Sorry, but why did Satan just give up in the American Horror Story season 13 finale?

*Warning: Spoilers ahead for the American Horror Story season 13 finale*

So after nearly 100 years of scheming, ritualistic sacrifices and manipulating his own son, Satan just… decided to give it all up?! If this left you baffled after watching the American Horror Story season 13 finale, here’s what Paul Anthony Kelly has said about his motives.

In season 13 episode 13, titled ‘Devil of a Good Time’, Mr. Phibes (John Waters) prepares the final ritual. This involves inviting 13 unsuspecting men to Mr. Nas’ apartment and serving them cookies laced with crystal meth, of course. 

As the men die, Satan’s human body ages towards the 100-year mark he needs to reach to win his bet with God. But just as he’s about to succeed, the younger Mr. Nas (Kelly) intervenes, sparing one of the victims and leaving his age stuck at 99.9 years.

He then destroys his older body and kills Phibes, before visiting Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) in her personal hell. After freeing her, he makes a u-turn so big you can see it from space. He announces that he’s no longer interested in ruling Earth and even hands over his apartment to the witches. Is he alright?

Meanwhile, Madison (Emma Roberts) suddenly becomes pregnant with Ben’s (Joey Pollari) baby and gives birth almost immediately. Initially, it seems the baby is dead, but Satan shows up and revives his new granddaughter. 

But Cordelia isn’t about to trust the Devil. After Mallory (Billie Lourd) travels back in time to discover a spell capable of defeating him, the witches realise Ben must sacrifice himself to make it work.

Despite having just become a father, Ben agrees, stabbing himself in the heart and turning to ashes. His sacrifice allows the witches to trap Satan inside Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, where he takes Judas’ place at the table.

So, after almost 100 years of trying to take over the world, Satan ends up imprisoned in a painting.

Paul Anthony Kelly explains why Satan gave up

Paul Anthony Kelly explained that his decision to drop everything really was just because of his love of the game – and is not intended to be a redemption arc. 

Speaking to TVInsider, he explained, “He’s definitely an individual who goes after what he wants. And in the season, he made a bet with the man upstairs that if he could keep a human presence for over 100 years, he gets it all.

“But in the end, he decides against it because there’s no fun in having it all. Where’s the challenge? He just wants to go back to tormenting and toying with individuals.”

Plus, the idea of dealing with 8.3 billion people was just too much admin. “At the end of the day, that’s not exactly what he wants, or it’s the bigger picture of them having to look after and take care of humanity… Who wants that responsibility?” Kelly added.

“His midlife crisis is probably the turning point of all of that. And he’s like, ‘Hey, you know what? I don’t actually want to do this at all.’”

Even though his reasons are self-serving, the actor did explain that there is some good in Satan: “He’s not entirely an evil guy. Evil adjacent, sure, but that’s just his job. Yeah, there’s more to them. It was a little good, if you care to see.”

As for why he chose not to eliminate Cordelia and the witches, Kelly replied, “She’s family, but also because [there’s] a little bit of him he sees in her: the defiance, the standing your ground and fighting for what you want, whether that be right or wrong. 

“That’s admirable. You’ve got a purpose and a goal, and you’re going for it, no matter what. And I think that really rings true within him. As opposed to just being totally devoted.”

“It justifies his own existence. But these powerful adversaries are also his kin. You know, his daughter, his grandchild. You know, they’re all kind of related,” he continued. 

“They come cut from the same cloth as well. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t put up such a big fight. Maybe he’s done fighting for it, you know? Like, okay. If someone’s got to do it, better be the family then.”

American Horror Story season 13 finale is facing intense backlash

Even though this is a clear explanation, the decision to have Satan do a u-turn in the American Horror Story finale hasn’t gone down well with one side of the fandom – especially when it had spent 12 episodes building up to his world domination. 

“So Satan just randomly decides to GIVE UP??? Wth kind of retcon is that?? That’s not even close to believable,” said one person on Reddit, while another more bluntly wrote, “It makes the last season of Game of Thrones look good.”

A third added, “I know AHS has been absolutely dying for a while now but I genuinely cannot believe that the finale was just the devil going ‘Hey, actually I don’t want this to happen. I am not going to explain why I have came to this decision to just waste 12 episodes not really doing anything anyway and there was no real explanation of what danger could happen but yeah cba, forget it’.”

It’s one of many criticisms of the 13th chapter of the horror series, which currently has a measly audience score of 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

That was the worst season of television I’ve seen in my life
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Although Ryan Murphy hasn’t publicly addressed the backlash to the season 13 finale, he has defended American Horror Story against criticism before.

Speaking to Page Six in September, he revealed that his favourite instalment is actually one of the show’s most divisive: Roanoke.

“My favourite season is the season which everybody hates, which is Roanoke,” he said, explaining that he loved experimenting with its unconventional format.

More recently, he spoke to Vanity Fair about the overall negative response from the critics to some of his shows. 

“First of all, I think the critics are wrong. If you look at my career since I started, which was Popular, almost everything that I have made was never embraced critically,” he said. 

“I always was astounded by that because I was like, Wait a minute! Is there no embrace of this person who came from nothing, and is trying to make things that are different and creative?”

Featured image credit: FX