Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Mother's Milk removes Butcher from the Boys after learning how little time he has left and confronting his continued secrecy. Hughie objects but cannot reverse the decision. At the hospital, Hughie also discovers that his mother has been in contact with his father and holds power of attorney. Her return creates an argument about decisions over his father's treatment as well as the abandonment Hughie has carried since childhood.
The Boys follow Sage to TruthCon, where she is recruiting Firecracker. Butcher follows them despite being excluded, and another confrontation with Mother's Milk sends him away. Sage has anticipated the surveillance, turning the investigation into an ambush with Firecracker and the multiplying Supe Splinter. Butcher returns during the fight and kills Splinter, allowing the others to survive while Firecracker escapes with her hostility toward Annie intact.
A-Train gives Hughie and Annie information that can clear the Starlighters accused of the courthouse murders. His guilt offers them an unexpected opening inside Vought. Homelander and Sage stage Ryan's first rescue, but Homelander's interference startles Ryan into killing the performer playing the criminal. Ryan is horrified while his father focuses on the publicity. Butcher later admits mistakes to Mother's Milk and asks to return, but saving the team at TruthCon has not repaired the trust he has repeatedly broken.