'American Horror Story' Season 8 Spoilers: Cordelia Theory Explains All

The witches of “Coven” have been a huge part of American Horror Story Season 8. In particular, Cordelia Goode is a major player on “Apocalypse,” especially in the fight against Michael Langdon and his apparent efforts to bring about the End of Days.

One slight hiccup in Cordelia’s plan to try to stop Michael so far is the fact that she appears to be “fading”, or getting more sickly as a new Supreme is supposedly rising to take her place. The same thing happened in “Coven,” but the difference this time around is that the warlock counterparts to Cordelia’s coven think Michael is the new Supreme; he would be the first and only male to take on the role.

But what if that’s not what’s happening at all? There’s an interesting theory floating around suggesting that Cordelia isn’t truly fading in order to allow a new Supreme to rise.

The whole situation involving Cordelia’s powers — and Cordelia herself — fading has seemed a little fishy from the start. She hasn’t been the Supreme all that long, after all, and it’s supposed to be a generational sort of role. So why does Cordelia’s life force seem to be fading even though, in the American Horror Story universe, it seems like she’s only been the Supreme for a few years?

One very interesting theory suggests that Cordelia isn’t truly fading, but that Michael is only making it seem like she is in order to rise as a new Supreme while he’s also preparing to rise as the Antichrist.

“I don’t buy Cordelia fading. She’s at full power in the outpost in episode three, for one. I think Michael is weakening her just to make her think that she’s fading,” Reddit user Ladyboysingstheblues said in a discussion thread following Episode 7.

This theory would actually make a lot of sense in regards to other mysteries on the show. For example, everyone in the coven seems convinced now that Mallory is the next Supreme, despite the fact that in Episode 7 and other previous instances, she’s shown evidence of power that they’ve never seen before. You know who else has done that? Michael.

What if Cordelia isn’t really fading, because neither Michael nor Mallory is the new Supreme at all, so there’s no reason for her time to come to an end? Fans know Michael is the Antichrist, and it stands to reason that with her own unexplained, powerful abilities, Mallory is his equal in some way and not a witch at all.

“Still doesn’t make sense to me that Cordelia is fading as Supreme and due to be replaced. Why so short a reign?” Reddit user blitzedginger wrote in the post-episode thread. They added, “My thinking is that Mallory is either possessed by or a reincarnation of the first Supreme from Roanake, who has resurfaced to save witches/the world.”

Whether Cordelia will make it through this season of AHS and intact as the Supreme is something fans will know before long. There are only 3 episodes left of “Apocalypse” before we’ll (hopefully) have all the answers.

American Horror Story airs at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on FX.