In just a few weeks’ time, American Horror Story: Apocalypse will air its first episode in the US. The eighth season of the hugely popular anthology series is set to be a crossover between its first season, Murder House, and its third season, Coven. With a tone similar to second season, Asylum, according to co-creator Ryan Murphy. It will likely feature plenty of witchcraft, not-so-holy spirits and, judging by its title, catastrophic destruction.
We know that cast favourites Taissa Farmiga, Lily Rabe and Jessica Lange are returning – the latter of whom hasn’t appeared in the show since the fourth season, Freak Show. But despite being so close to its debut, relatively little has been revealed about Apocalypse’s plot and desperate fans have taken to speculating online as to what they think – or even, hope – might go down. So let’s get to it — here are some of the wackiest fan theories.
Cordelia’s Vision
It has already been disclosed that the first episode of Apocalypse will be called ‘The End.’ A title which has had some people guessing that Sarah Paulson’s character Cordelia Foxx — who developed the gift of Sight after she was blinded by an acid attack in Coven — will see the future. Then, in true Final Destination-style, she will have to try and stop what she saw from occurring with the help of her fellow witches.
Alternatively, there’s been some suggestion online that the end of the world will actually take place, or at least begin to, and Cordelia and the rest of her coven will have to travel back in time to prevent it from happening in the same way.
However it plays out, though, there’s got to be some kind of time jump during the season which would explain why The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story star Cody Fern has been cast as Michael Langdon (more on whom later). Langdon debuted as a baby in Season 1 (more on whom later), and is a character who – going by the timeline the show has set up so far – would be around seven-years-old in 2019, the year in which it is set.
Madison Montgomery’s Ancestry
Since it was unveiled – around the time that Freak Show aired – that all seasons of AHS are connected to one another, fans have been searching for any examples as to how, when and where they link-up. Soon, they realised that Emma Roberts’ Madison Montgomery has the same surname as surgeon and original owner of the Murder House, Charles Montgomery.
Looking more closely, the connection doesn’t end there. Both appear to have Frankenstein complexes; in Murder House, Charles was driven to madness after the death of his son and in his insanity, stitched the infant’s body together and brought him back to life. Similarly, in Coven, Madison encouraged Zoe (Farmiga) to make “the perfect boyfriend” out of a bunch of dismembered frat boys.
Could Charles have been a warlock, like Madison is a witch? Perhaps Apocalypse will shed some light on the subject seeing as it’s been confirmed that Madison is set to make a comeback.
Michael Langdon: Anti-Christ, Supreme or Both?
We know Michael Langdon, son of Vivien Harmon and the deceased Tate Langdon, best as the Anti-Christ but in Apocalypse, could we know him as the next Supreme? For two reasons, viewers have deduced that we might. One — Murphy’s reveal that Miss Robichaux’s Academy, previously for Exceptional Ladies only, will now open its doors to magic men; and two — that Langdon is, possibly, a descendant of former Supreme Mimi DeLongpre.
As pointed out by Reddit user BrudDrakt, his relatives were namedropped in the final episode of Murder House when Constance Langdon (Lange) pretends that she adopted Michael from her distant cousins, Eveline and Steve DeLongpre, from Virginia.
Now, there’s every chance that Michael might end up becoming both Anti-Christ and Supreme, making him a frightfully formidable foe. Supremes are said to be “the living embodiments of magic” and possess abilities such as mind control, divination, telekinesis, transmutation and pyrokinesis. They’re also able to balance the scales of life and death. He’d have powers you really wouldn’t want someone that evil wielding, basically.
Radioactive Zombies
Of all the theories in this list, this seems the least likely but considering it’s probably the wildest and most fun one on the internet, we’ve included it.
Inspired by the future season’s name (and its first trailer), Redditor beastboi27 reckons that “the nuclear/radiation stuff we are seeing [in the marketing so far] will actually be a plague that makes radioactive zombies that will follow the commands of the Antichrist.”
He continues on the message board: “Just like the first Mummy movie where Imhotep unleashes a plague and those affected by it were under his control”.
While we’re not sure things will actually go down that way, this is American Horror Story after all – a show that weaved in a subplot about aliens that was never resolved during second season, Asylum. Stranger things have happened.
Apocalypse Might Take Us To the Underworld
While fans are visibly ecstatic that cast member Rabe is returning to the show, as they are about Frances Conroy doing the same, there’s still some confusion as to how their characters will make a comeback seeing as they all “died” in Coven.
While death doesn’t usually mean all that much in American Horror Story, particularly when witches with the power to resurrect living creatures are in play, their deaths did seem pretty final which has led viewers to come up with ways we might reasonably be able to see them again.
Most of the theories revolve around time travel and flashbacks but Redditor kenkar16 thinks that Apocalypse might take us to the underworld and that’s where we meet Rabe’s Misty Day – who accidentally trapped her soul in the afterlife – and Conroy’s Myrtle Snow – who was burned at the stake – once more.
“What if Cordelia has a premonition about the apocalypse and to survive she takes all of her witches down to hell to survive,” he writes. “This could serve as a metaphorical bomb shelter of sorts. This could also be the place where we see characters who turned to dust.
“I know the official AHS twitter account liked a girl’s tweet about 1950s bomb shelters hell as a bomb shelter would be pretty cool in my opinion. We could also see characters like Papa Legba ”.
Cordelia and Her Coven Have Been Keeping Tabs on Michael Langdon For Years
Those who have watched every season of American Horror Story will remember when Gabourey Sidibe’s Queenie travelled from New Orleans to Los Angeles, seemingly to attend a live taping of The Price is Right. Cordelia had enchanted Queenie’s ticket to the game show so that she would win big, but what if that was merely a red herring? Maybe she was really in town to “check out what’s going on with Michael Langdon,” suggests Reddit user AHSFan420.
It was in 2015 that Queenie made the trip; the same year three-year-old Michael killed his nanny so their theory that the witches were aware of the Antichrist becoming more powerful certainly sounds plausible. It becomes even more so when you remember that Fiona Goode (Lange) was actually living in LA when Coven begins.
Nine Circles of Hell
Way back in July 2017, American Horror Story showrunner Ryan Murphy shared an image on his Instagram account that assigned each existing season to one of the nine circles of Hell, as described by Dante in Inferno, the first part of his epic poem The Divine Comedy. The first, Murder House, was ‘Limbo’; Asylum was ‘Fraud’; Coven was ‘Treachery’; Freak Show was ‘Greed’; Hotel was ‘Gluttony’; Roanoke was ‘Anger’ and Cult was ‘Heresy.’
The two remaining circles were ‘violence’ and ‘lust’, causing many viewers to assume that those might hint at loose themes for Apocalypse and the recently renewed tenth season. While it’s clear that the image was a fan theory in itself, some have concluded that season eight will be associated with violence and feature a major conflict between good (presumably, Coven’s witches) and evil (Murder House’s Michael Langdon).
Biblical v Nuclear
Back in March, there was speculation going around that the upcoming season of American Horror Story was going to be subtitled Radioactive. It emerged after Twitter account @HHNRumors alleged that 20th Century Fox had filed a trademark for the name.
But now that FX and the show’s co-creator Ryan Murphy have announced it will be called Apocalypse, fans are wondering whether the end of the world will be of the nuclear kind or something more biblical.
There’s certainly evidence to support the latter, and not just because witches and ghosts have links to the Devil. In Murder House, Paulson plays a clairvoyant named Billie Dean Howard, who explains to Constance Langdon that “a child born of human and spirit will usher in the end of times,” according to Catholicism. Interestingly, it’s believed that Howard will make a cameo during the season too.
It’s already common knowledge that Michael Langdon, who was three-years-old when we last saw him, was conceived by the two entities described and that he will feature in the season, so it seems safe to assume that he’ll be Apocalypse’s antagonist.
Then again, the recently released trailer features a figure wearing a gas mask. So perhaps, it might even end up being both.
American Horror Story: Apocalypse premieres in the US on September 12, Australia on September 13 and the UK on September 27.
