The season 5 ending made the season 3 ending totally meaningless
During the final fight of season 3, Butcher turns on Soldier Boy right before he de-powers Homelander because he's afraid that Ryan will get caught in the blast and die. Because Butcher doesn't want Ryan to get hurt, Homelander gets away, Malorie dies, A-train dies, Frenchie dies, propably tens of thousands of Starlighters die and billions of fish die, just for them to end up in the exact same scenario where Ryan eventually, despite all the sacrifices made to prevent that from happening, does end up getting blasted in the face by a de-powering blast.
Despite the way season 3 ended, Butcher no longer acknowledges the fact that Ryan getting killed might be the price that he'll pay for taking Homelander's powers at all at the end of season 5.
To make things even better: Ryan does not die after getting his powers taken away, thus confirming that Butcher's decision to turn on Soldier Boy at the end of season 3 was unnecessary.