After waiting nearly 18 months for The Boys Season 3 to premiere, it’s already time to part ways with Homelander, Butcher & Co. — and bid a permanent goodbye to two characters!

Friday’s eventful and action-packed hour brought us, among other things, a highly anticipated showdown with Soldier Boy, a tragic loss that even brought Homelander to tears, and a surprisingly happy ending for one of the supes. Plus, the final moments of the episode were so downright unnerving that we’re still trying to shake off the chills from that closing image.

Let’s quickly break down the most surprising twists and heartbreaks from the closer:

* Maeve teamed up with Butcher and Soldier Boy to take down Homelander, even though it seemed unclear which way Soldier Boy was going to go up until Homelander tried to appeal to his father by bringing out little Ryan. What a happy family reunion… not so fast! Soldier Boy called Homelander weak and sniveling, and he didn’t have much love for Ryan either, striking and wounding him when the kid tried to laser Soldier Boy off Homelander.

Homelander and Butcher briefly found common ground, shooting lasers at Soldier Boy for what he did to Ryan. While Homelander then tended to his son, Butcher and the rest of the Boys tried to take out Soldier Boy. Hughie turned up the lights in the studio, amplifying Annie’s powers until she was floating and struck down Soldier Boy, allowing MM to put the nerve agent gas mask on him. Soldier Boy managed to escape their grasp, and looked like he was about to blast everyone to death.

Meanwhile, Maeve and Homelander were beating the crap out of each other. (He even poked her eye out!) But before Maeve could finally kill her tormentor, she saw Annie’s pleading face and jumped out of the tower window with Soldier Boy, who exploded in the sky. (He was actually put back on ice, so to speak, by Mallory.)

* News reports extolled Brave Maeve’s death — but it was all a fake-out! Annie later visited Maeve, who was alive and well, minus one eye and powers. Reunited with her girlfriend, Maeve revealed that she and Elena were leaving to go somewhere Homelander wouldn’t find her. And thanks to Ashley, who finally did something good and deleted the footage of The Boys rescuing Maeve, Homelander might actually have no idea that she’s alive. (Check TVLine tomorrow for the full story on Maeve’s departure.)

* Noir returned to Vought Tower, where he made it clear to Homelander that Soldier Boy is bad and must be killed. Homelander asked his pal if he knew that Soldier Boy was his father, and Noir nodded yes. A distraught Homelander was shaken by the betrayal, tearfully stating, “F–k. Why didn’t you tell me?” before punching his arm straight through Noir’s chest and killing him.

* After Noir’s death, Homelander lamented his sad excuse for a team/family in The Deep, A-Train and Ashley. He made The Deep to kill the VP candidate to prove himself — Victoria Neuman was then selected for the gig — and forced Ashley to take off her wig.

* In the final scene, Homelander introduced Ryan — who had chosen him at the end of the big Soldier Boy battle — to a rally of Stormfront supporters. When a Starlight believer threw a cup, striking Ryan, Homelander lasered his head right off. The crowd stood in silence. Then MM’s daughter’s stepdad started cheering for Homelander and everyone quickly followed suit, even stunning Homelander with their show of support. Ryan watched the crowd with a disturbing little smile.

Last but not least…

* Butcher found out that he only has 12-18 months to live, thanks to all that V-24 he took.

* The Boys welcomed Annie into their ranks.

* Now that he’s got a new heart, A-Train asked his brother to coach him. But Nathan figured out that A-Train killed Blue Hawk and shouted at A-Train to stay out of his life.

The Boys fans, what did you think of the season ender? Grade it below, then hit the comments!

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