Chapter Summaries

Homelander nearly killed The Deep for bullying Ryan, but Ryan asked him to stop because of what his mother taught him. Soldier Boy arrived and knocked The Deep into the wall, leaving him badly injured.

• Homelander confronted The Deep about what he had said to Ryan and lifted him by the throat.
• Ryan asked Starlight whether The Deep would die, then came forward when Homelander asked what should happen to him.
• Ryan took Homelander's hand and told him it was okay because his mother had taught him not to hurt others.
• Soldier Boy entered the conference room and slapped The Deep, sending him flying into the wall and knocking out several of his teeth.

Soldier Boy punished The Deep for exposing Ryan to his misconduct, while Homelander showed restraint and Ryan’s faith in superheroes began to recover. Soldier Boy received a Super Durability upgrade, and Ryan asked Homelander to take him home.

• Homelander backed away from The Deep after Soldier Boy arrived, and Soldier Boy crushed The Deep’s right arm for setting a bad example for Ryan.
• Homelander took comfort in Soldier Boy calling Ryan his son’s son, while Starlight and Homelander reassured Ryan about what he had seen.
• Soldier Boy fired The Deep from The Seven, then warned Ryan that he was not a god and should not be brainwashed by Homelander.
• Soldier Boy received a mission reward that raised his Super Durability to level 8 after correcting Ryan and teaching Homelander restraint.
• Homelander ordered Ashley to strip The Deep and throw him out of Vought, while Ryan tugged at his cape and asked to go home.

Homelander returned Ryan to Becca after Soldier Boy gave the boy a bottle of alcohol, and he spent the evening bonding with his son. The chapter ended with Becca asking Homelander not to teach Ryan that only the strong had a say in the world.

• Ashley had The Deep thrown out of Vought Tower, and videos of the naked Seven member went viral.
• Homelander comforted Ryan and took him home, while Soldier Boy gave Ryan an old bottle of alcohol and encouraged him to grow tough.
• Becca, distraught over Ryan's absence, rushed out to embrace him when Homelander brought him back.
• Homelander visited Ryan's cramped room, talked with him, and saved his and Soldier Boy's numbers in Ryan's phone before letting him sleep.
• Becca asked Homelander not to encourage Ryan to use his powers or tell him that only the strong had a say in the world.

Becca discovered that Ryan was secretly playing on his phone and drinking liquor, then gave him Ultraman Geed to watch. Homelander repaired Soldier Boy’s shield and told him that someone was threatening to reveal Vought’s Compound V secret, leading Soldier Boy to suspect Butcher.

• Homelander told Becca that he and Soldier Boy would help Ryan become a true superhero, and Becca later found Ryan awake in bed secretly playing on his phone.
• Becca found half a bottle of liquor beside Ryan’s bed and learned that Soldier Boy had given it to him and taught him to swear.
• Becca introduced Ryan to Ultraman Geed, and he watched the series on his phone.
• Homelander welded Soldier Boy’s broken shield back together and gave it to him, earning Soldier Boy’s reluctant thanks.
• Homelander told Soldier Boy that a caller had threatened to expose Vought’s Compound V secret unless they met next Tuesday.
• Soldier Boy suspected the caller was Butcher, but wondered how Butcher had learned about Compound V while Translucent was alive and Hughie and Robin were still together.

Soldier Boy questioned how Butcher had learned about Compound V and advised Homelander to meet him despite suspecting a trap. Homelander admitted Butcher was Becca’s husband and described how they had slept together, leaving Soldier Boy satisfied that Becca had not been forced and telling Homelander to handle Butcher himself.

• Homelander asked Soldier Boy how he knew Butcher used the word “cunt,” and Soldier Boy brushed off the question while wondering why events still echoed the original timeline.
• Homelander asked what to do about Butcher, and Soldier Boy told him to go see him rather than fear a trap.
• Soldier Boy pointed out that Homelander was worried Butcher might reach Ryan, prompting Homelander to admit that Butcher was Becca’s husband.
• Soldier Boy demanded to know what had happened between Homelander and Becca, and Homelander said Becca had been drinking and flirting with him after Butcher mocked his uniform.
• Soldier Boy concluded that Homelander probably had not forced Becca and told him to handle the matter with Butcher himself.

Ashley brought Blindspot to meet Homelander as a candidate for The Seven, but Homelander attacked him and confronted Ashley for choosing a recruit without permission. Soldier Boy watched the incident, recognizing that Homelander's anger had been building throughout the meeting.

• Soldier Boy planned to reunite Kimiko with her younger brother and considered whether she might join Vought.
• Ashley introduced Blindspot as a candidate to replace The Deep, and Soldier Boy joined Homelander to see him.
• Blindspot demonstrated his combat skills and praised Soldier Boy, then made a comment about super hearing that angered Homelander.
• Homelander punched Blindspot through a training hall wall, leaving him injured and screaming.
• Homelander demanded to know who had authorized Ashley to choose Seven members and insisted that only he and his father could decide.

Homelander threatened Ashley for interfering with the Seven and declared they would become real heroes, then confronted Blindspot over his remarks. Though Homelander wanted to punish Blindspot, he held back under Soldier Boy’s watchful gaze and left.

• Homelander ordered Ashley to look at him, threatened to kill her if she interfered with the Seven again, and told her they would become real heroes.
• Homelander questioned Blindspot about his earlier remark, and Blindspot apologized while Ashley sensed Homelander wanted to kill him.
• Homelander lifted Blindspot to his feet and struggled with the urge to destroy his super hearing.
• Homelander raised his hand toward Blindspot but lowered it after noticing Soldier Boy watching him, then left.
• Soldier Boy was surprised and pleased that Homelander had restrained himself, believing his influence was beginning to change him.

Soldier Boy gained stronger Super Strength after Homelander abandoned the plan to create Deaf Man, then checked on Kimiko and tried to help her overcome her trauma-induced mutism. The chapter ended with Butcher waiting to ambush Homelander at an abandoned steel mill.

• Soldier Boy received 100 Exchange Points and raised his Super Strength to level 8 after Homelander gave up on creating Deaf Man.
• Soldier Boy told Ashley to compensate Blindspot and transfer him to a city far from New York for his safety.
• Soldier Boy visited Kimiko, promised to look for her younger brother, and pressured her until she made a breathy sound.
• Soldier Boy gave A-Train's phone to Kimiko so she could learn to speak by following TikTok videos.
• Butcher prepared explosives and a truck loaded with steel coils near an abandoned steel mill, planning to use them against Homelander.

Butcher tried to kill Homelander by ramming him with a truck loaded with steel coils, but Homelander stopped the truck and endured the impact with barely a scratch. Homelander greeted the battered Butcher as the first stage of his revenge attempt failed.

• Butcher waited in the abandoned industrial district for his arranged meeting with Homelander.
• Homelander arrived at the faded American flag and used his super senses to locate Butcher approaching in a truck.
• Homelander recognized Butcher as the man who had mocked him eight years earlier and chose to face the truck without dodging.
• Butcher jumped from the speeding truck just before it struck Homelander.
• The truck crumpled and its steel coils slammed into Homelander, who held his ground while Butcher suffered only minor scrapes.
• Homelander waved away the dust and greeted the bedraggled Butcher.

Butcher detonated the explosives in the abandoned building, but Homelander survived and brought him to Becca and Ryan, revealing that they were both alive. Butcher was left devastated as he faced the wife he had mourned and the son she had with Homelander.

• Frenchie and Mother's Milk watched a video of Homelander surviving the steel coil impact and struggled to understand his strength.
• Butcher ran into the explosive-packed abandoned building, hoping to lure Homelander close enough to kill them both.
• Homelander taunted Butcher about his revenge and claimed Becca had come on to him, prompting Butcher to detonate the explosives.
• Butcher woke in a sunny yard, where Homelander revealed Ryan as his son and led him to Becca.
• Butcher and Becca recognized each other, and Homelander mocked Butcher as he confronted Ryan and the collapse of his long-held beliefs.

Soldier Boy pressured Anika to locate Kenji, a telekinetic supe and Shining Light Liberation Army member, and she found a lead on the United States West Coast. Stormfront joined the hunt under Soldier Boy’s orders, and Ashley suggested bringing in The Deep, who was nearby.

• Soldier Boy told Anika to find Kenji and added that he was a terrorist with the Shining Light Liberation Army.
• Anika found a highly active Shining Light Liberation Army combatant on the United States West Coast and said he had caused three major incidents of destruction.
• Soldier Boy prepared to pursue the target and ordered Anika to coordinate with him in real time.
• Stormfront asked to join the hunt, and Soldier Boy agreed on the condition that she follow his orders.
• Ashley told Soldier Boy that The Deep was in the area and suggested using his abilities near the ocean, and Soldier Boy agreed.

The Deep abandoned his resolve to leave Vought behind when Soldier Boy offered him a chance to rejoin, and he tracked Kenji across the ocean. He tried to block Kenji’s escape with a beached sperm whale, but Kenji boosted his speedboat and raced straight at him.

• The Deep shaved his head and declared he was done with Vought and The Seven, but Ashley called to warn him that Soldier Boy was hunting Kenji nearby.
• Soldier Boy took the phone and promised to get The Deep into a Vought branch if he helped locate Kenji, so The Deep mobilized the sea life to search.
• The Deep found Kenji offshore and reported his location to Soldier Boy, then pursued him on a sperm whale to capture him before Soldier Boy arrived.
• Stormfront offered to knock Kenji into the water, but Soldier Boy rebuked her and ordered The Deep to stop Kenji.
• The Deep ordered the sperm whale to beach itself across Kenji’s route, but Kenji used his power to accelerate his speedboat toward The Deep.

Kenji’s damaged speedboat finally stopped at a reef, where Soldier Boy caught up and confronted him. Kenji’s telekinetic barrage shattered Soldier Boy’s shield but did nothing to stop him, leaving Kenji facing the approaching superhuman.

• Kenji drove his speedboat through the sperm whale Lucy, killing her, and continued fleeing as Soldier Boy pursued him.
• Stormfront kicked The Deep into the sand and shocked him after he grieved over Lucy and yelled at her.
• Kenji’s damaged speedboat lost its engine, forcing him to stop beside a reef and climb onto it.
• Kenji lifted water, rocks, and metal with his telekinesis and hurled them at Soldier Boy.
• The barrage shattered Soldier Boy’s shield along Homelander’s welds, but the projectiles barely affected him.
• Soldier Boy landed on the reef, and Kenji retreated to its edge, realizing he was facing a monster.

Soldier Boy captured Kenji and persuaded him that Kimiko wanted to see him, then brought him to Vought Tower. Homelander invited Soldier Boy to take Ryan skipping stones while privately considering how Kenji could lead him to the Shining Light Liberation Army’s base.

• Kenji tried to escape by speedboat, but Soldier Boy stopped him, threw the boat away, and demanded to know where the Shining Light Liberation Army was based.
• Soldier Boy told Kenji that Kimiko had asked him to find her brother and offered to take him to Vought Tower, but Stormfront tried to seize Kenji and lost Soldier Boy’s trust.
• Kenji used his telekinesis to lift Soldier Boy and himself into the air, but Soldier Boy knocked him unconscious and flew away with him.
• Soldier Boy offered The Deep a place at Vought before bringing Kenji to Vought Tower, where Homelander asked him to take Ryan skipping stones.
• Homelander watched Soldier Boy leave with Kenji and realized he might be able to use him to find the Shining Light Liberation Army’s base.

Soldier Boy reunited Kimiko with her younger brother Kenji, whom he had brought back alive. The siblings learned their hometown had been destroyed and argued over Kenji’s loyalty to the Shining Army, ending with Kimiko slapping him to make him pay attention.

• Soldier Boy brought the unconscious Kenji to Kimiko’s isolation room, and she feared he was dead until Soldier Boy assured her he had only knocked him out.
• Kimiko woke Kenji, and the siblings embraced after recognizing each other.
• Kenji questioned Soldier Boy’s motives, while Kimiko signed that Soldier Boy had helped them and had not harmed them.
• Soldier Boy freed Kimiko from her chains and asked what the siblings planned to do.
• Kimiko proposed returning to Japan, but Kenji signed that their home had been destroyed and blamed Vought and the United States.
• Kenji shut his eyes during their argument, so Kimiko slapped him to force him to look at her.

Soldier Boy took Homelander and Ryan to a quiet lake, where Homelander helped Ryan awaken his Super Strength by skipping a phone across the water. Their peaceful family moment ended when Homelander sensed a crowd approaching and wondered how they had found him.

• Soldier Boy left Maeve and Starlight to watch the siblings and told Ashley to gather files on the Shining Light Liberation Army for Kimiko.
• Soldier Boy joined Homelander and Ryan, and the three went to a lake to skip phones across the water.
• Homelander encouraged Ryan to throw a phone with all his strength, and Ryan awakened his Super Strength when it skipped across the lake.
• Homelander thanked Soldier Boy for supposedly provoking Ryan on purpose, while Soldier Boy concealed that his mockery had been sincere.
• Homelander sensed a crowd approaching from about two kilometers away, and Soldier Boy asked what was wrong.

Homelander spent a peaceful day skipping phones across the lake with Ryan and Soldier Boy, showing a newfound willingness to imagine his son becoming stronger than him. Their time together ended when investor Carl Howard arrived with reporters and claimed the land was legally approved for development, leaving Homelander facing a public dispute over the property.

• Homelander coached Ryan on technique and told him he might someday become stronger than his father, surprising Soldier Boy with his changed attitude.
• Ryan skipped a phone more than a hundred meters across the lake as reporters and tourists arrived nearby.
• Carl Howard introduced himself as the future developer of the land and said it would become Howard Manor.
• A Vought employee explained that Carl was negotiating with Vought and had obtained a development permit, which Carl displayed to the reporters.
• Carl challenged Homelander's right to stop the development, while Soldier Boy recalled that Homelander had ordered Vought to buy the lake and forest despite the deal's delays.

Homelander confronted Carl over her legal claim to the land, while trying to teach Ryan that gods took what they wanted. Soldier Boy openly challenged Carl, and Homelander stepped in to manage the press as the dispute escalated.

• Homelander demanded that Carl name her price for the land, but Carl refused and reminded him not to break the law in front of Ryan.
• Homelander asked Ryan what he would do if someone took something he liked, then promised to show him how gods handled it.
• Carl announced that construction would start the next day and offered Homelander a private area on her estate.
• Soldier Boy cursed at Carl, tossed a hot lighter that struck a reporter, and questioned whether buying the land made it hers.
• Homelander stepped between the reporters and Soldier Boy and offered to answer their questions.

Ryan’s newly awakened Super Hearing overwhelmed him amid the crowd, and Homelander flew him away to comfort him. Homelander tried to turn Ryan against Becca and push him toward violence, but Ryan remained frightened and insisted he wanted to go home to his mother.

• As reporters questioned Homelander about his dispute with Carl and fans crowded around him, Ryan retreated and crouched down, overwhelmed by the noise.
• Homelander noticed Ryan trembling and crying, then carried him away after realizing his Super Hearing had just awakened.
• Soldier Boy told Carl to enjoy the few hours she had left and called her the real hero before flying after Homelander.
• In midair, Homelander told Ryan that he and Soldier Boy were gods and urged him to stop fearing ordinary people, but Ryan asked to go home to Becca.
• Homelander called Becca a jailer and offered to bring Carl for Ryan to kill or to murder the reporters and fans, while Ryan continued to refuse and ask for his mother.

After Homelander frightened Ryan, Soldier Boy helped him understand that his son needed respect and patience, and Homelander apologized. Back at Vought Tower, Homelander and Soldier Boy questioned Ashley about Carl, whose knowledge of Ryan’s identity raised new suspicions.

• Soldier Boy caught up with Homelander and scolded him for pressuring Ryan, reminding him that Ryan was a vulnerable child who needed to be respected.
• Homelander apologized to Ryan, took him back to his mother, and later confided to Soldier Boy that he feared being a bad father.
• Soldier Boy comforted Homelander and described how his own father had sent him to boarding school when he was nine.
• Homelander and Soldier Boy returned to Vought Tower, where they questioned Ashley about Carl’s background and how Carl knew Ryan was Homelander’s son.