn’s safety.
• Homelander wrapped Lynn in his cape and shielded him from the nuclear blast, apologizing for the crimes that had brought it upon them.
• The blast overwhelmed them, and Lynn died for the 314th time, remembering Homelander as Big John No. 314.

Lynn watched Deadpool interrupt the televised confrontation in the White House, kill Butcher, Kimiko, Ryan, and Homelander, then turn his attention toward Lynn in Times Square. Deadpool seemed to have devised a plan to destroy every universe of The Boys.

• Lynn found himself in his aged body at Times Square and saw the live broadcast of Homelander losing his powers.
• Deadpool appeared on the broadcast, stopped Butcher from killing Homelander, and beheaded Butcher.
• Deadpool shot Kimiko in the joints, stabbed her through the heart, and killed Ryan with a gunshot.
• Deadpool killed Homelander by stabbing him through the skull and called him a knockoff Superman.
• Deadpool looked through the camera and fixed his gaze on Lynn, while thinking of a plan to destroy every universe of The Boys.

Ten years after Lynn entered cryogenic sleep, the people closest to him had built celebrated lives around the world but continued to miss him. Annie’s Paris exhibition ended with her describing the figure in her painting as the gentlest god in the world.

• Black Noir continued to care for Lynn’s spotless cryogenic chamber at the nearly empty Long Island Estate.
• Reggie performed as a world-famous rapper in Brazil but could not feel happy and remembered his old dream.
• Tommy broke a ten-year-old arcade record in Tokyo and recalled that Lynn had been with him when he first set it.
• Kevin used his power to calm a stranded humpback whale and guide it back into deeper water.
• Annie displayed a painting inspired by Lynn at her Paris exhibition, while Buddy complained about the food.
• Annie told an art critic that the figure in her painting was not her father but the gentlest god in the world.

Eighteen-year-old John, celebrated as Homelander and America’s greatest hero, concealed his indifference behind a reassuring public image while managing Vought affairs. He then saved a crowded Manhattan intersection from a falling construction crane and left to answer another call for help.

• John finished a Vought studio shoot and dropped his public smile as he read a report about a superhero whose rescue had killed two hostages.
• John asked Ashley whether there was news about Marge and Duke, then reassured her before leaving the studio.
• John looked out over Manhattan, where his face and the slogan “Homelander-America’s greatest hero” appeared across the city.
• A tower crane began collapsing over a crowded Seventh Avenue intersection, and John caught it in midair before anyone was hurt.
• John carried the crane to a safe construction site, waved to the cameras, and flew off toward another emergency.

John used a globally broadcast press conference to execute Silver Lightning for accidentally killing two civilians, winning the crowd’s adoration. Beneath his public image as a guardian of justice, John pursued a spotless world for Lynn.

• Cameron Coleman praised John’s rescues and Vought International’s achievements in a broadcast across Times Square.
• John addressed a huge crowd at Vought Plaza and revealed that Silver Lightning had killed two civilians during a Chicago bank robbery.
• Silver Lightning begged for another chance, but John killed him with Heat Vision in front of the crowd.
• The crowd cheered John’s execution as an act of justice, and he bowed to them.
• John reflected that he did not care about the hostages or the American dream and said the increasingly clean world would please Lynn.