Chapter Summaries

John rejected the idea of rescuing Vought’s children because he would not risk the peaceful family life he had built with Lynn. As a blizzard battered Long Island, the family stayed warm inside the villa and gathered for dinner.

• John decided that protecting Lynn and the family mattered more to him than acting as a hero and provoking Vought International.
• Lynn reassured John that she would dock Reggie's allowance, and Reggie hurried inside after climbing out of a snowdrift.
• A powerful blizzard struck Long Island, while the villa’s thick windows and fireplace kept the family safe and warm.
• Reggie huddled beside Annie as she warmed him with a controlled energy ball, while he and Tommy bickered.
• Lynn called everyone to wash their hands for dinner, and Reggie rushed to the sink while Tommy put down his game controller.

A blizzard knocked out power at Lynn’s villa, but Annie, Lynn, and John helped everyone stay warm and comfortable. The group settled together by the fireplace for an indoor campout while John quietly enjoyed the cozy scene.

• The power failed during dinner, and Lynn guessed the blizzard had brought down the neighborhood’s main power line.
• Annie conjured a ball of light, and Lynn went to fetch candles while John carried a huge load of firewood in from the shed.
• Lynn lit candles around the villa, and everyone brought blankets and mattresses downstairs to sleep in the living room.
• Reggie and Tommy playfully fought over places by the fireplace while Buddy claimed a rug, and Lynn read by candlelight.
• John made a bed near Lynn’s feet and reflected that the noisy, candlelit house felt more beautiful than anything he had seen in nine years.

Lynn and the others endured the freezing, snowbound estate by relighting the fire, making oatmeal, and clearing the heavy snow. John watched the blocked road and briefly thought of Edgar, Stormfront, and the children trapped underground before stirring up Reggie and Tommy's snowball fight.

• Lynn found John relighting the fireplace and told him to fetch the pot and oats so they could make breakfast.
• Lynn served oatmeal and ordered everyone to shovel snow after the meal.
• The group went outside and found Black Noir had already cleared a path through the deep snow.
• Annie and Reggie started a snowball fight while John cleared icicles from the balcony.
• John looked toward the blocked road, thought of Edgar, Stormfront, and the children underground, then taunted Reggie by claiming Tommy had called him slow.

Stan Edgar observed the New Vanguard children thriving under Vought’s care and recognized how their new bonds could make them loyal weapons. Recovering from her injuries, Stormfront became fixated on John and decided that killing Lynn could unleash him.

• Stan Edgar watched the children in the underground recreation area and concluded that Vought’s care had made them fiercely loyal.
• Stan Edgar visited Stormfront in intensive care as her shattered legs healed under compound V.
• Stormfront recalled John defeating her and came to regard him as a god of perfect power.
• Stormfront grew to despise Lynn for keeping John emotionally anchored and restrained.
• Stormfront decided that Lynn’s death could drive John into madness and free him to unleash his power.

Edgar warned Stormfront that Lynn possessed a dangerous mental power and that an attack on him would provoke John to destroy Vought International. He refused her plan at first, but then offered to lure Lynn to Vought Tower if Stormfront agreed to fulfill one request.

• Stormfront urged Edgar to lure Lynn to Vought Tower so she could kill him and free John from his restraint.
• Edgar explained that Lynn could devastate people's minds without touching them and warned Stormfront that John would retaliate against her and Vought.
• Stormfront proposed using the New Vanguard Camp children to bring Lynn to the basement alone, accepting that she might die in the attempt.
• Edgar rejected her plan as a threat to Vought, then offered to lure Lynn to the tower if Stormfront carried out one request of his.

Lynn decided Stormfront remained a threat to his family and left for Manhattan with Black Noir to kill her while she was vulnerable. John realized where they had gone but chose to trust Lynn and stay behind.

• Lynn told Black Noir that sparing Stormfront in the yard had protected the children from witnessing violence, but that she still needed to be eliminated.
• Lynn explained that Stormfront’s fanaticism made her a danger to his family and said she was vulnerable in the medical wing beneath Vought Tower.
• Lynn changed into a coat and left the villa with Black Noir for Manhattan.
• John heard the back door and car, guessed their destination, and considered following them before deciding to trust Lynn and Black Noir.
• Reggie asked John for his unfinished apple, and John teased him about getting oatmeal instead.

Stormfront delivered Grace Mallory to Edgar, who questioned her about Soldier Boy and revealed a plan to use his relationship with Homelander to provoke a deadly clash. Mallory learned that Soldier Boy was Homelander’s biological father and was left confronting Edgar’s willingness to sacrifice Lynn and others for Vought’s plans.

• Stormfront brought the captive Grace Mallory to Edgar and demanded he keep his promise to arrange her meeting with Lynn.
• Edgar asked Mallory where Soldier Boy was being held, but she claimed he was dead and refused to cooperate.
• Edgar warned that Homelander could become a global threat if Lynn were no longer there to restrain him, while Mallory insisted Lynn was a good person who kept the boy well-behaved.
• Edgar suggested Mallory would want Homelander eliminated and revealed that Soldier Boy was Homelander’s biological father.
• Edgar explained that he hoped Soldier Boy, Homelander, and Lynn would clash and kill or cripple one another, clearing the way for Vought’s new business plan.

Mallory revealed that the captive Supe was being held at a secret Soviet base in Siberia, and Edgar had Duke kill her. Edgar praised Duke and strengthened the boy’s loyalty to him, leaving the cleaners to remove Mallory’s body.

• Mallory told Edgar that the captive was imprisoned at the Black Mountain Underground Military Base in Siberia, in a cryogenic chamber on its lowest level.
• Edgar gave a signal, and Duke appeared behind Mallory and snapped her neck.
• Edgar praised Duke, draped his jacket over him, and told him he had protected their home.
• Duke vowed to do whatever Edgar said to protect the New Vanguard Camp.
• Edgar gestured for cleaners to enter and dispose of Mallory’s corpse.

Edgar delivered the bound Lynn to Stormfront, who reveled in having him at her mercy. At the Long Island Estate, John sensed that Lynn was in danger and flew toward Manhattan at full speed.

• Edgar told Stormfront he had captured Lynn and had him dragged into her hospital room.
• Stormfront saw Lynn bound and kneeling before her, then laughed with excitement at the chance to kill him.
• At the Long Island Estate, John suddenly felt intense unease while playing in the snow with Reggie, Tommy, Annie, Kevin, and Buddy.
• John told the others to stay inside the gate and launched himself toward Manhattan.

Edgar persuaded Stormfront to take Lynn into the sky and kill him in front of John, hoping the loss would push John to reject his human ties. John arrived and pleaded for Lynn’s life, but Stormfront broke Lynn’s neck as John watched.

• Edgar urged Stormfront to use Lynn’s death as a catalyst for John’s transformation.
• Stormfront seized Lynn and smashed her way through Vought Tower, carrying him into the sky above Manhattan.
• John arrived after hearing Stormfront’s sonic boom and found Lynn dangling from her grip.
• John lowered his hands and offered to obey Stormfront if she would release Lynn.
• Stormfront tightened her grip and broke Lynn’s neck while John watched.

John caught the falling impostor who looked like Lynn and realized Stormfront had staged the scene to provoke him. He attacked Stormfront with overwhelming force and stood over her, preparing to crush her head.

• John caught the falling fake Lynn and recognized him by his missing scarf, erratic heartbeat, and unfamiliar scent.
• Stormfront urged John to grieve and abandon his ties to mortal family, but his smile made her realize her plan had gone wrong.
• John laid the impostor in the snow, then slammed Stormfront through the rooftop and pinned her beneath him.
• John crushed Stormfront's chest and tore off both her arms while she screamed and bled.
• John raised his foot above Stormfront's head.

Lynn arrived on the rooftop and stopped John from killing Stormfront, revealing that the dead Lynn was a shapeshifter sent as a decoy. With Stormfront captured and the immediate danger over, Lynn and John headed home, joking about lunch.

• John nearly stomped Stormfront to death, but Lynn told him to pull back before he ruined his shoes.
• Lynn reunited with John and gently fixed his clothes, while John quietly said he had only wanted to come out and look.
• Stormfront realized Edgar had used a shapeshifter as a double and manipulated her into testing John and becoming expendable.
• Lynn ordered Black Noir to take Stormfront alive to the fortieth basement level, and he reminded John to change his bloodstained hoodie.
• John told Lynn that Tommy no longer wanted oatmeal for lunch, and Lynn offered to make beef brisket and tomato stew as they walked home.

Black Noir delivered the mortally wounded Stormfront to Edgar’s office, where Edgar ordered him to kill her. Edgar then had Madelyn secure the surveillance footage and arranged for Stormfront’s body to be taken to the underground laboratory for Compound V research.

• Black Noir brought Stormfront’s mangled body to Edgar’s office, and Stormfront cursed Edgar for deceiving her.
• Edgar ordered Black Noir to kill Stormfront, and Black Noir killed her with a dagger.
• Black Noir left the office, and Edgar summoned Madelyn.
• Edgar ordered Madelyn to copy and encrypt the office surveillance footage.
• Edgar instructed Madelyn to oversee the removal of Stormfront’s body and ordered the laboratory to extract the original constituents of Compound V from her cells.

Lynn returned to the Long Island Estate with John after the violence in Manhattan, and the household gathered in the kitchen to prepare lunch. As the beef brisket simmered, John’s fear of losing Lynn eased, and Black Noir quietly joined the cooking.

• Lynn returned to the estate and told John to change and shower before joining the others.
• Lynn promised to make beef brisket stewed with tomatoes, and Reggie and Tommy helped prepare the ingredients.
• John remembered the impostor who had looked like Lynn dying on the Manhattan rooftop and realized how deeply the thought of losing Lynn frightened him.
• Lynn corrected John’s tomato-cutting, and John’s unease eased as he followed the instruction.
• Black Noir entered the kitchen and silently peeled potatoes while the beef brisket began to simmer.

At the Long Island Estate, John shared a warm lunch and a quiet afternoon with Lynn and the others. Meanwhile, Stan Edgar studied an old file on Soldier Boy and ordered a private jet to Russia to contact the person in charge of the Black Mountain base.

• John ate lunch with Lynn and the others, and Lynn reminded him to eat his carrots.
• After lunch, Reggie and Tommy washed the dishes while Lynn made tea.
• Madelyn delivered old files to Stan Edgar, who examined a photograph of Soldier Boy.
• Stan Edgar ordered a private jet to Russia and asked to be connected with the person in charge of the Black Mountain base.
• John grew drowsy beside Lynn and asked for tomato-braised beef brisket for breakfast, but Lynn said they would have egg and ham sandwiches.

Stan Edgar brought Marge and Duke to a secret Siberian military base to awaken Soldier Boy, presenting the dangerous mission as a chance to protect him. The group reached the underground cell, leaving Soldier Boy’s condition and awakening for what came next.

• Stan Edgar reassured Marge and Duke aboard the plane that they would visit an old friend, while secretly relying on them as bodyguards and potential shields.
• The plane landed at a Russian military airfield, where a bearded officer greeted Edgar and confirmed that the captive had been kept frozen underground.
• Edgar promised the officer that Vought International would transfer the remaining payment after they confirmed the captive was intact.
• Edgar, Marge, and Duke rode armored snow vehicles to a mountainside facility and entered its underground passage.
• Edgar led the children toward a rusted metal door holding Soldier Boy.

Edgar had the Russian guards release Soldier Boy from his underground chamber despite their warnings. Soldier Boy broke his chains and confronted Edgar, who welcomed him back to the real world as Ben.

• Edgar told the Russian officer to drain the gas and open Soldier Boy’s chamber.
• The Russian officer opened the chamber, revealing a scarred, sleeping man bound in heavy chains.
• Soldier Boy woke, snapped his chains, and walked out while the soldiers aimed their rifles at him.
• Soldier Boy asked Edgar if he was American, and Edgar welcomed him back as Ben.

Edgar freed Soldier Boy from his Russian prison and tried to recruit him by revealing that he had a biological son named John. Soldier Boy saw through Edgar’s attempt to manipulate him and agreed to help only after he had seen the world for himself.

• Soldier Boy mocked Vought, seized a Russian officer, and accepted a military coat from Edgar.
• Marge stood up to Soldier Boy, called him stinky, and earned his approval for her courage.
• Edgar told Soldier Boy that Vought had used his genes to create a son who was adopted by a civilian named Lynn.
• Soldier Boy recognized that Vought wanted him to deal with Lynn, and Edgar admitted the company had run into trouble.
• Soldier Boy agreed to kill someone for Vought but insisted on seeing the outside world first.

Soldier Boy left Siberia with Stan Edgar and flew back toward the United States, while John found comfort in a peaceful morning at the Manor with Lynn and the others. The chapter ended with Soldier Boy looking down at New York and sneering at how gaudy it had become.

• Soldier Boy left the Siberian facility after Edgar arranged the remaining payment and headed for the exit.
• John woke at the Manor, heard the familiar sounds of his household, and felt reassured that Lynn and the others were safe.
• Lynn served breakfast, then ordered the children to clear the snow by hand before they could have fried chicken for lunch.
• John, Reggie, Tommy, Buddy, and Black Noir went outside to shovel the snow while Lynn watched from the porch.
• Soldier Boy flew toward the United States aboard Vought's private jet with Edgar, Duke, and Marge.
• Soldier Boy looked down at the New York skyline and complained that the city had become gaudy.

Edgar pitched Soldier Boy on a public comeback, but Soldier Boy cared only about revenge on the Payback Team that had betrayed him. After learning that Crimson Earl's Wife and Gunpowder had been killed by mutated rats, he asked Edgar what had happened to Black Noir.

• Edgar urged Soldier Boy to use his return as a Vought International publicity campaign and raise the company's stock price.
• Soldier Boy rejected Edgar's plans and said he wanted revenge on Crimson Earl's Wife and Gunpowder for selling him to the Russians.
• Edgar told Soldier Boy that Crimson Earl's Wife and Gunpowder had been eaten by Compound V-infected rats in Lower Manhattan.
• Soldier Boy laughed at their deaths, then asked Edgar whether Black Noir was still alive.