Spoilers for this week’s episode of ! Last week’s episode of The Boys left multiple characters in precarious situations, killing a few along the way. Homelander was bruised after his fight with Soldier Boy and A-Train used his powers for the first time in years, seemingly giving him a life-ending heart attack as he annihilated Blue Hawk and turned his face into raw hamburger. The latest entry in the new season answers the big question though, confirming that A-Train is alive, but with a major twist, he’s only alive because Blue Hawk’s heart was transplanted into his body.
Ashley Barrett, former PR wiz turned Vought CEO, tells A-Train that the “official story” is that Soldier Boy killed Blue Hawk (who we all know was killed by A-Train), while A-Train tried to save him. She says that they were getting toward a “healing place.” making Blue Hawk’s death “really hard” for him. It’s all spin, but it paints a really wild picture of Vought’s control over their supes. They didn’t care about Blue Hawk in the grand scheme, but by putting his heart in A-Train they put him in a place to get his powers back, and also remind him how little he actually means to them.
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So it’s a good news, bad news situation for A-Train. He can use his powers again without fear of another heart attack (previously caused by abusing Compound V), but also, he’s at the mercy of Vought even more so than usual. This one scene of the character marks his only time in the episode, the next-to-last of the season, so it’s unclear what his role will be in the season three finale.
Considering the potential long road ahead for A-Train it’s unclear how long he’ll be out of commission as a member of The Seven. The character has routinely faced the potential of being replaced ever since the first season of the show, so it seems unlikely that the show will go that route once again. In any event however The Seven is getting short on members following the death/murder of Supersonic and Annie January/Starlight quitting in dramatic fashion.
The first seven episodes of The Boys season three are now streaming, with just one left before the season concludes. Amazon Prime Video has already renewed the series for season four, with production starting later this year.