History NightmareFuel / TheBoys2019

** In the trailer, Homelander commands his fellow supes to stop acting like celebrities, and start acting as "vengeful gods". And [[BewareTheSillyOnes The Deep]] takes this to heart as he [[BatterUp bashes a dude's face in]] and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown slams Annie's head through a pillar of the Flatiron office]].

* Homelander's superhuman senses have been used extremely well at the beginning of this season to emphasize how dangerous he is. Homelander is already scary enough because of his incredible strength, speed, durability, flight, and heat vision that can fry you like an egg. But as we especially see in "Payback" and "The Only Man in the Sky", what also makes Homelander so terrifying is the fact that almost no one can hide anything from him. A-Train barely whispers [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu "Fuck you man"]] under his breath when Homelander is about 14 feet away, and not even a millisecond later he [[TranquilFury calmly]] stops dead in his tracks and asks "What did you say?" [[OhCrap The look on A-Train's face afterward says it all]]. And during Homelander's 'birthday' rant, Ashley asks one of the tech workers Roger to cut to commercial. Homelander, despite being several meters away and behind a thick wall, presumably looks exactly where Roger is and threatens him to not dare do so, even calling out Roger ''by name''. Butcher even admits that it's only a matter of time before Homelander finds Ryan and does [[NothingIsScarier God knows what with him]]. No matter where you are in this world, it's not a matter of if Homelander will find you... it's ''when''.

'''Homelander:''' [[ThatWasntARequest I'M NOT SUGGESTING ANYMORE...]] ''[[ThatWasntARequest Jump.]]''\\

** The sheer level of influence Vought have is genuinely concerning. Putting aside their monopoly on superheroes, they are the leading name in the entertainment industry, own every branded merchandise their supes shill, have theme parks, and also ''control the news''. When Ashley tries to do cover spin on Annie's instagram testimony against Homelander and Vought, their news anchor even proposes that Annie's actions are potentially "treason", which is an absurd thing to claim (let's remember all Annie actually did was talk shit against a private corporation she worked for, which isn't even illegal; at best it would be slander if it wasn't true), but its apparent Vought have so much influence within the US, and are so confident about their control, that they think its perfectly OK to declare not supporting them of being treason against the US, and the scary part is its clear that swathes of the public ''agree''. Of course, no company could exist like that in real life right......right?

** Here's a more horrifying thought. What if the crowd cheered on Homelander not because they agreed with what happened, but because they're afraid of what would happen if Homelander lost his supporting fans? No sane man would cheer on a mass murderer, right? Well, give that serial killer [[PhysicalGod the powers of a god]], [[AGodAmI an intense, but highly fragile ego]], and [[EvilInc a company that not only brands monsters like him as heroic]] [[BigBrotherIsWatching but controls]] ''[[BigBrotherIsWatching everything]]'' [[BigBrotherIsWatching and the]] PropagandaMachine. Now you would understand why people [[HappinessIsMandatory would cheer him on out of pure fear and not genuine admiration]].

* '''Homelander''' in general. Think about what [[Literature/AmericanPsycho Patrick Bateman]] is capable of doing as a regular person. Now imagine giving him ComicBook/{{Superman}}’s [[FlyingBrick powers]], complete legal protection from one of largest and most influential corporations on the planet, and the mentality that he can do “whatever the fuck he wants” because [[AGodAmI he’s a god on Earth]]. That's essentially Homelander. In the words of Creator/AlanMoore, [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} "I never said ‘The Superman is real and he’s American.’ I said ‘God is real and he’s American.’ If that statement starts to chill you after a couple of moments' consideration, then don't be alarmed. A feeling of intense and crushing religious terror at the concept indicates only that you are still sane."]]

*** By the end of Season 3, we learn Stan Edgar was the one who told Noir to get rid of Soldier Boy because Homelander had already been born and was being groomed into being Vought’s next leading Superhero. This begs the question of how much of a hand Edgar really had in Homelander’s upbringing. He at least had some involvement, but it’s also very possible he didn’t just know, but actually saw a lot of what Homelander went through in person and didn’t even flinch. This would give an even darker reason for why Stan isn’t afraid of Homelander. He doesn’t just view him as bad product. He also can’t help but remember him as a pathetic, crying, screaming child.

** Though the Supes are shown as dangerous to an extreme extent, at the heart of the show is a deeply cynical view of human nature. While Supes are powerful and thus dangerous, it's not the power alone that makes them horrifying, it's the fact they use those powers for the exact same evils that are common among everyday people. Blue Hawk and Stormfront are literally just everyday racists, The Deep is a serial sexual harasser and rapist, A-Train is ultimately just a self-absorbed athlete willing to do anything to stay on top, Soldier Boy was just a garden-variety bully, Neumann is a ruthless politician, etc. Even Hughie gets a little DrunkOnTheDarkside while under the effects of Temp V, becoming more abrasive and violent. And while it's left ambiguous how much the drugs contributed, it's made clear that Hughie's darker feelings were always there. People like Annie, Kimiko, and Maeve show that having powers doesn't innately make you a bad person, but the others show what it looks like when bad people ''do'' have that kind of power and nothing to stop them. Butcher says it best in season 3 when his experiences with Temp V give him an insight to what the Supes experience, it's not the V that's the problem, it's all the human shit it brings to the surface by ramping up their inner nature. Butcher himself showed this as his usual raging violent nature combined with the V turned him into an AxCrazy BloodKnight who revelled at killing with his bare hands and lasering anything in sight.

* Robin's CruelAndUnusualDeath at the hands of [=A-Train=]. It comes from ''out of nowhere'' -- one moment, she's holding hands with Hughie having a romantic moment, and the very next moment, she is ''gone'', and the hands that poor Hughie is holding are the ''only thing left of her'' that's whole, because [=A-Train=]'s SuperSpeed has all but ''liquefied'' the poor girl, nothing but blood and bits of spine and bone immediately to the right of him in [=A-Train=]'s wake. Poor Hughie is traumatized like hell because of this, and all he can do is scream Robin's name.

-->'''Homelander''': ''*pushes back panicking passengers*'' [[SuddenlyShouting You stay the fuck back,]] [[RedEyesTakeWarning or I'll laser you, goddamnit! I'll laser every fucking one of you!]]

-->'''Homelander''': [[DissonantSerenity God bless America]].

** Even worse when one considers that he most likely breaths from there. In other words, he’s essentially getting his ''lungs'' penetrated. No wonder it hurts…

--->'''Homelander:''' You know what Chelsea? I think maybe you should jump.
--->'''Chelsea:''' I don't think I want to now.
--->'''Homelander:''' You don't want to? Come on, show some follow-through, Chelsea. Jump.
--->'''Chelsea:''' No, please. I just wanna get down.
--->'''Homelander:''' [[ThatWasntARequest I'M NOT SUGGESTING ANYMORE...]] ''[[ThatWasntARequest Jump.]]''
--->'''Chelsea:''' N-NO! OH GOD, PLEASE!
--->'''Homelander:''' Oh no, no God. [[AGodAmI The only man in the sky]]... [[RedEyesTakeWarning is me]].

** MM’s flashback while watching footage of Soldier Boy dancing and singing from the 1980s. We only get brief glimpses, but from what we see, it’s the stuff of nightmares.

--->'''Homelander''': Go ahead. Release it. Let's light this candle, huh? I mean, sure, I'll lose everything, but then, I'll have nothing to lose. First, I'll take out the nerve centers--White House, Pentagon--then any domestic defense capabilities, and then critical infrastructure--like cellular, Internet, that kind of thing--and then, well, I think then. I'll just wipe New York off the fucking map for fun. I'll even throw in Des Moines and that little cousin-fucker hick town that Maeve's from, cause why not? See, Starlight, I'd prefer to be loved. I would, but if you take that away from me, well, being feared is A-one okey-doke by me. So. Go ahead, partner. Do it. No? You don't want to do it? Well, then, I would have to say that you have absolutely no fucking leverage because I am the Homelander. And I really can do whatever the fuck I want.
*** What makes Homelander’s description of how he’d destroy the world so chilling is the fact he’s echoing Butcher’s snarky lesson on torturing people. Don’t do it all at once, draw it out. Start with the fingers and toes.

-->'''Soldier Boy:''' You think you can be me? You're not a movie star. You're not ''shit''. I see you getting out of line again, tryna "move on up", I will put you in the '''fucking''' ground, understood?

-->'''Annie''': Temp V is gonna kill you both.\\
'''Butcher''': Well, it's gonna have to join the queue.\\
'''Annie''': I was just in the lab. It causes lesions. Okay? It turns your brain into ''fucking Swiss cheese'', so please be honest with me, and tell me, how many doses have you taken?\\
'''Butcher''': Just a couple.\\
'''Annie''': Jesus Christ. Butcher... ''three to five doses kills you.''

** Furthermore, Season 3 confirmed what was somewhat obvious -- the only thing keeping Homelander from ruling the world atop a bloody throne is the fact that he has an inherent need to be loved by the masses. If he breaks free of that limitation -- or people are no longer able to love him, or if the rest of the world actually sees what he's like -- it might be game over for planet Earth. In other words, if Homelander sees that humanity is fucked, [[KillAllHumans then humanity is fucked]].

** Furthermore, Season 3 confirmed what was somewhat obvious -- the only thing keeping Homelander from ruling the world atop a bloody throne is the fact that he has an inherent need to be loved by the masses. If he breaks free of that limitation -- or people are no longer able to love him, or if the rest of the world actually sees what he's like -- it might be game over for planet Earth.

--->'''Homelander''': [[DissonantSerenity God bless America]].

* '''Everything''' about the plane crash. The terrorists were scary enough, but when Homelander comes in and not only makes it ''worse'', but threatens to kill anyone who doesn't accept their fate is just downright harrowing.
-->'''Homelander''': ''*pushes back panicking passengers on the plane*'' [[SuddenlyShouting You stay the fuck back]], [[RedEyesTakeWarning or I'll laser you, goddamnit! I'll laser every fucking one of you!]]
** To elaborate on the horror, the passengers are already held hostage by the terrorists, who have killed all of the pilots except for one. When Homelander and Maeve attempt to talk down a terrorist who has a gun to the last pilot's head, the terrorist blows the pilot's brains out and is promptly sliced in half by Homelander's laser vision. And then it turns out that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Homelander accidentally incinerated the control panels when he lasered said terrorist, meaning that there is no way for the plane to be landed safely.]] Instead of coming up with even the most half-assed solution, Homelander actively ''refuses'' to help, either because he could use it to further their Supes-in-the-militiary goal, or out of pure callousness and dismissal of human life. Compare his DissonantSerenity with Maeve's genuine panic and horror at the situation and it becomes all too clear how little of a hero Homelander truly is.
** It doesn't help that the people on the plane at first seem happy and grateful that the Supes showed up, with Homelander eagerly reassuring them that everything will be fine. As the situation takes a nosedive, [[FalseReassurance Homelander keeps insisting that he will help them despite having no intention to do so until it dawns on the passengers that he's lying out of his ass,]] at which point all of their relief gives way to confusion, terror, and groveling for their lives. It doesn't help that there are children on the plane as well.
** Maeve tries to convince Homelander to at least take a few kids with them, only for him to deny it for fear that they will [[SkewedPriorities tell others about how they abandoned the rest of the passengers]]. [[WouldHurtAChild So, any hope that Homelander might at least care about the lives of children has gone out of the window.]]
** The episode ends with Homelander and Maeve visiting the site of the plane crash, and Homelander gives a speech about how the crash could have been prevented if they were allowed in the military, essentially using the tragedy he caused to fuel Vought's agenda. The manic look on his face as he hypes up the crowd really doesn't help.
* Homelander's attack on the Syrian terrorists, calmly slicing apart armed men and unarmed women with his laser eyes. At many points, all you can see of him in the dark are his glowing red pupils. At one point he deliberately lasers a terrorist above him, so a terrorist in front of him gets drenched in the other's blood and innards. [[ForTheEvulz Moments later he cuts off the legs of another and slowly crushes the man's head under his heel, while sadistically grinning.]] Then he lasers a fleeing terrorist, bisecting him in full view of a troop of American soldiers.

** When Maeve threatens to exposing his callousness during the plane incident, Homelander outright says that he'll destroy everything and everyone if she does so. Only Maeve saying that she'd be glad that everyone knew how much of a monster he was stops him from burning the world to the ground.