'American Horror Story' Season 13 Episodes 7-8 Trailer Breakdown

[Spoiler Alert] Episode 6 of American Horror Story Season 13 ended with March infiltrating Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, driving a sickle through Cordelia’s skull and announcing to the rest of the inhabitants of the house that the Cortez Devils (which included the Zodiac Killer, Dahmer, and Ramirez) had arrived to dine. What led to that altercation? For starters, March picked up Dahmer in his self-driving vehicle which was headed in the direction of the Academy. Dahmer got in touch with Zodiac and Ramirez and told them to converge on that location so that they could fulfil the purpose for which they had been brought back from the dead: killing witches. Meanwhile, Cordelia and her Coven were practicing their powers, and that session was interrupted by the revelation that Morwenna, one of the newbies, had developed powers without getting the appropriate education for it. That worried Cordelia, and she told Madison, Queenie, and Mallory that the magic that powered them was preparing the witches for something evil; an evil that Cordelia was unable to see because of a supposed concealment spell. Cordelia came to the conclusion that she needed to get in touch with her deceased mother, Fiona, as that’d allow her to embrace her latent dark side powers and repel whatever evil was headed her way. The ritual performed by Cordelia and the girls did summon Fiona’s spirit, but before Cordelia could have a chat with her mother, the Cortez Devils barged into the premises. In an effort to save Ophelia, Cordelaia took her eyes off the ball for a few seconds and March killed her. Based on the teaser for episodes 7 and 8 of American Horror Story Season 13, what can we expect to see next week? Let’s find out.

In the 30-second teaser, there are several shots of March playing the piano in the Academy to set the atmosphere for the attack on the Coven. The teaser doesn’t feature March leaving that piano, probably because he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty after killing the Supreme. Why is he so confident that he has killed the Supreme? I don’t know. He has himself come back to life after dying previously. So, it would have been smart for him to make sure that Cordelia is dead before dedicating all his energy and focus on the piano. Anyway, it seems like Zodiac, Ramirez, and Dahmer are going to do most of the heavy-lifting during the witch hunt. We don’t really get to see who Zodiac and Dahmer go after–except for a shot where Zodiac, Dahmer, and Ramirez are stabbing someone who has fallen to the ground–but Ramirez will definitely go after Ophelia and Mallory. The fight between those three is going to take place in a room full of mannequins, gowns, and wigs. It seems like, initially, Ramirez is going to get the better of Ophelia and chuck her across the room. But after seeing Mallory in danger, Ophelia is going to find the strength to levitate Ramirez and pin him to the ceiling. Unfortunately, that’s all Ophelia can do. The Cortez Devils are immortal and invincible. They cannot be killed. They can only be slowed down. So, by pinning him to that ceiling, Ophelia is going to buy some time for herself and Mallory to get away from him, regroup with the rest of the team, and think of another way to tackle the serial killers. 

Speaking of fighting back, in Cordelia’s absence, I guess Madison is going to take on the role of leader. She was talking smack about Cordelia’s leadership qualities throughout episode 6, but in episodes 7 and 8, it seems like she is going to set her jokes and quips aside and work on using the Coven’s powers to their fullest potential and driving away the Cortez Devils. At one point, we see Mallory on her knees, while Madison, Queenie, and Coco tower over her. Soon after that, Mallory uses her superpowers, and the footage of the show changes to what looks like black-and-white thermal infrared imagery. Mallory, or some other witch, seems to target Zodiac and Ramirez. I don’t know what’s the utility of this superpower. If it looks like thermal infrared imagery, is it a stretch to assume that the witch in question is going to explode Zodiac and Ramirez with her mind? I mean, that seems to be the only way left to kill the Cortez Devils, because their wounds heal if they are merely stabbed. If they explode, maybe they won’t be able to pull their bodies back together; and it’s possible that’s what Mallory or one of her friends is trying to accomplish. What they are also trying to do is bring Cordelia back from the dead. I mean, when you have a witch like Morwenna who can breathe life into any living thing (or former living thing), of course you are going to try and use her power to bring back the Supreme. When that doesn’t work out, Papa Legba shows up, I guess. 

Papa Legba is known to be the gatekeeper of the Spirit World, and I suppose it’s his duty to take Cordelia into the afterlife. Since Papa Legba and the witches have history, I guess they will request Papa Legba not to take Cordelia to heaven or hell, wherever she belongs, until they have exhausted every possible method of resurrecting Cordelia. There is a shot of Cordelia falling through what looks like a void; I think it’s some kind of limbo-like situation that she is stuck in while the witches and Papa Legba decide her fate. Maybe this is where Cordelia will reunite with Fiona. Before the Cortez Devils barged into the Academy, Cordelia and the witches had summoned her successfully. However, Cordelia didn’t get the chance to talk to her. So, while Papa Legba chats with the witches, Cordelia is probably going to find a way to defeat this great evil that’s coming towards them from Fiona. Papa Legba can be heard telling the witches that they need to unite, or else everything that they love will die. Papa Legba has the ability to bring someone back to life and grant them immortality. Maybe he is willing to do that in Cordelia’s case, but only after making sure that the Coven stands beside her during these times of distress. When the Cortez Devils infiltrated the Academy, nobody came to her aid. What’s the guarantee that, after Papa Legba brings Cordelia back to life, the witches aren’t going to hang her out to dry again? Hence, maybe Papa Legba is trying to tread cautiously before defying his duty of sending souls into the afterlife. There’ll be consequences for doing that, but maybe that’s Papa Legba’s cross to bear. 

There’s a shot of a woman with burnt skin and a bird’s eye view of a fight in some valley. I don’t know what’s going on there. Maybe it’s a flashback to the lives of one of the witches to show us what they have been through before they got into the Academy; but I might be wrong about that. Which brings us to the most important question of this season of the show: What’s the exact purpose of these resurrected serial killers? Given how they are serial killers, it’s easy to assume that they have no reasoning for going after these women. But targeting a coven of witches isn’t a random occurrence; this is Nas’ handiwork. I think that Nas, via the Cortez Devils, is making sure that the witches don’t pose a risk to his rise to infernal glory. The only witch who will probably be spared is Morwenna, because Nas might need her revitalization powers to reverse his age. The rest are at risk of dying. Once Nas has reached his full potential, the Cortez Devils are most likely going to be generals in his army of death. I genuinely don’t know how the witches are going to defeat the Cortez Devils. Yeah, sure, they need to unite and whatnot. But what’s the use of unity in the face of immortal serial killers? I guess they have to put all their belief into Cordelia making contact with Fiona in the limbo-like situation she’s in (between life and death), learning the way to defeat the Cortez Devils, getting resurrected, and then killing the serial killers. Well, at least that’s what I think is going to happen in episodes 7 and 8 based on what we get to see in the teaser. If you have any alternative observations, feel free to share them in the comments section below.