WARNING! Spoilers ahead for American Horror Stories season 2, episode 5!The twist ending of American Horror Stories season 2, episode 5, “Bloody Mary” asks more questions than it answers. American Horror Stories season 2 has excelled at twist endings, with episode 4’s “Milkmaids” ending seeing a cannibalistic trend disrupt the stop of a plague. As “Bloody Mary” brings the terrifying urban legend to life, the fatal revelations in store for American Horror Stories’ teen characters change the lore associated with the malevolent spirit.
“Bloody Mary” follows teenage sisters Bianca (Quvenzhané Wallis) and Elise (Raven Scott) and their friends Lena (Kyanna Simone) and Maggie (Kyla Drew) as they skeptically conjure Bloody Mary (Dominique Jackson) in the hopes that she’ll grant their deepest desires. When discovering that the Bloody Mary legend is, in fact, real, the girls are put on a dangerous path in which they must perform horrible acts on others in order to receive their wishes and avoid their own deaths by the spirit. Time starts running out as American Horror Stories' "Bloody Mary" characters begin to suffer brutal deaths, with Elise searching for answers in the history of the real Bloody Mary and her capture by a brutal serial killer on the Underground Railroad.
However, as has been the case with American Horror Stories’ season 2 episodes, the ending to “Bloody Mary” reveals that all is not what it seems. In addition to a massive twist in which Bloody Mary is revealed to not be the killer, American Horror Stories season 2, episode 5’s ending finds one of the girls mistakenly becoming the new spirit trapped behind the mirror. As “Bloody Mary”’s ending reinterprets the long-feared urban legend, the meaning of her curse in American Horror Stories season 2 is changed to be a reflection of one’s own hidden “truth.”
What Happens In American Horror Stories' Bloody Mary Ending
After Maggie and Lena have suffered gruesome deaths in which their eyes were clawed out, just as the Bloody Mary legend predicted, Elise brings her sister Bianca to the cursed cabin that serves as the source of the “real” Bloody Mary. Elise had previously researched the history of the Bloody Mary, which led her to the cabin of Margaret Worth, a 19th-century serial killer who lured enslaved people to her home before either killing them or selling them back to slave catchers. When they arrive, the girls conjure Bloody Mary in one of the mirrors while the spirit asks Elise if she brought everything – a question that confuses Bianca, who thought her sister had never been tempted by the figure. Elise then presents the American Horror Story universe's Bloody Mary with the old dagger that she had used to kill Margaret Worth and the blood of “three innocents,” the third of which would be Bianca.
As Elise apologizes for what she’s about to do, she attempts to stab and kill Bianca with the dagger, but her younger sister overpowers and defensively murders her. American Horror Stories’ Bloody Mary then tells Bianca about how Margaret Worth had trapped her and other travelers in her cellar, and nearly tried to take away her son from her when the slave catchers arrived. In the American Horror Stories season 2 flashback, Bloody Mary calls to the spirit of Mami Wata to assist her in getting justice against the brutal torturers, but when Mary uses the knife to stab a girl who was deceived into helping Worth, her soul is filled with poison and can’t move on to meet her ancestors. After cutting off her own hand and giving the blood for the spirit to drink, a change happens in which Bloody Mary (Pose's Dominique Jackson) is freed from the mirror, and Bianca is trapped in her place and has become the new Bloody Mary.
American Horror Stories: How Bloody Mary Compares To The Real Legend
In real life, the Bloody Mary folklore legend has been passed down for generations with variations of her purpose, hostility, and inspirations for her identity. The most common Bloody Mary legend sees her conjured in order to reveal the future, just as she does in American Horror Stories’ season 2 episode. The historic ritual for Bloody Mary urged young women to walk up the stairs backward holding a candle and a mirror, which would allow them to see their future husband’s face.
To summon her in the modern ritual, it’s said that one must stand in front of a mirror, turn out the lights, light a candle, and chant her name three times – which is how American Horror Stories’ characters conjure Bloody Mary. She then appears as a friendly or evil ghost, witch, or corpse that is sometimes covered in blood. As is warned about in American Horror Stories season 2’s “Bloody Mary,” the spirit may scratch their eyes out, scream at them, or drink their blood.
The most popular identifications of Bloody Mary are inspired by women named Mary from the 16th-19th centuries who were notable for causing a substantial number of deaths. One such inspiration was Mary I of England, the queen from 1553 until 1558 who earned the nickname “Bloody Mary” after ordering nearly 300 religious dissenters to be burned at the stake. Another possible identity for American Horror Stories’ ghost is Countess Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian woman from the 17th century who was accused of vampirism and allegedly tortured, killed, and bathed in the blood of around 650 women. Bathory was actually a partial inspiration for American Horror Story: Hotel’s Elizabeth Johnson, a.k.a The Countess, a carrier of a mysterious blood virus that reflected vampirism. Another candidate is Mary Worth, who is a character in American Horror Stories season 2, episode 5.
Was Margaret Worth Real? Bloody Mary True Story Explained
Margaret “Mary” Worth is rumored to be a real figure from history, who is included in American Horror Stories’ episode as a connection to the Bloody Mary divination. According to the Lake County Journal, local legend suggests Mary Worth lived near Chicago in the 1860s, where her house was part of the “reverse” Underground Railroad. Worth would bring enslaved people into her home on false pretenses and sell them to slave catchers, with rumors abounding that she also tortured and killed the travelers for rituals related to her witchcraft – an allegation that is referenced in American Horror Stories' season 2 episode.
Eventually, the townspeople lynched and buried her on her property, whereafter locals reported strange occurrences on the land, such as a nearby house being set on fire twice. However, in American Horror Stories season 2, the torturous Bloody Mary was killed by one of her captives, who was then placed in a mirror and adopted the moniker. As such, while the real legend would suggest that Bloody Mary Worth would be the divination in the mirror, American Horror Stories places her killer in the reflection.
Elise’s Killer Twist & Bloody Mary Plan Explained
At the very end of American Horror Stories season 2, episode 5, Elise brings Bianca to Margaret Worth’s cabin which serves as the source of Bloody Mary’s divination. When bringing out two jars of blood and the knife, Bianca (played by Swagger's Quvenzhané Wallis)puts together the pieces that Elise had been following Bloody Mary’s instructions to grant her wish all along. Elise had wished to be rich, but Bloody Mary understood that what she really wanted was security and power, which could only be granted if she freed Bloody Mary from her entrapment. This included killing three innocents, with the last sacrifice being her sister Bianca. Bloody Mary’s instructions to Elise were hinted at in the very beginning of the American Horror Stories season 2 episode when Elise mentioned that she would have to harm someone, but couldn’t finish her sentence when referring to whom.
Despite Elise seeming like the most level-headed and least likely to fall into Bloody Mary’s temptations, American Horror Stories’ twist reveals that the deaths of her best friends Lena and Maggie were never actually due to Bloody Mary’s revenge for their refusal to hold up their end of the deal. Rather, Elise had killed both of them and used the Bloody Mary curse as a way to keep Bianca from suspecting her. All the while, Elise encouraged Lena, Maggie, and Bianca to not follow through with Bloody Mary’s brutal instructions so that they would remain innocent for her own sacrifice. American Horror Stories’ “Bloody Mary” ending sees that Elise was so desperate for power and security that she would kill her own sister, but she wasn’t forced into doing so by Bloody Mary – it was all her own choice. The American Horror Stories ghost explained that none of them had to listen to her or risk death, so Elise’s murderous actions were simply a reflection of her own desperation.
American Horror Stories Season 2 Episode 5 Twist: Is Bloody Mary Dead?
After Bloody Mary drinks Bianca’s blood, she is finally removed from her 160-year entrapment in reflections. However, Bloody Mary didn’t simply disappear at this time, as she was transported into Bianca’s place in the real world while Bianca became the new Bloody Mary apparition. Although she appears to be alive in American Horror Stories season 2, episode 5’s ending, Bloody Mary is most likely dead at this point. She needed the innocent blood and knife back to move on from her curse and be able to return to her ancestors without poison in her soul, so the American Horror Story universe's Bloody Mary now seems to be at rest where she can move on with Mami Wata. However, someone had to take her place as the guardian of truth, with Bianca being someone pure of heart who sees inside the souls of others.
How (& Why) Bianca Became The New Bloody Mary
The last scene of American Horror Stories' “Bloody Mary” sees Bianca in the mirrors deciding which summoners to listen to, suggesting she’s embracing her new role as Bloody Mary. Bianca was always able to see the truth behind others’ actions, so Bloody Mary used her as a new replacement where she could finally escape her centuries-long entrapment. Bloody Mary also likely saw that Bianca would be blamed for the death of her sister Elise, so once Bianca tried to end the suffering by freeing Bloody Mary, she placed her in the mirror instead. This was done in the Ryan Murphy TV show by Bloody Mary finally being purified of her past crime of vengeance through Bianca’s innocent blood, with the blood ritual to Mami Wata then placing Bianca in the mirror instead.
While Bloody Mary’s actions in American Horror Stories season 2, episode 5’s ending were ultimately selfish, Bianca has still now been granted her wish that she’ll never truly “disappear” like she once feared. Rather, she’ll be present for centuries as long as she continues to be the “guardian of truth” for those who summon her through the Bloody Mary ritual.