(Spoilers from The Boys season finale will be found below.)
The Boys viewers loved how Queen Maeve not only kicked Homelander’s ass but also got the happy ending that her character deserved. She even drew Homelander’s blood (and as the above screenshot shows, she was thrilled to do so) before that battle got extra ugly, and then she dove out a window with Soldier Boy to keep his nuclear blast from killing the group. Her character did not die in the process, even if Homelander believes as much. And that’s key to where Queen Maeve goes from here.
Maeve and her partner get to wander off to non-Supe life, apparently in a completely civilian way. They’re headed to a quiet farm, and hopefully, the show will let her live in peace. Dominique McElligott’s presence will be missed on the show, but showrunner Eric Kripke had resolutely determined not to fall into the trope of shows that kill off queer characters. He explained this to Collider:
“From the beginning, we were never going to kill her. We were always going to give her a happy ending. We’re well aware of the super irritating trend of killing off queer characters, and we’re dedicated to not doing that. So then it became about, ‘Well, can we explore that from a meta way and play with the audience’s expectation a little bit and present that big sacrifice moment that happens way too many times?’”
Whew. The Boys really is the best at skewering those tropes, and yep, they still do exist (the ending of Killing Eve proved as much). Finally, someone’s receiving a happy ending, and although Maeve will be missed, it’s a satisfying departure (and what the character wanted) after what she endured as part of The Seven.
(Via Collider)