Chapter Summaries

After being kidnapped into The Boys and awakened as Soldier Boy in a Russian cryogenic chamber, Lu Zhao unleashed his chest blast and destroyed much of the secret military base. He stood in the ruins as the base's forces opened fire on him.

• Lu Zhao was knocked unconscious and transported to a Russian secret military base, where he awakened inside a cryogenic chamber.
• The Old Popsicle System told Lu Zhao that he was Soldier Boy and ordered him to blast his way out before the soldiers used Novichok on him again.
• Memories of Soldier Boy's torture surfaced, and Lu Zhao's chest began glowing as his anger and fear triggered a powerful blast.
• Lu Zhao's chest blast destroyed the colonel's office and devastated almost the entire base.
• After recovering his senses, Lu Zhao felt drained but admired his strength and wondered how Homelander would react to learning he had a father.
• The base's armed forces assembled, then opened fire on Lu Zhao with guns and explosives.

Lu Zhao accepted his identity as Soldier Boy after the system rewarded him with a voice pack that made him curse uncontrollably. As he headed for New York, the system revealed its ability ratings and urged him to change The Boys’ plot, leaving him determined to try to redeem Homelander, his son.

• Lu Zhao killed the attackers at the military base, then received the Thunder Voice Pack, which forced him to speak in Soldier Boy’s profane manner.
• Lu Zhao accepted his new life, took the name Soldier Boy, and left the base for New York while Russian authorities let him escape.
• The Old Popsicle System rated Soldier Boy’s abilities and explained that changing the plot, repairing regrets, and correcting Homelander could earn rewards.
• Soldier Boy considered Homelander’s traumatic upbringing and concluded that redeeming him would be difficult, but declared himself capable as Homelander’s father.

Soldier Boy arrived in New York before the events of The Seven’s armored-truck robbery, then received a system mission to make first contact with Homelander. After airport witnesses recognized him, he announced his return to Vought International and left as videos of the incident went viral.

• Soldier Boy checked news reports and concluded that Homelander had not yet reached the events that opened season one.
• Soldier Boy landed in New York and watched a broadcast praising Homelander for defeating terrorists.
• The Old Popsicle System assigned Soldier Boy a mission to contact Homelander without revealing the system.
• Airport travelers recognized Soldier Boy as alive, and he tore a metal railing from its base to prove he was real.
• Soldier Boy threatened Vought International and walked out while videos of his return spread across the internet.

Ashley alerted Homelander that Soldier Boy had appeared in public, and Homelander flew to meet him despite Madelyn's warnings. The two met before a crowd in Manhattan, where Soldier Boy's crude insult left Homelander's practiced smile frozen.

• Ashley burst into the Seven's conference room and showed Homelander footage of Soldier Boy leaving the airport.
• Homelander recognized Soldier Boy and, despite Madelyn warning him not to act rashly, decided to go meet him himself.
• Soldier Boy walked through Manhattan, mocked The Deep's endorsement, and told the Old Popsicle System to be quiet.
• Homelander landed in front of a cheering crowd and met Soldier Boy's gaze for the first time.
• Soldier Boy insulted Homelander's outfit, silencing the crowd and freezing Homelander's smile.

Soldier Boy provoked Homelander in front of a crowd, then revealed himself as the supposedly dead hero from an earlier era. After Homelander’s heat vision failed to seriously hurt him, Homelander realized Vought had hidden Soldier Boy’s survival from him.

• Soldier Boy insulted Homelander in public, and Homelander masked his anger while considering using his heat vision.
• Soldier Boy continued provoking Homelander, and Ashley arrived fearing their confrontation would turn New York’s streets into a battlefield.
• Homelander said Soldier Boy was dead and tested him with his heat vision as the crowd fled.
• Soldier Boy endured the blast with minor injuries, while Homelander realized he was genuine and that Vought had deceived him.

Soldier Boy revealed that Vought had betrayed him and that Homelander was the son he never knew, while demonstrating his strength by punching Homelander through a wall. Homelander was left reeling as his belief that he had been created without parents collapsed into shock and joy at discovering he had a father.

• Homelander welcomed Soldier Boy back and asked what had happened to him.
• Soldier Boy punched Homelander through a wall, injuring him and showing that he was stronger than Homelander had expected.
• Soldier Boy told Homelander that Vought had sent him to Nicaragua, where his teammates betrayed him and handed him over to the Soviets.
• Soldier Boy explained that Vought had used his genetic sample to create a child and said he had regretted for forty years not knowing whether that child was a boy or a girl.
• Soldier Boy told Homelander that he was his son, and Homelander struggled to accept that he had a father.

Soldier Boy overwhelmed Homelander in a public fight, leaving Vought executives fearing both Homelander’s loss of control and the fallout from Soldier Boy’s return. Ashley fled the scene but turned back after Madelyn ordered her to stabilize the situation.

• Ashley saw Soldier Boy overpower Homelander and fled in the Vought car, then ran away barefoot when the driver hesitated.
• Madelyn and the Seven watched the live broadcast as Soldier Boy withstood Homelander’s heat vision and sent him flying.
• Madelyn ordered A-Train and Maeve to help Homelander and questioned Black Noir, who trembled and pointed at the screen.
• Madelyn called Ashley, learned that Homelander was acting strangely and that Ashley could not hear what Soldier Boy had said, then ordered her to return.
• Ashley ended the call, resisted smashing her phone, and headed back toward the street despite her injured feet.

Soldier Boy’s system detected A-Train and Queen Maeve, while Homelander demanded to know where Madelyn and Black Noir were. After Soldier Boy urged him to seek the truth at Vought, Homelander flew to the tower.

• The system assigned Soldier Boy a mission to stop A-Train from hitting Hughie’s girlfriend and unlocked a skill-point exchange shop.
• A-Train arrived and Queen Maeve followed, prompting Soldier Boy’s system to scan her after he accidentally consented and spent 10 exchange points.
• Queen Maeve recognized Soldier Boy, who joked about her appearance as Homelander watched.
• Homelander demanded to know where Madelyn and Black Noir were, and A-Train said they were at Vought Tower.
• Soldier Boy told Homelander to find the files at Vought and spare Black Noir, and Homelander flew to the tower.

Soldier Boy claimed to be Homelander’s father, crippled A-Train to prevent him from killing Robin, and easily defeated Queen Maeve when she intervened. He left Maeve injured and warned A-Train to stay away from Hughie and his girlfriend.

• Soldier Boy told Queen Maeve and A-Train that he was Homelander’s father and made crude remarks about Maeve’s appearance.
• Soldier Boy kicked A-Train, breaking his leg, and received a mission reward for preventing A-Train from killing Hughie’s girlfriend, Robin.
• Soldier Boy warned A-Train not to lose control on drugs and threatened to kill him if he did.
• Queen Maeve attacked Soldier Boy, but he caught her punch and threw her through a convenience store window.
• Soldier Boy told A-Train to stay away from Hughie and Robin, while Maeve backed down after realizing how outmatched she was.

Vought struggled to contain the fallout after Soldier Boy appeared alive and sent Homelander flying. Homelander confronted Madelyn about whether Soldier Boy was his father, then demanded that she take him to the archives.

• Madelyn ordered Vought staff to suppress videos of Homelander's defeat and deny that he had been injured.
• Vought executives warned Madelyn that Soldier Boy's return cast doubt on the company's decades-long claim that he had died.
• Black Noir panicked at the sight of Soldier Boy, while The Deep failed to recognize how distressed he was.
• Homelander entered the conference room through the glass and ignored The Deep, focusing on Black Noir and Madelyn.
• Homelander asked Madelyn whether Soldier Boy was his father, and her shocked reaction convinced him she did not know.
• Homelander ordered Madelyn to take him to the archives.

Homelander forced Madelyn to take him to Edgar’s top-secret file, leaving Vought’s executives terrified and ordering The Deep and Translucent to keep Black Noir confined. In New York, Soldier Boy drove off Maeve, sent A-Train to Vought’s medical team, and checked his newly upgraded system before declaring that the world would change because of him.

• Homelander demanded that Madelyn take him to the restricted file, then ordered The Deep and Translucent to guard Black Noir while he left to confront the situation.
• Vought’s executives panicked after Homelander threatened them over the public-relations crisis and discussed the revelation that Soldier Boy was his father.
• Soldier Boy watched Vought’s medical team remove A-Train after he broke A-Train’s leg and drove Queen Maeve away.
• Ashley Barrett approached Soldier Boy, fled when he told her to leave, then returned after he ordered her to buy him cigarettes.
• Soldier Boy opened the upgraded system shop, saw that his reward had become 100 exchange points, and reviewed his abilities before deciding not to spend them.
• Soldier Boy surveyed Vought’s commercialized New York and said that everything would be different because he was there.

Homelander went to Vought’s archives to learn whether Soldier Boy was his father and found out that Vought had created him using Soldier Boy’s genetic material. The revelation left him furious and on the verge of breaking down, while Soldier Boy had devised a way to make him feel protected.

• Soldier Boy received a mission to make Homelander feel protected and realized the system’s special reward could raise his power by two levels.
• Homelander entered Vought Tower’s underground archives, where memories of his childhood experiments resurfaced.
• Homelander forced open the archive’s blast door and confronted Stan Edgar, demanding to know whether Soldier Boy was his father.
• Edgar confirmed the truth and had a researcher give Homelander the classified file.
• Homelander read that Vought had created him using Soldier Boy’s genetic material, then crushed the file in rage as Edgar called him unstable, inhuman, and a Vought product.

Homelander confronted Edgar over the truth about his origins, but Edgar’s taunts and threat to his public approval stopped him from killing him. Homelander turned his anger toward Black Noir, who tried to escape before Homelander arrived at the 99th floor and blocked him.

• Homelander threatened Edgar in the archive room, but Edgar challenged him and reminded him that Vought controlled his public image.
• Homelander grabbed Edgar by the throat, then let him go as Edgar promised to protect his approval rating and said Soldier Boy could return to the Seven.
• Homelander punched a crater into the laboratory wall and decided to take out his anger on Black Noir.
• Black Noir tried to flee the 99th floor, injuring Translucent and The Deep as he fought his way toward the windows.
• Homelander smashed through Vought Tower and appeared in front of Black Noir, asking where he thought he was going.

Homelander confronted Black Noir over hiding that Soldier Boy was his father and attacked him despite Black Noir’s plea that he had kept the truth from him to protect him. Meanwhile, Soldier Boy stormed the research center where Homelander had grown up, setting off its alarms and breaking through the gate.

• Homelander accused Black Noir of helping betray Soldier Boy and demanded that he remove his mask.
• Homelander punched Black Noir, who wrote that he had lied to protect Homelander from the truth.
• Homelander began driving his hand into Black Noir’s chest, then hesitated briefly after recalling Soldier Boy’s request to spare him.
• Soldier Boy arrived at Vought’s Redwell Biological Research Center during a storm and shoved a guard aside.
• Soldier Boy triggered the facility-wide alarm and smashed through its alloy gate as security personnel approached.

Soldier Boy attacked the Redwell Biological Research Center and punished the researchers who had abused Homelander, claiming only he had the right to discipline his son. Watching the footage, Homelander was stunned by the unexpected protection, then stopped the others from intervening as he began to laugh.

• Ashley Barrett told Homelander that Soldier Boy had breached the research center, and Madelyn arrived too late to keep him from finding out.
• Homelander watched surveillance footage of Soldier Boy entering the Superhero Breeding Room and declaring that he had come to stand up for his son.
• Soldier Boy forced an elderly researcher to identify those who had hurt Homelander, then killed Frank in the high-temperature test chamber and injured Marty.
• Soldier Boy demanded to know who else had harmed Homelander as the researchers cowered.
• Madelyn ordered Homelander to lead the others to stop Soldier Boy, but Homelander laughed and told everyone to stay put, his eyes glowing red.

Homelander defied Madelyn and flew to the Redwell Research Center after hearing Soldier Boy say he had come to stand up for him. He arrived as Soldier Boy interrogated the researchers and revealed that one of them had once mocked him.

• Madelyn tried to use Homelander's attachment to her and Vought to make him stop Soldier Boy, but Homelander ordered everyone to stay in the conference room and flew away.
• Madelyn fired Ashley for showing Homelander the surveillance footage, while Maeve arranged medical treatment for the badly injured Black Noir.
• Homelander flew to the Redwell Research Center, ignoring the wounded security staff as he headed toward Soldier Boy.
• Soldier Boy questioned an old researcher about what he had done to Homelander, and Homelander said the man had mocked him with Marty.

Soldier Boy and Homelander hunted down the researchers who had tortured Homelander as a child, but Soldier Boy challenged Homelander when he tried to kill a woman who had not harmed him. The woman fled, while Homelander remained determined to stop her.

• Soldier Boy beat the researcher who had mocked Homelander, then urged Homelander to identify the people who had hurt him.
• Homelander named the researcher who ran the High-Pressure Chamber, and Soldier Boy killed him as Homelander relived his childhood torture.
• Homelander identified another researcher who had tested lethal poisons on him, and Soldier Boy killed that man too.
• Homelander demanded that Soldier Boy kill a woman who knew what had happened, but Soldier Boy asked whether she had abused or experimented on him.
• Soldier Boy let the woman go, and Homelander watched her leave with his heat vision glowing, insisting they could not let her escape.

Soldier Boy stopped Homelander from killing every laboratory worker and guided him through judging who had harmed him. Homelander spared Nika for once bringing him cake, but killed many others before Soldier Boy sent the remaining uninvolved workers away; Homelander then turned his attention to Marty.

• Soldier Boy calmed Homelander and persuaded him to let the workers speak before deciding who should die.
• Homelander ordered the researchers to line up, and Soldier Boy questioned them about their treatment of John.
• Homelander recognized Nika as the woman who secretly brought him cake on his seventh birthday and let her leave with early retirement.
• Homelander killed a researcher who had turned up the lights in the bad room, and more than half the workers died.
• Soldier Boy drove the surviving uninvolved workers away, while Homelander addressed the unconscious Marty and said he knew Marty was awake.

Homelander and Soldier Boy avenged Homelander’s childhood tormentors, then destroyed the superhero development facility before heading to Vought. Edgar recognized that the father and son were beyond Vought’s control and opened a long-hidden file marked V Plan.

• Homelander confronted Marty over the childhood humiliation and killed him, saying he forgave him.
• Barbara arrived at the laboratory, and Soldier Boy threw her into the isolation room where she had once confined Homelander.
• Soldier Boy blasted the superhero development facility, freeing Homelander from the place that had imprisoned him as a child; the system awarded him a speed ability upgrade card.
• Homelander and Soldier Boy left together for Vought while Edgar told Madelyn to placate them and buy him time.
• Edgar took his heart-rate medication and opened an old file labeled V Plan.

After Vought faced public outrage and a collapsing stock price over Soldier Boy’s return, Soldier Boy and Homelander confronted Edgar and the company’s executives. Soldier Boy demanded control of the Seven and ten percent of Vought’s shares, and Edgar agreed as Soldier Boy left to meet the team.

• Americans reacted to news of Soldier Boy’s return, the attack on Vought’s facility, and Vought’s falling stock price.
• Vought executives and institutional shareholders pressed Edgar for answers, and Madelyn said Homelander had gone to handle the facility incident.
• Soldier Boy and Homelander arrived at Vought Tower and entered the executives’ meeting, where Edgar offered Soldier Boy a place in the Seven and five percent of Vought’s profits.
• Soldier Boy demanded full control of the Seven and ten percent of Vought’s shares, and Edgar agreed to the share demand despite objections from the room.
• Soldier Boy gave Edgar a week to prepare the share transfer agreement and told Homelander to take him to meet the Seven.