‘American Horror Story: 13′: How All 12 Previous Seasons Connect to ’13’
American Horror Story: 13 is turning the franchise into one big, dysfunctional family reunion, bringing together characters, villains, and storylines from nearly every corner of the AHS universe.
In Episode 12, the show revealed to shocked fans that Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) from Asylum is the mother of Constance Langdon (also Lange) from Murder House and Fiona Goode (Lange yet again) from Coven, identical twin daughters of Satan. That makes Ben (Joey Pollari), another son of the Devil, their half-brother, Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson) from Coven and Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) from Murder House first cousins, and Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), the Antichrist from Apocalypse, part of the same hellish family tree.
The connections go well beyond bloodlines, though, with returning villains and favorites, as well as callbacks to nearly every season of the franchise. Some appearances are brief or just a mere mention, while others fundamentally rewrite AHS mythology. Here’s how each season connects to American Horror Story: 13.
American Horror Story: 13, Thursday, 9/8c, FX and Hulu
Season 1: Murder House
Murder House has one of the strongest connections to Season 13. Constance Langdon is a major presence throughout the season, while her children Tate Langdon and Adelaide “Addy” Langdon return in Episode 3, Rauhnacht, after Satan resurrects them as part of his deal with Constance. The episode also features a one-off return from Elizabeth Short, a.k.a. the Black Dahlia (Mena Suvari), whose murder was originally depicted in Season 1. She is brought back as part of a Satanic ceremony at Club Hell.
Episode 9, “The Devil Is in the Details,” reveals that Satan is Constance’s father, and Episode 12, “Sisters in Arms,” reveals that Fiona Goode is her identical twin sister and both are the daughters of Sister Jude from Asylum. That connects the Langdons directly to Coven, Asylum, and, through Tate’s son Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), Apocalypse.
Season 2: Asylum
Asylum becomes part of the family tree in Episode 12, “Sisters in Arms,” when Sister Jude is revealed to be the mother of Constance Langdon and Fiona Goode, who were conceived after Satan visited her during her imprisonment at Briarcliff. Pepper (Naomi Grossman), who appeared in both Asylum and Freak Show, also figures into the twins’ childhood, helping Fiona escape Briarcliff as an infant.
Season 3: Coven
Coven essentially becomes the other half of Season 13’s story. Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson), Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts), Mallory (Billie Lourd), Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt (Leslie Grossman), Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe), and the witches are back at Miss Robichaux’s Academy by Episode 6, The Return of Devil’s Night, with more familiar faces arriving as the season continues.
Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange) makes her return in Episode 7, “The Baddest Witch of Them All,” while Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) and Madame Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates) are among the other returning Coven characters. Papa Legba, now played by Orlando Jones, returns in Episode 8, “Hell No,” and Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy) is brought back from Hell in Episode 11.
Season 13 then fundamentally rewrites the Goode family history in Episode 12 by revealing Fiona is Satan’s daughter, Constance’s twin, and Ben’s half-sister.
Season 4: Freak Show
Freak Show gets two major one-off callbacks. Twisty the Clown (John Carroll Lynch) returns in Episode 2, 1:13 AM, where he massacres a clown-school class, while Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) makes her return in Episode 4, “Is That All There Is?,” presiding over the Satanic Jezebel Ball and performing the episode’s title song.
Pepper’s (Naomi Grossman) involvement in Fiona’s childhood later provides another link between Freak Show and the larger story.
Season 5: Hotel
Hotel crashes directly into the Coven storyline in Episode 6, “The Return of Devil’s Night.” James Patrick March (Evan Peters) returns for a new Devil’s Night, assembling killers including Jeffrey Dahmer (Seth Gabel), the Zodiac Killer, and Richard Ramirez (Zach Villa) to attack Miss Robichaux’s Academy.
March’s storyline continues into Episode 7, when Fiona returns from Hell, resurrects his killers, and has them turn on him before killing them herself.
Hypodermic Sally (Sarah Paulson) also makes a brief appearance as one of the women offered to Satan during the ceremony in Episode 4.
Season 6: Roanoke
“Roanoke” gets a one-off connection in Episode 5, “Date Night,” through Pig Man. Ashley (Elle Chapman) reveals that she encountered the killer during a family wedding celebration in New Jersey in 2020, where 13 members of her family were slaughtered, and she was the sole survivor.
Season 7: Cult
Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) and Winter Anderson (Billie Lourd) return in Episode 3, “Rauhnacht.” They join Constance, Tate, and Addy (Jamie Brewer) for an anti-Christmas celebration and help escort the resurrected Elizabeth Short to Club Hell for Satan’s ceremony.
Season 8: Apocalypse
Apocalypse is one of the most important pieces of Season 13’s mythology. Mallory (Billie Lourd), Coco (Leslie Grossman), Madison (Emma Roberts), Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe), Myrtle (Frances Conroy), and other characters who played major roles in Apocalypse return throughout the coven storyline, while Wilhemina Venable (Sarah Paulson) makes a more limited return at Club Hell in Episodes 3 and 4.
More importantly, Episode 10, “The Prodigal Son,” directly revisits the Apocalypse finale: Mallory reveals to the coven that she traveled back in time to kill the antichrist Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), which is why Satan holds a grudge against the ladies. The episode also reminds viewers that Mallory is the next Supreme.
Season 9: 1984
Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker (Zach Villa), provides the connection to AHS: 1984, returning in Season 13 as part of James Patrick March’s group of serial killers in Episode 6. Although this version of Ramirez is connected to Hotel, Villa previously portrayed the notorious killer in 1984.
Season 10: Double Feature
Mamie Eisenhower (Sarah Paulson), who first appeared in the Double Feature season in the “Death Valley” installment, returns in Episode 5 as one of the sacrifices to Satan at Club Hell, alongside Tuberculous Karen (also Paulson), who appeared in the “Red Tide” storyline of Double Feature.
Season 11: NYC
AHS: NYC hasn’t received a confirmed character return or major narrative crossover in Season 13 so far, but there a few small callbacks that eagle-eyed fans may have caught. After the clown-school massacre in Episode 2, Twisty leaves a Death tarot card on one of his victims. It’s the same card that Gino (Joe Mantello) draws in NYC, creating a subtle connection between the two seasons. Also, during the airport scenes, the background includes official travel posters referencing Fire Island, a major location for NYC.
Season 12: Delicate
AHS:13 bridges the gap back to AHS: Delicate through clever visual cues. Fans spotted a specific magazine prop inside the Apollyon apartment building. The magazine explicitly mentions “New York’s Riverside Clinic. Also, a portrait of Siobhan Corbyn (Kim Kardashian‘s character from Delicate) is shown inside Mr. Nas’ (Fedor Steer and Paul Anthony Kelly) penthouse, connecting her satanic coven to the forces residing within the building.
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K
Honestly I just don't get what the purpose of this season is it looks to me like they took season 8 reworked it tweaked it added a few more characters and called it season 13. I get the fact that the witches are in this dilemma because of Mallory going back in time and killing Michael Langdon and then not even telling Cordelia what she did at least if she did tell her they would have been able to be prepared for something like this but Mallory didn't never seem to be none too smart to me. This nonsense about everyone having the same father is absolutely ridiculous now Constance was supposed to be Michael's grandmother because Tate was her son so but now we find out that Michael is not Constance grandson but her brother and also Ben's brother and cordelia's cousin... it just doesn't make sense... if these people are all related to Satan why are they fighting against him? it doesn't make any sense to me and come on we all know how this is going to end of course Satan is going to be defeated and they're going to accomplish that by sucking all the age out of him and making him into a small infant but then the catch is that the witches will have to watch over this baby for eternity so the baby is going to stay a baby and is never going to grow? Lmfao... sometimes I think the writers are smoking something when they write these episodes I really do
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