Butcher has reached a new low, taking Temp Compound V and teaming up with a Supe, and now Soldier Boy is on Homelander’s radar after blowing up a block in Manhattan. But let’s put all that aside because it’s time for “Herogasm.”

Trouble for Noir

The return of Soldier Boy spells trouble for Black Noir, as he’s a former member of Payback just like Crimson Countess. And clearly, Soldier Boy has it out for each and every one of his former teammates. After Homelander confirms it is indeed Soldier Boy back from the dead, Noir cuts his Vought tracking chip from his arm in the elevator before running off. No doubt looking for a place to lay low until Homelander takes Soldier Boy out.

Homelander is uncharacteristically upset at the loss of Noir, but the Deep comes bearing good news, he knows where Soldier Boy is headed next. He gives Deep permission to scope it out and tells him to call him as soon as Soldier Boy shows up.

A Hard Time Adjusting

Nothing can prepare you for a 40-year jump in time, but a mix of weed, whiskey, and benzos certainly can help. Hughie and Butcher are attempting to bring Soldier Boy up to speed on exactly what GPS, Bluetooth, and the internet are, and Soldier Boy has no choice but to team up with the two Supe hunters to get the job done. Soldier Boy agrees to the terms, the locations of Payback for help taking out Homelander.

Hughie confirms that Soldier Boy’s explosions are completely involuntary. He blacks out when it happens and has no recollection.

Butcher gets the location of the two more members of Payback: the TNT twins. Butcher and Hughie Supe up while Soldier Boy suits up and they get ready to head out.

MM and Starlight on the Case

Realizing they’ve only got each other, Annie and MM prep to head out to Vermont, where MM has located the TNT twins (uh oh). Of course, Homelander also knows where they are thanks to the Deep and Mrs. Deep. And Butcher, Hughie, and Soldier Boy are also on their way there.

Annie has to take a small detour for a public talk show appearance to reassure the public the supervillain situation is very much under Homelander’s control. Afterward, Victoria offers to catch up where she spills that she knows Hughie is fully aware she’s a Supe. She wants to team up: Starlight’s social media reach to help her get her message out and she’ll do what she can to help them take down Homelander. Annie refuses.

A-Train vs Blue Hawk Part 2

A-Train is rightfully furious after Blue Hawk’s outburst in Trenton, which resulted in Nate becoming paralyzed. He wants charges brought–justice served–but Ashley is unwilling to do anything more than 12 weeks of sensitivity training. He threatens he’s going to go search him out himself via his chip, but Ashley reminds him of all the trouble he himself has called, murders included.

Frenchie Can’t Catch a Break

Frenchie, Kimiko, and now Cherie are all taken captive by Little Nina. She brings them all to an abandoned warehouse, where Little Nina tells Frenchie he has to choose between Kimiko and Cherie, one lives and one dies. Of course, he can’t. Kimiko, even sans powers, gets herself free and rips through Little Nina’s henchmen, Cherie also gets herself free to help, but not before Little Nina could escape.

As Frenchie cleans Kimiko’s wounds, she comes to the realization that the V never turned her into a monster, it was always her. Frenchie assures her she isn’t a monster.

Herogasm

Deep arrives to the TNT twins first, and they’re hosting the 70th annual Herogasm. Annie and MM arrive next, but not before MM finally reveals the source of his OCD. It was Soldier Boy. When Soldier Boy killed his grandfather, it scarred him so deeply that his rituals began in hopes that every time he performed them, it would keep Soldier Boy away from the rest of his family. He needs to get Soldier Boy so he can finally be free.

MM is greeted by a long, old friend at the door, Love Sausage. He notes that Frenchie will be devastated missing Herogasm, it was something he’d always wanted to see. Soldier Boy, Butcher, and Hughie have also arrived, and are scoping the place out from a distance, Soldier Boy revealing that he was the one who started Herogasm all the way back in ’52 with Liberty.

Annie finds the Deep having sex with an…octopus, documenting the occasion for future blackmail use. Deep tells her that Homelander sent him, and Annie knows he’s on his way, endangering this mission completely.

Hughie teleports into the house to scope the place out and finds the twins, running into A-Train who came looking for Blue Hawk. After all this time, A-Train finally apologizes to Hughie for killing Robin, now finally affected by the damage Supes can do. Hughie punches him across the face and A-Train is shocked by the power behind it, unknowing that Hughie is on V. Annie pulls Hughie away and begs him to help start clearing people out, because Homelander is on the way and when he and Soldier Boy get into it, it’ll be a massacre.

Instead, Hughie teleports himself and Annie away, saving her and her alone from any potential Homelander vs. Soldier Bay danger. All he wants is to be the one to save her for once.

MM runs into Soldier Boy first, attempting to gas him with the formula MM tried to replicate from the Russians. It doesn’t work. He’s completely unapologetic when MM tells him that he killed his family, too. But before Soldier Boy could get his hands on MM, Butcher comes to divert him to the threat, telling Soldier Boy “not him.” MM points out the hypocrisy of Butcher getting his revenge by taking out Homelander, but he can’t get his on Soldier Boy. He whacks Butcher numerous times with a baseball bat, but on V it doesn’t even make Butcher flinch.

Soldier Boy finds the twins and they tell him that Noir was the one that gave him up to the Russians. Then, that triggering song comes on the radio, and down goes the house, so ending the 70th Herogasm.

The carnage is substantial, but from the rubble comes A-Train who finally gets his hands on Blue Hawk. He drags him down the street at superspeed, killing him easily, but as the doctors had warned him, any run could be his last. He goes down, his heart thumping in his ears.

Homelander vs. The Boys

Homelander arrives shortly after the explosion, squishing poor Termite in the process, RIP. He retells to Soldier Boy how much he emulated him as a kid, and Soldier Boy could care less, in fact, he sees Homelander as inferior. And we all know how that usually ends. Those two begin the fight one-on-one, but Butcher steps in to help and Homelander is shocked as he realizes that Butcher is Suped up when he takes some laser eye beams to the chest. Now it’s Butcher and Soldier Boy vs. Homelander until Hughie comes in to lend a hand. And between the three of them they get him down and Soldier Boy begins to charge up that Russian weapon in his chest, but he’s too slow. Homelander manages to wrestle free of Butcher and Hughie’s grips, flying through the ceiling in the nick of time.

Annie Makes a Move

In a last-ditch effort to get the world to see the truth behind Vought and Homelander, she makes a video from the carnage of Herogasm, telling her millions of social media followers the truth about what’s really going on. Soldier Boy is out there, and he’s dangerous, and Vought is trying to cover it up. And she’s no longer Starlight, she quits.

The first six episodes of the third season of The Boys are now streaming exclusively on Prime Video. Catch the next episode on Friday, July 1, and stay tuned for all of our coverage on the series, including episodic recaps and more.