History Recap / TheBoysS03E01Payback

* GoKartingWithBowser: Homelander drops in at Butcher's apartment and the two [[ArchEnemy arch-enemies]] have a halfway civil conversation over tea -- pertaining, of course, to the bureaucratic-free FinalBattle they each crave. Butcher knows he's a dead man if the whim strikes his foe, but Homelander is at such a nadir as his HumiliationConga continues that venting his frustrations to his worst enemy actually seems cathartic. After all, he's begun to sour on the downfallen Stormfront and [[BrokenPedestal has no one else left]].

* GreenEyedMonster: Hughie has a lot of trouble meeting Starlight's ex-boyfriend.

* TechnicalVirgin: Starlight [[TheGadfly teases Hughie]] about her ex-boyfriend.
-->'''Starlight:''' Anyway, we only sex a few times. I mean sex-sex. We did a ton of butt stuff.

* CareerBuildingBlunder: Edgar admits Vought dropped the ball by making "the supers into heroes" to Robert; by making the Supes figures to be worshiped and giving them sex, movie deals, etc., they ruined their potential. Because of this, Edgar wants to leave the superhero business and turn Vought into a better, legitimate company: a defense and pharmaceutical company instead of a Supe daycare.

* KnowWhenToFoldThem: Stan finally agrees with Robert when he says superheroes in the army are a terrible idea. Edgar realizes these "heroes" he is making are far more trouble than they are worth; they have superpowers, but they're wasted on them and care more about being famous instead of providing something good. It's no surprise Edgar wants to leave the superhero business and give the V24 to more qualified hands: trained, mature soldiers who'll hopefully be responsible with their abilities instead of the hedonistic sociopaths they made at Vought.

* AmbiguousSituation: It's unclear if Homelander visited Butcher at his apartment to challenge him to a fight to the death or if it was all in Butcher's mind, considering the leader of the Seven suddenly disappeared as if he wasn't there. While you could chalk it up to Homelander having super speed, it could also be Billy's darker impulses egging him to fight the sociopathic Supe. [[spoiler:"Herogasm" would later confirm the conversation to be real.]]

* ChildSoldier: Discussed. In ''Dawn of the Seven'', Stormfront comments on how her and Homelander's children would become beautiful Arian child soldiers.

* {{ArtisticLicensePolitics}}/{{ArtisticLicenseLaw}}: It's against the law and the Constitution for the Secretary of Defense to hold appointed office while running for President, and for Congresswoman Neuman to continue serve in Congress while serving as a presumably appointed and Senate-confirmed director of a Federal agency.

* ArtisticLicensePolitics/ArtisticLicenseLaw: It's against the law and the Constitution for the Secretary of Defense to hold appointed office while running for President, and for Congresswoman Neuman to continue serve in Congress while serving as a presumably appointed and Senate-confirmed director of a Federal agency.

* AmbiguousSituation: It's unclear if Homelander visited Butcher at his apartment to challenge him to a fight to the death or if it was all in Butcher's mind, considering the leader of the Seven suddenly disappeared as if he wasn't there. While you could chalk it up to Homelander having super speed, it could also be Billy's darker impulses egging him to fight the sociopathic Supe. "Herogasm" would later confirm the conversation to be real.

* GreenEyedMonster: Hughie has a lot of trouble meeting Stargirl's ex-boyfriend.

* TechnicalVirgin: Stargirl [[TheGadfly teases Hughie]] about her ex-boyfriend.
-->'''Stargirl:''' Anyway, we only sex a few times. I mean sex-sex. We did a ton of butt stuff.

* ARottenTimeToRevert: Here, [[SizeShifter Termite]] shrinks himself to the size of a flea and climbs into his boyfriend's penis to stimulate him from the inside. Everything seems to be going well, right up until Termite sneezes - and accidentally reverts to full size. Termite survives unharmed. The boyfriend... [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe doesn't]].

Tonight is the world premiere of the highly anticipated film ''Dawn of the Seven'', directed by Adam Bourke. Starlight kisses Hughie at the premiere and they walk out together to have their photos taken. Victoria Neuman is also in attendance with Stan Edgar, who announces that Vought is thrilled to have government oversight. Someone in the crowd screams the name "Nadia" in Victoria's direction, with Hughie becoming confused and intrigued. Meanwhile, Homelander is still in damage control mode, having to reiterate in multiple interviews that he didn't know Stormfront was a Nazi.

In the bathroom, Adam and Ashley have aggressive sex. Hughie walks into the bathroom right as they finish. He washes his hands and Butcher shows up - he needs Hughie to give him and The Boys the green light on a mission they've been working on. Hughie gives the OK as long as there is no torture or things getting set on fire.

Butcher watches from a hidden camera as Kimiko and Frenchie enter a party. Kimiko sees a woman playing the piano and she starts to sing in her head. Meanwhile, a Supe, Termite, miniaturizes himself to have sex with a plastic doll, while the crowd watches. Termite goes into a back room to do some cocaine. There, he shrinks and jumps inside a man's penis to stimulate it. He unintentionally sneezes, returning him to full size and causing the man's lower half to explode. Frenchie runs in and Termite attacks him because Frenchie saw what happened. He shrinks and jumps into Frenchie's pants. Kimiko manages to grab Termite before he can kill Frenchie and Butcher traps the still-miniature Termite into a bag of cocaine, which subdues him. Reluctantly, Butcher lets him live and tells Frenchie to call the Bureau.

Hughie goes to work at the Bureau where he helps monitor and regulate Supe activity and sees the same young man from the movie premiere in the lobby who tells him that he's waiting to see Nadia, who was his best friend in childhood. Hughie has security escort the man out and he tells Hughie that Nadia will remember.

Butcher visits Ryan, who is staying in a protected home with Grace Mallory. They play Connect Four and talk about Becca. Ryan admits he is still having nightmares about his dad killing him.

At the studio, Homelander runs into The Deep who gives him a big hug. Homelander seems confused that The Deep had an interview slot on ''The Cameron Coleman Hour'' show before him but Deep explains it's for promoting his new memoir ''Deeper''. Homelander asks again, tensely, how Deep got a slot before him. The Deep cowers to Homelander, telling him that he's a nobody and that should have never been scheduled earlier.

Marvin attends his daughter Janine’s birthday party, which is themed after superheroes, much to his disgust and discomfort. He and Monique divorced a while ago and she has since gotten together with another man, Todd. Marvin seems to miss Monique and asks her to dinner on Friday night for a "co-parenting" chat. She says it's not a good idea.

Stan Edgar introduces a new Compound V formula called V-24 at Vought headquarters to Secretary of Defense as presidential candidate “Dakota Bob” Singer, explaining that it temporarily gives any person 24 hours of superpowers and wants V-24 to be used in the military. Stan explains his plans for turning Vought into a defense and pharmaceutical company - less focused on famous superheroes who need looking after. Singer balks at the idea of perpetual resupply of V-24 for continued soldier performance.

Victoria tells Hughie the bad news: they lost Termite because he overdosed on cocaine. Instead of prosecution, Termite is going to a rehab facility and they get B-lister Supes to convict instead. Hughie breaks the news to Butcher, who is furious they’re letting Termite get away with everything. Hughie confronts Butcher about being mad that he and Mother's Milk left The Boys.

Stan invites both Starlight and Homelander to a meeting at Vought. Stan commends Starlight on bringing a wholesome energy to Vought and The Seven and he wants to make her co-captain of The Seven. Stan insists that the partnership will help Homelander too because his popularity numbers are down post-Stormfront. Starlight is very hesitant about this and Homelander is extremely upset about having to share the spotlight.

A commercial for ''American Hero'', a reality TV show competition for prospective superheroes looking to join The Seven, airs, where Starlight has to choose the next Supe to join The Seven. The feature focuses on a Supe called Drummer Boy, now known as Supersonic. It's revealed that he dated Starlight earlier in his career and even had a top song with his boy band that hit #1 on the charts. Hughie is uncomfortable with seeing Supersonic laughing with Starlight and walks up to introduce himself. Supersonic tells Hughie a story about Annie getting drunk and puking in front of a crowd of fans back when she was 19. Hughie seems nervous about the two of them reconnecting, especially since they each lost their virginity together.

Later, Annie asks Hughie his opinion about the co-captain proposition. She wants to be a role model for millions of girls out there who might look up to her. Hughie seems hesitant about her accepting the position, thinking Homelander might murder her. Annie ends up accepting the job and takes promotional photos with Homelander.

Homelander runs into A-Train, accusing A-Train of gaining weight and making The Seven look bad. While walking away, A-Train mutters an insult under his breath, causing Homelander to grab him by the throat, threatening him with his laser eyes. Maeve sees it go down and texts Butcher that they need to meet.

Homelander visits Stormfront in a Vought hospital room. She's still horribly crippled from her injuries, along with a partially-amputated right arm. She consoles Homelander about the co-captain affair, first verbally, then by stimulating him sexually. Stormfront talks about building an army of the master race and Homelander tells her he doesn’t care about a master race because ''he'' is the master race and he storms out.

Maeve gives Butcher a file about Soldier Boy. When he asks why, he reads that Soldier Boy was killed by a secret weapon, one that might even be able to kill Homelander. She tells him that the other members of Payback, the superteam that Soldier Boy used to lead, might know what really happened to him. She gives him some capsules of V-24. Maeve tells Butcher that this is their best chance to kill Homelander and admonishes him to not mess it up.

Later, Butcher sees Homelander land on his balcony. Homelander asks to come in and Butcher pours him a cup of tea. Homelander asks where Ryan is and threatens to tear Butcher apart if he doesn't tell him, but eventually relents. Homelander vents his frustration about Vought and suggests a one-on-one fight-to-the-death, to which Butcher accepts before Homelander leaves.

After Marvin tucks his daughter into bed, he opens a closet that has its walls filled with newspaper clippings about Supes, including Soldier Boy.

Outside the FBSA, Hughie sees the same man yelling the name "Nadia" again and follows him and Victoria into an alley. The man, Tony, tells Victoria (who says Nadia is not her name anymore) that she has a platform she should use by telling everyone about something called Red River. After Victoria spurns him, he pleads and she ultimately says that she will and gives Tony a hug. His nose starts to bleed and he attacks her. She uses her Supe powers to attack back, eventually exploding his head. She tears up and asks Tony why he had to come looking for her. After destroying the remainder of his body into a red rain, she calls a clean-up team on her cell phone. Hughie, hidden behind a dumpster, witnesses everything and is horrified.

%%plot summary

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* InternalReveal: Hughie learns Neuman is a supe and that she was once involved with something called Red River.

* GratuitousGerman: Charlize Theron as Stormfront drops the words "Kindersoldaten" and "Liebsching" while talking to Homelander.

* PoirotSpeak: To underpin her Aryan roots, Stormfront squeezes in some German words in her dialog with Homelander in the opening scene of ''Dawn of the Seven''.