Season 3 of "The Boys" left The Seven in shambles, Butcher with a terminal diagnosis, and some major questions about everyone else. If you need a catch-up, these are the major plot points to know before Season 4 arrives.
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00:00Season 3 of The Boys left The Seven in shambles, Butcher with a terminal
00:04diagnosis, and some major questions about everyone else. If you need a catch-up,
00:08these are the major plot points to know before season 4 arrives. It's often been
00:13speculated that the silent, ominous Black Noir is actually a clone of Homelander,
00:17designed by Vought to put him down if he ever fully goes off the rails. This is
00:21what happens in the comics, after all. Despite how much the show has switched
00:24things up from the source material over the years, for the first two seasons this
00:28one plot point was still on the table. But season 3 established that Black
00:32Noir is not a Homelander clone, but a guy named Irving, who suffered brain damage
00:36and severe facial injuries in a beating from Soldier Boy in the 80s. Audiences
00:40have always been fond of Noir, a no-drama character who's nice to kids and
00:44charmingly allergic to almonds. But season 3 turned him into a fan favorite
00:50by establishing that he's got the mind of a child. He imagines the world through
00:53an old cartoon filter, and those charming animated characters comfort him as he
00:58dies in the season 3 finale.
00:59Soon you'll be in the sweet embrace of K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-Christ the Lord!
01:06How does he die? Well, Homelander finds out that Noir already knew that Soldier Boy
01:11was Homelander's father, and never told him. It's simply too big of a betrayal for
01:15Homelander to handle. So he rips Black Noir's heart straight out of his chest.
01:19Rest in peace, Irving. You may have lost your heart, but you'll always have a
01:23place in ours. The good news is that Noir is coming back for season 4 anyway.
01:27Sort of. Because his death would be bad press for Vought, they've apparently hired
01:30another Supe to don the mask and pretend to be the same person. What is this new
01:34Noir like? We'll just have to wait and see.
01:36After a full season of teasing the death of Queen Maeve, the boys seemingly
01:40fulfilled this promise. By having Maeve heroically tackle Soldier Boy out of a
01:44building right as he's unleashing his lethal, Supe-depowering blast. Unlike Noir,
01:49she is indeed reported dead by the press, and honored as the proud lesbian the
01:53public knew her to be. Immediately afterward, however, Maeve is revealed to
01:57have survived, albeit without an eye or superpowers.
02:00Question, should I get a pirate badge or the Sammy Davis class eye?
02:06Maeve nevertheless seems happy to escape her miserable life in the Seven and enjoy
02:10a happy ending with her longtime love, Lena. Will Maeve return for season 4?
02:14It's not clear. But considering she's no longer a threat to anyone, it doesn't
02:18seem like she'll be super relevant to the show again anytime soon. One twist,
02:21though. Vought's CEO Ashley found video footage proving that Maeve's still alive.
02:26In one of Ashley's only kind moments in the show, she deletes the video instead
02:30of telling anyone about it. Maeve's secret is safe for now. But can we trust Ashley
02:34to protect this information forever? As of the season 3 finale, the seemingly
02:39indestructible group of heroes called the Seven is in absolute shambles. With Maeve
02:43presumed dead, Noir actually dead, and Annie having given up on the Starlight
02:47role once and for all, there's basically only three Supes left. This has shown
02:51most clearly in the disturbing scene in the finale, where Homelander terrorizes
02:55the Deep, A-Train, and Ashley. Homelander is now surrounded by Supes who bend
02:59entirely to his will. And a CEO who is so stressed, her hair is literally falling
03:04out. It's a shame, too, because although our heroes in the show are also trekking
03:08through dangerous situations, the rest of the Seven don't even have the comfort of
03:12knowing they're suffering for a worthy cause. In the finale alone, the Deep is
03:15told to murder a vice presidential candidate so Victoria Newman can take his
03:19place. And A-Train is scolded for killing the racist cop Supe, Blue Hawk, aka the
03:24only cool thing A-Train's ever done. They might think sticking with Homelander is
03:28their best chance at survival, but it's also the clearest route towards losing
03:31whatever's left of their souls. All three of them toyed around with redemption at
03:35some point. Ashley when she protects Maeve, A-Train showing signs of guilt,
03:39the Deep trying to save his fish friends. But it doesn't seem like any of them
03:42will have the courage to redeem themselves for real anytime soon.
03:46When Butcher and Huey get their hands on Temp-V, a chemical that temporarily
03:50turns them into Supes who can hold their own against Homelander, it leads to some
03:53of the coolest action scenes the show's ever given us. We get to watch as Butcher
03:57and a naked Huey hold their own against Homelander for the first time in the
04:01series. They don't seal the deal, sure, but at least we get to see Homelander
04:04sweat for once. Unfortunately, no good thing comes without a price, and for
04:08Temp-V, it's a steep one. The Wonder Drug is basically pure poison,
04:12guaranteeing terminal cancer after just a couple of uses. Butcher's nice enough to
04:16spare Huey from taking it again, but he himself uses it one more time in the
04:20season three finale, with devastating results.
04:23How long they got?
04:25Months. Twelve. Eighteen on the outside.
04:29That means we can expect a more desperate and existential version of Butcher than
04:33ever before. As for Huey, it seems he's totally fine. That one missed dose in
04:37the finale must make a huge difference, because Huey doesn't even bother going
04:40to a doctor afterward and checking out the damage.
04:43Does it make a ton of sense that Huey doesn't have any lingering health
04:46problems? Not really, but we're fine with the slight gap in logic here.
04:49One terminally ill boy is sad enough. Two of them would just be overkill.
04:53It's good enough for me.
04:56Annie and Huey's season three arcs basically revolved around two big
04:59questions. One, can you fix the system from inside? And two, what does it mean
05:03to be a strong man?
05:05I can handle myself. I can finally save you for once.
05:08The first question was answered pretty quickly, as Homelander makes Annie's
05:11attempts at activism from within the Seven a living hell, and Huey discovers
05:15that the progressive politician he's been following is a murderer soup
05:18working on Bot's behalf. It's not long before Annie's abandoned her starlight
05:22persona altogether, and Huey's returned to the boys as someone taking down
05:26soups from the outside.
05:28The other big question was a little more complicated. Huey's Temp V
05:31addiction is intended as a commentary on toxic masculinity, with Huey
05:34presented as being insecure and selfish, with his desire to not be
05:38constantly in need of protection.
05:39Does the storyline work? Well, kind of, providing you ignore how non-soups
05:43are so fragile in this universe that they can be casually killed by soups
05:46just for stepping off the curb.
05:48It seems weird to turn Huey's love for Temp V into a story about men
05:51needing to learn to be vulnerable.
05:53Still, Huey gets a happy ending, rejecting Temp V in the finale and
05:57choosing to support his girlfriend in a non-soup role instead.
06:00Huey and Annie are now fully back on good terms, with both of them on the
06:04boys' team again. They are closer than ever going into Season 4.
06:08The Boys is playing the long game with Victoria Newman, a young New York
06:11Congresswoman who presents herself as a progressive, honest politician who
06:15wants to hold soups like Homelander accountable for their crimes.
06:18Of course, we should have guessed that a cynical show like The Boys would
06:21never give us a character with motivations so pure and straightforward,
06:24and the Season 2 finale revealed that Newman is the mysterious head popper.
06:28She's working for Vought, and quickly working her way up the political ladder
06:31to achieve her own ends.
06:33The Boys Season 3 and Gen V establish that although Newman can be ruthless,
06:37she's not quite the love-to-hate type of villain that Homelander or Stormfront are.
06:40She's someone who mostly seems to like Huey and Annie on a personal level,
06:44and who generally doesn't kill unless there's a clear gain from it.
06:47Unfortunately, she's also in cahoots with Homelander by this point,
06:50and she did personally murder a whole bunch of people.
06:52So Butcher probably has a point in the Season 3 finale when he says that
06:56she needs to be taken down.
06:58Soldier Boy was The Boys' clearest bet to take down Homelander so far,
07:02but alas, it was not to be.
07:04Butcher ends up turning on Soldier Boy to protect his son, Ryan.
07:07The last time we see Soldier Boy, he's being put back into hibernation
07:10in the same sort of cryogenic chamber The Boys found him in.
07:13Soldier Boy is probably coming back eventually.
07:16Given his parental relationship to Homelander, it seems insane to end his story here,
07:20but for now, he's left the chat.
07:22Meanwhile, Homelander basically wins the Season 3 finale.
07:25He reconnects with his son, solidifies an alliance with Newman,
07:29and watches as his enemies basically collapse in on themselves
07:32for reasons that barely have anything to do with him.
07:34With Temp V no longer an option for The Boys, and Soldier Boy out of commission,
07:38Homelander's now as dangerous and unchecked as he's ever been.
07:41Even more ominous is his closing scene, where he rashly kills a man in broad daylight,
07:45surrounded by fans and news reporters.
07:48It initially seems like the secret's out,
07:50that now everybody has seen through the mask the monster Homelander truly is.
07:54But no.
07:55Turns out, Homelander's fans actually like this.
08:00Yeah!
08:01Yeah!
08:05In The Boys Season 3, Frenchie has a violent run-in with his former boss,
08:09Little Nina, and just barely escapes thanks to some help from Kimiko.
08:13Meanwhile, Mother's Milk struggles with The Boys' alliance with Soldier Boy,
08:16as Soldier Boy is the guy who killed his family.
08:18MM also struggles to make peace with how his ex-wife Monique is now dating Todd,
08:23an insufferable Homelander supporter.
08:25MM manages to make peace with both Todd and Monique,
08:28but it's still not ideal.
08:29Kimiko temporarily loses her powers in Season 3,
08:32and spends a few episodes wondering if perhaps this is her chance to be a good person.
08:36In the finale, she decides that the best way to be a good person
08:38is to take Compound V again and use her powers to help her friends out.
08:42The other big loose end is Ryan,
08:44the young boy whom Butcher was supposed to take care of and teach to be a good man.
08:48After Butcher basically abandons him early into Season 3,
08:51Homelander swoops by in the finale to almost effortlessly win Ryan back over.
08:56Does it make sense that Ryan's so quick to forgive his biological father's many,
09:00many flaws? Sort of. Kids do tend to forgive quickly, but it does feel a little rushed.
09:05It might seem like Ryan's done a quick 180 towards the dark side,
09:08but here's hoping he pulls back from it in Season 4.
09:11The first season of the show's spinoff, Gen V,
09:14introduced the idea of a deadly virus that only affects soups.
09:17The villain's plan was to release it on all the soups in the world,
09:20but she was thwarted, and the virus ended up in Newman's hands.
09:23What's Newman's plan for the virus, exactly? We don't know.
09:26She might use it as a bargaining chip with the boys, a trump card against Homelander,
09:29or maybe she'll give it to Vought to help them keep the bad soups in line.
09:32We also know thanks to that closing scene in the Gen V finale,
09:36and the implication of that one scene with Grace Mallory,
09:38that Butcher has also been made aware of the virus.
09:40We don't know what Butcher will do with this information, but given his terminal illness,
09:44it's likely he'll be even bolder with it than he would've been throughout the first three seasons.
09:48There's also the lingering threat of the young soups Marie, Jordan, Emma, and Andre being trapped
09:53in a doorless, windowless prison, as well as the morally dubious Kate and Sam being praised
09:58by Homelander as heroes. How much these characters will affect the plot of The Boys is unclear,
10:02but they're sure to play a part.