‘American Horror Story: Apocalypse’ Reveals Surprising Backstory for Michael

Tonight’s American Horror Story: Apocalypse gave fans a lot of insight into the events leading up to the end of the world and it included some surprising reveals about not just Michael Langdon but the other side of the Coven coin.

Spoilers for tonight’s episode of American Horror Story: Apocalypse, “Could it be…Satan?” below.

While the episode starts off roughly where last week’s “Forbidden Fruit” picked up with some curious information about exactly why Coco, Mallory, and Dinah were resurrected last it leaps headlong into Michael’s backstory and reveals that while he may be the Anti-Christ, there’s a much deeper battle at play — between witches and warlocks.

We learn pretty quickly on that three years before the bomb, Outpost 3 was the Hawthorne School, a school for warlocks much like Miss Robichaux’s school was for witches. It turns out that the warlocks have their own power hierarchy just like the witches do with their version of the Supreme being called the Alpha. The school takes particular interest in a young man in Los Angeles who has been detained by police for killing a butcher. However, when the police officer begins to abuse the young man, he uses magic to defend himself. That young man? A young Michael Langdon.

The school quickly moves to take him on despite concerns form one of their leaders that he’s not a warlock but, instead, is demonically possessed or, at a minimum, in possession of dark magic. Michael is collected, but it seems like it’s not exactly a surprise to the budding Anti-Christ. His smirk, and further use of his power to kill another cop, not to mention the real, living Ms. Meade’s proclamation of being a “true believer” is a solid clue that this is all part of his plan.

What’s interesting, though, is the reason why the warlocks are so interested in him. It seems that following Cordelia’s outing of the witches at the end of the Coven season, people didn’t take kindly to the warlocks, forcing them underground. The warlocks feel that they’ve been trampled and oppressed by witches for far too long and are eager for Michael to be the alpha that will crush the witches Supreme, handing ultimate power and control over to them. Of course, Michael quickly proves that he absolutely has that power — even if it might come from a far darker place than the warlocks realize.

And while the warlocks think that Michael is their answer to snatching power away from the witches, Michael appears to be using them for his own ends. He uses his powers — heavy alluded to being the demonic abilities that one of the teachers at Hawthorne School were concerned about — to rescue Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe) from the Hotel Cortez in the episode’s Hotel crossover as well as rescue Madison (Emma Roberts) from hell itself and clearly positions himself to take the ultimate power of the Supreme, an act that could very well set the stage for the end of the world.

What did you think of Michael’s surprising backstory? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.