In ‘The Boys’ Season 3: Episode 1, we witnessed Homelander slowly drifting to the brink of madness, and in Episode 2, he finally reveals his true identity, his narcissistic personality. Other than Homelander’s transformation arc, “The Boys” Season 3: Episode 2 also follows the truth about congresswoman, Victoria Neuman, the head popper who brutally murdered a fellow mate, Tony, who was with her (or Nadia, as her real name is) in a group home called Red River Insititute. And though Hughie is quite shaken by this new revelation, he doesn’t reveal the truth about Neuman to Billy until the very end of the episode. On the other hand, Billy is struggling with the question of whether to inject himself with compound V24 or not. He even visited his old pal Marvin to get some insightful information about Soldier Boy, who, too, like Homelander, has a history of brutality. Let’s continue further.
Victoria Neuman or Nadia Is Stanford Edgar’s Daughter
The head-popper, the congresswoman, or the head of FBSA, Nadia, Vickie, or Victoria Neuman, or whatever one wants to call her, in reality, was a “supe” planted by Stan Edgar in the government to rig everything from top to bottom. She made her first appearance in previous season and opposed the brutality of the superheroes while demanding strict regulations on them. Who knew that she was, in reality, working for Vought International, and brutally popped the heads of tens of people during the official hearing against the pharmaceutical giant and, from the shadows, silenced every voice that was raised against the corporation.
In “The Boys” Season 3: Episode 1, Hughie finds out the truth about his new boss when a friend named Tony from her group home, Red River, pays her a visit. Neuman mercilessly killed Tony in the alley, and Hughie was shaken to the core after witnessing such a bloodbath. He quickly informed his girlfriend, Starlight, about the whole incident and decided to plunge further all by himself. When Hughie visited the Red River institute, he found out that it was a special group home, obviously owned by Vought, to look after superhuman kids abandoned by their parents after they found out about their kids’ unstable super powers. Through Red River’s data, Hughie discovered that Nadia was adopted by Stan Edgar in 1994, the fact that he kept hidden because he wanted to plant her in the opposition so she could help her father from the other side.
Hughie finally revealed to Billy about Neuman’s real identity and told him that the entire system was rigged by the Vought. They were playing both the bad and the good guys just to keep the citizens entertained. Neuman was evidently working for Vought, which was why most of the super-criminals arrested by Billy and his team used to get away so easily. As soon as Billy learned the truth, he connected all the dots and concluded that he had been used as a puppet by Stan Edgar. He finally decided to inject himself with compound V24 in order to beat the “supes” at their own game.
Marvin, AKA, Mother’s Milk Returns Back To Billy
Throughout Season 1 and Season 2, Marvin, or Mother’s Milk, had been yearning to go back to his wife Monique and daughter Jeanine, and at the end of Season 2, after the government dropped all charges against “The Boys,” Marvin was finally able to return to his family, but everything wasn’t as pleasant as he imagined. His wife left him and was with another man named Todd, and while Marvin tried to get accustomed to the family life for almost a year, the unfinished business from the past started haunting him again. In “The Boys” Season 2: Episode 4, Marvin revealed that his late father was a small-time righteous lawyer who stood up against the Vought after an incident that happened between the corporation and his family. His father fought until his last breath and died at the age of 55, but justice was never served to his family. However, the feeling of revenge, or disease, as Marvin called it, was passed down to him because of which Marvin obsessively chased the superhero company like his father and eventually met Billy The Butcher.
In “The Boys” Season 3: Episode 2, Billy came to Marvin’s house because he was the only person who could have all the information about Soldier Boy. At this point, it was revealed through some paper cuttings that Soldier Boy caused some collateral damage to a Harlem family while trying to catch a thief in the neighborhood. It was probably someone from Marvin’s family, who had died that day, after which Marvin’s father filed a legal case against Vought to put Soldier Boy behind bars but failed to do so in his lifetime. Initially, Marvin refused to involve himself directly in chasing Soldier Boy’s teammates, Crimson Countess and Gunpowder, but did give some helpful insights to Billy. At the end of the episode, Marvin finally realized that no matter how much he yearned to spend some time with his family, he couldn’t stay there forever as his calling was chasing down nefarious superheroes and ending the battle against Vought that his late father had started. Hence, without any further ado, he revealed to Monique his desire and nightmares and thus decided to return to Billy to join the gang again.
Billy Finally Injects The Compound V24
Billy was in doubt about whether to use the serum or not. He decided to hunt Soldier Boy’s teammate without superpowers, but that resulted in total failure. He sent Frenchie and Kimiko to get information from Crimson Countess, who, after Soldier Boy’s death, started performing at a superhero theme park owned by Vought and sang songs of praise for the Soldier Boy. Frenchie and Kimiko tried to get the truth about Soldier Boy’s mysterious death in a nuclear meltdown, but before they could discover the truth, Crimson Countess tricked them and escaped. On the other hand, Billy himself attended the 33rd annual firearm convention hosted by Gunpowder in order to interrogate Gunpowder but instead of talking, he pulled out a gun on Billy and shot his leg, after which he had to escape.
At this moment of failure, Hughie revealed to Billy about Neuman’s identity and how she used him as a puppet. A man like Billy doesn’t like to be used as a toy, and hence, in his moment of rage, he injected himself with compound V24 to finally confront Gunpowder with his new attained super powers. As soon as Gunpowder found out that Billy was bullet-proof and his guns were no match for him, he finally spilled the truth and told him that the entire meltdown thing was a fabricated conspiracy, created by the government body. He even told Billy that the Payback was working for the CIA deputy director, Grace Mallory, who took them on a case job in Nicaragua, during which Soldier Boy disappeared. Gunpowder didn’t know anything else, and so when Billy was done with him, he slashed his head into two halves with the laser beam, thereby finally killing a “supe” after one long year. Now Billy knows that it is only Mallory who can shed further light on the mystery surrounding Soldier Boy, and he will probably pay her a visit in the next episode.
‘The Boys’ Season 3: Episode 2 – Ending Explained – Is Stormfront Dead?
The first thing that Homelander liked about Stormfront was her authority and the way she openly expressed her feelings for the big guy. Homelander might be the strongest superhero in people’s minds, but inside that superhuman body, there is a soft heart that craves for love and a sense of belongingness. The reason being, Homelander never had a family in actual sense but instead was created in a lab and spent his entire childhood locked behind metal doors. That void was filled by Stormfront in Season 2, but after she lost her hand, legs, voice, and powers, she was as dead as a corpse and could no longer love anyone, even herself. In ‘The Boys’ Season 3: Episode 1, Homelander, just like an impatient and heartless child, walked away from Stormfront, and that probably broke her heart. It was for this reason that when Homelander came to meet her on his birthday, she didn’t wish him, or even blink at him to start a conversation. The subtle tear dropping from her eye was suggestive enough to let us know that Stormfront has finally accepted her end.
While Homelander was trying to save a young girl named Chelsea and persuade her not to jump from the building, he got the news of Stormfront’s death. She bit her tongue and bled to death on the hospital bed. It was the push we had all been waiting for, the final blow to the Homelander’s sanity. In his madness, he forced Chelsea to jump off the building, and in fear, she did, eventually killing herself. During his birthday event, when a person from the audience called Stormfront a Nazi and reminded Homelander of her death, he finally lost his cool and decided to reveal his real self to the people instead of pretending to be a superhero for them. Until now, whenever Homelander saved someone, he would tell people that they were the real heroes, but finally, he made it clear that he is the hero here and they need him to protect them or save them and not the other way around. He spoke his heart out on national television and told the viewers that all his life he had been controlled by the rich people and followed their orders, but that wasn’t going to happen anymore.
Homelander no longer cares what people think about him any more and even more so, doesn’t care about his PR ratings, which is the only way through which Edgar put a leash on Homelander. What’s scary about this entire self-expression speech is that if people love Homelander for his unapologetic self, then it will give him uncontrollable freedom to bring chaos to the world, and we know what Homelander’s madness looks like. His only fear so far in the series is public opinion and validation, and if someone takes that away too, then there is no way to stop the real monster dwelling inside him. Once free from all these chains and boundations, he will probably start killing people publicly without any fear or remorse, as he did in Chelsea’s case, and that will be the end of it all.
