'The Boys' Season 3 Episode 8 spoilers: Is Dominique McElligott's Queen Maeve dead?
Contains spoilers for 'The Boys' Season 3 Episode 8 'The Instant White-Hot Wild'
'The Boys' Season 3 promised deaths and gave it in generous measure. 'Herogasm' killed enough supes, and the finale painted targets on the back of quite a few heroes. Dominique McElligott's Queen Maeve cuts it mighty close in the finale and dodges a bullet, as does Jessie T Usher's A-Train — both of who were looked at as prime candidates to kick the bucket.
The finale titled 'The Instant White-Hot Wild' sees the Boys take on Homelander at Vought, only for Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) to become a threat to them as expected. Maeve also gets her shot at taking down Homelander but instead proves she's the bigger person by almost sacrificing herself to save his son Ryan.
RELATED ARTICLES
Does Queen Maeve die in 'The Boys' Season 3 finale?
While it was speculated that Maeve would die since the start of Season 3, the warrior manages to pull through. McElligott's character was under the scanner since the star after she supplies Butcher (Karl Urban) with Temp V to help stand a fighting chance in snuffing Homelander. She gives him enough vials of V24 — a version of compound V with the effects lasting just 24 hours.
After the devastating events of the Season 2 finale, Maeve is more determined to stop the supe even if it means risking her own life. Episode 4 titled 'Glorious Five Year Plan' shows how she realizes her days are numbered as she tells Starlight (Erin Moriarty) that she's preparing for the inevitable.
It doesn't go according to plan for Maeve who quickly gets overpowered by Homelander even as Butcher fends off Soldier Boy. She loses an eye after her former boss gouges it out and then saves Ryan and Butcher by taking the full force of Soldier Boy's energy blast that fries her superpower. While the city mourns her death in the aftermath of the battle, she is shown to be alive and recovering at Elena's in the final minutes of the episode. Ashley deletes the footage of Maeve surviving.
This just might be the send-off the character needs if she doesn't make an appearance in Season 4. She's already lost her powers, and that would mean not standing a shot against Homelander or Soldier Boy (if Eric Kripke decides to bring him back in). For now, there's good news in the form of Maeve surviving.
'The Boys' Season 3 is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.