Blood and Bone (The Boys episode)

Development and writing

"Blood and Bone" was written by Judalina Neira and David Reed, and directed by Philip Sgriccia. The episode was produced as the series finale of The Boys, ending the central conflict between Butcher and Homelander after five seasons.^[2]

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's final scene in Marseille as intentionally melancholic, saying the sequence reflected grief, memory, and moving forward after loss.^[3] 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.^[4] 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".^[5][6]

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.^[3] 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.^[7]

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.^[8][9] 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.^[10]

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 a clone of Black Noir, who ultimately kills him before Butcher kills Noir. The television series instead retained Homelander as the main antagonist and concluded his story with Butcher killing him in the Oval Office.^[11] The series also changed Butcher's ending. In the comics, Butcher kills Mother's Milk, Frenchie and Kimiko before Hughie stops him, while the television adaptation spared the remaining members of the Boys and gave them individual endings after Butcher's death.^[12] 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.^[13]

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. 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, saying, "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."^[14]

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 Homelander, Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight, Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk, Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro, Susan Heyward as Sister Sage, Chace Crawford as The Deep, Daveed Diggs as Oh Father, Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett, and Cameron Crovetti as Ryan.^[15][16] 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.^[17] 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.^[18][19] The character was seen online as a parody of billionaire Elon Musk,^[19] who, following airing of the episode, called the finale "pathetic" on X, prompting Kripke to respond he would "never have a better review ever".^[19][20] 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.^[21]

Jensen Ackles did not appear in the finale as Soldier Boy, despite the character returning earlier in the fifth season.^[b] 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 arcs of the main cast.^[22] Kripke also indicated that unresolved questions surrounding Soldier Boy would be addressed in the upcoming spin-off series Vought Rising.^[23]

The finale marked the final appearances of Starr and Urban as Homelander and Billy Butcher respectively, with both characters dying during the episode's climax.^[24] Homelander is killed after Kimiko removes his powers during the battle in the Oval Office, while Butcher later dies following his confrontation with Hughie at Vought Tower.^[25] The episode also served as the final appearances of Crawford as the Deep and Diggs as Oh Father, both characters being killed during the White House battle sequence.^[15][26]

Reviews

Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the finale an 8/10, writing that the finale succeeded in tying up the show's lingering storylines and delivering a satisfying payoff to the conflict between the Boys and Homelander. Schedeen also praised Frenchie's funeral and Karen Fukuhara's silent performance as Kimiko. However, he criticized the underwhelming sendoff of the cast of the spin-off Gen V, especially with recent news of the show being cancelled.^[38] Revati Gelda of Tell-Tale TV was more mixed, writing that the episode did not fully live up to expectations, while praising Antony Starr's performance as a powerless Homelander.^[39] Jon Negroni of InBetweenDrafts described the finale as ending with the themes the series had always been moving toward.^[40] Ben Travers for IndieWire would give the finale a B- rating in his review, calling the episode an "intermittently satisfying series finale", although added, "calling it a frustrating finale would be fair".^[41]

Devin Meenan of SlashFilm praised the brutality of Homelander's death and called the finale's endings for the show's characters "satisfying more often than they weren't",^[42] but also criticized the finale in a separate article for its handling of Butcher, claiming it "rushes" his final confrontation with Hughie.^[43] Kirsten Howard of Den of Geek gave the episode a rating of 3 out of 5 stars, and she considered the finale a stronger episode than much of the season. While praising the episode as "a decent hour of television", Howard argued that the series had lost much of the vicious energy that previously defined it.^[44] Ben Rosenstock of Vulture gave the episode 2 out of 5 stars and was more critical of the finale. Rosenstock criticized the finale's sentimental tone, particularly Kimiko's vision of Frenchie, which he described as "corny" and "clumsy". Rosenstock also criticized the pacing of Butcher's final storyline and argued that the episode lacked the unpredictability and satirical edge of the series' earlier seasons.^[45] Josh Rosenberg of Esquire felt that the realities of the second Trump administration nullified the effectiveness of the series' satire, and by consequence, the finale's.^[46]

Erik Kain of Forbes would call the finale "a crushing disappointment", criticizing Oh Father and the Deep's demises as nonsensical and Homelander's as underwhelming.^[47] Writing for The A.V. Club, Saloni Gajjar described the finale as "equal parts rewarding and annoying", praising Starr's performance, but rejecting Sister Sage's loss of powers as "disappointing", feeling that she, alongside A-Train and Black Noir, comprised a "list of Black superheroes who didn't get the thoughtful material they deserved from The Boys".^[1]