This 'AHS: Apocalypse' Theory About Michael's Master Plan Will Make You Rethink Everything

If you can believe it, we are almost at the end of American Horror Story: Apocalypse, but so much still needs to happen. Fans are now racking their brains trying to figure out how this twisted season might end in the next two episodes, and everyone seems to have a theory about what will go down when we finally return to the present-day storyline in Outpost 3. One new AHS: Apocalypse theory about Michael's master plan is really wild, and it is sure to get fans thinking about the antichrist's true end game.

Spoiler alert: This post will discuss details from AHS: Apocalypse up to and through Episode 8, "Sojourn." This week's latest episode was all about Michael Langdon's rise to accepting his role as the antichrist. After his spirit is shaken at his foster mother Miriam Mead's death, Michael builds himself up again with the help of a Satanic cult and two robotics experts who sold their souls to Satan.

It was nice to get some more backstory about pre-apocalypse Michael, but since there are only two episodes left in this season, many fans are getting antsy about when the show will finally return to the post-apocalyptic 2020 in Outpost 3, a storyline that we have not seen since Episode 3. Since the promo trailer for next week's penultimate episode is still entirely set in the pre-apocalypse flashback, it looks like we might not snap back to the Outpost 3 story until the season finale.

When we last saw the Outpost 3 gang, Wilhemina Venable had killed all the inhabitants with poisoned apples, but then Michael ordered the robotic Ms. Mead to kill Venable. In the final moments, Cordelia Goode, Myrtle Snow, and Madison Montgomery entered the outpost and revived Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt, Dinah Stevens, and Mallory, revealing that they are all witches under an identity spell that caused them to forget their true selves.

Of course, pretty much everyone is waiting for the show to snap back to that story, since it is completely unfinished and seems to be where the big finale will take place. But what is going to happen once we go back to 2020?

A new theory from Reddit user itsPattio points to the prevalence of Michael's mark of the beast in the recent Episode 8, and also the significance of now-dead Outpost 3 residents Timothy and Emily, who were built up to be very important characters early on without any payoff yet. The theory states that Michael carries the mark of the beast because it is his task to bring this beast into the world, and that is what he has been trying to do all along.

When Michael visits Outpost 3, he often mentions a sanctuary that he will choose people to inhabit. The Reddit theory guesses that this sanctuary is a reversed Garden of Eden (given all the biblical imagery this season, it's not a stretch), and that Timothy and Emily are a reversed version of Adam and Eve, destined to give birth to the beast. That would explain all that talk about their special DNA early on in the show.

If this theory turns out to be true, then Michael's main goal in the finale will be to resurrect Timothy and Emily and get them to his sanctuary, where they will bring this beast into the world. It's not super clear what this beast might be, but it is a safe bet that it is either another, more powerful antichrist, or the incarnation of Satan himself.

AHS: Apocalypse has been ripe with biblical allusions, especially the Adam and Eve story, so even though this ending sounds out there, it actually could make sense. We will have to see if it pans out in the final two episodes of American Horror Story: Apocalypse, which will air next Wednesday and the Wednesday after at 10 p.m. on FX.