American Horror Story Season 13: A Beloved Character Makes The Ultimate Sacrifice In Week 2

As "American Horror Story: 13" rolls into its second week, Episode 4 picks up in the basement of the Apollyon, aka "the portal hell," with Wilhelmina Venable (Sarah Paulson's "Apocalypse" character) guiding a very confused and very scared Elizabeth Short (Mena Suvari) to her final unrest.

Meanwhile, a restless Ben (Joey Pollari) rouses from his sleep to check on Mr. Nas, who appears to be vomiting up more of that signature black goo. Ben's mysterious patient draws him closer, then force-feeds him that very goo from an ornate chalice, promising, "It only hurts if you fight it." Once Ben has consumed the Slushy from hell, he suddenly sees Mr. Nas in a different form — a younger, blonder, hotter form (played by Paul Anthony Kelly).

Back to the basement, we're reunited with Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange's "Freak Show" persona), who delivers a jaunty performance of Peggy Lee's 1969 hit "Is That All There Is?" What's more, her band consists of several familiar faces from "Freak Show," including Mat Fraser as Paul, the Illustrated Seal, on drums.

As Venable is quick to reminds her, Elsa is there for a more important purpose: to announce the 13 women being sacrificed to Mr. Nas as part of the evening's "Jezebel Ball." One by one, 13 women "taken before they could reach their full potential" are tossed into a fiery pit. Those women, aka "Mr. Nas' favorite bad girls," include: Hypodermic Sally (Paulson's "Hotel" character), "Gestapo gal pal" Eva Braun, "dynasty-busting divorcee" Wallis Simpson, "selfish writer" Ayn Rand, "vegetarian man-eater" Brigitte Bardot, "f**ker of horses" Catherine the Great, Mamie Eisenhower (Paulson from "Death Valley"), "sneaky Romanian tyrant" Elena Ceausescu, "original sl**ty princess" Jezebel, Tuberculosis Karen (Paulson from "Red Tide"), "union-busting b***h" Margaret Thatcher, and lastly, poor Elizabeth. What's her sin, you ask? According to Elsa, she "sucked the world dry" with her "hopeless dreaming." Way harsh, Elsa.

But wait, that's only 12 women! Fortunately for the dark side, Venable is "happy to serve" at any cost, offering herself up as the 13th sacrifice with a hearty "hail Satan!"

The next morning, a gossip session between Constance and Mr. Phibes (John Waters) help fill in a few of the previous night's blanks. For starters, Constance asks why Mr. Nas would dig up those 12 women from their graves only to kill them again. As Mr. Phibes explains, "Last night, when our dark lord finally let his son drink from the chalice, he wanted a little extra sauce." So Ben is... Mr. Nas' son? The Antichrist? As always, answers on this show only lead to more questions.

Speaking of muddled answers, Constance finally explains how she came to be Mr. Nas' caretaker: as his "favorite sinner," she received a personal invitation to his penthouse, where he offered her the one thing she's always wanted — to be a mother again, only this time to get it right. After sealing it with a kiss (very hot), Constance's soul officially belonged to Mr. Nas, and Tate and Addie were back among the living.

After getting the tea (and shedding a few tears), Mr. Phibes checks the biomarkers in Mr. Nas' blood, noting that he's only four points away from his awakening goal of 100. In other words, "The new dawn is near!"

In Episode 5, Ben takes a break from his hellish work life to focus on his equally hellish home life. Even a visit from Kira's friend Ashley ("The Madison" star Elle Chapman), which is meant to cheer him up, only exposes him to more trauma.

Ashley is the only other survivor of the plane crash that killed Kira, and that apparently wasn't her first brush with death in an eerily similar fashion. She tells Ben about a pandemic wedding she attended in 2020, where a pig-masked serial killer showed up and murdered 13 of her fellow attendees. It's why she, like Ben, has a fear of the number 13.

(Side note: that hog-faced murderer should look very familiar to longtime "American Horror Story" viewers. Piggy Man first showed up in "Murder House," and the character was revisited in "Roanoke.")

In exchange, Ben shares a few horror stories of his own, like the time his father was killed while driving drunk, or when his one good foster mother died on his 13th birthday. Fortunately for Ben, there's no greater aphrodisiac in the world of "American Horror Story" than shared trauma, so he and Ashley soon find themselves hitting the sheets.

But because Ben is only allowed fleeting moments of happiness in this life, he gets a hell of a surprise the next morning when Ashley notices that the number 616 appears branded on his lower back.

Episode 6 welcomes back Seth Gabel as real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, whom we previously encountered during James March's (Evan Peters) Devil's Night dinner party in "American Horror Story: Hotel." And James is clearly looking to get the old gang back together, pausing his Waymo ride to pick Jeffrey up off the street. As the two sinister spirits head to their destination (Ace Hardware!), they marvel at the incredible technological advancements of 2026, from self-driving cars to Grindr, the latter of which Jeffrey can't get enough of for reasons we'd rather not have to spell out.

Back at Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) is surprised — horrified, even — to discover how quickly her new recruits are developing their powers. She's especially focused on Morwenna (Alex Consani), who exhibits the advanced ability to turn a dead frog back into a living tadpole. When Morwenna refuses to divulge when she developed this new power, Cordelia throws the young witch against the ceiling, a callback to when Fiona (Jessica Lange) pulled a similar move on Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) and Madison (Emma Roberts) in "Coven." 

Cordelia deduces that magic knows something the coven doesn't, and it's preparing them for battle by arming their young recruits with new powers. Cordelia has always vowed to understand her students in order to keep them safe, but she begins to doubt her role as the Supreme, wondering if she needs to become more like Fiona in order to defeat the coven's impending threat.

This brings us to the moment that every "American Horror Story: Coven" fan has been waiting for — the summoning of Fiona. While the witches' efforts initially appear futile, the pointer on their spirit board begins to move, spelling out "HERE." Believing that her mother is about to appear, Cordelia sends the rest of the coven upstairs so she can be alone for their warm-and-fuzzy family reunion.

Unfortunately, Fiona is not the next person to enter Miss Robichaux's. That would be James, who appears in the doorway and immediately initiates a battle against Cordelia. She initially has the upper hand, sending James' own scythe flying into his head, but he's already a ghost, so his wound heals instantly. In a one-on-one fight, Cordelia would have nothing to worry about, but the situation changes when James' associates (aka the Cortez Devils) join the party — including Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Ramirez (Zach Villa, reprising his role from "1984").

Cordelia's focus is further divided when the Cortez Devils target Ophelia (Avantika), who apparently refuses to follow directions and stay upstairs. James takes advantage of the distraction by throwing his scythe directly into the back of Cordelia's head, and the episode ends with the Supreme dying on the floor of the school in a pool of her own blood.

So here's the million-dollar question: Is Cordelia really dead? Our guess is that she'll spend some time in limbo — certainly enough time for a face-to-face reunion with Fiona — but that she'll ultimately rise from the dead, more emboldened than ever to take on the coven's enemies.

What are your theories about Cordelia's fate after Episode 6? And what did you think of the second week of "AHS: 13" overall? Grade it on our poll below, then drop a comment with your full review.