THE BOYS Season 3 Episode 8 'Season Finale' Ending Explained 

What did you think of The Boys Season 3? Comment your thoughts below!

Honestly, I was a tad disappointed. Was it a good episode? Yes. Was it a good season? Absolutely. But what struck me as odd is the fact that there was very little REAL plot development - butcher backing out last second felt like sequel bait. While I do want more of this show, I just feel a little cheated by the build up. The entire season was setup, with a less-than-exciting finale. Entertained, but disappointed

Am I the only one who found this slightly disappointing. Like in the big fight the decided to throw away everything season 3 was setting up just to give starlight a moment to shine (literally) and to set up season 4. They had homelander, soilder boy could of betrayed them but didn't. And instead the boys fight him because Ryan was there. It wasn't a had episode it was entertaining start to finish. But the choices they made imo just threw away alot what season 3 was setting up because of Ryan. Also that black noir death, this show did black noir wrong, a blank slate from the beginning, finally gets a character arc and that arc just made him look like a coward.

My favorite part was when Noir finally faced solider boy and uttered his first words in over a decade “It’s Noirin time”

I honestly was disappointed in how weak starlight was in the last battle, even at her primer with that much energy, she basically did nothing that truly hurt Soldierboy. Even Butchers' laser eyes hurt him more imo

Bringing Ryan into the final fight was a purely strategic move on Homelanders part. He knew Butchers weakness is the kid and used that to his advantage. In the Herogasm episode Homelander states that by Butcher bringing Soldier Boy into the mix he was “cheating” their fight to the death pact. Knowing how close the encounter went in Herogasm he knew he had to “cheat” back in order to survive.

I wish Black Noir would have surprised everyone by flying into the final battle and FINISHING Homelander

i don't think they would kill noir just like that, SB literally Busted his head and he still manage survive

the finale was underwhelming. All that suspense and build up for Black Noir was for nothing. Guys imagine if it was Noir (instead of Meave) who stopped Soilder boy from imploding inside Vought tower. That, AT LEAST, would've been better than having to see his guts getting pulled out by Homelander. Also, do check out the comics of The Boys. there's a YT channel called Key issues and they have made videos on almost all the characters of The Boys. Definitely watch their Homelander and then Billy butcher origin videos. You'll love the plot and twists (also, the show probably isn't going to go in the same direction as the comics so it's alright to watch them videos)

Butcher and Maeve can get their powers back by taking full V- I think it was a plot device they shouldn't have introduced. Ah, did you notice the news paper headline saying the Russians deny all involvement with SoldierBoy- this leads me to think that maybe Vought have been doing this all along, as we still have Edgar's statement that Vought would be out of the Supes business in 5 years.

Soldier Boy was the only one who kept his word this season and now he’s gone…sooooo lame

Noir’s death was so underwhelming after such a build up I really hope he comes back because he has definitely healed from worse

Finale was underwhelming. I can't believe they are still developing the Deep and A Train's storyline. Only silver lining is Anthony Starr's performance as Homelander

The biggest problem with this finale is that it renders the rivarly between HL and butcher stale. S1 ending: butcher finds out becca is alive and HL discovers his son S2 ending: becca dies and ryan chooses butcher over HL All these plot points fuel the rivarly more and more between them. S3 was counting too much on SB and even hyped up noir and maeve as a civil war type scenario at the end. Even the boys split up. Season 3 genuinely ignored ryan the whole time just to randomly bring him up at the end. So what does this finale provide? I guess ryan now chose HL over butcher? Sure that's cool but that wasnt the focus. It just became everyone against soldier boy which is very uninteresting since he was already defeated by payback (him defeated again is not a shock at all). Even the whole SB blast thing is stupid af. It just DEPOWERS supes not kill them, technically they just should've let SB blast HL. If kimiko and maeve can take a full blast ryan COVERED by HL would most likely survive

The finale felt very incongrous with the rest of the show and the universe of the Boys. It was very disappointing. The plot played out in a manner that demanded the status quo remain the same, and the show keeps going on. Why is Queen Maeve even alive? Previously Soilder Boys blast literally incenerated multiple supes. And if you fall from a building with no powers, like what 30 stories? You're going to be mush. My point isn't to nit pick, but the episode feels like it betrayed the universe of the Boys. It felt like a conventional Superhero comic storyline. Even Soilder Boy lives to fight another day. Maeve get a happy ending. Butcher shows he isn't a villain. MM gets revenge. Heuy gets his faith back in Butcher and gets back with Starlight. Like wtf? Its like the finale is from another show altogether.

Not killing maeve was kinda disappointing to be honest, it would have been by far the most impactful death of the whole series and then.... shit... she had the perfect arc and it was the ideal most impactful moment and they missed the mark hard

i was sad that black noir "died" he is my favorite, but I don't think he would die so easily i mean his head split open and brains on the floor before sooo....

If soldier boys blast erased mauves powers ,how did she survive the fall to the pavement from like 20stories high without powers? When kimiko was blasted it erased her powers immediately and her hitting the wall injured her. So how did mauve survive?

i love your video format bro keep up the great work !

This season finale is a bit disappointing. 1. Noir deserved a more dramatic death, especially considering how much development he was given in the previous episode. I feel like that development was a pump fake; it was meant to misdirect the audience's expectations for the finale. 2. Either Soldier Boy should have died or Homelander should have been depowered. Neither happens, so their conflict feels unresolved. Having said that, I didn't want Soldier Boy to die, but it would have been impactful and an end to the conflict between him and Homelander. 3. Maeve loses her powers...but I don't care. She isn't an integral character to the main conflict, so whatever happens to her is inconsequential to the core narrative. The only satisfying occurrences in the finale are Ryan's decision to side with Homelander and the public's acceptance of Homelander's true, psychopathic nature.

I really did want Soldier Boy and Homelander to team up, but this was very fitting in the bad fathers theme. I was also very glad Maeve survived and got her happy ending. I'm still curious about Chekov's F*ck with Butcher and whether or not she's pregnant with Butcher's child, who will grow up with two mothers and break the thematic cycle of bad fathers. I will miss Black Noir. I'm kind of sorry about that because I enjoyed the interplay between him and Homelander. I'm worried about Robert Singer's safety. I'm excited for Annie to be part of The Boys. I loved Hughie getting to be hero without being a supe. That was thematically brilliant. I don't think we'll see much of Soldier Boy again, but I'm glad he isn't dead because it's a great character. I actually thought he'd take Homelander's powers away somehow and that didn't happen, alas. Certainly, we'll see Solider Boy in some of the spinoff shows, if briefly. He is a character that is probably best used sparingly.

I actually got a bit sad when BN gets killed. Funny to have such an emotional reaction for a character who never talks.

HL and Ryan were handled really well. For some reason, Maeve now scales to almost the same level as Homelander? I can buy her surviving the fall since it makes sense for the de-powering to spread throughout one's body over the course of at least a few seconds. I can NOT buy her being the noble yet victimized character that she's been built up to be, when she has the physical capacity to fight Homelander for that long. SB didn't have to be the final boss of this season. Why couldn't Butcher just tell SB to kill Homelander and leave Ryan lol, like what? Noir being killed by a single fist through the chest was pretty underwhelming. I always assumed that Noir's powers had something to do with healing, what with him recovering from losing a whole lobe of his brain and also him tanking that super suicide bomber so casually, but I guess not? Hughie choosing to turn on the lights for Annie over taking Temp V would have been nice, except we know these guys also have regular V. Why can't these two have the same realization that Kimiko did lol. The power doesn't define you. Hughie can still be a good person after he gets V. He can be gentle and still stand by Annie in dangerous fights where she's legit putting her life on the line. Like, come on. Let him be more than just the team's lackey.

The moment when butcher and homelander lazered soldierboy was really cool. Ryan's face after the publics reaction after homelander killed the dude was very telling you described it perfectly. It's also funny that season 3 ends with Newman again same as in season 2. Still except for the final episode the 3rd season was weaker then the last 2 seasons tbh.

never thought starlights power would be that much useless.

TBH, I would have left Soldier boy to fry both HL and the kid, I mean it was not his (Butchers), he made a promise to someone dead so, what good does the promise do anymore, it is not like that person would be impacted anymore. And in the end, taking superman (1 under development) not the best deal? I was hoping to see at least Ryan erased from this cannon :). Maybe next season

Maeve looses her powers midfall from like 20+ stories up and survives. As is able to walk immediately lol. Thats some good writing there

After watch this episode i think the boys story is about butcher homelander ryan and soldierboy, four of them are a child who has a problem with they father

This episode just made it feel like anyone could beat Homelander. Sb, Maeve, Butcher. Next the deeps gonna hold his own against Homelander 🤦🏾‍♂️

I thought the Ending could be better. Maeve shouldn’t be able to Fight Homelander’s like that, Yeah a Few Punches are OK but Homelander is far stronger than her. Black Noir’s arc was ruined. Where was Edgar? How did Victoria find Ryan? Why is Homelander showing off Ryan? (I think I can answer this one myself) Maeve being alive and not one Major character Except Noir (Let’s face it, He’ll be back) dying felt like a Copout.

Hopefully we get to see a montage of Homelander and Ryan spending time together and bonding in Season 4.

I remember when shows had more than 8 episodes per season

Narrative wise it all pans out mostly the way one would expect since the plan was to keep Homelander in play for next season as he is simply too good a character to kill off or unpower just yet, while at the same time benching Soldier boy and Maeve for future plot devices if needed - but it left a lot to be desired. Seeing homelander grapple with being a normal "mud person" would have been very entertaining for the 4th season but clearly they have something else in mind for the overall main plot of the show. Noir's death was done for simple shock value which just undercut the episodes previous and with his death just abruptly cut off his beef with Soldier boy, leaving an unfinished taste in our mouths. A-Train and The deeps sub-plots (outside A-train getting the new heart) just felt pointless and tacked on, as they had nothing to do with anything of any importance or even entertainment and in the grand scheme just felt like wasted show time to fill the actors screen time contract quotas. The season was pretty good overall, but definitely ended on the lower end of the spectrum.

Noir dying definitely sets up Clonelander in the future

Excellent video! A comment on what you said about Maeve vs Homelander. He does NOT have feelings for her. He doesn't have feelings for anyone but himself. The reason he didn't want to fight her is because he didn't want to acknowledge a challenge posed by someone inferior to him.

most Surprising thing is Black noir was not enough durable , so Butcher & soldier boy & maeve (Black noir knocked out her )can kill him ezly with One punch

Season 3 was more like a soap opera. I didn't think it was as strong as 1 and 2. I was kind of dissapointed. Actually, episodes 5 and 7 were probably the most boring.

Butcher is going to have to realize that Ryan is compromised. Ryan just saw Homelanders own father betray him right before his very eye's. He got to see Homelander's more human side and why he's the way he is and got to see Butchers more sadistic side. Ryan could use that as justification to stick by his own and turn against the Boy's.

No telling how things will turn out , anyone who read the original Boys knows that it was Black Noir who does in Homelander , and he wasn't Black of course, but a duplicate of someone else . And he had one prime directive, waiting for that Order 66 to be given ... Butcher does seem to be on track . Soldier Boy technically is just sitting on ice

They give him twelve months to live, I believe he will use compound v to stay the course. I also find it hilarious in the series banshee sheriff hood was being called soldier boy in the last season.

I was really hoping A Train would get more involved but obviously he’s healing. I feel like he’s going to be one of the strongest supes with his new heart.

Feels like they’re setting up for the final part of the series. Hence why a lot of characters had plot armor. We might get the clone of homelander storyline through Noir’s resurrection?

Got shivers when we saw the smallest smile crack across Ryan's face

Ryan may be the key to killing Homelander, they just gotta find a way to get him back on their side.

Homelander met his mirror and I'm gmat that SB is undead.... Butcher... Well, I feel bad for him.. And not to forget BN and....... The way Mueve put up the fight.. Got me on my feet... But Karl's Butcher was far underpowered n I greatly respect SB who never turned down the deal...

I think there is definitely more to Starlights powers than we know. I think they will expand on it later on. I actually think she might be like a nuke like Soldier Boy but a different kind of radiation entirely and probably could counter SB powers.

My fellow poor people who dont have Amazon Prime its good to see ya!

I get that noir was off guard, but that’s the whole thing. He’s never off guard. At least they need the story to move forward. The last episode on diabolical is Canon to the show. Other than that, I loved it. Thor and the boys the same day was amazing

I aint believe noir is dead. As long as i dont see body being burried, hes still alive. Why would they just kill him off? Hes a fan favorite and his story is not resolved yet. I mean we also thought a train was dead, so everything is possible.

i found it strange there was no proper goodbye for black noir. As in, no Vought announcement was made (like maive). I assume that since black noir is easily replaceable.Through a vought coverup, he will come back next season with another supe taking the moniker

Did anyone else get a hint of Brightburn with the final scene with Ryan?

Ryan Ryan Johnson'd his own personality and story arc.

I do think Ryan humanizes Homelander. It's the only time I don't feel unending hatred and fear of him. It's his one redeeming quality, and I honestly loved the scene where both him and Butcher teamed up on Soldier Boy after SB threw Ryan into that shelf. The look the two of them exchanged after said so much more than words could. I do wonder if Homelander is only proud of Ryan now because he's starting to come into his powers (I'm remembering when he literally threw the kid off the roof), because he used to see him as weak and probably had the same thoughts as Soldier Boy who is a great example of how if you don't mature/progress, you end up as shitty as your parents. SB hated how his father treated him and then he mimics the same feeling for his son.

MM putting that mask over Soldier Boy's face reminds me of the time the Avengers were hold Thanos back

Weak. They should have had the balls to have Black Noir, Soldier Boy & Queen Maeve KILL HOMELANDER

Hmmm I am not sure if I buy A-Train is going to be his old self there might be that lingering doubt

No one is talking about the mugshots hanging in Butchers place at the end...? Who are these people? I think they are the villians of Season 4... Can you help confirm this?

I think Frenchie took some vials of compound v while he was in the lab.

How is Homelander mad at A-train for deleting blue hawk but he did the same to Black Noir, thats no different. homelander is a hypocrite. SMFH

I think Ryan led away Homelander after Soldier Boy was taken out because he was trying to protect The Boys. It's possible that he intends to receive training from Homelander on how to use his abilities -- so he can be the one to take him out. He's already picked up flight as well and I think that coy smile he gives at the end is alluding to his plan being set in motion to finish of the big baddie.

When you say billy will take V do you mean temp V or permanent V?

I wonder when MM will show his powers.

Black Noir can’t be dead he has a healing factor .. & I wondered if Butcher will take compound V to try to heal himself & what about that telepathic woman that broke out of that faculty???

Me after watching episode 6 : "this is the best one" Me after watching episode 7 : "this is definitely the best" Me after watching last episode : "fucking hell this is the greatest...so far"

Feels like this show will become like Walking Dead. Just drag and drag just to make show longer. I thought this show was different. It didn't care for that but with this last episode it was a let down. They could have just moved Homelander's Son and let Soldier boy take care of Homelander.

I think butcher will inject permanent compound V in season 4 that's how he will live a long life.

Oooh, unpopular opinion: I hated this episode. This episode rian johnson'd itself. It subverts our expectations at the cost of the overarching story. Black Noir's death is complete bullshit. We spent the entire last episode rooting for him for the first time and we didn't even get to see him fight with Soldier Boy. He better come back next season. Maeve throwing the perfume said to be the only bottle of the novichok in the east coast just for Vought to have it is horseshit writing. Just to give Frenchie something to do after him magically acquiring the liquid off-screeen. Ryan turned to the dark side also happened too fast. Also, butcher could've ended things there with homelander if he just grabbed Ryan and take him away. He's on the v so he can safely get him out of the way. And the worst part was Maeve surviving that blast. She's leaving the show anyway so having her survive that fall was unnecessary. She lost her powers so logically the fall should've killed her. And A-train's brother getting mad at him was stupid cause he never confronted him for murder when he killed Robin(an innocent woman) and now he's mad when A-train killed Blue-hawk(a racist) Also, Stan Edgar not appearing in the finale is a crime. This ep has some great moments. The action was so good. MM is the best he's ever been all season. Hughie supporting starlight with the lights over choosing the v is perfect. And Frenchie sticking up for himself was good after so long.

I hope we see more of noir

butcher should've let him do in homelander butcher blinked at the wrong time. Muppet!

If only they harvest SB power to create a anti-supe weapon damn man

Was really hoping to see hughie just teleport homelander to the moon or some weird stuff. Then was hoping he gave the V24 to Frenchie to help the gun shot.

Final Battle seemed lazy. Noir went out like a chump; Maeve survived a 20 story fall without powers; Soldier Boy just ended up back in a tube... meh. There was a lot of good things that I really liked in this episode of course - but that final battle just sucked... I mean; even Stairlight's blast did pretty much nothing other than knock Soldier Boy on the floor for a distraction... after Hughie finally learns to trust her and let her be the strong one, he supports her but the payoff was basically neutral. This is the problem with veering off the source material, actions have consequences and they need to count for something, but alot of the final battle didn't.

Homelander is gonna run for president next season, I'm calling it.

It bothers me that Kimiko slathered those security guards at the lab… didn’t feel as bad for the Russian mobsters.

Hopefully noir can be hospitalized.and return

Homelander did Ashley so wrong 😂😂😂

i thought homelander didnt know where ryan is, gr8 show.......

Maeve - Her Powered Were Removed, Season 4 - We Need You Back, Take The V compound and Get Powers Back...

I can't help but think the writers were referencing Trump saying he could shoot someone and get away with it when homelander killed the guy at the end.

Solider boy has an ache of being self destructive but also an invincible person

Looking at Ryan's smile at the end, he'll be a major villain in thw future. Butcher has been betting on the wrong horse.

Very torn on this episode, Lots of things I loved but things that didn't seem right where Noirs death, how quick Ryan switches up to go with Homelander, did Mallory not tell him his father is a murdering POS? really felt like a subversion of expectation but in a way that comes off as just annoying,no solider boy v homelander or noir v solider boy after all that build up.Ryan switches up fast as fuck too, i get hes a kid but does he not know blowing someones brains out for disagreeing is bad ? like wtf was mallory teaching the kid? Absolutely nothing apparently. they really could have handled it so much better

Felt really cheap that Maeve just got up right after and walked it off, took away from her sacrifice rather than making it a big motivation for the rest of the group to carry on

Episode was the worst of the season all the buildup to be the same as season 2 hl alive and the boys trying to kill him. Entertains yes sb one of the best characters. Should have had a more concluding ending. Sb and black noir fighting and killing each other or Maeve getting killed would have been enough to differ it

I think all the people offering up the seemingly standard "a little disappointed" are being far too generous. There were a ton of problems which broke established character motivations, arcs and superpower levels, culminating in the 180 degree flip to them all ganging up on SB instead of HL. They simply never gave us any reason why SB was the bigger danger. Even your own narration says HL killed his friend BN over one slight. Very very poor writing. It's like the were just greenlit season 4 half way through filming the finale.

What was interesting is that nothing really happened and the story is open to go everywhere.

Just for the sake of next season, they ruined this finale. It would have been a lot better episode if they actually killed Homelander or atleast made him powerless. Soldier boy either survived or boys succeed in getting him unconscious again. Mm taking temp v once to fight sb and break his shield. Ryan brightburn story arch maybe in next season. Black noir is killed by sb and queen maeve is powerless now. next season you could've been a bigger threat more complex stories.

Whatever someone says But Black Noir suit looked better than everyone else's

I think that Soldier Boy was the most tragic character in the show. Throughout the season he honoured the deal with Butcher and risked his life multiple times trying to kill Homelander. And in the end what did he get? He got betrayed by his team, captured(probably going to be tortured and experimented again) and whole world thinks he is a terrorist and racist(which he is not).

Soldier boy will return season 4

man why they did that to Noir hahaha , comics Black Noir >>>> show Noir HL should be stronger than maeve , and maeve surviving the soldier boy explosion + falling = uhh not that great , mybe she come back to die ? soldier boy explosion was quick shot vs countess but later in HL fight and in the end was several minutes to release , bad writing and plot armor. g-man spinoff gonna be epic and hope season 4 builds more to it , new heros with HL and probably HL becoming tiranic with a huge army of psycho heros.

God. People will find a way to complain about anything. Someone literally said their were "too many happy endings" but "black noir shouldn't have died". Wouldn't black noir living be a happy ending too?

I had high expectations for episode 8, that was my fault. Great season overall

I got a spitball theory. Homelander has a bomb planted near his heart. Edgar talked Voughts R&D department into putting it in there while Homelander was still a child. The detonator to this bomb is split between two people: Stan Edgar and the acting President of the United States. However, Stan insisted on having the bomb linked to a pacemaker that's in his heart so in the event HL kills Edgar, he dies too. Makes sense for this considering Edgar was never afraid of HL to begin with. Regarding the bomb itself? A regular bomb wouldn't do the job. But a supe killing, Russian made isotope would. Vought never does deals for free. And I bet in exchange for soldier boy, the Russians gave Stan a custom made isotope that can kill HL. And it all came from five years of experimenting on SB

Considering like a fourth of Black Noirs brain was on the floor in the cartoon flashback of solder boy being ambushed by his old team, I don’t think this is the last of black noir we’ll see. They brought A-Train back to life this season with a complete heart transplant. Who’s to say they couldn’t save our beloved mute?

I’m guessing season 4 is going to e the last season cuz idk They killed off literally the only sups that can either take or Handel homelander.

I hope they make s4 really violent and reckless like the HQ

I think the next season will be about the world domination arc. Aka Homelander will break into the white house or maybe try to become political in a different way.

The Finale was good but not enough of a conclusion for me. I'd still say Herogasm is the best episode of the season.

I hope Maeve will have her powers back somewhere in S4.