Hello, my beautiful witches and warlocks, it's time for a new episode of "American Horror Story: Apocalypse".
So fill up your tank and prepare for biology class, because this one's a doozy.
Cordelia wakes up among the burned ashes of Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies.
It seems everything around her has fallen to a nuclear blast, but miraculously, she's still alive.
But things get worse for Cordelia: she's surrounded by ravenous mutated cannibals.
She tries to use her powers but they don't seem to work, eventually being overcome by the horde and ripped apart
as Michael Langdon, wearing his sexy demonic old man face, laughs maniacally.
But then we realized it was all a dream.
She wakes up and we're in the past timeline, the one where she fainted at the end.
Remember, there are currently two timelines:
Present day, where Michael has taken over the Outpost,
and past, where Michael has returned with Madison and Queenie.
In her dream, Cordelia called out all her witchy sisters except for Madison,
and of course, she had to say something about it.
She has a brief moment to hug her friends and then says she wants to see the boy,
referring to Michael.
But as we'll find out, Cordelia doesn't think this was a dream.
It's an omen of the future, of the impending rise of Michael and the apocalypse to come.
And if this is indeed a vision, what of Cordelia's inability to use her power?
We do learn later in this episode her powers are fading.
Will this come true later on?
And is her death in the vision an omen of things to come?
The witches and warlocks meet and Cordelia admits she's impressed with Michael's skills.
Cordelia tells them her dream was a vision of the future. It's filled with cataclysm, fire, death.
She saw a man, but not a man, a demonic entity.
Another hint that Michael is not a warlock but possessed with the powers of Satan.
John Henry thinks it might be a warning
and something in Cordelia's blood tells her the only hope of surviving depends on what they do next.
The reference to something in her blood reminds me of episode 1,
where Timily - that's Timmy and Emily - were chosen for the Outpost due to their exceptional genetics.
Something tells me they'll be back.
In two weeks' time, at the rise of the Blood Moon, Michael will be given the test of the Seven Wonders.
The same test Zoey, Madison, Queenie and Misty were given at the end of season 3.
The Blood Moon is also interesting.
The phenomenon whereby the moon in total eclipse appears reddish in color.
Across the globe, there have been reports of satanic or witchcraft rituals, which take place on this rare occasion.
Myrtle decries Cordelia's decision to let Michael perform the test,
reminding him that no male has ever succeeded and if he passes, he will become the next Supreme.
But let us remember, there have been several clues to suggest he may not be male.
Myrtle gives it to Cordelia, explaining that the Alpha is merely a child's tale.
Alpha being the legend told by Ariel of a male Supreme.
She spurts how men have caused pain throughout history,
referring to Attila the Hun, Herod the Great and of course, Mark Zuckerberg.
"Just a sec. Mom, could you get me my Frodo ring?"
Cordelia questions her own leadership. She's scared.
What if it's her own hubris preventing her from relinquishing her title to Michael?
Myrtle makes a good point: Passing the Seven Wonders doesn't mean one is fit to lead the coven.
She references Cordelia's mother Fiona, who put her own vanity before that of the coven.
She goes on to explain that magic can be found anywhere.
Take for example their star pupil, Mallory.
Mallory heals a doe in the forest.
Notice the gemstones in witch symbology, like the moon on her rings.
She also wears a crown,
the crown another subtle clue that she's not a witch, but something more.
While Michael possesses destructive power gained by what is likely a demonic source,
could Mallory be the opposite, the foil to Michael's Satanism?
Remember when he was communicating with his father during the satanic ritual in episode 3
that he said he thought he killed them all.
Was he referring to something more than witches, perhaps angels?
Myrtle even explains that Mallory's powers are unlike any magic she's ever seen.
She asks Cordelia to delay the test, but Cordelia tells her time is of the essence.
Her powers are fading.
We see a gruesome wound on her stomach and she tells Myrtle she's dying.
Her fainting at the end of episode 4 is beginning to make more sense.
Mallory interrupts this moment, again wearing flowery gold trinkets and a crown of leaves,
similar to what rulers in Ancient Rome like Caesar would wear.
A subtle hint that at the end of this season, she will take over Michael as Supreme.
She informs Cordelia that an appointment is waiting for her.
It's Mr. Vanderbilt St. Pierre, Coco's father who we saw get blown up in episode 1.
He's thanking Cordelia for accepting Coco, who is simply not having it.
She feels she doesn't deserve to be there because she has a shit power:
Gluten detector.
Women from all over Beverly Hills sought out Coco for her gluten detecting power.
And let me just say, I thought it was absolutely hilarious that Princess Coco randomly has a pony in her backyard.
Cordelia tries to quell Coco's fear, saying that sensing danger in something is a good place to start,
but Coco brushes her off, saying,
"The only reason you're accepting me is that my dad donated a zillion dollars."
Cordelia tasks Mallory with showing her around the school,
and we get a better sense of how these two came together in episode 1.
Clearly Cordelia predicted the bomb going off, and in order to protect the girls - likely from Langdon -,
placed a spell on them and hid them around the country.
Remember in episode 1 when the plane had no pilot and magically adjusted after the bomb blast
to avoid a crash?
Who was controlling that plane?
Likely Cordelia and the witches. They've been watching over them.
The warlocks perform a blessing on Michael to prepare him for the test.
You'll notice Ariel's adorned with three ornaments around his neck, not like the others who only have one.
This is to denote his higher rank of Grand Chancellor.
They put water, salt and blood into a bowl and surround Michael with it,
igniting it in blue flame before performing their blessing,
referring to him as their champion.
As Michael's congratulated, a mysterious wind blows in,
just like a wind blew away the candles from Emily's room in episode 2.
Which we know was also Michael's doing.
John Henry catches a glimpse of Michael's demonic form
and decides to get the hell out of there to inform Cordelia.
Behold tries to convince him to stay, but John tells him he saw the white-faced man in Michael.
They have a brief warlock battle, John clearly the stronger magic user,
and we get this great line:
"Stand down, bitch."
On his way to visit Cordelia, John stops for gas and meets Mead.
My first instinct? This probably won't go over well.
But since this is the past timeline, it's likely not robot Mead, just Michael's satanic mother.
Again, likely not his biological mother, since we may get more into that with Murder House around the corner.
John makes the mistake of helping her
and she rewards him by slitting his Achilles tendons and pouring gasoline on him.
What a mother won't do for her son.
Michael meets with Mother in the creepy forest and his plans are revealed.
His goal is to destroy the coven from within so that he may walk the path to what he was born to do.
Mead reveals that Ariel was also in on the plan.
He wouldn't want John Henry blowing their chances of having the first male Supreme.
But interesting that Mead says, "Don't tell him about your father".
Ariel has a huge ax to grind with the witches.
He's tired of being beholden to them, a second fiddle.
He wants to make them squirm.
6 of the 7 Wonders are then presented in an old-fashioned black-and-white montage.
Telekinesis
Concilium
Transmutation
Divination
Pyrokinesis
and Vitalum Vitalis.
Before the final and most arduous task:
Descensum
Cordelia tasks Michael with retrieving Misty, who failed the test back in season 3.
No other Supreme has ever been made to do this.
Baldwin even states that it's suicide.
Ariel is pissed at Cordelia.
Michael should be tasked with doing exactly as she did.
But if Michael is to lead them in the times ahead, their leader needs to be able to withstand anything.
Ariel calls her out. She's fading, but afraid to let go of her role as Supreme.
She's just like her mother, Fiona, the former Supreme, a weak, frightened woman clinging to power.
Cordelia, going full nuclear on Ariel, tells him she can rip up his larynx with a flick of her finger.
She's still Supreme, and he better fall in line.
Michael interrupts and agrees to get Misty.
The witches and warlocks surround Michael as he begins the final test, Descensum.
He chants in Latin.
Now, my Latin is not that good but it roughly translates to "Lead me in the dark at the end of life to greet Hell".
Michael walks down a black hallway, which I get a big Hotel Cortez vibe from,
as we witness Misty bringing back to life a frog in biology class,
likely having to relive over and over a traumatic experience from her past.
Her own personal Hell, kind of like what Madison was doing in episode 4 at the department store.
The teacher makes her kill the live frog, and Michael saves her by stabbing the teacher with a scalpel.
Man, school has changed since I was a kid.
Michael awakens, the witches and warlocks thinking Misty was not saved,
that is, until she reappears.
Cordelia and Misty reunite,
Myrtle saying she's back from a state of perdition, often referred to as the final state of damnation.
After a brief moment of happiness, Michael seems to use his powers to make Cordelia bleed,
Misty being the only one to notice this.
Apparently, after a new Supreme is reached, the old one fades away.
Whether Ariel is being literal here or simply her powers fade is uncertain.
The witches and warlocks argue before Cordelia raises her voice exclaiming,
"There can be no doubt. Michael is the next Supreme."
before she faints again.
Cordelia recovers and Misty brings her soup.
She says she should have left her where she was. Michael gives her the heebie-jeebies.
We flash back to when Misty was in Hell and learn that after Michael killed the teacher,
he somehow communicated to the kids who were speaking in gibberish.
Misty says evil was speaking to him.
Was he talking to Satan himself?
Cordelia doesn't believe it. Perhaps he was negotiating her release from Hell.
Misty could always sense evil as a child, smell rotting souls.
But she's never smelled anything like Michael, describing it as the "perfume of death".
Myrtle demands that he not become Supreme and Cordelia surprisingly agrees.
This was all a plan by Cordelia to gauge his powers.
As the old saying goes, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
A lesson from Niccolò Machiavelli, who, in his book "The Prince",
provides a primer for how to become an effective dictator.
Cordelia once again reminds them that something is coming.
But this time Michael has given them an advantage: He's brought all her girls back for the fight ahead.
But she says something really interesting here: that Misty brought back the first proof.
What is she referring to? The proof that he's demonic?
And if there are more proofs, who will they have to present it to?
The witches celebrate when Stevie Nicks, the White Witch, joins.
Her being a member of Fleetwood Mac sings their song "Gypsy",
a song which she wrote to remind her of her life before she was famous, a song to humble her.
The term "gypsy" can also mean two things:
a member of a traveling people traditionally living by trade and fortune telling,
and also a nomadic or free spirited person.
Madison is tasked by Cordelia to travel and find everything she can about Michael,
because of the danger he poses.
Could she be tasked to finding more proof?
But they're eavesdropped by Behold.
He says if they're going to dig up dirt, he should come along, or he'll tell Michael.
He won't go to Michael directly because he has a bad gut feeling about him.
But this is quite a change of character
from what we saw earlier when he tried to stop John Henry from leaving.
This leads me to believe that Behold will be a spy working for Michael,
keeping tabs on Madison and the witches.
After all, we did just see him eavesdrop.
Cordelia agrees to the arrangement and gives them their destination:
Season One's Murder House.
Now, this is huge.
We knew Murder House was going to be featured, but how it would be integrated into the story was unknown.
But for now, it looks like it's going to play a role in learning more about how Michael came to be.
We know he was the child of Vivien and Tate from season 1 and taken in by Jessica Lange's character.
What mysteries will this house hold
and what new information will it give the witches that may lead to finding out Michael's weakness?
Could it be his real mother?
Not to mention how this all ties in to the eventual apocalypse.
Remember, this episode didn't touch on any of the present timeline,
where Michael confronts Cordelia and the newly arisen witches in the Outpost.
My guess is the next episode or even next couple will focus solely on the past timeline,
and eventually lead to where we left off in episode 4.
That's it for this episode.
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Until next time.