Season 4 of The Boys — the show’s penultimate season — is in full swing, and one prominent character from the first three seasons is noticeably missing. Queen Maeve — the warrior, “feminist icon”, and founding member of The Seven, played by Irish actress Dominique McElligott — hasn’t been seen since the final episode of season 3.
In the third season, Maeve colluded with Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher to bring down Homelander, the rogue leader of The Seven. Their attempts came to a head with an epic confrontation involving Homelander, Queen Maeve, a V24-empowered Butcher, Soldier Boy, Starlight, and the show’s eponymous group.
Maeve’s participation in the battle resulted in her losing her right eye after the sadistic Homelander gouged it out with his thumb. But what was her ultimate fate and why is she missing from season 4?
What happened to Queen Maeve?
In that hectic final battle, Homelander’s son, Ryan, arrived and attempted to defend his father, which resulted in Soldier Boy attacking Ryan. In response, super-Butcher, Starlight, and The Boys tried restraining Soldier Boy, prompting him to power up a potent energy blast.
Maeve was still fighting Homelander at that point but recognized Soldier Boy’s blast would make him explode and kill several others, so she tackled him and flew him out of a high window, where he detonated in mid-air.
She put herself at risk to save everyone else, and the world believed her dead. Tributary monuments began emerging in her honor. However, what happened was that she survived — albeit losing her powers in the process — and escaped with The Boys’ help to live a peaceful life in hiding with her girlfriend, Elena.
Moreover, when Vought analyst Anika obtained surveillance footage proving Maeve had survived the incident, Vought’s Senior Vice President of Hero Management, Ashley Barrett, secretly deleted the footage to protect Maeve — a rare showing of humility from the usually ruthless, deceptive, and self-serving businesswoman.
So, Queen Maeve is still out there. She’s powerless and one-eyed but happy. Who knows how long that will remain the case?