Dominique McElligott ought to be more than The Boys cast’s deus ex machina.

The Boys, who are accustomed to sophisticated parodies, made the decision to join in on the fun of “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets” by having the cast of the show read negative reviews on camera following the premiere of season 1. Actress Dominique McElligott, dressed as Queen Maeve, laughs as she says, “Queen Maeve felt like a throwaway character.” It might have been handled better with her arc. Without skipping a beat, McElligott says, “More screen time for Queen Maeve,” as he stares up at the camera.

Frankly, I agree.

The last scene of The Boys’ third season saw a new effort to overthrow Homelander (Antony Starr), this time with Jensen Ackles’s “assistance.” The third season and its conclusion in particular are two of the best parts of the program. However, Queen Maeve, a character who has continuously been underutilized, is one of the reasons “The Instant White-Hot Wild” stands out, for the better.

Over the course of the previous three seasons, Maeve’s story has been gradually developing the bravery to leave a poisonous environment—in her case, Homelander and Vought—and recover her strength and individuality. It is about finding something that may someday develop into hope, or finding hope when all else seems hopeless. It is a really complicated narrative that hasn’t been handled to this extent in the comic book or superhero genres. However, her journey doesn’t appear to be fully shown in the show.

Queen Maeve has been a series regular of The Boys since its pilot episode, yet has always had a perplexing presence in the series. She’s a longtime member of the Seven, deemed the second strongest person in the world, right behind Homelander. The two often went on missions together and even dated in the past. But it quickly becomes apparent that Maeve has been selling parts of herself to Vought in order to maintain the “superhero” image and keep Homelander at bay. By the time the audience meets her, she’s a very cynical and depressed woman who drinks to cope with the horrors she endures. She has no faith in the world, herself, or the idea of a hero. She wants to give up. Some would even say she has — until she finally gets the strength to stand up to Homelander in the season 2 finale.

But despite the depth of Maeve’s arc, her potential is never fully realized. Granted, The Boys is an ensemble show and Maeve is technically a supporting character. But even with a story as weighted as hers about standing up to abuse, it’s not uncommon for her to have around one or two scenes per episode of actual storytelling, often existing on the periphery of the frame for the remaining run time. There’s always a gnawing feeling that Maeve deserved more.

Dominique McElligott is, thankfully, an exceptionally talented actor who is able to simultaneously communicate Maeve’s rage, hopelessness, and inherent strength despite her brief screen time. And so her fight against Stormfront (Aya Cash) in the season 2 finale instantly became a fan favorite moment, as well as when she threatens Homelander with footage of the season 1 airplane crash in an attempt to blackmail him. She was ready to take back her freedom and fight the oppressors that forced her to be a shell of a person. More importantly, people wanted to see Queen Maeve fight back.

But when season 3 picks up, Maeve’s arc of resilience and redemption is completely erased. Maeve disappears into the background even further. She is still the angry and cynical woman we know, but she has been reduced to Butcher’s (Karl Urban) drug dealer, who provides him with Compound V and locates a potential “weapon” for them. The entire Soldier Boy plot line was Maeve’s idea, yet we never see her in action; it all occurs off camera. It’s as if the second half of season 1 and all of season 2 never happened. As if to further alienate her from her growth, she is absent for entire episodes altogether. It seems that Maeve’s purpose in season 3 isn’t to take down Homelander as season 2 set up, it’s to support Butcher’s story by giving him superpowers and having occasional sex with him (which then is used to set up Homelander’s arc of becoming an unhinged explicit villain who imprisons her for these actions). She’s a plot device.

The finale, at least, was superb for Maeve. She escapes, insults Hughie (Jack Quaid) at first glance yet again, reunites with Starlight (Erin Moriarty), and, most importantly, instigates a brutal fight with Homelander where they both seem evenly matched up. And she almost has him, until she notices that Soldier Boy is about to blow up the Tower (and everyone in it), so she takes him out in order to save everyone else. It is in this moment, where Maeve sacrifices her own personal intentions and safety for the common good, she proves she is one of the true heroes of The Boys. She is the character who prioritizes protecting people over personal gain, even if it means putting herself at risk. That’s a hero. It’s a brave choice in an episode that finally gives McElligott time and space to tell her character’s story. But it also seems like the episode is simultaneously serving as an apology for Maeve’s treatment as they try to jam an entire season’s worth of character development into one episode. Why was she used appropriately only once this season?

Perhaps more importantly: What happens now? To the world, Queen Maeve is dead, whereas in reality she’s alive but depowered and running away with her girlfriend, Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude). It seems now, after such a successful portrayal of the character, The Boys is either writing her out or casting her further aside. On one hand, it’s lovely that Maeve is, for the first time in the series, happy with Elena and finally free of Vought and Homelander. But Homelander is still alive and has interest in Maeve, so a rematch seems destined to happen. After all, Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) got her powers back, and therefore Maeve can as well. It doesn’t seem like it’s the end of Maeve’s arc. She’s too strong of a character to lose entirely. But it does seem like a goodbye for now — which is incredibly underwhelming and, truthfully, unfair to Maeve, her fans, and McElligott.