Amazon Prime Video's adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys introduced fans to a new team of superpowered characters known as The Seven who are America's greatest heroes and corporate mascots for Vought International, which includes the powerful heroine known as Queen Maeve.
Queen Maeve (played by Dominique McElligott) started out as a disillusioned and defeated member of The Seven who took part in the same atrocities as her teammates, though over the course of two seasons she has begun to reclaim her heroism and make up for some of the awful decisions and actions she has taken in the past.
Worst: Previously Dated Homelander
Not much is known about the relationship between Queen Maeve and Homelander (Antony Starr) on The Boys as it happened before the events of the show and is only mentioned a few times over the course of the series.
Homelander discusses it with Queen Maeve during a public appearance in an effort to sway her back to his side after one of the many terrible acts he committed as leader of The Seven. Unfortunately, Queen Maeve was clearly still dealing with trauma from their past relationship, which continued to threaten her attempted reconnection with Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude).
Best: Stopped An Armored Car Robbery
The first introduction to Queen Maeve and the world of The Boys came in the first moments of the premiere episode, which saw Queen Maeve stop an armored car robbery by standing in front of the fleeing vehicle, allowing it to crash into her as it fell to pieces around her.
The exciting moment set the superhero expectations of the series early while also showcasing Queen Maeve's powerful abilities before Homelander arrived to steal the win. This first act was one of Queen Maeve's most heroic moments, which was, unfortunately, one of her last in the first season.
Worst: Turned A Blind Eye Towards The Seven's Problems
As Queen Maeve had grown cynical and discouraged by her time with The Seven, she soon learned to look the other way when the other were involved in less than heroic activities, which was made very clear when The Deep sexually assaulted Starlight (Erin Moriarty) on her first day with the team.
Not only does Queen Maeve look past The Deep's assault, but she also made discouraging remarks to Starlight in an attempt to harden the young hero just as she had been, though she eventually begins to soften.
Best: Stood Up For Starlight
While Queen Maeve was initially cold and mean to Starlight when she first ed The Seven after Lamplighter's retirement, the veteran hero soon began to see herself in the young naive heroine, which began to cause a shift in her attitude after she reached a new rock bottom.
When Homelander accused Starlight of conspiring with Hughie and Billy Butcher's team in their efforts to take down The Seven in the first season, Queen Maeve stepped in and stood up for Starlight, potentially saving her life and beginning a bond that would develop even further in the second season.
Worst: Failed To Save A Hijacked Plane
One of the worst things committed by of The Seven happened in the first season when Homelander and Queen Maeve attempted to save a plane that had been hijacked by terrorists in international waters, which they were hoping to use as leverage to get Supes into the military.
Unfortunately, Homelander took out the controls to the plane while dealing with the terrorists. This left the engers impossible to save, and Queen Maeve was forced to abandon the plane to its doom and then lie about it alongside Homelander to protect their reputation.
Best: Took Out Black Noir And Saved Starlight
While Black Noir has proven to be one of the most mysterious of The Seven, he was able to showcase his powerful abilities as he launched a one-man war against Billy Butcher and The Boys following the death of Translucent in the first season.
So when he intervened during Starlight's escape from Vought Tower, he was able to quickly overpower her and would have killed her if Queen Maeve hadn't gotten involved. She surprised Black Noir and exploited his allergy to tree nuts to take him out of the fight and save Starlight to begin her journey back towards heroism.
Worst: Let Homelander Discover Her Relationship
It might be overly harsh to say that Queen Maeve allowed Homelander to discover her reconciled relationship with Elena, as he only figured it out because he overheard a revealing phone call and she shouldn't have had to hide the relationship or her private phone calls.
However, given that Queen Maeve was aware of the threat that Homelander was to Elena if her ex-boyfriend and team leader discovered that Queen Maeve was in a relationship (or that she was bisexual), she definitely slipped up by having the phone conversation at Vought Tower, which ultimately cost her the relationship.
Best: Blackmailed Homelander With A Damaging Video
Queen Maeve lived under the thumb of Homelander due to their shared culpability in a number of The Seven's worst atrocities, though she was able to finally turn that to her advantage and begin to regain control of the dynamic on The Seven. She first enlisted the help of estranged member The Deep to find evidence from the crashed hijacked plane that implicated Homelander.
She then used that footage to target Homelander's need to be loved by the public to force him to abandon his son Ryan and his hunt for The Boys, while reinstating Queen Maeve and Starlight to The Seven and temporarily ending his reign over the team.
Worst: Went Along With Vought's Exploitative Marketing
After Homelander outed Queen Maeve on live television during an interview, Vought's marketing team used her newly-revealed sexuality to market towards a new demographic for The Seven with Queen Maeve as the new spokesperson, "Brave Maeve."
The empty and exploitative marketing was geared towards an LGBTQ+ audience, though they failed to even acknowledge her own bisexuality. Queen Maeve was forced to go along with Vought's new marketing campaign as she hoped it would help keep Elena safe, though it only drove her further away in the end.
Best: Laid A Beating On Stormfront With Starlight & Kimiko
The Seven was running another campaign due to the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash) to the team called "Girls Get It Done," though it was actually Queen Maeve, Starlight, and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) who really gave new meaning to Vought's slogan.
Starlight and Stormfront confronted each other after Starlight released evidence of Stormfront's Nazi past and then tried to help The Boys escape with Ryan, and the battle was soon ed by Queen Maeve and Kimiko, who sought revenge for Stormfront's murder of her brother. The trio of powerful women beat down Stormfront and forced her to retreat.