The Boys concluded its seven-year, five-season run on May the 20th with its 40th episode, titled “Blood and Bone.” While many have criticized this season’s momentum (or lack thereof), the final episode of this gritty take on superheroes provided some awesome moments that made up for the rest of the lackluster season. (Spoilers ahead, final warning).

The main set piece of this episode is the fight between The Boys and Homelander in the Oval Office. The fight is action-packed and intense, and provides many cool moments. Ryan’s return and his team up fight alongside Butcher is a highlight of the fight as the two manage some heavy blows and overpower Homelander just enough to hold him steady. Kimiko reunites with Frenchie through a vision one last time before she is able to depower Homelander with her radioactive blast. The scene that plays out afterwards is nothing short of hilarious, as Homelander tries to escape, but finds he has lost his powers and can no longer fly or use his laser vision. It is satisfying to see Homelander beg for his life after five seasons of truly heinous, irredeemable actions, though Homelander isn’t the only major death in this finale. As this fight is going on, Starlight and The Deep fight to the death, with Starlight the victor. In an ironic twist of fate, The Deep is killed by the sea creatures he once claimed to be the king of.

While the Homelander fight is certainly the most action-packed part of the episode, it only ends halfway through the episode, leaving about 30 minutes to wrap up the rest of The Boys’ stories. Hughie killing Butcher to stop him from releasing the virus is unexpected but fitting. The relationship between Butcher and Hughie is one aspect of this show that has been around since the beginning. His death is sad, as it should be, but deserved after all the things he has put the rest of The Boys through. They also wrapped up his main conflict by killing off Homelander, so he had really fulfilled his purpose in the show and needed a proper send-off. The surviving members of The Boys all receive happy endings, which was very satisfying to see after so many years of hardship for each of them. 

While the finale does a good job of wrapping up many aspects of the storyline, there are many things left unresolved. Perhaps the largest loose end is the absence of Soldier Boy. He was a major figure in shaping the events of the entire fifth season, but he is subdued and put into cryo-sleep by Homelander and is never seen again. He most certainly is not dead and has been confirmed to be appearing in the upcoming spinoff Vought Rising coming next year, which will hopefully continue his story past the events of the Finale. It’s also unclear what the consequences of Homelander’s public defacement and death had on the rest of the world, given that it was all broadcast on live T.V. We know that Stan Edgar has regained control of Vought, and that the company will be rethinking how they handle their superheroes. But outside of that, Vought’s fate is left rather ambiguous. Edgar’s statements earlier in the season could suggest that they could quit making superheroes all together and try to make the next big thing. Or things could continue as they were, which would be rather unsatisfying. It could also be argued that Homelander seemed significantly weaker in the final fight, and I believe that fact is glaringly undeniable; however, it does not take away from the rest of the spectacle of the fight or the satisfaction of his death.

This finale has been quite divisive among fans, with some claiming it to be the best finale in the series, and others saying it’s as bad as the Game of Thrones finale. While it has its problems, I believe that it does a good job at wrapping up the main storylines that have been driving this show since the beginning, while leaving some questions unanswered for possible sequels. The finale has a 6.8 on IMDb and is the second-lowest rated episode of the show on the site, just behind the previous episode. It’s too soon to tell how successful the upcoming spinoffs, Vought Rising and The Boys: Mexico, will be, but based on the popularity of the main show, they are likely to be popular as well. The Boys was a flagship series of Amazon Prime, leaving big shoes to fill for its successors.