5 ‘AHS: Delicate’ Theories To Read Before Watching The Finale

American Horror Story: Delicate follows rising star Anna Victoria Alcott — played by Emma Roberts — through her first pregnancy as a cult of women begin to stalk her. The season began airing in September 2023 before going on a four-plus month hiatus due to delays related to the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Now Delicate is about to air its finale and fans have pieced together several theories for how the season will end.

Recent episodes have dialed up the drama and the scares. Memorable moments from the second half of the season include Kim Kardashian’s Siobhan Corbyn slapping Anna, Cara Delevingne cementing herself as a Scream Queen, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez’s Nicolette having a deeper connection with Anna than previously implied, and an obvious reference to the horror classic Rosemary’s Baby.

The synopsis for the finale, “The Auteur,” teases more twists ahead for Anna: “Her choices have unknowingly led to deadly consequences, but Anna can still have it all, for a price.”

Will Anna give up her baby to become famous? Is her publicist Siobhan the leader of the cult? Here are five fan theories for what will happen in the Delicate finale.

1. Siobhan Is Responsible For Anna’s Hallucinations

   Throughout the season, Anna has had a few vivid hallucinations. Are they real? Are they fake? Most of the time, the viewers don’t know. Episode 8 sees Anna freaking out because she wakes up with black scaly skin covering her legs, but moments later, she’s back to normal. One fan shared their interpretation of the events on Reddit and suspected that either Anna’s pregnancy or Siobhan is causing the hallucinations. Earlier in the season, Siobhan gave Anna a box of red vials, seemingly filled with vitamins, to help with her pregnancy. Maybe that has something to do with the hallucinations?

2. Connection to Roanoke?

   From the beginning of the season, viewers suspected that the season would tie into Coven, the fan-loved third season of American Horror Story. But now, some fans are convinced that a familiar face from Roanoke, the sixth season, will appear. “This was the perfect opportunity for them to showcase that the Delicate coven were the reason why Scathach was a stowaway to Roanoke. Maybe this was her escape from the coven. That would be a perfect way to tie in that lore,” wrote one fan on Reddit.

3. Anna Joins the Baby-Obsessed Cult

   One of the popular theories for the season is that Anna will join the cult that’s stalking her. Last week’s episode revealed that Anna’s husband has been cheating on her, which many think will leave her vulnerable and push her towards joining the cult. But others feel that’s too similar to the ending of Coven: “I’m leaning towards her choosing the cult but I don’t know if that would be too reminiscent of the end of Cult.”

4. Anna Gave Up Her Baby With The Oscars “Kiss”

   In the final moments of the penultimate episode, Siobhan and Anna attend the Oscar Awards, where Anna is nominated for Best Actress for her breakthrough role in The Auteur. Siobhan asks Anna if she would do anything to win the award and she says yes. The two kiss and Anna wins. One fan wrote that the kiss might have a deeper meaning. “I’m guessing Anna fully gave up her baby at the Oscars and Kim used her ability to make the ‘deal’ locked in via the kiss,” they shared. Another added on a separate thread that the action is similar to “the lore of making a deal with the devil.”

5. Siobhan is the Devil

   Siobhan clearly holds a lot of power. But what if she holds all the power? Many fans believe that Siobhan is the devil. A viewer on Twitter noted that the devil has been previously mentioned in the American Horror Story Universe, but never shown in the physical form. They also wrote that Siobhan has the ability to “resurrect, give and take away powers” given previous episodes. The theory continued to grow on Reddit, where a fan shared that snakes are often associated with the Devil because of the Adam and Eve story in the Old Testament, and Siobhan was shown wearing a snake necklace. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Siobhan was wearing a snake necklace. They have been hinting at the devil being involved, especially in this episode,” they wrote in response to Episode 8.

American Horror Story: Delicate airs Wednesdays on FX and streams next-day on Hulu.