Diksha Sundriyal
‘The Boys’ is set in a world where superheroes are actually villains. While normal people take up arms against them, not all Supes are bad. There are some, like Starlight who are good to the core. And there are others, like Maeve who are not exactly evil but don’t make any effort to fall under the category of being good as well. Maeve is one of the most complex characters in the story, and through the seasons, the show has developed a well-thought-out arc for her. At the end of the fifth episode of Season 3, uncertainty lingers over her fate, as we wonder whether or not she made it out alive of a precarious situation. Here’s what you should know about Maeve and her impending death in ‘The Boys’.
Does Queen Maeve Die?
Queen Maeve is not dead, yet. If Homelander wanted to kill her, he would have done so without a second’s thought, like he has usually done with every other person he has ever killed. However, he gets Black Noir to catch her by surprise, which means that he didn’t want to fight her. While he could have easily subdued her, Maeve would have held her own, and their fight could have invited unwanted attention from the public. Clearly, he didn’t want that, so he had Noir sneak up on her.
Maeve is considered the second strongest Supe after Homelander (though that might be in question after Soldier Boy’s arrival). She has had a rocky relationship with Homelander, with the latter threatening her happiness at every turn. Despite her hatred for him, Maeve has always been very prudent about her survival. Throughout the first season, she kept her head low and stuck to her job, not caring what was happening around her. However, things change in the second season.
After Homelander threatens her and Elena, eventually leading to their break-up, Maeve decides to put a stop to his actions. With a little help from the Deep, she gets her hands on the footage from the plane crash that clearly exposes Homelander for the villain he is. She uses it to keep him from killing the Boys, or anyone else for that matter. She takes a step further in Season 3, colluding with Butcher to devise a plan to kill Homelander once and for all. And it is this plan that has kept her from being killed.
In Episode 4, Homelander discovers the plot against him. A-Train tells him that Supersonic, Starlight, and Maeve are planning to get him out of the way. Homelander can’t kill Starlight. He needs her to keep his public image in a positive light. But he also wants to teach her a lesson, so he kills Supersonic. That still leaves the question of what the plot actually was. He must be interested in finding out what the other Supes had discovered that led them to hatch this conspiracy to kill him. He knows that Starlight won’t tell him. He has already threatened her to stay in line, but he can’t torture her. That leaves Maeve.
Maeve has been a thorn in Homelander’s side since the second episode. He didn’t pay much attention to her because Maeve let him think that she had fallen into alcoholism and didn’t pose any threat to him. But, the revelation of the plot leads him to make a move against her. He has her kidnapped and tucked away in a place that no one knows about. The general theory for the public is that Maeve is in Vought’s wellness center, taking some time off. In reality, Homelander has held her captive and is trying to get the truth out of her. He wants to know why Maeve thought he could be killed, and she is the only one who knows, as far as he knows.
Queen Maeve Death Theories
While Maeve is definitely not dead right now, the show has hinted at her tragic fate for quite some time. When Starlight approaches her about BCL Red and the Boys’ quest to find it, Maeve tells her that she is preparing for the fight with Homelander and that she knows she won’t survive. Maeve had been a cynic from the beginning, but after losing Elena, it doesn’t look like she has anything left to live for. The only thing that drives her is the prospect of Homelander’s death.
Maeve is a key character in ‘The Boys’ as she has acted as the deus ex-machina for them a number of times. In fact, the only reason Homelander hasn’t yet killed the Boys is because of the video that Maeve found. Getting her out of the way might lead the Boys in direct line of fire. They would not only lose a protective cover, but they would also lose a powerful ally. However, if they succeed in getting Soldier Boy on their side, Maeve might lose her usefulness.
In the comics, Maeve works with the Boys and digs out a lot of stuff against Homelander, as well as Vought. In the end, when Homelander becomes extremely homicidal and tries to kill Starlight, Maeve throws her out of the way and attacks him. Homelander easily kills her, ripping off her head and bringing her story to a gruesome end. While the show has kept her alive as of now, the end of Season 3 might mean the end of Maeve too.
Starlight has been causing a lot of trouble for Homelander, but she is still useful to him. With his increasing popularity and newfound position as the head of Vought, Homelander might want Starlight out of the picture soon. Also, there is much more trouble headed his way, which may lead him to attack Starlight, allowing the show to recreate the scene from the comics and leading to Maeve’s death. Another scenario could be a full-fledged battle against Homelander, with Maeve getting her final wish to go out in combat while giving enough time to Butcher or someone else to take the fatal shot against the seemingly unkillable Supe. In any case, the future looks grim for Maeve, and it might just be the end of the road for her.
Read More: Is Queen Maeve Bisexual or Gay in The Boys?
