Where every major character ended up on season 3 of ‘The Boys’

Butcher learned that he has approximately 12 months to live.

This season, Butcher leveled the playing field against the supes by injecting himself with temporary compound V, an untested drug from Vought that gives the user powers for 24 hours. Butcher reasoned that it would help achieve their goal of eliminating Homelander once and for all.

And while V24 did give him laser eyes and super strength that allowed him to murder a supe named Gunpowder in seconds, his repeated use had consequences.

In addition to vomiting and bleeding from his ear, the use of V24 can lead to seizures, atrophy of the cortex, hyper-accelerated malignant tumors, and more side effects.

After fainting in the finale, a doctor told Butcher that attempting further treatment would significantly affect his way of life without necessarily extending the time he has left. Butcher was told that he had maybe 12 months left to live, 18 if they were being optimistic.

Butcher was also forced to confront his own childhood trauma this season. In episode seven, the supe named Mindstorm trapped Butcher in an endless nightmare.

In the nightmare, he relived his most painful memories that involved his father, Sam, physically and verbally abusing him and his younger brother Lenny. This constant torment combined with Butcher’s abandonment led Lenny to take his own life.

The endless nightmare also showed that Butcher’s own coldness and tendency to be violent stem from how his father raised him. In rewatching his past play out in front of him, Butcher realized that he was leading Hughie, who reminds him of Lenny, down a similar path of darkness.

Hughie came to terms with his toxic masculinity and learned what real strength is.

Hughie grappled with his own perceived notions of power because of his relationship with Annie January/Starlight, a supe who’s objectively stronger than he is.

Although he told Annie on their first date that he didn’t mind her being stronger than him, that anger eventually came out and he got frustrated by being the one who always needs saving.

Tired of feeling like the weakest link among the Boys and in his relationship with Annie, he became addicted to V24 and the strength and confidence that it gave him.

It wasn’t until the finale that Hughie acknowledged the error of his ways.

He explained to Annie that after his mom left him and his dad when he was a child, he thought that his father was weak because he never fought back for her (or anything). Instead, he seemed complacent and passive.

Hughie came to the realization that his dad wasn’t a loser, he was showing strength. He was there for his son, taking care of him and trying to keep a roof over their heads after his mom abandoned them.

During the finale’s big fight scene, Hughie found himself facing a dilemma as the team was losing: take V24 and use the power to teleport to the scene to help or stay in Vought’s control room and use his tech smarts to assist.

He chose the latter, by turning up all the lights in the room so that Annie could absorb the energy and channel it into her powers.

Soldier Boy was put back on ice.

When the Boys went to Russia in search of a weapon powerful enough to kill Homelander, they discovered Soldier Boy in a cryo chamber.

As it turned out, he wasn’t killed in Nicaragua in 1984. Instead, the Russians captured him and he was subjected to various, painful experiments and dangerous levels of radiation.

Soldier Boy’s impenetrable skin and ability to emit powerful blasts made him an asset to Butcher, and the duo made an agreement: Soldier Boy would kill Homelander and the Boys would help him track down the members of his old team named Payback.

The deal put Butcher and Hughie at odds with Annie and the Boys, who were against the idea of helping Soldier Boy murder his old teammates.

When Soldier Boy headed to Vought Tower in search of Black Noir, the last remaining member of Payback that suffered the most abuse from him, a major battle ensued.

After Ryan (the son of Homelander and Butcher’s late wife, Becca) attacked Soldier Boy for harming Homelander, he retaliated. Soldier Boy going after Ryan led Butcher to become angry because he vowed to Becca that he’d keep Ryan safe.

Soldier Boy almost overpowered everyone he was fighting against, but Queen Maeve made the ultimate sacrifice by jumping through the window with him to prevent everyone from being wiped out by his blast.

He was last seen sedated and put back in a chamber, overseen by Grace Mallory.

Queen Maeve left The Seven and fled town.

This season, Queen Maeve helped out Butcher and the Boys in their quest to take down Homelander. She trained for months for a potential showdown against Homelander and stole v24 from Vought.

The public believes that Queen Maeve died while stopping Soldier Boy in the finale, but she actually survived. Because of her exposure to Soldier Boy’s blast, the compound V in her system was zapped and she’s now powerless.

Maeve also lost an eye, which was gouged out by Homelander during their one-on-one fight at Vought Tower.

She was last seen telling Annie that her slow road to recovery involved leaving town with Elena and relocating to some place where Homelander can’t find her, like a farm.

Annie ditched The Seven to officially join the Boys.

This move was a long time coming since Annie had been going rogue to help the Boys since season one.

In season three, Annie got promoted to co-captain of The Seven alongside Homelander. But as Homelander became more unhinged, she found herself constantly in danger.

Hughie’s use of v24 put the couple at odds this season, but he came around and empowered her by turning up the lights in the Vought newsroom. As a result, Annie tapped into a new power: being able to fly.

At the end of the finale, Annie threw out her Starlight costume at the Boys HQ, telling Hughie: “I don’t need it. I don’t. The suit never gave me any power and Vought sure as shit didn’t. It’s always just been me.”

Homelander learned that he’s biologically related to Soldier Boy.

Homelander isn’t actually Soldier Boy’s son, but he was created by Vought scientist Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum in spring 1981 by using the supe’s DNA.

But similar to other people Homelander has tried to get close to in his life, Soldier Boy rejected him. In the finale, Soldier Boy scoffed at Homelander for being weak and starved for attention.

Soldier Boy called him a disappointment and would have murdered him if Ryan hadn’t interjected.

Homelander spiraled downward this season, becoming more unstable. But he saw a surprising uptick in his popularity when he went off-script during his televised birthday special. During the event, he went on a rant about how people have tried to control and puppeteer him his whole life. He said that he was done being persecuted for his strength, and began to show the public his true colors.

Following the big battle at Vought Tower, Ryan willingly chose Homelander over Butcher.

In the last scene of the finale, Homelander stopped by a rally and introduced the world to his super-powered son. After a Starlight supporter threw a can that hit Ryan, Homelander lost his temper and murdered the protestor.

The moment was met with applause from Homelander’s supporters, setting a frightening precedent for season four.

Black Noir was killed by Homelander.

Season three finally revealed the origin story of The Seven’s most enigmatic member.

Prior to joining the aforementioned supe group, Black Noir was part of Payback.

When the opportunity arose to make a deal with Stan Edgar and take down Soldier Boy, his abuser, Black Noir took it. Black Noir always knew Soldier Boy might come back someday to get revenge — except Soldier Boy was too late.

In the finale, Homelander killed Noir by ripping his intestines out from his chest using his hand.

Homelander murdered Noir, the Seven member he trusted the most, because he knew Homelander had a father alive out there and didn’t tell him.

A-Train got a heart transplant.

A-Train can’t run as fast as he used to because of his weakened heart, so he tried to rebrand this season as a “proud Black man.” This involved a new supe suit that honored his culture and pitches about video games inspired by his heritage.

When A-Train’s brother, Nathan, told him about a supe named Blue Hawk who was targeting Black communities in Trenton, NJ he decided to be proactive.

A-Train got Blue Hawk to visit a community center, where he gave an insincere apology for over-patrolling.

As people shouted “Black lives matter,” Blue Hawk voiced his support of blue lives and supes. Then he began flinging the people and calling them stupid. Nathan got caught in the fight and was injured, unable to walk again.

A-Train confronted Blue Hawk for paralyzing his brother in episode six. Then used his super speed to drag Blue Hawk on the road, killing him.

A-Train using his powers resulted in him experiencing a heart attack. When he woke up, he was told that he got a heart transplant from Blue Hawk and would be able to run properly again.

The Deep got back into The Seven, but doesn’t really have a purpose.

After getting pulled into the Church of the Collective last season, Deep returned to share his story with the world. He wrote a book (or rather, a ghostwriter did) called “Deeper” about how he and his wife Cassandra escaped the cult. He also got a profile in the New Yorker and was hailed as the next Leah Remini.

In trying to rehabilitate his image, Cassandra became controlling and overbearing, by writing The Deep’s speeches for him and texting him about what to say during team meetings. Unsatisfied by his marriage, The Deep turned to octopi for oral sex.

The Deep also made a comeback and rejoined The Seven, after being forced to eat his octopus friend Timothy. He was mostly tasked with carrying out various tasks for Homelander, including murdering presumptive VP candidate Lamar Bishop.

He also became the new head of crime analytics and fired a majority of the staff because of past tweets that were critical of Homelander

By the end of the season, The Deep was left alone watching Cassandra on TV talking about her new biography “In 2 Deep: My Journey 2 Freedom.”

While consuming junk food, he watched as Cassandra told her interviewer, “You don’t know the real Kevin. And you wouldn’t like him if you did.”

Mother’s Milk opened up to his daughter Janine about their family’s dark history.

Much of Mother’s Milk journey in season three involved his family’s history with Soldier Boy.

Similar to his dad, MM has dedicated his life to getting justice. But he’s also been careful to keep that side of his life, and cycle of violence, away from Janine. This was made more difficult in season three by the presence of Todd, Janine’s stepfather who supports supes and believes Homelander is making the world a better place.

MM used to idolize Soldier Boy, until the supe showed up in Harlem one day and flung a Benz through their brownstone, killing MM’s grandfather. MM developed OCD after the incident and he lived in fear that if he didn’t check the burner three times, Soldier Boy would come back and kill his family.

When Soldier Boy returned, so did MM’s tics and compulsions. He was able to have the satisfaction of confronting Soldier Boy in the finale.

Then, MM sat down with Janine and told her the truth about their family history and the role the supe played in it. In response, Janine told him that he’s her hero.

Frenchie finally got the courage to assert himself and stand up to Butcher.

Season three revealed more of Frenchie’s backstory by way of Nina, a ruthless drug trafficker that he used to work for. She compared Frenchie to a rabid dog who’s loyal to the person holding the chain, whether it’s his dad, Nina, or Butcher.

But Kimiko helped him realize that his past doesn’t define him. The same way he saw something in her worth redeeming, she views Frenchie the same way.

In the finale, Frenchie told Butcher that he was done with his cruelty and deserved respect (plus vacation days and a dental plan).

Kimiko got in touch with her humanity and came to embrace her powers.

Season three explored Kimiko’s love for music and her desire to be a normal person, not a killer. When she got hit by Soldier Boy in episode four, she was actually delighted to not have her powers.

Kimiko and Frenchie’s relationship also evolved. After kissing him in the hospital in episode five, Kimiko realized it was weird because they’re more than that. She considers him to be family now.

By episode seven, Kimiko decided that she wanted her powers back and asked Annie to get her compound V from Vought.

Kimko explained that she previously hated compound V and her powers because she didn’t choose it. But now it was her choice and she wanted to use her powers for good, to fight and be able to protect the people she loves.

So, she took compound V and killed the guards at the Vought lab while Frenchie concocted a gas that would sedate Soldier Boy in the finale.

Victoria Neuman became Dakota Bob’s new VP pick.

In the season three premiere, Hughie learned that Victoria, his boss at the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, is the head-popping supe.

This season, she quietly formed an alliance with Homelander. She helped him get information on Ryan’s location and in exchange, he got The Deep to kill Lamar Bishop for her. This allowed her to swoop in to fill the position and get one step closer to acquiring even more power in the White House if elected.

Her agenda is unclear, but Butcher and the Boys will pose a threat.

After seeing the news on TV, Butcher told the Boys, “Well, that bitch has definitely got to go.”