"Blood and Bone" is the series finale of the American satirical superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, loosely adapting the conclusion of Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men and The Bloody Doors Off. The eighth episode of the fifth season and the fortieth overall, it was written by Judalina Neira and David Reed, and directed by Philip Sgriccia.
The episode follows Billy Butcher, Hughie Campbell, Annie January, Mother's Milk, and Kimiko Miyashiro as they launch their final attack against Homelander at the White House. The episode ultimately concludes the series' main conflict between Butcher and Homelander, while also dealing with the aftermath of Frenchie's death and the future of the surviving members of the Boys themselves.
"Blood and Bone" was released on May 20, 2026, on Amazon Prime Video and in select 4DX theaters across the United States and Canada the day before. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise for its performances, emotional payoff, and Homelander's final scenes, though some felt it did not fully meet expectations for a series finale.
Plot After burying Frenchie, the Boys regroup with Kimiko spurring into action again after Billy Butcher provokes her. Kimiko, testing her powers, de-powers Sister Sage, who leaves to live a normal life. At the White House, Homelander prepares a national address proclaiming his divinity; Oh Father and the Deep remain loyal while Ashley, now President, grows fearful. Homelander visits his son Ryan, failing to convince him to come to Vought Tower. He returns to the White House, declaring himself the country's god during a live Easter broadcast from the Oval Office.
The Boys infiltrate the White House through a tunnel and are saved from armed guards when Ashley aids their escape. Once inside, Annie tackles the Deep while both Hughie and M.M. distract Oh Father so that Butcher and Kimiko could continue onwards; M.M. kills Oh Father by causing his head to explode with a ball gag that Ashley gave Oh Father earlier whilst the Deep, rejecting redemption, is blasted into the ocean by Annie and ends up being killed by a giant octopus. Butcher and Kimiko ambush Homelander in the Oval Office just as he finishes his speech. Homelander overpowers them before attempting to escape, but is stopped by Ryan, who helps Butcher fight him; Homelander vows to kill them both along with everyone else. Kimiko struggles to use her powers until she remembers Frenchie, and thus regaining the strength to blast Homelander as he is restrained by Butcher and Ryan; the three are stripped of their powers. Now powerless and with Butcher blocking his getaway, Homelander is brutally beaten up by Butcher in revenge for Frenchie's death. Homelander then starts crying and desperately pleads for his life, but Butcher is unfazed and ends up stabbing Homelander in the forehead and prying his skull open with his crowbar, avenging Becca and finally killing Homelander.
In the aftermath of Homelander's death, Ashley is impeached and Stan Edgar regains control of Vought. Butcher attempts to reconcile with Ryan, who rejects him. After discovering his dog Terror passed away, Butcher decides to release a virus to eliminate all Supes inside Vought Tower through the building's sprinkler system to prevent the creation of another Homelander. When Hughie notices that Butcher is missing and finds Terror's lifeless body, he realizes what Butcher plans to do with the virus and goes to stop him. Hughie confronts Butcher and attempts to get him to stop by recounting everything they have been through, but Butcher insists on going through with his plan; the two end up fighting and Butcher overpowers Hughie. As Butcher prepares to release the virus, he remembers how Hughie resembles his late brother Lenny and hesitates, only for Hughie to shoot Butcher in the abdomen. Butcher acknowledges how far he went and makes peace with a tearful Hughie before dying.
Sometime after memorializing Butcher at his gravestone, M.M. remarries and adopts Ryan while Kimiko relocates to Marseille, France with a dog she and Frenchie planned to adopt. Meanwhile, Hughie is offered an opportunity to lead the revived Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs by the reinstated President Bob Singer, but he declines and instead returns to his previous job at an electronics store that he runs together with Annie, who is now pregnant with their child Robin, though they continue to fight crime independently.
Production Development and writing "Blood and Bone" was written by Judalina Neira and David Reed, and directed by Philip Sgriccia. The episode serves as the series finale of The Boys, ending the central conflict between Billy Butcher and Homelander after five seasons.
Discussing the episode, showrunner Eric Kripke stated that he never intended the finale to feel like a complete victory, describing the series as hopeful rather than cynical, while emphasizing that progress comes through sacrifice and imperfection. He highlighted Kimiko Miyashiro's final scene in Marseille as intentionally melancholic, saying the sequence reflected grief, memory, and moving forward after loss. Karen Fukuhara later discussed Kimiko's role in the finale, particularly the character's use of her new radioactive abilities derived from research connected to Soldier Boy. Fukuhara stated that Kimiko envisioning Frenchie before using the blast to depower Homelander and Butcher completed the character's arc and brought her story full circle. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in April 2026, Kripke would express fear over how fans would react to the finale, saying "[fans] will retroactively judge the show based on how they feel about the finale. If we stiff it, they will definitely say, 'Well, that show wasn't as good as we thought it was.' And it's almost like you're trying to secure your legacy with these finales. And it's the first finale I've ever done, too — so it's not like I have any experience with it. So I'm mostly anxious and girding my loins."
Kripke also discussed Ryan's confrontation with Homelander, explaining that the storyline was written to reflect actor Cameron Crovetti growing up during production. He described the scene as Ryan "claiming his own adulthood" and choosing his own path after spending much of the series being treated as either a weapon or an objective by other characters. According to Kripke, the creative team wanted the characters to be shown "at their lowest" while still preserving Frenchie's presence throughout the episode despite his absence. Kripke said he specifically instructed writers Neira and Reed that he wanted Frenchie's spirit to remain present emotionally within the finale. Before the episode aired, Kripke described the finale as emotionally satisfying and said that the episode would bring long-running storylines and confrontations to a head. Kripke stated that the Boys would be forced to act after Frenchie's death while Homelander prepared to kill anyone who did not genuinely love him.
The title "Blood and Bone" refers to Homelander's earlier phrase "scorched earth, shock and awe, blood and bone", which had been used to describe the destructive final conflict between him and Butcher. Kripke said that Homelander needed to experience powerlessness before dying, calling it the "ultimate punishment" for the character. He also said Homelander could not survive the episode because he could regain powers through Compound V. Kripke described the final conflict between Hughie and Butcher as one of the emotional centers of the show, saying the scene paid off ideas that had been planted for years.
Differences from the comics As the show has deviated from the original The Boys comic series, the episode significantly differs from the ending of the comics while retaining some elements. In the comics, Homelander is revealed to have been manipulated by Black Noir, who, being identical to Homelander, had been impersonating him the entire series as a secret second Homelander, committing atrocities which he framed Homelander for to pit Butcher and Homelander against one another, with Noir killing Homelander before Butcher kills Noir. The television series instead depicted the comic-book Noir and Homelander as one singular composite character (placing other characters beneath the mask of Noir), keeping Homelander as the main antagonist and concluding his story with Butcher killing him in the Oval Office in the same fashion he killed Noir in the comic. The series also changed Butcher's ending. In the comics, Butcher becomes the main antagonist of the series after getting his revenge, seeking to wipe out all supes and humans with supe DNA worldwide, killing Mother's Milk, Frenchie and Kimiko before Hughie stops him, while the television adaptation spared the members of the Boys (bar Frenchie) and gave them individual endings after Butcher's death. Kripke stated that the series was never intended to follow the comic ending exactly and that having Hughie as the sole survivor "felt wrong" for the television adaptation.
Despite this, Kripke retained some aspects of the final run of the comics. One such example was Terror's death being motivation for Butcher to go "completely off the deep end", only changing that Terror was given a "gentle, sweet, peaceful death" in comparison to its comic counterpart, who was killed by Noir (who framed Jack from Jupiter for the deed). Kripke also described the final fight between Butcher and Hughie as "the most comics-accurate scene we've done" aside from the pilot where Robin is killed by A-Train, stating, "I would say the first episode and the last episode are the ones that are most faithful to the comic. I always felt ending the show with just the two of them was really right. It's not about the scope, it's about the intimacy."
Casting The episode featured the return of the series' principal cast for the final time, including Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell, Antony Starr as John Gillman / Homelander, Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight, Laz Alonso as Marvin T. Milk / Mother's Milk (M.M.), Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro, Susan Heyward as Jessica "Sage" Bradley, Chace Crawford as Kevin Koehler / The Deep, Daveed Diggs as Oh Father, Colby Minifie as U.S. President Ashley Barrett, and Cameron Crovetti as Ryan. Also appearing in guest roles were Tomer Capone as Serge / Frenchie, London Thor as Jordan Li, Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar, Lizze Broadway as Emma Meyer, Frances Turner as Monique, Jim Beaver as Bob Singer, Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau, and Marisa McIntyre as Rachel. A character named Gunter Van Ellis, "a rich mogul with an affinity for space, white fertility rates and black-on-black embroidered baseball caps", is briefly portrayed by Ivan Sherry before being killed by Homelander. The character was seen online as a parody of billionaire Elon Musk, who, following the episode's airing, called the finale "pathetic" on X, prompting Kripke to respond he would "never have a better review ever". Kripke tried to have Dominique McElligott reappear as Queen Maeve, but the now retired actress could not find a place in her schedule to make a cameo appearance.
Jensen Ackles did not appear in the finale as Soldier Boy, despite the character returning earlier in the fifth season. Kripke stated that Soldier Boy's absence was intentional, explaining that the character's storyline for the season had already reached its conclusion and that the finale needed to prioritize the story arcs of the main cast. Kripke also indicated that unresolved questions surrounding Soldier Boy would be addressed in the upcoming spinoff series Vought Rising.