The Boys

[ohwell]

I feel the same about both. Starlight as well as Hughie don't act very rational in season 3. Their conflict feels forced, a theme which began in episode 1, with the jealousy regarding Supersonic, and is now taken to the next level.

Also Hughie's sup powers are not really that impressive (rather ridiculous if he loses his clothes all the time) and unfit to make him the hero.

He has all the other stuff the rest of them do. He literally punched through a guy's chest. It also makes me question exactly what Maieve's powers are considering every other hero also seems to be bulletproof and strong(well maybe not A Train as well considering Kimiko broke his leg pretty easily). Strength seems to also come with it as Kimiko asked to hold the heavy object in the hospital.

[LordVargK]

He has all the other stuff the rest of them do. He literally punched through a guy's chest. It also makes me question exactly what Maieve's powers are considering every other hero also seems to be bulletproof and strong(well maybe not A Train as well considering Kimiko broke his leg pretty easily). Strength seems to also come with it as Kimiko asked to hold the heavy object in the hospital.

Her powers are that she is strong and fast without having to strip down every time

No, but you are right. Maive's powers are quite ominous. If you think about it, then many members of the 7 are only members, because they attract customers. Maive is good for queer audience, Startlight for the Christians, ATrain for the blacks, Supersonic was hispanic, The Deep... for middle aged women?

In theory Homelander could to everything himself. Besides Black Noir (who seems to be the best buddy of Homelander) no member of the Seven really has all that useful powers. But my point is: Hughie's powers have an nearly unparalled drawback (well, Termite had the same drawback), making him strictly worse than other Sups.

Also how exactly are his powers useful for protecting Starlight? The only danger she faces stems from homelander. And Hughie is no match for him, powers or not. His reasoning for using V are bullshit. As are hers for not wanting Hughie to search for Soldier Boy. What else should he do? In the end Homelander would just kill him, since he knows about Starlight (and Hughie) plotting against him. ATM he is just protected by plot armor, that's why Supersonic had to die in his place.

[Aydinx2]

Coulda been their easy as shit backup plan for their backup plan. Edit in a peanut allergy so you can easily keep him under control. I wouldn’t be surprised either way though.

I think it's the same person, but what happened to him in the flashback changed him, and removed his ability to speak and possibly made him mentally ill.

[Ophenia]

I feel the same about both. Starlight as well as Hughie don't act very rational in season 3. Their conflict feels forced, a theme which began in episode 1, with the jealousy regarding Supersonic, and is now taken to the next level.

Also Hughie's sup powers are not really that impressive (rather ridiculous if he loses his clothes all the time) and unfit to make him the hero.

Well I think the goal is not for Hughie to be the hero, but for Hughie to be useful. He said it himself, without the V he’ll shit himself and get killed. At least with the V, even if it gives him the basic powers and teleportation, that’s still more than enough for him to do something and that’s all he want/needs.

But yeah, with all the powers displayed in this serie, you gotta wonder what Maeve’s real powers are, and same for Black Noir. Strength and Resilience seems to be included in the basic V package.

[ohwell]

Her powers are that she is strong and fast without having to strip down every time

No, but you are right. Maive's powers are quite ominous. If you think about it, then many members of the 7 are only members, because they attract customers. Maive is good for queer audience, Startlight for the Christians, ATrain for the blacks, Supersonic was hispanic, The Deep... for middle aged women?

In theory Homelander could to everything himself. Besides Black Noir (who seems to be the best buddy of Homelander) no member of the Seven really has all that useful powers. But my point is: Hughie's powers have an nearly unparalled drawback (well, Termite had the same drawback), making him strictly worse than other Sups.

Also how exactly are his powers useful for protecting Starlight? The only danger she faces stems from homelander. And Hughie is no match for him, powers or not. His reasoning for using V are bullshit. As are hers for not wanting Hughie to search for Soldier Boy. What else should he do? In the end Homelander would just kill him, since he knows about Starlight (and Hughie) plotting against him. ATM he is just protected by plot armor, that's why Supersonic had to die in his place.

Well I mean Maeve was already in the group so I mean maybe for retention, but they never really made it like she was in danger of leaving. I honestly don't think he really cares about the demographics at this point and it was only really for a brief instant in season 2 that he might have but then in the next breath he was kicking A Train out. Much less A Train seemingly doesn't actually pull in the black numbers as the black community doesn't really connect to him as seen recently.

I wonder if Maeve has some sort of extra tactical power similar to how Longshot and Domino from Marvel have a bit more of a subtle power that you could almost say wasn't a power(even though it definitely is).

On the Black Noir topic, I have a feeling he's still working for Stan and he told him to do whatever it takes to stay in his good graces hence now he's like a henchman. They have history as seen this season and he was directly working with him in S2.

And yeah I definitely don't think he needs them to protect her. I was just saying it was definitely more than teleporting, but he would get wrecked by most of the existing heroes that aren't washed up.

[Ivanstone]

But yeah, with all the powers displayed in this serie, you gotta wonder what Maeve’s real powers are, and same for Black Noir. Strength and Resilience seems to be included in the basic V package.

She has superhuman strength. speed, invulnerability. Go re-watch the first two minutes of S1E1.

In the comic she's shown to have superhuman strength, invulnerability and flight. Like Homelander she was given V while in the womb and conditioned to be more powerful than most other supes. Same goes for Noir. Although the latter's powers will very ill-defined until the comic's final arc.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

But yeah, with all the powers displayed in this serie, you gotta wonder what Maeve’s real powers are, and same for Black Noir. Strength and Resilience seems to be included in the basic V package.

Sure, they all seem to be given some level of Superhuman Strength and Endurance...but there's clearly different degrees for each of them.

Maeve's powers are more "limited" in the sense that she seems to only have received the Physical Attributes...but she has them to a higher extent than most other Supes.

Take this scene for an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL2AE8vFhO4

Most Supes could probably survive being hit by an Armoured Car...very few would actually be able to stand their ground when it hit them and bisect it.

Basically, she is to Homelander what Wonder Woman is to Superman in terms of physical power. Strong enough that she could potentially hurt him if she got a good hit in... but still not a match for him in actual 1 on 1 combat.

[MrLachyG]

I know the scene cuts off before we can see how Maeve is restrained, but I find it kinda weird that they show Black Noir being the one that supposedly subdued her, when she so easily overpowered him last season, and then also made it a point to show that she’s training much more (this season) to take on Homelander.

Felt kinda lazy… but I guess we’re to just assume that Homelander helped?

she was taken by surprise, just like Noir was. I wonder how loyal Noir is to Edgar though, you would think he would be more on Edgar's side than Homelander's

[deenman]

they did what the Marvel producers wouldn't let Ant-Man do to Thanos

uhm yeah no...thanos kicked hulk's ass,im pretty sure if ant man tried that he would just squish himself inside there

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Felt kinda weird when Butcher persuade Marvin to go with them "one last time"(like 3-rd or 4-th time through all show, btw) just to drug him.

marvin was gonna go after him himself,or do somethig that may have interfered with butcher's plan

[MrLachyG]

uhm yeah no...thanos kicked hulk's ass,im pretty sure if ant man tried that he would just squish himself inside there

the visual I got from that is disturbing but also a bit hilarious

[eschatological]

So finally caught up through ep5 of this season.

It seems pretty clear to me that whatever they've done to Soldier Boy makes him the key to defeating Homelander. He's clearly at a point where his beam power (while disintegrating normal human beings) seems to deactivate supes......permanently, as it seems Kimiko isn't gaining her powers back after any amount of time. Even if it's days, plenty of time to kill Homelander. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing Anthony Starr portray actual fear because his acting this season is off the charts psychotic.

Speaking of Kimiko and Frenchie, liked the musical number, but had the feeling of dread that comes with characters finally finding happiness - that spells doom for me. I have to wonder if either Frenchie dies or Kimiko dies saving him and they never get to go to Marseilles.

Hughie's a pretty big shitstain this season. Starlight has made it clear multiple times that she just wants him, and doesn't need him to "be anything" in particular, but he's a ball of insecurities for the whole season.

I have to say, after 2 1/2 seasons of The Boys, the gore doesn't get to me any more. Yet oddly, the scene I found most uncomfortable was an A Train scene - where Blue Hawk is apologizing in the community center. They've been a little on the nose this season with the parody of corporate tokenism, and various social issues, but hearing this nothing character say those things and watch A Train be helpless in the face of it (and the guy gets to write it off with an excuse) was really rough. I imagine, narratively, this leads to A Train possibly dying too - his doctor has said his heart could just explode if he ran again - but I'm thinking the A Train will ride again - hopefully right through a de-suped Homelander, turning him into a red mist, but potentially through this Blue Hawk fuckstain, making him the "criminal" Blue Hawk et al want him to be.

I'm a little disappointed the season has focused so little on Neumann. With how this show satirizes corporate and right wing politics, I was hoping there'd be more comeuppance for the left wing politician who is disingenuous and murderous and backstabbing. Maybe her turning her daughter into a supe will bite her in the ass vis a vis what I think Butcher's ultimate plan is......IE,

And of course: Butcher. I think it's clear he'll use Soldier Boy to try and kill Homelander. But I also think it's clear he's gonna want to try and bottle up whatever makes Soldier Boy the "anti-supe" so he can use it on Neumann, potentially her daughter, and every other supe he can. Maeve seems pretty suicidal at this point, so she might go willingly. A Train and Soldier Boy will possibly die fighting Homelander. Him wanting to destroy Starlight will cause a rift with Hughie, obviously. But he's right - they all have to go. And he's been so rough on Ryan because......well, because Ryan has to go.

Now that would be a season finale.

Or they can do it the "nice" way and have them bottle up the ability to de-supe them and live normal, happy lives. I can see Annie and Hughie settling down, but I'm not sure I can see The Boys going down a saccharine route. Maybe for Ryan because that might be a bridge too far even for Butcher.

[RobertoCarlos]

Solider boy was tested on by the russians with nuclear power.

So that beam of power is nuclear based and it can burn the compound V out of peoples blood.

[Ophenia]

And of course: Butcher. I think it's clear he'll use Soldier Boy to try and kill Homelander. But I also think it's clear he's gonna want to try and bottle up whatever makes Soldier Boy the "anti-supe" so he can use it on Neumann, potentially her daughter, and every other supe he can. Maeve seems pretty suicidal at this point, so she might go willingly. A Train and Soldier Boy will possibly die fighting Homelander. Him wanting to destroy Starlight will cause a rift with Hughie, obviously. But he's right - they all have to go. And he's been so rough on Ryan because......well, because Ryan has to go.

Well, I'm pretty sure Soldier Boy will depower Homelander and they might kill him at the end of this season - who gets to have the killing blow would be either Maeve or Butcher for obvious "personal" reasons.
But I could really see Soldier Boy surviving this season to become S04 main antagonist, and Ryan might be the key to defeat him. Soldier Boy's beam might de-activate V-imbued powers, but Ryan is born this way without any V injection so maybe he's the only supe immune to that

[ohwell]

They do have wikis for this kinda thing,

https://the-boys.fandom.com/wiki/Queen_Maeve#Powers

Except that's not made by the creators.... just like WoWpedia has TONS of misinformation on it.

For the most part(since I have already previously seen that wiki) it is accurate as to what we all already know. You're not going to learn anything else from that.

The point was Starlight and Kimiko both have increased strength, durability, and dexterity so what exactly sets her apart from the others.

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She has superhuman strength. speed, invulnerability. Go re-watch the first two minutes of S1E1.

In the comic she's shown to have superhuman strength, invulnerability and flight. Like Homelander she was given V while in the womb and conditioned to be more powerful than most other supes. Same goes for Noir. Although the latter's powers will very ill-defined until the comic's final arc.

Starlight was shot with a high caliber weapon(not sure exactly what it was) and still has more powers. Kimiko showed in the recent episode that she definitely had her strength enhanced by showing she could no longer lift something heavy with ease. Maeve isn't "invulnerable" as she flat out stated in S1 she was injured rescuing kids like her book said. She hasn't show a bit of "superhuman" speed but you could argue that she has enhanced speed to the degree of a top end sprinter(but even that hasn't been shown). Hell even Homelander hasn't been shown to have speed outside of flight. If he did he would have flashed over like Superman can when A Train talked back to him.

So in the whole "rewatch S1E1" I'd like to know how you can say that the aforementioned heroes couldn't have done what she did. I mean hell the only time those 2 were even injured was in a supe vs supe fight(Starlight when Homelander was digging his hand in her gut and A Train/Noir/Stormfront/Soldier Boy vs Kimiko). Judging by the way Maeve acts around Homelander, he could probably rip her open.

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I know the scene cuts off before we can see how Maeve is restrained, but I find it kinda weird that they show Black Noir being the one that supposedly subdued her, when she so easily overpowered him last season, and then also made it a point to show that she’s training much more (this season) to take on Homelander.

Felt kinda lazy… but I guess we’re to just assume that Homelander helped?

I mean she got the jump on him and had his weakness ready. He got the jump on her and maybe they had some sort of contingency for her or like you said Homelander could have helped.

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she was taken by surprise, just like Noir was. I wonder how loyal Noir is to Edgar though, you would think he would be more on Edgar's side than Homelander's

I am 90% sure that Noir is still working for him. He probably had a plan in place to get make sure he stays close to him no matter what so he can still keep tabs on him.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

I know the scene cuts off before we can see how Maeve is restrained, but I find it kinda weird that they show Black Noir being the one that supposedly subdued her, when she so easily overpowered him last season, and then also made it a point to show that she’s training much more (this season) to take on Homelander.

Felt kinda lazy… but I guess we’re to just assume that Homelander helped?

I think you're misremembering how that scene in season 2 played out.

[Biomega]

Well, I'm pretty sure Soldier Boy will depower Homelander and they might kill him at the end of this season

Not going to happen. Homelander's psycho grin brings in the viewers - he'll stick around until the very end, I can promise you that. He's the posterboy for the entire show, and those don't get killed off in the middle of a run.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

She just sorta easily overpowers him, even though she comes from behind. I had assumed she was stronger than Noir.

Coming from behind gives her advantages.

If she could straight up overpower him...why would she need to feed him the candybar?

[Ophenia]

Not going to happen. Homelander's psycho grin brings in the viewers - he'll stick around until the very end, I can promise you that. He's the posterboy for the entire show, and those don't get killed off in the middle of a run.

Yeah I don't think nor hope so as well, but that's a possibility. The biggest risk of this serie is to not develop, and Season 04, 05, 06, 07, 241 being all about people trying to kill Homelander while not pissing him off. That will need to stop at one point or boredom will arrive
So maybe 3 seasons is a bit early to kill him off (is it ?), but I could see that happening.

If she could straight up overpower him...why would she need to feed him the candybar?

Why wouldn't she use a trick to get rid of Noir in half a second, instead of fighting a 2-hours duel with probably an 50/50 chance of winning ? I mean, always better to have a contingency plan.
We haven't seen much about Maeve or Noir in action so far, (Maeve in S1E1 and in last episode of Season 2, punching Stormfront but 3v1 vs Noir only at Butcher's aunt's house, duel vs newly-freed Kimiko and against Naqlib ?) so difficult to tell what are the power levels.

[Ivanstone]

Except that's not made by the creators.... just like WoWpedia has TONS of misinformation on it.

Do you not understand how footnotes work?

So in the whole "rewatch S1E1" I'd like to know how you can say that the aforementioned heroes couldn't have done what she did. I mean hell the only time those 2 were even injured was in a supe vs supe fight(Starlight when Homelander was digging his hand in her gut and A Train/Noir/Stormfront/Soldier Boy vs Kimiko). Judging by the way Maeve acts around Homelander, he could probably rip her open.

In order to split a car in half with your body, you need to be much more durable than the car. Until another hero demonstrates that they can do the same we'll assume that Maeve has a high degree of invulnerability and more of it than almost anyone else.

No one is saying she's stronger than the Homelander. That's generally implied.

[LordVargK]

So finally caught up through ep5 of this season.

It seems pretty clear to me that whatever they've done to Soldier Boy makes him the key to defeating Homelander. He's clearly at a point where his beam power (while disintegrating normal human beings) seems to deactivate supes......permanently, as it seems Kimiko isn't gaining her powers back after any amount of time. Even if it's days, plenty of time to kill Homelander. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing Anthony Starr portray actual fear because his acting this season is off the charts psychotic.

Crimson Countess did not look just deactivated, though. I think only Kimiko can/could survive Soldier Boy's beam.

Hughie's a pretty big shitstain this season. Starlight has made it clear multiple times that she just wants him, and doesn't need him to "be anything" in particular, but he's a ball of insecurities for the whole season.

But they can't be together safely as long as Homelander lives. And Starlight isn't very helpful in finding a way to defeat Homelander, given her incompetent attempts to form an Anti-Homelander-Alliance within the Seven. Inviting the most stupid member of them was not the brightest idea and the punishment followed quick. A little "don't tell anyone, we don't know who we can trust" would have gotten her a long way...

I'm a little disappointed the season has focused so little on Neumann. With how this show satirizes corporate and right wing politics, I was hoping there'd be more comeuppance for the left wing politician who is disingenuous and murderous and backstabbing. Maybe her turning her daughter into a supe will bite her in the ass vis a vis what I think Butcher's ultimate plan is...

Agreed. I would rather have this season focus on taking her down and the next on killing Homelander than the other way around. Neumann isn't a good final boss.

Overall I found the fifth episode rather unexiting. It stirred way too much unnecessary and unlogical conflict.