While other superhero universes state that having superpowers is a kind of responsibility, the most realistic Billy the Butcher feels otherwise. Ultimately, in “The Boys,” Season 3: Episode 4, Butcher delivers one of the most iconic lines and calls these superpowers a punishment. And why not? When you get powers with just an injection and then, without any training, purpose, or remorse, go on killing people around you, then indeed, you are nothing but a weapon of mass destruction.
Episode 4 further explores Homelander’s greed for power and control of Vought International and in order to do so, he extends a hand of friendship towards his public enemy, Victoria Neuman, to plot against Stan Edgar and temporarily remove him from the board of directors. Other than the internal politics of “The Seven,” the episode also brings forth Butcher’s brutish behavior towards his comrades that may force many to leave the team. And last but not least, we finally get a glimpse of the present-day Soldier Boy.
Spoilers Warning: Please Don’t Read Further If You Haven’t Watched Episode 4. The Episode Is Releasing At Different Time Periods In Different Regions.
Stan Edgar Vs. Homelander
The C.E.O. of Vought International, Edgar and Homelander have been fighting like cats and dogs since forever, and though they hate each other the most, none of them tried to attack each other directly. The reason being, Edgar knows that Homelander is the face of Vought International and their most valued asset and thus can’t be easily kicked out, while for Homelander, going against Edgar means going against the corporation that signs his cheques and pays for his million dollar P.R. system, and we all know how much Homelander craves attention and validation. But what if Homelander could kick out Edgar without compromising his relationship with Vought?
In “The Boys,” Season 3: Episode 3, Homelander gave a revolutionary and courageous speech about how rich people were using him like a puppet, and he was done following their orders. His speech not only received a positive public reaction, but it also gave him the confidence to be more real about his personality. In “The Boys” Season 3: Episode 4, Homelander went to the Cameron Coleman talk show and tried to become a whistler-blower, hinting at revealing the names of the powerful men in the management who had been pulling the strings all along. It was a direct attack on Edgar, soon after which he ordered his adopted daughter, Victoria Neuman, the head of FBSA, to put some fines on Homelander in order to show him his place.
But Neuman didn’t want to offend Homelander as she was concerned for her daughter Zoe’s safety, and hence, she made a pact with Homelander. In exchange for helping Homelander and opening a public inquiry on Stanford Edgar for his fraudulent practices in Vought, she requested Homelander to bring her a vial of Compound V, which she injected into her daughter in order to turn her into a supe just like her so that she would be able to protect herself from all adversaries in the future. Neuman probably believed that the compound would provide security in her daughter’s life, but what if it would eventually become a reason for her death due to some side effects of the chemical, or maybe it would turn her into some monster-looking superhuman? Would Neuman be able to live with that kind of guilt? And whom would she blame for her daughter’s tragedy?
Homelander Kills Supersonic
Homelander had been torturing Starlight since the day Edgar made her the co-captain of the team. She wanted to leave the team then and there, but Hughie requested she stay put and buy some time for them as he was on a mission to find an ultimate supe-weapon called “B.C.L. R.E.D.” that could probably kill Homelander and eliminate all their miseries with a single blow. And while Hughie went on the hunt for the weapon with “The Boys,” Starlight thought of building her resistance team against Homelander, who would help them to divert his attention so that Butcher could take a clean shot at Homelander if he ever found the weapon.
Starlight quickly approached Queen Maeve and found out that she was the one who told Butcher about this ultimate supe-gun. And while Maeve clearly stated why fighting alone sometimes is really helpful, Starlight went on and trusted her ex-boyfriend, Supersonic, the newest member of “The Seven,” with her secret resistance team. Some bloodshed could have been avoided if Supersonic had kept the secret, a “secret,” but when he found out A-Train and Deep were fighting in the lobby, he thought that A-Train, whom Homelander doesn’t support anymore, could also become a part of the resistance team. Little did he know about A-train and Deep’s history, who would betray anyone at any time just to stay in “The Seven.” And this time, it was Homelander who was pulling the strings in the management; thus, A-train didn’t waste a moment and snitched upon Starlight and Supersonic. Homelander brutally killed Supersonic on the top of the terrace to curb the rebellion and gave an ultimate warning to Starlight that if she wouldn’t stop plotting against him, then his next target would be Hughie.
See More: Who Is Supersonic In ‘The Boys’ Season 3? Is He Dead?
‘The Boys’ Season 3: Episode 4 – Ending Explained – Soldier Boy Is Back In The Game
At the end of “The Boys” Season 3: Episode 3, Butcher puked some green liquid on Billy’s face, which suggested that he might find out about Butcher’s little secret. Without building-much drama around it in Episode 4, Butcher quickly revealed to Hughie that he had injected himself with a Temp V or Compound 24 that made him a supe for 24 hours. Hearing the prospects of the new serum, Hughie became eager to try one on himself as, since the beginning of the series, he had been feeling incompetent. It was first Supersonic who was hitting on his super girlfriend, and then it was Homelander who, in the name of a P.R. stunt, called Starlight his girlfriend. Hughie tried to act like a strong man, but in front of Homelander, especially without any powers, he was just a nobody.
Nevertheless, coming back to the mission to get the ultimate weapon, Butcher made a deal with Frenchie’s ex-boss, Little Nina. Earlier in Episode 3, Cherie stole some 11 kilos of drugs from Nina and ran away using fake passports created by Frenchie, and soon after her escape, Nina called Frenchie to her bakery to threaten him. As soon as Butcher found out about it, he quickly decided to use Frenchie’s Russian connection to facilitate his trip to the country so as to find out what happened to the Soldier Boy who was kidnapped by the Russians in 1984.
In exchange for a luxurious trip to Russia, Little Nina wanted more than just money. She demanded Cherie, but Butcher agreed to do some dirty business for her in Russia and thus commanded Kimiko to slaughter some mob boss in Russia. As soon as the job was finished, Nina gave them the location of the secured military compound where Butcher believed the Russians had kept the secret weapon ‘B.C.L. R.E.D.’ Inside the lab, Butcher and his team discovered a supe-hamster locked inside a glass vessel, establishing that the Russians had also been experimenting with Compound V in order to create their own superheroes against their nemesis, the U.S.A. Homelander and other supes were considered tyrants in Russia, as was clearly depicted by their terrifying graffiti on the walls of the city.
Before “The Boys” could find the weapon that they had been looking for, the Russian soldiers heard the alarm that Frenchie had accidentally triggered while playing with the hamster. The Russian soldiers opened fire on the team, and as soon as Butcher found his men cornered, he quickly revealed his temporary superpowers to protect his comrades. Hughie got excited too and used his temporary superpowers that established the fact that he had injected himself with Compound V24. After the Russians were dealt with, Butcher curiously opened the door to a protected chamber, and inside it found Soldier Boy with a thick beard and an oxygen mask on his face. Hence, it could be speculated that whatever supe-weapon the Russians had developed, it didn’t kill Soldier Boy, or probably that wasn’t its objective, to begin with. Instead, they just wanted to abduct America’s favorite hero in order to experiment on him and thus bring him to their motherland. They might have extracted the chemical from Soldier Boy’s body or might have stolen Compound V from Vought’s lab in order to create their own supes, and probably their experiment was still under-development as suggested by the locked hamster. Or maybe they have already created a Red-Supe, whom we will witness in upcoming episodes.
As soon as Soldier Boy came out of his captivity, like a raging bull, he attacked Frenchie and Kimiko. Soldier Boy used an energy blast to melt down everything in front of him, and to save Frenchie from a lethal attack, Kimiko pushed away Frenchie and came into contact with the energy beam that almost killed her. While “The Boys” attended to a severely wounded Kimiko, Soldier Boy escaped the facility. Frenchie discovered that Kimiko wasn’t healing from Soldier Boy’s attack and thus decided to rush her to the hospital to save her life, but we didn’t know whether she would survive or not.
Kimiko wanted to leave the team as she was done killing people in the name of justice and being used as a weapon by Butcher. She wanted to live in a peaceful city like Marseilles with Frenchie, but Frenchie wasn’t ready to leave the team again as he had already abandoned them earlier, which resulted in the death of Grace Mallory’s loved ones. But after Butcher ill-treated Kimiko and compelled Frenchie to take him to his ex-Russian boss, Frenchie too had a change of thought. Probably, after this attack on Kimiko, if she survives anyhow, Frenchie would take the hard decision and decide to part ways with the team. Butcher, on the other hand, subtly suggested to Marvin that he has to look after the team after he is gone, which further indicates that Butcher is indeed going to sacrifice himself to take revenge from Homelander. However, in his blind pursuit towards vengeance, Butcher is bringing wrath upon his own team and like Marvin fears that there wouldn’t be any team left in the end because of him.
Meanwhile, we can speculate that Soldier Boy will somehow arrive in America, and for Homelander, he is a direct threat to his throne. Stanford Edgar, who worked with Soldier Boy during “Operation Charly,” has some strong ties with the supe and thus, like Black Noir, can become his potential ally against Homelander, which means we can expect an ultimate clash between Butcher, Homelander, and Soldier Boy in the upcoming episodes. Homelander may have gotten rid of Stan Edgar for the time being, but he will not be going away for long and will probably strike back with all his might.
