Ryan brutally kills a group of Russian soldiers in Episode 3 of The Boys Season 5 after they find him in Sudzha, Russia.
At the same time, Vought quickly changes the story about Soldier Boy, making him look like a hero who had been working undercover the whole time. Homelander also hears Madelyn’s voice in his head, calling him “sweet boy.” Because of these hallucinations, he tells everyone that Soldier Boy is his father, which makes Sage very angry.
It’s easy to see why the Boys are shaken by this news. Sameer finds out that Soldier Boy can’t get sick because he has the V1 compound in his body. Sage goes on to say that Frederick Vought’s first version of Compound V is ten times stronger, but it is also very unstable. This is why Soldier Boy doesn’t age and is almost immortal. Sadly, there are no more samples of V1 left.
As things get worse, MM starts drinking, and Butcher pushes to let the virus out before Homelander can get V1 and make himself immortal. The team stops him and says they need to make sure that there are still any V1s before they do anything else.
Soldier Boy quickly sees through Homelander’s lies about not knowing about the virus when he gets back to Vought Tower. He makes fun of Homelander by saying that he will outlive him and lead The Seven forever.
Annie gets in touch with Stan Edgar with Marie’s help. Stan is putting together his own version of Teenage Kix with Zoe and Maverick, Translucent’s son. Butcher stays behind, and the rest of the team talks Stan into helping them take down Homelander. Maverick is eager because he thinks Homelander killed his dad. Annie stops Hughie from trying to comfort him. After that, he tries to make up with Zoe, who feels hurt.
Stan gives Vought his files. Frenchie and Kimiko bring encrypted data back to Butcher, and the others look through the other papers. They find mentions of Fort Harmony, an army hospital, and figure that Vought probably made V1 there.
In another place, a shaken Homelander thinks about how every father figure he’s had has called him a failure. This time, his vision of Madelyn comes back to him, this time in a god-like form, telling him to get rid of the evil and become a god.
Zoe meets Ryan in secret and tells him that she plans to use The Boys to get close to Butcher and kill him. Ryan says no because he doesn’t want her to get hurt. She leaves because she’s angry. Butcher, who has been watching, goes up to Ryan and says they both want to kill Homelander.
Homelander calls Soldier Boy and asks him to find V1, giving him a second chance. Soldier Boy is upset by what happened and leaves.
Butcher tells Ryan his plan: get Homelander out of hiding before he can find V1, then let the virus loose, even if it means they have to die. He says it’s Ryan’s fate. At the same time, Homelander sends a team, which includes Dogknott, Cindy, and Noir, to find V1. Deep goes along, but only reluctantly.
Frenchie and Kimiko run into them at a gas station without knowing it. Once they have V1, they talk about their future. Frenchie wants to travel and live freely, but Kimiko surprises him by saying she wants a quiet life with a family.
Butcher secretly puts a tracker in Ryan’s jacket and messes with his feelings by talking about his own abusive father. Ryan agrees to the plan because he doesn’t want to end up like Homelander.
Riots break out after a lot of Starlighters are arrested. Not long after, the Supes attack Stan’s bunker. They are stuck inside the building, and Zoe is missing.
Zoe is really hiding in Frenchie and Kimiko’s van. She finds the lab and reunites with her father as they decode the encrypted files. When they find out the truth about Butcher, they get rid of the virus. Frenchie tries to kill Sameer, but Kimiko stops him because she thinks Zoe should have a chance to live. Zoe says thank you and leaves with Sameer.
Stan and MM get ready for battle back at the bunker. Stan thinks about MM’s father’s fight against Vought, but he says that no one can really beat capitalism. MM knows that Stan wants to kill everyone else so he can take back control of Vought. MM promises to kill him when the time is right.
A disturbing ad for a youth camp at Vought Studios shows kids being taught how to kill Starlighters. Sage is told to stop worrying about Homelander and put all of his energy into making V1 again and testing it on prisoners.
Firecracker talks to Soldier Boy in another place. The two quickly become close and sleep together, with Soldier Boy saying that part of the reason is to get back at Homelander. He also talks about how strange Homelander’s behavior is and how he hasn’t dealt with his problems.
Butcher takes Ryan back to base, where he briefly sees some familiar faces. But the mood changes when they find out the virus is gone. Ryan gets angry when he realizes that Butcher tricked him. He has no chance against Homelander without the virus. He leaves because he feels betrayed.
Hughie tells Annie in the bunker that he wants to give Maverick V1 so that people can do good. Annie is touched by how hopeful he is.
The team follows through with their plan: MM sends Maverick to take out the Supes with a gas grenade. But things go wrong when the Supes find out that Hughie killed Translucent. Maverick changes his mind and lets them into the bunker. Stan tries to betray The Boys, but Noir stops him. Then Deep steps in and takes Stan to Homelander himself.
Maverick talks to Hughie, who admits he is guilty and tries to talk him out of it, but it doesn’t work. Cindy steps in and kills Maverick, but Annie stops her before she can kill Hughie.
Ryan, on the other hand, talks to Homelander about his mother. Homelander tries to lie, which starts a brutal fight. Ryan is completely outmatched and badly beaten, and Homelander blames him for what happened.
Annie leaves because she is shaken by how close Hughie came to dying. Homelander greets Stan with open arms, while Butcher looks for Ryan and tries to calm him down.
Review of the Episode
Episode 3 of Season 5 is a crazy mix of big changes and sudden problems. The story moves quickly, but then things start to go wrong because of things that weren’t expected, many of which seem like they were going to happen.
Maverick’s involvement makes things more emotional, especially since it connects to Hughie’s past. Ryan is still a tragic character—strong but very naive—so it’s hard to watch him lose so badly to Homelander.
Antony Starr is once again the star of the show. His portrayal of Homelander’s instability, going from insecure to dangerously confident, keeps the story from being predictable. His hallucinations make us wonder about some interesting things, like whether an unseen force is affecting him.
This episode does a good job of balancing action, character conflict, and dark satire, even though the constant changes make the progress feel short-lived.