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American Horror Story is preparing for its 13th season, and after its cast announcement, the big question is what this new season will be about. Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, American Horror Story has been such a success that it now ranks among the best horror TV shows of all time, despite having some not-so-good seasons. Each season of American Horror Story covers a different story and horror theme, and, with time, the show has built a list of recurrent collaborators. The cast of American Horror Story season 13 has now been revealed, but the story and theme are still a mystery, and speculation about what this season could be about has begun. AHS Season 13 Deals With The New Antichrist Throughout 12 seasons, American Horror Story has left various plot holes and mysteries. Season 8, Apocalypse, was the one that brought together Coven, Murder House, and Hotel, and through that, American Horror Story confirmed that all its seasons are part of the same universe. Thanks to this, all plot holes and unanswered questions become problematic. At the end of Apocalypse, Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), a.k.a. the Antichrist, was killed by Mallory (Billie Lourd) after the surviving witches had to travel back in time. This, of course, made huge changes to the timeline, and though Michael was killed, the Antichrist still had to arrive, so it found a different host. In the new timeline, Timothy and Emily also meet, fall in love, get married, and form a family – little did they know that their kid would be the next Antichrist. At the end of Apocalypse, Timothy and Emily return home to find that their son, Devan, has killed his babysitter. The doorbell rings and Timothy answers, only to see Michael’s old followers coming to visit their new savior. However, American Horror Story has completely forgotten about its current Antichrist, and Devan hasn’t been seen or mentioned since Apocalypse ended. Season 13 is a brand-new opportunity for American Horror Story to address Devan’s presence and role as the Antichrist, whether the story is about defeating him or just a look at his life as the one who will trigger the apocalypse. AHS Season 13 Fixes The Timeline After Apocalypse As mentioned above, the only way for the witches to get rid of Michael Langdon and save the world from destruction was to travel back in time and kill him before he could master his power. Like in any other story that involves time travel, there were consequences for changing the timeline. Apocalypse’s timeline reset created a lot of confusion as it changed many things, but also many others remained the same, and others still happened, anyway (like Timothy and Emily meeting, for example). Some key changes are Queenie never going to Hotel Cortez as seen in Hotel, Misty being resurrected, and Mallory becoming Cordelia’s protégé. American Horror Story season 13 could give time travel another try, with or without witches, and truly fix the timeline after everything Apocalypse did. Whether season 13 resets the timeline to what it was before Apocalypse (which would mean having Michael Langdon back and invalidating the events of Apocalypse) or makes it a lot more cohesive, season 13 has a huge opportunity right in front of it. AHS Season 13 Is The Real Apocalypse Still on the topic of Apocalypse, because the season gave too much material for the future (but in the worst way), American Horror Story season 13 could be the one that truly brings the end of the world. AHS hasn’t been renewed beyond season 13, so there has been a lot of speculation about this season being the end of the show. It would be thematically fitting for American Horror Story to say goodbye after 13 seasons, and if that’s the case, it’s the perfect opportunity to bring the real apocalypse. Michael Langdon’s plan was to fulfill his destiny as the Antichrist and destroy humanity, starting with a nuclear war. Thanks to Mallory, this was successfully avoided, but there are other ways in which the world could end. American Horror Story can go either supernatural or sci-fi in season 13 to end the world, and it doesn’t necessarily have to rely on the (new) Antichrist, even if that would address a big loose thread. The show can also either bring back old characters or have only original ones, with references to events from previous seasons. Witnessing the end of the world in the style of American Horror Story would be quite interesting, and it would be a definitive end to the show, thanks to all seasons being part of the same universe. AHS Season 13 Is A Sequel To Coven The biggest theory that emerged after the cast announcement of American Horror Story season 13 is that it might be a sequel to Coven. Ryan Murphy had already teased the return of AHS veterans Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters, which was confirmed in the announcement, but accompanying them are other Coven cast members. Jessica Lange, Emma Roberts, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, and Kathy Bates are all coming back in season 13, accompanied by Leslie Grossman, Billie Lourd, and Ariana Grande, who will make her AHS debut. Grossman and Lourd weren’t part of Coven, but they starred in Apocalypse as witches. American Horror Story season 13 could be a proper sequel to Coven, completely ignoring the events of Apocalypse and its timeline reset, which wouldn’t be that hard given that the show has already ignored its new Antichrist. Of course, AHS season 13 could still acknowledge the events of Apocalypse and still be a sequel to Coven, all so it can bring Coco and Mallory back. Season 13 can explore what the coven has been up to since the events of Apocalypse, but fully focus on them, their powers, struggles, and stories as individuals and as a coven, thus being the sequel that Coven definitely deserves. AHS Season 13 Brings The Entire Show Together All seasons of American Horror Story are confirmed to be part of the same universe, whether they have crossed over yet or not, and season 13 has the chance to take this to the highest level. So far, the only seasons that have crossed over are Murder House, Coven, and Hotel, all of them in Apocalypse, but season 13 can bring all of them together. One of American Horror Story’s advantages is that its seasons are set in different years, though some could overlap, so the real challenge here would be choosing which characters to focus on, what stories to give them that could connect different seasons, and how to make all of this cohesive, engaging, and scary.
