Soldier Boy's Hate For Homelander In The Boys Is Deeper Than You Realize

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Boys season 3's finale

Soldier Boy's hate for Homelander in The Boys reflects something much deeper than shallow supe rivalry — it mirrors his own underlying insecurities. The Boys season 3, episode 7 ends with a terrifying cliffhanger that hints at a potential father-son team-up between Homelander and Soldier Boy. However, in episode 8, this turns out to be a red herring when the show reveals that although Soldier Boy and Homelander are related by blood, they are not the same.

While Homelander puts his vulnerabilities on full display and bawls his eyes out while confessing his need for a paternal figure, Soldier Boy shows no qualms when he ruthlessly rejects Homelander's request to join forces. Showing no empathy toward his biological son, Soldier Boy looks down on Homelander and calls him "a disappointment." This scene is a striking contrast to the season's episode 7 climax, where Soldier Boy seems as emotionally wounded as Homelander.

Since Soldier Boy seemingly craves a similar sense of belonging as his son, it is hard not to wonder what changed his mind toward the end of The Boys season 3. However, one exchange with Butcher hints that Soldier Boy's antipathy towards Homelander actually originates from his own toxic relationship with his father. As a result, his hatred not only reveals something tragic about his backstory, but continues a theme of parental abuse and neglect that runs throughout The Boys.

Why Soldier Boy Refuses To Team Up With Homelander

The Boys Season 3 Soldier Boy Homelander Fight Winner More Powerful SR

Long before the climactic season 3 showdown, Soldier Boy has a brief heart-to-heart banter with Butcher. He recalls how his father always called him "a disappointment" and how he tried pleasing him by joining Vought's trials for Compound-V. To his dismay, though, even after he became the strongest man alive, his father criticized him by claiming that he "took a shortcut... a real man would not have cheated." This scene portrays that Soldier Boy still lives in the shadow of his father's hate toward him. He looks at himself from his father's discouraging eyes and only carries his stoic demeanor to hide how much he dislikes himself. When Homelander confesses his need for a healthy familial relationship, Soldier Boy sees his own reflection in him and unknowingly mimics his toxic father. Since he hates himself, Soldier Boy cannot help but despise Homelander for being "a disappointment" just like him, which explains why he refuses to join forces with him.

Homelander's Rejection Reveals A Tragic Butcher Similarity

Billy Butcher's backstory seems to have similar connotations. He, too, had an abusive father who always belittled him and his younger brother. Butcher's Mindstorm-induced nightmares further confirm this by revealing that he still carries the weight of his childhood traumas and often struggles to snap out of his loop of self-destruction and hate. Just like Soldier Boy projects his self-doubt and insecurities on Homelander, Butcher does so on Ryan, which forces the young supe to drift away from him in The Boys season 3, episode 8. Along the same line, Homelander is a questionable father figure, given that he never had a father himself and is already setting up a bad example for Ryan by killing civilians in broad daylight. Now that Ryan, too, looks up to a problematic father figure, his fate seems sealed — he will likely tip towards evil just like Homelander, Soldier Boy, and Butcher. Soldier Boy's hate and the subsequent loops of generational trauma point to a greater theme of toxic fatherhood in The Boys.

This overarching theme further hints at The Boys' potential plot developments. It establishes Ryan can still save himself, but only if he learns to question Homelander's wicked ways instead of blindly following them. Similarly, Butcher can find redemption in The Boys' future story if he forgives himself and moves on ahead without the burden of his father's mistakes resting on his shoulders.

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