Recaps

Lynn and John joined Stan Edgar’s meeting with Yamato Conglomerate executive Genji, who rejected Vought’s plans to bring Compound V to Japan. When Genji’s elderly Onmyōji tried to intimidate the Vought executives with supernatural cold, John overwhelmed him and forced him to stop.

• Lynn entered Conference Room Three with John and was introduced to Genji, executive director of the Yamato Conglomerate.
• Genji told Stan Edgar that his group would not allow Compound V into Japan and rejected Vought’s offer to form a joint venture.
• The gaunt old man released a supernatural chill that made the room cold and disturbed Madelyn and Edgar.
• John stepped in front of Lynn and unleashed a biological force field that scattered the old man’s Onmyōdō spell.
• John told the old man the room was too cold, leaving him terrified and unable to respond, while Genji realized something was wrong.

Lynn helped Stan Edgar pressure Genji into leaving without disrupting Vought International’s Compound V deal, then returned to the Vanguard Camp activity room with John. He canceled the children’s usual dinner and led them to the premium kitchen to cook Huaxia dishes, with John as his assistant.

• Lynn warned Genji that New York was dangerous, and Genji left after threatening that the Yamato Conglomerate would remember the meeting.
• Stan Edgar praised Lynn for helping deter Genji, and Lynn left the conference room with John.
• Lynn and John brought bread to the activity room, where Kevin fed his goldfish Charlie and the children gathered around.
• Lynn watched John care for the younger children and reflected that their growing bonds would make them difficult for Vought to control.
• Lynn canceled the children’s nutritious cafeteria meal and announced he would cook Huaxia dishes in the premium kitchen, with John helping him.

Lynn taught the children to help prepare a Huaxian dinner, then cooked a meal they had never tasted before. After everyone ate, he had John help clean up before they headed back.

• Lynn assigned the children kitchen tasks, while Kevin sat safely away from the burners with his goldfish, Charlie.
• John precisely sliced the beef tenderloin, and Lynn cooked sweet-and-sour tenderloin, tomato-braised beef brisket, and fried rice.
• The children eagerly ate the meal, and John enjoyed its homelike warmth beside Lynn.
• After dinner, Lynn asked John to help clear the sink before they headed back.

Genji and the Family Elder plotted to kill John with onmyōdō and ninjutsu after their humiliation at Vought Tower. Back at the Manor, John sensed six concealed intruders outside and a strange sound in the night sky.

• John and Lynn returned to the Manor after dinner, and John saved sweet-and-sour pork for Buddy.
• Genji called John a drug-spawned monstrosity and planned to break Vought International's image by killing or publicly discrediting him.
• The Family Elder prepared to use the Origami Death Crows, while Genji revealed that six elite jōnin from the Shadow Corps were positioned around the Manor.
• John heard a strange paper-like sound in the sky and detected six faint heartbeats approaching the Manor's blind spots.

John killed six Genji Clan assassins who approached the villa, while Lynn destroyed the Death Crows Killing Curse sent into the living room. They left one assassin alive to question, and Lynn prepared to find out who had sent the intruders.

• John slipped out of his bedroom and saw six Shadow Corps ninjas approaching the villa as a Paper Crow flew toward the house.
• John killed the leading Jōnin and five other ninjas on the lawn, then noticed the Paper Crow had entered the living room.
• The Paper Crow attacked Lynn with a Killing Curse, but Lynn used the Yasakani Blood Jade’s power to pierce its talisman with a fountain pen and dispel it.
• John brought a half-dead ninja inside and found Lynn unharmed.
• Lynn told John to wake the surviving ninja with cold water so they could question him.

Lynn questioned a surviving ninja after John stopped him from taking poison, but a Japanese Onmyōji arrived at the Manor with a giant Shikigami called Inugami. John stepped outside to confront the monster, raising his hand as it lunged at him.

• John doused the unconscious ninja with icy water, and Lynn questioned him about whether the Yamato Conglomerate had ordered the attack.
• The ninja tried to bite a poison capsule, but John dislocated his jaw and knocked the capsule free.
• John sensed someone approaching the Manor, and Lynn saw an Onmyōji in the yard with a giant, foul-smelling Shikigami.
• The Onmyōji ordered Inugami to attack John, while Lynn told John to keep the living room carpet clean.
• John stood his ground as Inugami lunged at him and slowly raised his right hand.

John defeated the Onmyōji’s Inugami and crippled the intruder after he attacked the Manor. Lynn warned the Onmyōji to stay away, then took John inside to wash up and go to bed.

• John stopped Inugami’s attack with one hand and crushed it into a scrap of talisman paper.
• John broke the Onmyōji’s wrist and kicked him to his knees.
• Lynn ordered John to let the Onmyōji go and warned him not to send anyone else to the Manor.
• The Onmyōji gathered the Shadow Corps members’ bodies and fled the yard.
• Lynn told John to wash his hands and go to bed, and they returned inside with Buddy.

After Inugami defeated the attackers at Lynn’s estate, the elder ordered his family to leave New York and stop interfering with Vought International’s business in Japan. Lynn and John led the children through a peaceful training session at Vought Tower, which ended when an elderly man emerged from the base.

• The surviving Onmyōji told Genji and the elder that Inugami had defeated their forces and warned them not to interfere again.
• The elder booked flights for the family to return to Japan and ordered them to stop interfering with Vought International’s business there.
• Lynn brought John to the Vanguard Camp’s outdoor physical training, where John helped coach the children and kept Annie safe on the balance beam.
• After training, the children gathered for drinks and snacks, and an elderly man with a cane walked out through the base’s rear doors.

Jonah Vogelbaum confronted Lynn over letting John spend time with the other children instead of training him as a weapon. Lynn defended John and the children as family, leaving the lawn in a tense standoff.

• Jonah Vogelbaum arrived with two researchers and praised John's physical abilities as a scientific creation.
• Vogelbaum called the other children defective products and criticized Lynn for letting John play with them.
• John stepped in front of Annie, Reggie, and the others, shielding them from Vogelbaum's scrutiny.
• Lynn insisted that John and the other children had names and were members of his family.
• Lynn argued that the children needed to become people rather than tools, and told Vogelbaum to complain to President Edgar if he objected.
• Vogelbaum's expression hardened as the researchers grew nervous and the lawn fell into an icy silence.

Lynn stood up to Vogelbaum and reassured the children after the scientist called them defective products. He restored their spirits with praise and an afternoon off, then privately resolved to deal with Vogelbaum himself.

• Lynn rejected Vogelbaum's claim that emotion weakened John and warned the scientist as he left the lawn.
• John admitted he had nearly used his powers against Vogelbaum, but Lynn praised him for controlling himself and protecting Annie and Kevin.
• Lynn comforted Reggie, Annie, Tommy, and Kevin, telling them they were unique and were not defective products.
• Lynn canceled the afternoon's balance practice and invited the children to watch animated movies with pizza, popcorn, and cola.
• As Lynn led the excited children toward the underground recreation area, he privately decided to handle Vogelbaum himself.

Jonah Vogelbaum tried to get Stan Edgar to remove Lynn from Vanguard Camp, but Edgar defended Lynn’s profitable work and threatened to replace Vogelbaum if he interfered again. Vogelbaum then enlisted Barbara, who had tortured John during his childhood experiments, to help him test whether fear could undo Lynn’s influence.

• Jonah Vogelbaum urged Stan Edgar to revoke Lynn’s privileges and proposed framing him to take control of Vanguard Camp.
• Stan Edgar rejected Vogelbaum’s scheme, praised Lynn’s emotional control of John and commercial success, and warned that he could replace the chief scientist.
• Vogelbaum left Edgar’s office resolved to prove that fear could break Lynn’s influence over John.
• Vogelbaum went to Vought International’s underground laboratory and found Barbara sorting old records.
• Vogelbaum asked Barbara to visit John and help test how his childhood fears would affect the emotions Lynn had taught him.

Barbara agreed to Vogelbaum’s plan to trigger John’s memories of his past torture, after Vogelbaum threatened to cut off Emma’s medical care. Lynn then told the children that Edgar had approved their move to Long Island Estate, while John noticed Lynn’s work badge suggested he had been promoted.

• Barbara refused Vogelbaum’s request to provoke John, saying that John could kill her instantly.
• Vogelbaum threatened to end Barbara’s job and Emma’s medical privileges unless Barbara followed his plan.
• Vogelbaum gave Barbara a note and told her to speak to John in her old tone while wearing her white lab coat during Saturday’s outing.
• Lynn visited Edgar’s office, then announced that the children could move to Long Island Estate.
• The children celebrated, and John noticed that Lynn’s work badge seemed to show a promotion.

Lynn took the children from Vanguard Camp on a spring outing to the Central Park conservatory, giving them a taste of ordinary family life outside the estate. The outing began peacefully, with John helping set up a picnic on the greenhouse lawn.

• Lynn told the children they would visit the conservatory in Manhattan's Central Park and let them pack one small backpack each.
• The children got ready early the next morning, and John asked Lynn whether they would keep living together like this; Lynn assured him that they were a family.
• Lynn and the children traveled to the conservatory with a discreet Vought International security team following them.
• The children explored the plants: Reggie nearly touched a Venus flytrap, Annie sketched flowers, and Kevin introduced Charlie the goldfish to the pond's turtles.
• John helped Lynn spread the picnic blanket, arranged the snacks and juice, and lay down on the blanket.

Barbara confronted John in the greenhouse using Vogelbaum’s scripted command, triggering his memories of the laboratory and nearly provoking him to attack her. Lynn intervened and helped John reconnect with the present, though the confrontation’s aftermath remained unresolved.

• Barbara entered the greenhouse wearing a lab coat after a guard admitted her, thinking of her ill daughter Emma and the money she needed for treatment.
• John smelled the medical alcohol and disinfectant on Barbara and recognized her as part of his traumatic past in the laboratory.
• Barbara ordered John to return to his isolation room, and his fear turned into rage as a violent wind swept through the greenhouse.
• John prepared to attack Barbara with his glowing red eyes, while Annie, Reggie, Tommy, and Barbara froze in fear.
• Lynn placed a hand on John’s head, blocked his view of Barbara, and reminded him that he was safe in the Central Park greenhouse.

Lynn calmed John after Barbara provoked him, then confronted her over her abuse of the children and her loyalty to Vogelbaum. He punished Barbara by demoting her to menial work while protecting her daughter’s treatment, and the children returned to their picnic with John feeling safer.

• Kevin restrained Barbara as she tried to provoke John, and Lynn calmed John by reminding him that he was a child, not a code name.
• Lynn confronted Barbara and revealed that he knew her daughter Emma was receiving treatment at Central Hospital.
• Lynn warned Barbara that Vogelbaum could not protect her or guarantee Emma’s care, then slapped her twice for her past cruelty to John.
• Lynn ordered Barbara to report to Vanguard Camp’s Logistics Department for menial work and warned her to tell Vogelbaum to stay out of his territory.
• Lynn returned to the picnic and offered John apple and cranberry cookies as the children relaxed together.

After comforting John about his fear of being taken away, Lynn decided the children would never be safe while Jonah Vogelbaum remained alive. He secretly entered Vought Tower and killed Vogelbaum, then headed home to prepare breakfast for the children.

• Lynn reassured John that nobody could take him from Long Island Estate, and John fell asleep feeling safe.
• Lynn left the estate in disguise and used his clearance to slip into Vought Tower’s core laboratory.
• Lynn confronted Vogelbaum in his office and injected him with potassium chloride, killing him.
• Lynn removed the evidence and left the tower, then drove home thinking about making the children breakfast.

After hearing that Jonah Vogelbaum and Barbara had died, Lynn learned from Stan Edgar that Vought wanted him and the children to travel to Japan to promote Compound V and confront resistance from ancient clans. Lynn accepted, seeing Black Noir’s assigned escort as a chance to approach him, and told the children to pack for the trip.

• Lynn served breakfast to the children at the Long Island Estate, and John said he had slept well without dreaming.
• Stan Edgar called Lynn to report that Jonah Vogelbaum had died of apparent heart failure and Barbara had committed suicide beside her daughter’s hospital bed.
• Edgar said Lynn’s actions had resolved a problem for Vought and demanded a return: Lynn and all the children would travel to Japan to support the company’s market expansion.
• Lynn objected to involving the children, but Edgar insisted and said Black Noir would accompany them for protection.
• Lynn accepted the trip and told the children to pack their suitcases, announcing they were going to Japan.

Lynn took the children from Long Island to Japan for a cherry-blossom trip, with Black Noir accompanying them as Vought’s security escort. After Lynn established that he was in charge and Black Noir silently accepted his gift, the group flew toward Japan, where John asked about meeting onmyōji.

• Reggie overpacked for the trip until Lynn replaced his comics and toys with clothes, while Annie and Kevin prepared more carefully.
• Lynn led the children onto Vought International’s private jet, where they found Black Noir waiting in the lounge.
• Lynn told Black Noir not to frighten the children and offered him blueberry muffins, while John’s presence made clear the danger of threatening Lynn.
• Black Noir accepted the muffins and stayed quiet, allowing the children to relax as the plane took off for Japan.
• John asked Lynn whether onmyōji could really do magic, and Lynn said John could handle any unreasonable ones they met.

Lynn arrived in Tokyo with the children and Black Noir, where Vought’s Asia division had arranged a secluded estate for them. Onmyōji families watched the estate with shikigami, but Lynn told John and the security staff to leave them alone unless they crossed the wall.

• Lynn and the children landed in Tokyo, where Sato welcomed them on behalf of Vought International’s Asia division.
• Sato drove Lynn and the children to a secluded traditional estate outside the city, while John noticed that Vought staff regarded them with fear.
• At the estate, Sato reported that Onmyōji families had placed paper birds and figures around the grounds to spy on them.
• John’s eyes began to glow red as he focused on a paper bird, but Lynn calmed him with a hand on his shoulder.
• Lynn told Sato to have security ignore the shikigami unless they crossed the estate wall, then led the children inside for dinner.

Lynn enjoyed dinner with the children at the manor while Kamo Clan onmyōji watched from the woods and plotted to attack them publicly in Tokyo. Unbothered by the threat, Lynn told Director Sato he planned to take the children shopping in Akihabara the next morning.

• Lynn replaced Reggie's sashimi with grilled Wagyu, while Annie enjoyed tempura and television during dinner.
• John sensed hostile onmyōji outside and began to focus his Heat Vision, but Lynn reassured him and he returned to eating.
• A young Kamo Clan prodigy dismissed the visitors’ vigilance and proposed crushing the American heroes in front of the public the next day.
• Lynn asked Director Sato to arrange roomier cars so he could take the children to Akihabara Electric Town to shop for Super Nintendo games.

Lynn took the children to Akihabara despite Sato’s warnings about the Kamo Clan’s watchers. When the clan attacked by making heavy lights fall toward Annie and Reggie, Tommy stopped them in midair with telekinesis.

• Lynn led Reggie, Annie, John, Tommy, Kevin, Black Noir, and Sato to Akihabara and told the children to stay together.
• At a game store, John used his super hearing to detect the Kamo Clan’s people and warned Lynn about their positions.
• Lynn signaled Tommy to be ready and asked Reggie to protect Annie before paying for game cartridges.
• A young man in a hoodie crushed a talisman, causing heavy pendant lights to break loose above Annie and Reggie.
• Lynn told Tommy to make his move, and Tommy halted the falling lights with telekinesis.

Tommy stopped the falling chandeliers during an attack by a Kamo Family disciple, whom Black Noir captured and interrogated. Lynn took the group to a sukiyaki restaurant, where Black Noir delivered talismans and a booklet listing Kamo Family locations in Tokyo.

• Tommy halted the falling chandeliers and shifted them onto an empty shelving unit, while Reggie moved Annie to safety.
• Black Noir broke the Kamo Family disciple’s wrist, knocked him unconscious, and took him away without alerting the fleeing civilians.
• Lynn ignored Chief Sato’s warnings and led the group out of the mall to find a sukiyaki restaurant.
• Black Noir joined them at the restaurant with blood-flecked talismans and a booklet of Kamo Family addresses that he had obtained from the disciple.

After lunch at a secluded Tokyo restaurant, Lynn decided to confront the Kamo Family despite Director Sato’s warnings and fear of the authorities. He took the children and Black Noir to pursue the address he had found, leaving Sato under pressure to follow.

• Reggie, Annie, Tommy, Kevin, and John ate sukiyaki while Black Noir remained motionless in the corner.
• Lynn examined a register Black Noir had brought back and found the Kamo Family head’s secondary residence in Bunkyō Ward.
• Director Sato urged Lynn to leave Tokyo, warning that the Kamo Family and its yokai could draw them into conflict with Japan’s Special Countermeasures Bureau.
• Lynn told Sato that retreat would damage Vought’s reputation and put Sato’s position at risk.
• Lynn called the children to leave and ordered Black Noir to get the car.

Lynn brought John and the children to the Kamo Clan’s main residence, where the clan prepared a supernatural ambush. As the courtyard’s psychic energy gathered, Lynn told John to clean up the threat, and John unleashed his Heat Vision.

• Lynn asked Director Sato about the Kamo Clan’s residence and told John to stay close and control any fire he started.
• Black Noir drove the group into Bunkyō Ward, where they arrived at the Kamo Clan’s walled compound.
• A young Onmyōji opened the gate and confronted Lynn as Kamo Clan members prepared talismans and ritual staffs.
• The Kamo Clan’s ritual made green flames appear and churned the courtyard gravel, while Director Sato cowered behind the car.
• Lynn told John to clean up the threat, and John fired two beams of Heat Vision toward the courtyard.

Lynn and the children crushed the Kamo Clan’s attack in its courtyard, leaving the young heir terrified and his fighters defeated. Lynn told the heir to stand aside so the children could tour the grounds.

• John vaporized the underground yokai with heat vision, and Lynn praised him.
• Tommy stopped and crushed the Onmyōji’s talismans with telekinesis, then sent them flying back at the attackers.
• Reggie disarmed and tripped several Onmyōji, while Black Noir quickly defeated the samurai guards.
• Kevin spoke with the koi and told Lynn they wanted to live at the Manor in New York because the pond was polluted.
• Lynn confronted the Kamo Clan heir and told him to step aside while the children went in for a tour.