When Homelander Psychologically Breaks Queen Maeve

It's revealed during the course of the season that Queen Maeve and Homelander had once been in a relationship. Although Homelander still seems to harbor some lingering feelings toward her, Maeve doesn't feel the same way. That being said, he views her as his property, even stating that he wouldn't know what he'd do if she loved someone else.

It's during Flight 37 that he truly pushes her to her breaking point by forcing her to let the plane go down. Maeve is clearly afraid of what he might do to her and the people she loves if she doesn't go along with what he says. Toward the end, we see Maeve start to get her fight back by standing up to him.

When Homelander Threatens Starlight

When Homelander reveals Hughie's identity to The Seven, chills ran down my spine. Starlight tries to defend herself against Homelander and he absolutely tears into her. At first, he chalks it up to her "single ladies" movement and wanting The Deep out of The Seven [6] but he eventually becomes unhinged as Starlight continues speaking. Starlight is on the verge of tears when Queen Maeve speaks up for her. Had it not been for Maeve and her somewhat tumultuous relationship with Homelander, it's very possible that Homelander would've tried to eradicate Starlight then and there.

When Homelander Takes Butcher to See His "Dead" Wife

The driving force behind Billy Butcher's affiliation with "The Boys" is his need for revenge on Homelander. For years, Butcher is led to believe that Homelander is the reason for his wife Becca's death as a result of a sexual assault, although Homelander claims it was consensual.

It's not until the end of season one that Butcher discovers not only is Becca alive, she's the mother of Homelander's son. Rather than letting Butcher blow sky-high along with Madelyn, Homelander decides to take him to see Becca. Homelander isn't doing this as an act of kindness, he's doing it to rub in the fact he has a son with Butcher's wife. With a smug grin, Homelander lets Butcher see Becca before the season ends on a cliffhanger.

Now that Butcher knows the truth, season two will see how the foes' relationship changes.

When Homelander Shoots Down the Baltimore Mayor's Plane

Homelander frequently spies on Madelyn Stillwell, both as a way of keeping tabs on who she's meeting with and because of his obsession with her. After the mayor of Baltimore blackmails Madelyn into lowering their city protection price to $230 million, Homelander decides he'll shoot down the plane as a favor to her. While shooting down a plane is terrible, what makes things worse is that the mayor's son is on board. Not only that, he's a huge fan of Homelander and one of the last things he sees is Homelander giving him a wave before he uses his laser vision to shoot them out of the sky.

When Homelander Creates Supe-Terrorists

Homelander will do anything to please Madelyn, including having A-Train [7] run Compound V all around the globe in the hopes of creating supe-terrorists. While Madelyn does want to ensure that superheroes would be used by the military, supe-terrorists aren't her idea. Homelander doesn't even see the potential world-ruining danger in this plan; to him, it's just a marketing ploy that works exactly the way he wants.

When Homelander Murders Madelyn Stillwell

Homelander's relationship with Madelyn Stillwell [8] is one of the most f*cked-up dynamics in the series. She's the only figure of authority he listens to and yet he doesn't truly respect her. Beyond this, their weird mother/son/lovers thing is enough to prove that there's clearly something off about Homelander in general. He's also immensely jealous of her baby, which is wild because there's a possibility he's actually the father.

How he murdered Madelyn is cold. Just as she thinks she's about to be saved, he literally melts her eyes out of their sockets . . . all because she lies to him about the whereabouts of Becca and his son. If this shows anything, it's not to lie to Homelander.

When Homelander Refuses to Rescue Flight 37, Then Uses Its Crash For Personal Gain

One of the hardest scenes to watch during season one is Homelander's decision to let the plane crash rather than attempt to save anyone on board. After making it to the plane on time and seemingly defeating the hijackers, Homelander assures everyone that things are going to be alright as he basks in their cheers. However, a hijacker in the cockpit shoots the remaining pilot, putting a hole through the windshield and causing Homelander to effectively fry him along with the flight's equipment.

While Queen Maeve wants to still save everyone, Homelander wants to save their reputation. He gives Maeve an ultimatum in her last-ditch effort to save a mother and child, and Maeve ultimately chooses to escape with him. As if all of this wasn't horrific enough, when the plane's wreckage is recovered, Homelander uses it as a ploy to get superheroes into the military by saying that he and Maeve arrived after the plane crashed and it could've been saved had they been let into the military chain of command.