‘American Horror Story’ Season 13 Episodes 7 & 8 Recap and Ending Explained: Fiona Returns, Marie Laveau Rises and Queenie Pays the Price in Hell

Few cliffhangers in recent ‘American Horror Story’ history have landed as hard as the death of Cordelia Goode. The Coven reunion has been building toward a showdown since the season began, and the latest double feature finally delivers one. Fans who spent a week wondering whether their beloved Supreme was really gone now have their answers.

The two new installments, titled ‘The Baddest Witch of Them All’ and ‘Hell No’, aired Thursday night on FX and stream on Hulu the next day. Together, they resolve the standoff with the Cortez Devils and set up a much bigger war against the forces of hell. Here is everything that happened, and what the ending means.

The first installment opens in the aftermath of Cordelia’s murder at Miss Robichaux’s Academy, with the witches forced to fight James Patrick March’s crew of revived serial killers. Madison takes on Jeffrey Dahmer and is stabbed, but Morwenna, a young witch with resurrection powers, brings her back. Queenie uses her mirroring ability to finish Dahmer, and Madison burns his body.

Elsewhere, Mallory uses her time-travel power to send Richard Ramirez back to his old neighborhood, where an angry mob beats him to death. Coco, combined with Queenie’s mirroring, sends the Zodiac Killer into a fatal diabetic crisis. One by one, the Cortez Devils fall.

Then comes the moment fans were waiting for. Fiona Goode arrives to find her daughter dead, and March takes credit, which proves to be a fatal mistake. Fiona kills him with his own men, reanimates the killers so they can tear him apart, and then revives Cordelia with a whispered spell.

The second installment slows down for a mother-daughter reunion that gives Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson plenty to work with. Fiona describes her time in hell, where she was left alone with her memories, and admits her failures as a parent. She agrees to help train Cordelia into a stronger Supreme, though only until the threat is handled.

The witches then cut open one of the reanimated killers and find black goo and a serpent inside. Cordelia identifies the snake as a sigil of the devil, which confirms that Satan is behind the revivals. That leads them to Papa Legba, now played by Orlando Jones, who guards the gates of hell.

Cordelia travels to hell and strikes a bargain. She offers to destroy the knowledge of her revival spell if Legba helps them stop the devil, and he says he needs Marie Laveau, played by Angela Bassett. Bringing Marie back, however, requires another soul to take her place.

Both Fiona and Cordelia volunteer, but Cordelia argues that Fiona is the only one who can persuade Marie. Queenie steps up instead and is sent below. Her personal hell turns out to be an endless shift at a fried chicken restaurant, and Kathy Bates returns as Delphine LaLaurie, who torments her. Queenie fights back with her mirroring power and burns away LaLaurie’s face.

It is a satisfying act of revenge, though the sequence is grotesque enough that some viewers may find it hard to watch. More importantly, Queenie is now stuck in hell, which is a major open thread heading into the rest of the season.

Legba revives Marie Laveau, and she and Fiona immediately clash. He steps in and insists that the witches must set aside their differences, because white and Black magic have to work together to defeat the devil. By the end, Fiona and Marie agree to a truce, and the Coven is united against Mr. Nas.

The bigger picture is that Mr. Nas appears to be Satan, and he has been collecting sacrificed souls to rise and conquer the world. Cordelia’s deal with Legba also hangs over everything, since it hinges on a spell that brought Fiona back from hell. Ben’s mysterious brand and a coming clash between Fiona and Constance remain unresolved.

New promo for next week’s episodes of “American Horror Story: 13.” #AHS13 https://t.co/nKJtlbSBBQ

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One review praised the mother-daughter scenes and the old enemies assembling for a larger fight, but argued the season still leans heavily on nostalgia. It also noted that Legba’s need for Marie is never clearly explained. Newer viewers may find the payoffs less rewarding, since so much depends on knowing these characters’ history.

For longtime fans, though, the return of Fiona, Marie and Delphine feels like a victory lap. A report on the next batch even suggests another familiar face from ‘Asylum’ is on the way, and with 5 installments left, the stakes can only rise.

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