In the third episode of The Boys Season 5, Ryan unleashes a flurry of attacks on a group of Russian soldiers, killing them all as they spot him in Sudzha, Russia. The still-living Soldier Boy is hailed as a hero, and Vought spins a tale of his undercover work. Homelander, once again, hears Madelyn's voice calling him her "sweet boy." Inspired by this, he publicly reveals that Soldier Boy is his father, much to Sage's dismay.
The Boys are understandably upset, and Sameer realizes that Soldier Boy is immune to the virus due to the V1 in him. Sage further explains that Frederick Vought's first iteration of Compound V is 10 times more powerful and highly unstable. This explains why Soldier Boy does not age and is practically immortal. However, there are no more samples left.
An upset MM drinks heavily, while Butcher decides to release the virus. Before he can act on it, Homelander injects himself with the last V1 sample, making him immortal too. The Boys oppose this idea and force him to wait while they search for V1 if it exists.
At the Tower, Soldier Boy sees through Homelander's lies that he didn't know about the virus. He looks down on Homelander and claims he will run The Seven forever while Homelander dies of old age. With Marie's help, Annie contacts Stan Edgar who is forming his own version of Teenage Kix with Zoe and Maverick, Translucent's kid. Butcher stays home while the Boys convince Stan to help take down Homelander. Maverick is thrilled as he believes Homelander killed his dad. Feeling guilty, Hughie tries to comfort him, but Annie stops him. Next, he tries to reconcile with Zoe, but she feels betrayed by him.
Stan gives them all the files he has on Vought. Frenchie and Kimiko take the encrypted files back to Butcher's while the rest go through the other files. They discover several references to Fort Harmony, an army hospital where Vought worked on V1. The Boys deduce that this is where Vought developed V1.At the Tower, an emotional Homelander reminisces about his father figures labeling him a failure. Suddenly, he hallucinates Madelyn in a celestial persona, urging him to rid the world of the wicked to ascend and become a god.
Zoe stealthily meets Ryan and reveals her plan to use the Boys to get to Butcher and kill him. Ryan declines, fearing that it would cause her harm. Annoyed, she storms off. Butcher, who has been observing them, approaches Ryan and insists that he is not the villain and that they share the same goal of eliminating Homelander.
Homelander calls Soldier Boy while bathing in breast milk, labeling him the true disappointment and giving him a second chance by asking him to find V1. Soldier Boy is creeped out and leaves.
Butcher shares his plan with Ryan, claiming it is Ryan's destiny to take on Homelander and that he is the only one who can lure Homelander out to unleash the virus. He emotionally manipulates Ryan by mentioning his own abusive father, frightening him into agreeing to the suicide mission.
As news reports of riots after the mass arrest of Starlighters for their online engagement circulate, the Supes arrive at Stan's base. Their bunker is secure, but they are trapped, and Zoe is missing. It turns out that Zoe sneaked into Kimiko and Frenchie's van and discovered the truth about Butcher and destroyed the virus. Frenchie tries to shoot Sameer, but Kimiko stops him, believing that Zoe deserves a life. Zoe thanks her before leaving with Sameer.
While Stan and MM arm up, Stan remembers MM's father and his fight against Vought. He claims that no one can win against capitalism. MM realizes that Stan wants to let them kill everyone to pave the way for him to run Vought again. MM promises to kill him when the time comes.
At Vought Studios, we see a youth camp ad training kids to kill Starlighters. Sage is tired of Homelander's orders to recreate V1 and test it on the Freedom Camp inmates. Nearby, Firecracker interviews Soldier Boy, who reveals that he slept with her out of petty revenge against Homelander. He finds it odd that Homelander never slept with her and has mommy issues. She also shares that Homelander looks up to him, and he finds Homelander strange.
Butcher brings Ryan to his base, and the young man's excitement is palpable as he catches sight of Terror and Kimiko. The reunion, however, is brief as they learn about Zoe and Sameer's predicament. Ryan is reluctant to wait for Frenchie to create the new virus, but Butcher's abruptness overrides his concerns. Without the virus, Ryan stands no chance against Homelander. Disheartened by the fact that he was manipulated with the 'destiny spiel,' Ryan storms off.
At the bunker, Hughie shares with Annie his desire to give Maverick the V1 and give people a chance to do good. Annie is touched by his wish to make the world a better place.
The plan unfolds - MM sends Maverick with a gas grenade to knock out the Supes. But the Supes catch on, and Deep reveals that Hughie killed Translucent. Of course, Maverick switches sides and lets them into the bunker. Stan tries to betray the Boys, but Noir catches him. Deep knocks out Noir so he can personally bring Stan to Homelander.
Maverick confronts Hughie, who accepts his fault and tries to reason with him. It is to no avail until Cindy shows up and kills Maverick. Before she can kill Hughie, Annie steps in and ends her life.
Ryan goes after Homelander, who tries to patch things up with him. He tries to lie when Ryan confronts him about sexually assaulting his mother. They fight, but Ryan is no match for Homelander, who beats him to a pulp and blames him for it.
Annie is upset that Hughie could have died. She decides she is better off on her own and flies off. Homelander hugs Stan upon seeing him, and Butcher goes to Ryan to comfort him. The scene is filled with tension and emotional turmoil as each character grapples with their own demons and the consequences of their actions.
