Chapter Summaries

Maeve learned that Vought planned to interrogate Starlight with a dangerous psychic and decided to contact John to make a deal. Meanwhile, Cate received a Compound V injection at the Boys' Brooklyn hideout and awakened a powerful mental ability that could not penetrate John's defenses.

• Edgar told Maeve that A-Train was being forced into retirement and that Starlight was imprisoned for helping The Boys.
• Maeve left Edgar's office determined to help Starlight and called John to propose a deal.
• Starlight searched her cell for a way out while A-Train resisted injecting leftover Compound V and headed for the Boys' hideout.
• Frenchie injected Cate with Compound V as John held her hand, and Cate released a psychic shock wave that incapacitated Hughie, Frenchie, and Mother's Milk.
• Cate discovered she could sense minds around her, but her mental probe bounced off John, who watched her as she realized he knew.

Cate demonstrated her new mind-reading and control abilities, and Kimiko gained retractable claws after taking the compound. As Cate sensed a speedster approaching, John intercepted a failing A-Train before he crashed into rebar.

• Cate read Hughie's thoughts and briefly controlled Frenchie, making him blow a kiss at Hughie.
• Kimiko chose to take the compound, which gave her retractable claws strong enough to cut through a thick steel plate.
• Cate tested the range of her psychic senses and detected a superhuman rushing toward the laboratory.
• John vanished from the laboratory as A-Train sprinted toward the entrance, exhausted and suffering heart pain.
• John caught A-Train by the collar and stopped his momentum before he struck the rebar, and A-Train pleaded for help.

John used Freeze Breath and his Bioelectric Field to stop A-Train from sinking into the concrete after injecting the New Version of Compound V. Maeve then agreed to help John’s group in exchange for rescuing Starlight and protecting Elena, and John’s team began planning their operation.

• John brought the exhausted A-Train to the lab, where A-Train insisted on taking the New Version of Compound V despite the danger to his heart.
• Frenchie injected A-Train, whose body began vibrating uncontrollably and sinking into the concrete.
• John used Freeze Breath and his Bioelectric Field to slow A-Train’s particles, stabilize him, and leave him unconscious.
• John’s group hid A-Train before Maeve arrived, and John warned Cate not to test Maeve’s mental resistance.
• Maeve agreed to help John’s group if they rescued Starlight from Vought’s superhuman prison and guaranteed Elena’s safety.
• Cate’s psychic tendril failed to get past Maeve’s resistance, and Frenchie spread a blueprint of Vought Tower across the table.

John planned a chaotic prison breakout to rescue Starlight, her little brother, and Elena, while Sage and The Emissary chose to develop a weakened, mass-producible version of V1. The chapter left Godolkin and Sage alone in a secured office to discuss encrypted project data.

• John assigned Maeve to unlock cells in section A, draw security away, and suppress the breakout while Cate disrupted the remaining surveillance staff.
• John planned for Kimiko to rescue Starlight and her little brother through a service passage, and told Maeve that The Deep had gone to collect Elena.
• Sage reported that every attempt to break down V1's molecular core had failed and that the analysis was only 72.4% complete.
• The Emissary proposed abandoning complete reverse engineering and mass-producing a stable, weakened V1 that retained the core sequence but removed recipients' growth potential.
• Sage judged the weakened version technically feasible and asked to review Godolkin University's encrypted control parameters privately with The Emissary.
• Godolkin activated a signal jammer in his office, securing the room for his private discussion with Sage.

Sage confronted The Emissary about abandoning their original plan to reverse-engineer V1, and they agreed to present a weakened formula for mass production while secretly preparing the original serum for Homelander. After Sage promised Homelander the original serum by the morning after tomorrow, she saw an emergency prison-riot alert requesting reinforcements.

• Sage questioned The Emissary about changing the plan, and he explained that Marie Moreau had not awakened her abilities and that the nested formula made complete reverse engineering impractical.
• The Emissary revealed that the weakened formula would serve as a cover while Sage distracted Edgar’s inspectors and he secretly processed the original solution.
• An assistant told Sage that Homelander wanted to see her, and Sage left the laboratory to meet him in his new office.
• Homelander grew angry when Sage described the weakened formula, but Sage convinced him that the only original serum was being reserved for him after safety checks.
• Homelander demanded the serum by the morning after tomorrow, and Sage promised to deliver it with monitoring equipment.
• Sage saw a CCTV alert announcing a prison riot and requesting reinforcements as she reached the elevators.

Maeve used a stolen access card to free the superhuman prisoners in Vought Tower’s fifty-fifth-floor high-security block, triggering a violent breakout. After joining Green Flash and Iron Fist in the fight, she turned to hold off the remaining prisoners while worrying about the Boys Squad’s rescue of Starlight and Homelander’s unexpected return.

• Maeve used a stolen access card to unlock the cells in the fifty-fifth-floor high-security block, and the released prisoners began rioting.
• Steamroller led the prisoners against Vought’s guards, while Green Flash and Iron Fist fought back and killed him before being overwhelmed by the crowd.
• Maeve arrived with her sword and rescued Green Flash and Iron Fist, then attacked the prisoners and helped the guards regain hope.
• Maeve checked that the nearby area holding Starlight remained undisturbed and continued facing the prisoners while waiting for the Boys Squad.
• Maeve worried that Homelander’s return could disrupt the plan to rescue Starlight and escape Edgar’s control.

Kimiko, Cate, and Frenchie infiltrated Vought’s surveillance room and altered the security footage and patrol logs before Kimiko reached Starlight’s hidden cell. Kimiko found Starlight, but a Mesmer ambushed them with Kenji Miyashiro, whom he had turned into a weapon, leaving Kimiko facing her brother.

• Kimiko killed four guards outside the surveillance room, and Cate incapacitated the three operators inside without altering their memories.
• Frenchie used a controlled operator to replace the freight elevator footage and delete a patrol entry, while Cate exhausted herself controlling the operators’ movements.
• Kimiko cut open the unmarked cell door and found Starlight, who urged her to leave when she noticed someone approaching.
• A Mesmer appeared and revealed he had been waiting for a rescuer, then introduced Kenji Miyashiro as a weapon cultivated by the Mesmers.
• Kenji raised his hand toward Kimiko, and she recognized the childhood gesture before declaring that she wanted him dead.

Kimiko fought Kenji while a psychic controlled him, and Cate battled the psychic inside Kenji’s mind to break the control. Kenji’s power erupted and left him attacking everyone indiscriminately until John arrived and blasted him into a wall.

• Kenji used telekinesis to hold Kimiko in the air and attack her with rubble and pipes while the psychic ordered him to kill her.
• Frenchie and Cate entered the corridor; Frenchie’s shot was stopped and redirected by Kenji, while Cate attacked the psychic’s hold on Kenji’s mind.
• Cate and the psychic fought over Kenji’s mental anchor until Kenji convulsed and unleashed a telekinetic blast that killed the psychic and pinned Kimiko, Frenchie, Cate, and Starlight.
• Kenji broke free of the control but lost awareness, treating everyone nearby as a threat as he raised concrete and rebar to attack them.
• John arrived and struck Kenji with a red beam, knocking him into the wall and releasing the telekinetic pressure on the others.

Homelander crushed the riot on Vought Tower's fifty-fifth floor, then encountered John and backed away after memories of their past confrontation shook him. Elsewhere, Soldier Boy agreed to go to the riot after Edgar called, and he prepared to leave his luxury apartment.

• Homelander destroyed the alarm television and flew to the fifty-fifth floor, where he killed several prisoners with brutal ease.
• Homelander saw John across the wrecked corridor and, shaken by memories of John's past strength, decided to postpone confronting him until after he received V1.
• John recognized Homelander but avoided starting a fight because his teammates still needed to escape and help him obtain Compound V.
• Soldier Boy answered Edgar's call, learned the riot was on the fifty-fifth floor, and prepared to go there with help from the guards.

Soldier Boy mistook John for Homelander and fought him after John exposed the truth about his fabricated military record and Clara’s role in his past. Soldier Boy’s chest blast overwhelmed John’s defenses, and the chapter left Soldier Boy reliving his Soviet torment before he rejected the need to keep enduring.

• Soldier Boy emerged from the elevator in the wrong place, then found John standing amid the wreckage of a corridor.
• Soldier Boy assumed John was Homelander, but John denied it and exposed the forged story of Soldier Boy’s wartime service and Clara’s betrayal.
• Soldier Boy charged John, and the two fought, with John landing heavy blows while Soldier Boy’s shield and resilience kept him in the fight.
• Soldier Boy charged and fired his chest blast; John dodged the first wave and used the shield to block the second.
• Soldier Boy knocked John down and prepared to continue, but memories of Soviet experiments returned as he finally shouted that he was done enduring.

John rescued Cate, Kimiko, Frenchie, and Kenji while fighting Soldier Boy, then beat Soldier Boy in a clash of energy beams. Soldier Boy tricked John with a point-blank blast, and the resulting fire trapped the others until Starlight appeared.

• Soldier Boy unleashed his Chest Cannon, and John dodged its sweeping beam while carrying Cate, Kimiko, and Frenchie to safety.
• Kenji woke under his brainwashing, raised a weak shield, and John knocked him unconscious before Cate and the others took him into the stairwell.
• John fired Heat Vision against Soldier Boy’s Chest Cannon, overwhelmed the beam, and blasted Soldier Boy through walls.
• Soldier Boy pretended to be defeated, then fired his Chest Cannon at John from close range.
• The blast set the emergency stairwell ablaze, and Kimiko shielded Cate and Frenchie as they weakened in the smoke and heat.
• Starlight appeared in the flames and ordered the group to go.

John survived Soldier Boy’s chest blast, discovered his powers had grown stronger, and beat Soldier Boy unconscious before escaping the tower ahead of the media and Vought guards. Meanwhile, Elena received Maeve’s warning to leave her safe house, but Vought agents intercepted her in the alley.

• Soldier Boy recovered from firing his chest blast and expected to find Homelander dead, but he saw John standing unharmed in the ruins.
• John realized his abilities and senses had been boosted, and the World Distortion Level had risen to 85%.
• John battered Soldier Boy into unconsciousness but spared him, then flew out of the tower before the arriving helicopters and guards could reach him.
• Elena received a message from Maeve telling her to leave immediately, packed a bag, and found a black Ford blocking the alley’s exit.
• A man and a woman confronted Elena and identified themselves to her as Vought agents.

Elena tried to escape Vought agents who were keeping her under house arrest, but The Deep intervened with his newly developed ability to control water in the human body. The female agent recognized him and accused him of betraying Vought.

• Elena tried to trick the agents into letting her leave, then struck the female agent with her backpack and ran.
• The female agent caught Elena, but Elena broke free briefly by hitting her in the nose.
• When the female agent tried to knock Elena unconscious, her arm froze in midair as The Deep used his ability from the alley entrance.
• The Deep revealed himself, and the female agent recognized him and demanded to know whether he was betraying Vought.

Homelander injected first-generation V1 and gained a major boost in power, while Edgar publicly declared John and his allies wanted fugitives. John demanded loyalty from his group as Stormfront coerced Neuman into opposing Edgar by threatening her daughter.

• Homelander injected V1 in an abandoned quarry, endured a violent surge of power, and unleashed far stronger Heat Vision before flying back to Vought Tower.
• Sage measured Homelander's increased abilities and confirmed that V1 had not shown signs of rejection.
• Edgar announced a high-priority manhunt for John and his allies, offering a five-hundred-million-dollar bounty and accusing them of joining anti-Vought extremists.
• John warned his allies that the conflict was escalating and invited anyone unwilling to continue to leave; Mother's Milk departed, Butcher said he would finish one last job, and Hughie asked John for the new Compound V.
• Stormfront called Neuman, revealed that she knew about Neuman's powers, and threatened her daughter Zoe to force Neuman to oppose Edgar's proposed manhunt budget.

Hughie chose to risk an injection of the improved Compound V and survived, gaining the ability to teleport. Meanwhile, Homelander reveled in V1’s new precision control as Godolkin and Sage advanced their plan, and Neuman prepared to attend a congressional hearing after Storm sent proof that Zoe was safe.

• Hughie chose to receive the improved Compound V directly, and Frenchie monitored him as he endured intense pain before his condition stabilized.
• John told Cate that he was searching for his biological parents and reflected on his determination to break free of the forces controlling him.
• Homelander tested his newfound precision after injecting V1, while Godolkin and Sage confirmed that the first-stage mental anchor had connected and agreed to continue their plan.
• Neuman received a recording from Zoe, understood that Storm had outmaneuvered her, and told her political secretary she would attend the congressional hearing.
• Hughie recovered and accidentally teleported across the lab, prompting Frenchie and A-Train to recognize his new power.

John received a video of Homelander abandoning Flight 37 and an audio recording of Edgar plotting to manufacture crises to push supes into the military. He arranged for The Deep to hand the files to the Church of the Collective, which agreed to release them during the hearing livestream, but Carol left the exchange with a cold smile.

• John, Frenchie, Hughie, and Starlight watched the Flight 37 footage and heard Edgar's recording about manufacturing public fear to advance the supe army plan.
• John decided the files had to reach the public, and The Deep offered the Church of the Collective's independent media network as a channel.
• John ordered The Deep to arrange the handoff, while Frenchie copied the files onto a secure USB drive.
• The Deep met Carol at a Brooklyn pier, warned her against betraying the deal, and used his water-control ability to intimidate her and her bodyguards.
• Carol agreed to protect the fugitives for a week and release the files nationwide during the hearing livestream, then took the USB drive as The Deep left on an orca.

The Church of the Collective hijacked a congressional hearing with footage of Homelander abandoning Flight 37 and a recording implicating Edgar in manufacturing threats, forcing Neuman to suspend Vought’s budget and launch an investigation. As Homelander celebrated Edgar’s downfall, John prepared the Boys to strike, while Storm returned Zoe to Neuman and told her their partnership would continue under Homelander.

• The Church of the Collective hijacked the hearing broadcast with footage of Homelander abandoning Flight 37 and a recording of Edgar discussing manufactured threats, causing the committee to suspend Vought’s budget and investigate Edgar and Vought.
• Homelander watched Edgar’s public humiliation from Vought Tower, celebrated the collapse of the old order, and claimed that the place now belonged to him.
• At the subway station, John warned the Boys that Edgar’s fall had removed the restraint on Homelander and said they could strike first using Vought military equipment intelligence.
• Neuman found Zoe asleep in Storm’s van and embraced her after Storm returned the girl unharmed.
• Storm told Neuman that their partnership had only begun and said she would take her to meet Homelander in a few days.

Homelander and Storm destroyed a Bible and pressured Neuman to secure Vought’s military autonomy, while Sage prepared to mass-produce V2. After Hughie and John learned when and where the synthesizer would arrive, John decided they had to stop production and sent The Deep into action.

• Homelander raged against God, tore up a Bible, and flew with Storm as Neuman entered his office and witnessed them.
• Homelander told Neuman to push Congress for Vought’s absolute military autonomy, and Storm warned her to handle the legal and PR details.
• Sage reported that V2 had passed stability tests and would require a German freighter’s synthesizer to begin mass production.
• Storm ordered Sage to assemble the synthesizer at Brooklyn Harbor within seventy-two hours and arranged for her to oversee the work under Torpedo’s watch.
• Hughie and John heard a recording revealing the freighter’s arrival next Wednesday, and John resolved to stop V2 production before it began.
• John woke The Deep and ordered him to go.

The Deep sabotaged two Vought shipments of dangerous equipment at the Port of Newark, destroying one container but failing to damage the protected core in the other. As he faced an unknown attacker underwater, his ocean perception revealed a man in an old-fashioned blue military uniform.

• The Deep used Aisha and swarms of sea creatures to block a gantry crane’s cooling intake, then broke its pulley and sent the Polaris’s liquid-nitrogen container crashing onto the pier.
• The Deep rode Aisha to Pier Five, evaded sonar patrols, and used a backflow to make the Aegis’s suspended container strike the ship.
• The Deep shorted the crane’s control board, dropping the Aegis’s container into the sea, but discovered its sealed protective shell had kept the core intact.
• An unknown figure struck The Deep underwater and sent him flying, and his ocean perception revealed a man in a high-collared blue military uniform.

The Deep recognized Torpedo, a supposedly dead Vought supe, and was nearly killed as Torpedo slaughtered his sea-creature companions and beat him through the ocean trench. The Deep unleashed a devastating water-pressure attack that crushed Torpedo, then washed ashore and was surrounded by Vought security guards.

• The Deep recognized Torpedo from Vought’s memorial museum, but Torpedo charged him and broke his arms, smashing him through concrete foundations and into the trench ruins.
• The Deep summoned Aisha, Little Bull, a giant eel, jellyfish, and sea snakes, but Torpedo killed them despite their attacks.
• The Deep tried to control Torpedo’s blood, discovered it was immobilized by preservative gel, and was pinned and brutally beaten down the trench.
• The Deep remembered John and Frenchie’s advice about water pressure and trapped Torpedo in hardened water before blasting him with explosive pressure and currents.
• The Deep concentrated the surrounding water into a crushing pillar that drove Torpedo into a seabed fissure and pulverized his body.
• The Deep washed ashore badly injured, where Vought security guards surrounded him and recognized him.