Chapter Summaries

A-Train rescued The Deep from the guards and carried him away after The Deep collapsed. The next day, Stormfront learned that Black Team had destroyed most of the V2 production equipment and ordered an all-out hunt for the Boys Squad.

• The Deep lay helpless as guards surrounded him, but A-Train arrived at supersonic speed and knocked them away.
• The Deep recognized A-Train before losing consciousness, and A-Train carried him off the mudflat.
• Stormfront learned that Black Team had destroyed seventy percent of the V2 production equipment and that Sage and The Emissary were missing.
• Stormfront attacked the female researcher, then ordered her to contact Neuman and demanded a finished batch of V2 within twenty-four hours.
• Stormfront ordered Ashley to raise the bounty on the Boys Squad to ten billion US dollars per member and told Neuman to declare all-out war against them.

The Deep’s injuries began healing rapidly after Frenchie submerged him in water, but the group learned that the government had declared them enemies of the nation and placed a ten-billion-dollar bounty on each of their heads. After Neuman revealed that their loved ones had been arrested, Frenchie wanted to storm the White House, while John warned that they would be killed without a plan and left to check on something before the coming battle.

• Frenchie and Hughie put the unconscious Deep into a heated water tank, where his wounds began healing at an accelerated rate.
• Neuman announced that the government had revoked The Boys’ legal protections and offered ten billion dollars per person, dead or alive.
• Neuman revealed that Hughie’s father, Starlight’s family, Mallory, and others had been arrested as accomplices.
• Frenchie called for an immediate attack on the White House, but John warned that they lacked the strength and preparation to save the hostages.
• John told the group to wait for word from Butcher, then left the factory to check on something before the coming battle.

The Reader prepared Vought’s hostages as leverage while John surveyed the White House defenses and met Butcher to collect supe immune blockers. As the team prepared at its base, Cate sensed a huge armed force approaching the abandoned subway station, where Vought’s bounty hunters and rioters began their assault.

• The Reader analyzed the seventeen hostages and ordered guards to activate their collars so Vought could kill them publicly if the rebels approached the White House.
• John secretly inspected the White House defenses from the sky, spotted an underground area hidden from his vision, and reported his findings to Butcher.
• Butcher gave John three doses of supe immune blockers, and John left for Virginia while arranging for A-Train to transport supplies.
• The Deep woke at the base, learned about the bounty and the hostages, and heard that his rumored girlfriend from the Church of the Collective had been captured.
• Cate sensed an approaching force and warned Kimiko as thousands of armed civilians, supe mercenaries, and Hound Corps members advanced toward the abandoned subway station and opened fire.

A militia attack drove Cate, Kimiko, Frenchie, Starlight, and Hughie into a desperate escape, as Hughie’s teleportation saved him and Annie from a sniper but left them naked in a storage room. There they encountered Private Angel, who healed from Starlight’s electricity and pinned her against the wall.

• Cate sensed that bounty hunters, militia members, and supes had surrounded the temporary base, and artillery shells began collapsing the station.
• Kimiko pulled Frenchie into a drainage tunnel and killed Marathon when he attacked Frenchie.
• Starlight fought off the armed mob after a child shot at Hughie, while Hughie teleported them both away from a sniper’s armor-piercing round.
• Hughie and Annie discovered that teleporting had stripped away their clothes, and they argued while trying to cover themselves.
• Private Angel emerged from the shadows, healed from Starlight’s electrical blast, and grabbed Starlight by the throat, pinning her to the wall.

Private Angel overpowered Starlight and Hughie, but Hughie used a sudden flash of azure light to escape with Annie. Meanwhile, The Deep fought a group of superhumans until their fire-powered leader trapped him beneath a giant ball of molten rock.

• Private Angel choked Starlight and shrugged off Hughie's attack before Starlight blasted her with electricity.
• Private Angel slammed Starlight into the floor repeatedly, then threatened Hughie and mocked him while Starlight lay bloodied.
• Hughie pretended to surrender, then revealed a flash of azure light and grabbed Annie as Private Angel reached for him.
• The Deep awoke in a broken water tank and used the spilled water to kill and injure several superhumans attacking him.
• A frost-powered superhuman froze the water, cutting The Deep off from his weapon, and a fire-powered superhuman blasted him through a wall.
• The fire-powered superhuman hovered above The Deep with a huge ball of molten rock as The Deep stared up in alarm.

Cate’s psychic power briefly froze the attackers, but The Deep was badly injured before Queen Maeve arrived to save him and Cate. Meanwhile, Soldier Boy awoke with amnesia in Storm’s office, where her claim that she had adopted a child of their own left him horrified.

• Cate used her psychic power to immobilize the supes and bounty hunters, then began to collapse as her control weakened.
• A sonic-powered supe struck The Deep and sent him crashing through a concrete partition while the attackers closed in on Cate.
• Queen Maeve emerged from the stairwell and killed the sonic-powered supe with her sword, then said she had come to help Cate and The Deep.
• Soldier Boy staggered out of his hibernation pod with severe head pain and only fragmented memories.
• Storm told Soldier Boy that she had rescued him from Soviet imprisonment, and he suspected his amnesia was caused by the drugs used on him.
• Soldier Boy shoved Storm away after smelling breast milk on her, and Storm said she had adopted a child of their own.

Victoria Neuman announced a new campaign against The Boys and introduced Soldier Boy as the head of the White House Special Guard. At the safe house, Starlight recovered some resolve, Cate remained comatose, and John prepared to lead the team into its next fight using the finished Supe Virus.

• Neuman blamed The Boys for the Herogasm massacre, promised death benefits to their pursuers, and announced Soldier Boy's new security role.
• John recounted rescuing The Boys from the mob at the abandoned subway station by slaughtering the attackers with his Heat Vision.
• Frenchie told John that Cate had suffered brain damage after her mental reserves were drained and might remain comatose for a long time.
• Starlight rejected Hughie's attempt to comfort her, then embraced him and vowed she would not let her humiliation defeat her.
• Maeve interrupted Hughie and Starlight's near-kiss, then threw a sword at The Deep when he teased her.
• John opened a case of Supe Virus doses, called A-Train and Hughie over, and asked the team how they wanted to fight the coming battle.

John devised ways for the team to develop their powers and planned an assault on the White House, where V2-enhanced troops guarded the grounds and hostages were likely held underground. He assigned roles for the rescue and attack, then led the team toward the coming dawn.

• John proposed that A-Train use speed to inject the Supe Virus into V2-enhanced troops and asked Frenchie to prepare syringes and protective suits.
• John suggested that Frenchie build Starlight a high-capacity battery, while Frenchie and the others joked about Hughie's teleportation and The Deep's ability to communicate with aquatic life.
• John revealed that his X-Ray Vision could not penetrate an area beneath the West Wing and deduced that A-Train's brother Nathan and sixteen other hostages were being held there.
• John assigned The Deep and Kimiko to scout through a drainage shaft, rescue the hostages with A-Train, and flood the South Lawn for Starlight's attack.
• John told Butcher to remain at the base and manage logistics, then declared that dawn was coming as the team prepared to move.

Homelander and Stormfront staged a massive rally at the White House as The Deep and Kimiko infiltrated the underground drainage system to find the imprisoned hostages. Homelander spotted approaching figures from the sky, while Cindy ambushed the rescuers and left both The Deep and Kimiko badly wounded.

• Homelander prepared for the White House rally with Storm and Neuman as tens of thousands of supporters and armed Vought forces gathered outside.
• Stormfront addressed the crowd and welcomed Homelander, who basked in their worship before spotting several figures approaching through the sky.
• The Deep used aquatic creatures to locate activity beneath the West Wing and led Kimiko through the sewers toward the underground facility.
• The Deep and Kimiko entered a zinc-plated passage, where Cindy burst through a concrete wall and attacked them with telekinesis.
• Cindy tore flesh from The Deep's shoulder, then snapped Kimiko's legs and sent her crashing into a control console.

John arrived at the White House and massacred the attacking crowd, while The Deep and Kimiko fought Cindy in the basement tunnels and survived. They found no hostages beneath the manhole, and Sister Sage and The Emissary remained hidden in a laboratory, unaware of the battle above.

• John, Starlight, and Hughie arrived at the South Lawn, where John hovered above the crowd and made the civilians hesitate.
• A bald man rallied the crowd to attack John, who stopped their bullets in midair, killed the man with a flicked bullet, and swept the lawn with his Heat Vision.
• Storm ordered the superhuman soldiers to attack while John continued killing the crowd and spared some civilians who had not attacked.
• Cindy shattered The Deep's water shield and crippled Kimiko, but The Deep used the water in Cindy's body to make her explode before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Kimiko healed her legs and The Deep recovered enough to open the manhole, but they found Sister Sage and The Emissary in a hidden laboratory instead of hostages.
• The Deep warned A-Train not to come to the basement, while The Emissary noticed Cindy's brainwaves had disappeared and detected two new sets of brainwaves.

Cate woke in Butcher’s hideout after the battle and fled despite her weakness, forcing Butcher to arm himself and go after her. At the White House, Homelander blamed John for the massacre on live television and declared a holy war, while Storm went after Starlight and Hughie.

• Cate woke with an IV in Butcher’s hideout and learned that Frenchie, Kimiko, and the others had gone to the White House, where Neuman and Storm led a huge crowd and V2-injected supes.
• Butcher explained that he was monitoring the battle and helping the team by clearing their route, then told Cate to use the bathroom and promised her soup.
• Cate pulled out her IV and escaped through the back yard while Butcher was in the kitchen.
• Butcher found Cate’s bed empty, took his crowbar and coat, and left to pursue her.
• Homelander arrived above the South Lawn, accused John of slaughtering his supporters on camera, and declared a holy war against him.
• Homelander refused Storm’s offer to help him fight John and ordered her to attack Starlight and Hughie instead.

John attacked Homelander above the White House and initially overwhelmed him, but Homelander’s fury drove him to fight back. After their struggle destroyed a subway train and killed its passengers, Homelander dragged John back into the sky, intending to kill him publicly.

• John punched Homelander through the White House dome and pinned him in the wreckage beneath the presidential office.
• Homelander, enraged by the live broadcast of his defeat, unleashed his strength and counterattacked John.
• The two fought through the air, damaging news helicopters before crashing through a road and into a subway tunnel.
• Their impact wrecked a packed train, killing many passengers as it derailed and smashed through the tunnel.
• Homelander dragged John through the ruined station and back into the sky, planning to twist off his head in front of the watching public.

Starlight and Hughie fought V2-enhanced supes on the White House South Lawn while Frenchie raced to restore her access to electricity. Frenchie unleashed his homemade capacitor, sending Starlight into a powerful airborne transformation, but a flying man in a leather jacket approached as she charged an enormous ball of lightning.

• Starlight killed a bone-spurred supe but struggled against the attackers after Vought cut off the site’s power.
• Hughie shielded Starlight from an acid attack, and she told him to teleport her to a power source if Frenchie did not arrive.
• Frenchie reached a position within Starlight’s fifty-meter range and discharged his homemade capacitor array.
• The surge overloaded Starlight, who blinded the charging behemoth, blasted away the surrounding supes, and rose into the sky.
• Starlight gathered a massive ball of electricity, then noticed a blond man in a leather jacket flying toward her.

John turned the fight around after Homelander attacked him before a live audience, then defeated him with a stronger blast of Heat Vision. As Homelander succumbed to a comforting vision of Madelyn and a divine kingdom, The Emissary shattered the illusion, revealed himself as Godolkin, and rendered Homelander unconscious.

• Homelander addressed the cameras while holding John aloft, but John broke free, shattered Homelander’s arm, and struck him with a devastating knee.
• Homelander fired Heat Vision at John, who overpowered the beam clash and blasted Homelander into the ruins.
• As Homelander lay gravely injured, he saw Madelyn comfort him and show him a kingdom filled with worshippers.
• Homelander reached out to bless a believer, but the vision shattered and he found himself trapped naked inside a transparent chamber.
• The Emissary confronted Homelander, revealed that he was Godolkin, and knocked Homelander unconscious.

Godolkin awakened inside Homelander’s body after Sage activated the Sonic Resonance System, while The Deep and Kimiko chased Sage to the coast and captured her. The chapter left Godolkin flying away with increased power and Sage in their custody.

• Godolkin rose from the ruins, condemned Homelander’s weakness, and celebrated the power of his body.
• Sage activated the Sonic Resonance System, boosting Godolkin’s abilities as he flew away.
• The Deep and Kimiko confronted Sage in her laboratory, but Sage escaped through a hidden tunnel and fled by boat.
• The Deep summoned Sang Biao, and he and Kimiko pursued Sage across the water.
• Kimiko cut through Sage’s adhesive net, and The Deep overturned her boat with a surge of water.
• The Deep hauled Sage from the sea as Kimiko held a bone claw to her throat, and Sage surrendered.

Starlight fought Bombsight and Storm above the White House until Butcher and Cate intervened, but Private Angel struck Butcher down. Godolkin appeared in the sky and confronted John, who answered with his heat vision.

• Starlight attacked Bombsight with electricity, but he broke her arm and battered her until Storm joined the fight.
• Storm electrocuted Starlight while Bombsight blocked her escape, but Butcher fired a rocket that blasted Storm and Bombsight away.
• Cate arrived after using her powers to kill more than a dozen superhumans, and Butcher taunted Storm before Private Angel kicked him into the rubble.
• Private Angel mocked Cate, then noticed Godolkin rising into the sky as Storm and Bombsight looked up.
• Godolkin called John another counterfeit, and John fired red beams from his eyes.

Godolkin, controlling Homelander and an army of puppets, ambushed John above the White House and drove him into a crater where Soldier Boy pinned him. Godolkin buried them beneath a mountain of people and detonated Soldier Boy’s chest blast, leaving John’s fate unknown.

• Godolkin surrounded John with more than thirty mind-controlled supes, and John slaughtered most of them in seconds.
• Godolkin used the blood mist and his speed to punch John, then had controlled supes restrain him and drive him toward the White House lawn’s infrasound devices.
• Godolkin’s puppets and Soldier Boy pinned John in a crater, where Soldier Boy’s chest began to glow with its destructive energy.
• Godolkin taunted John, ordered Soldier Boy to kill him, and piled more than a hundred people onto them as a safeguard.
• Godolkin flew far from the crater and snapped his fingers, triggering Soldier Boy’s charged blast beneath the mass of bodies.

A-Train rescued the hostages from The Reader’s traps, but Nathan’s collar triggered when he finally relaxed, killing him. At the White House, an explosion devastated the lawn, and Cate and Private Angel saw a glowing, naked figure emerge from the smoke.

• The Reader explained the tungsten cage, adhesive floor, and emotion-triggered collars before leaving A-Train to face the traps.
• Donna panicked and endangered the hostages, but Mallory restrained her; Nathan then proposed rescuing everyone through the cage’s hatch using crane cables.
• Nathan opened the hatch while A-Train used his speed and vibrating hands to pull the hostages free and remove their collar probes.
• After the others were rescued, Nathan’s heart rate settled and his collar triggered, spraying blood as A-Train cried out.
• An explosion blasted Cate and Private Angel across the White House lawn, and Private Angel pinned Cate among the ruins.
• Cate and Private Angel sensed an oppressive force and saw a tall, naked figure with golden light flowing across his body emerge from the smoke.

John survived Soldier Boy’s self-detonation and defeated Private Angel before rejoining Starlight, Hughie, and Butcher. Above the clouds, Storm discovered that Godolkin had taken over Homelander’s body and intended to keep it.

• John found Soldier Boy alive but unconscious after the explosion.
• John killed Private Angel when he saw her attacking Cate, then brought her body to Starlight, Hughie, and Butcher.
• John left Butcher to handle the remaining enemies and flew toward the stratosphere.
• Storm confronted Godolkin about Soldier Boy and the damage to Vought’s plans.
• Godolkin revealed to Storm that he had taken over Homelander’s body and mocked the man he replaced.

Clara unleashed her forbidden electrical power to attack Godolkin, but he overpowered and killed her while forcing Homelander to feel her suffering. John then emerged alive from the clouds and confronted Godolkin, who greeted him with delight.

• Clara struck Godolkin with a massive electrical attack, but he remained largely unharmed and suppressed Homelander's attempt to regain control.
• Clara used her life-draining limit state to blast Godolkin through the clouds, but he recovered and captured her as she fell.
• Godolkin tortured Clara while Homelander felt her pain, then tore her apart and killed her despite Homelander's pleas.
• Bombsight fled as Godolkin stood over Clara's remains and taunted Homelander.
• John rose from the clouds alive, hovered opposite Godolkin, and drew a delighted greeting from him.