“American Horror Story: 13” reached the end of its high-stakes battle between witches and the devil, with a subdued finale that still had some strange twists.
The long-awaited season, which reunited all of the beloved characters from the FX anthology’s history, including all of Jessica Lange’s roles from seasons 1-4, followed Satan (Paul Anthony Kelly) and his allies working to make a bet with God whereby Satan would rule the world through his son Ben (Joey Pollari). It was up to the “Coven” of witches led by Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson) and rising supreme Mallory (Billie Lourd) to stop her rise. But the finale, titled “Devil of a Good Time”, made it clear that the only real obstacle was the Devil himself.
Watch below for the biggest moments from the “AHS: 13” finale.
change of plans
After the final episode ended with Cordelia and Queenie being murdered by Mr. Phibbs (John Waters) and the Rubber Man, it seemed that all hope of stopping Satan’s rise was lost. The finale began with a gathering of thugs in Satan’s New York City penthouse, where Phibes had gathered them to make a final sacrifice to seal Earth’s fate.
After delivering methylated cookies to kill criminals, Mr. Phibbs is surprised to be interrupted by Satan. He reveals that he saved a man from death – stopping Satan’s human form from completing the bet with only one murder left. Phibes was disappointed by the events, but before Satan killed his servant he assured him that in hell he would get what he always wanted.
The action then moves to hell, where Cordelia has to undergo an endless shift in a kill asylum with helpful Nan (Jamie Brewer). However, before she could take the life of another beloved puppy, Satan intervened and offered her help. She said that she would rather spend eternity in misery than bow before the Dark Lord. Admiring her courage, Satan drags them both out of hell and back to New York for a friendly discussion in a park.
Satan tells Cordelia that actually winning the bet means giving up what she loves about her job – becoming the little voice in human minds that prompts them to do wrong. After all, it’s no fun being evil if there’s no light to corrupt.
He said, “You can keep your precious earth. I don’t want it anymore.”
light, darkness and a child
Although he has given up his claim to Earth, Satan is happy to tell Cordelia that he has essentially won the game – attributing her latest resurrection to his benevolence. Supreme refused to budge and vowed to find a way to end his life, which he rejected, saying it would be like killing a metaphor.
Cordelia was revealed to be Satan’s granddaughter, so she said she would enjoy watching him battle his demonic nature from a distance. He also gives her the keys to his penthouse at the Apollyon, where most of the season’s scary events take place. “Call it part of your legacy,” he said, before warning him to be cautious, as he could be exposed at any time.
Cordelia then reunites with Queenie, who is also saved from hell by Ben (again). Cordelia shared the non-victorious resolve in the battle, and tried to calm her disciple’s nerves with the fact that at least the immediate danger was over. However, back at the penthouse, Mallory casts a time travel spell in an attempt to stop the Devil once and for all – and disappears before Cordelia can stop her.
Back in New Orleans, Ben and Madison (Emma Roberts) enjoy some time together amid the chaos – before they start to panic after realizing Ben’s condom is broken. Almost immediately, Madison began feeling intense pain and her stomach began to grow: she was pregnant and about to give birth.
Childbirth left her unconscious, and Satan appeared and brought her back to life. He praised his son and the witch for giving birth to a beautiful baby girl. He said, “This kid has star power.”
final showdown(?)
Some time passes, and Cordelia reveals via a letter to Mallory that Cowen expanded into New York by making the penthouse his home base. Twins Fiona (Lang) and Constance (Lang) remained in New Orleans to hone their magic and help teach the next generations of witches, while the other helped merge the powers of light and dark into a new magical order – helping new witches emerge around the world.
“Every day I pray that you’ll come home,” Paulson wrote to the young Supreme. Almost like clockwork, Cordelia casts a spell to summon Mallory and she arrives with good news.
She spent her time in the Salem witch trials era helping to stop the massacre and bring witches to justice. She also learns about an old spell that could stop the devil forever – used by the infamous Dorian Gray to transfer his soul inside a painting to keep himself from aging. But for the magic to work required a huge sacrifice from a reluctant source.
The witches then call Ben, who is still glowing after becoming a new father. They tell him that Ben must sacrifice himself to trap his father. He revealed that there had been 12 other Antichrists before him – among them Napoleon Bonaparte, Hitler and Mussolini, to name a few, whose bodies were desecrated and stolen in the first season. But as the 13th Antichrist, Ben was the most powerful of all and his death sealed his father’s fate.
Heartbroken, Ben tries to plead for things to be different but ultimately accepts his fate – after Cordelia assures him that Madison would be proud of his decision. It is high time for Satan to reappear and wonder what his descendants were plotting. Almost too easily, Cordelia and Mallory tie him to a couch in the great hall of the penthouse – complete with an apparently real version of da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”
Ben stabs himself with a serious looking dagger and promptly turns to dust, giving the two Supremes enough power to join forces and trap Satan’s spirit inside the old painting. They replaced him with Judas in “The Last Supper”, forcing him to remain the 13th guest at the table forever. Mallory then accepted the fact that Cowen would now have to keep an eye on the painting for the remaining time, but Cordelia said that this would not be necessary. Evil can end forever.
It is not that easy. In Ben’s final moments in the penthouse, dust rises from Ben’s body and goes into a nearby chimney. After all, evil never truly ends! The season then ended in hell, where Mr. Phibbs reveled in his own personal hell – directing a scene from a dirty movie that would never be perfected.
“I could do this forever,” he says laughing as the credits begin to roll. I guess, see you next season!
“American Horror Story: 13” is now streaming on Hulu.
