‘American Horror Story: Delicate’ Ending Explained: What Happened in Kim Kardashian’s Season

Note: The following story contains spoilers for “American Horror Story: Delicate” Episode 9

Every season of “American Horror Story” is wild in its own way, but Season 12 has taken that to another level. Filled with gaslighting, cults and a whiplash-inducing final act twist, the ending of “Delicate” on FX and Hulu requires some time to comprehend.

Consider this your guide to the season finale of “AHS: Delicate.” As to what it all means, that remains a mystery.

How did “American Horror Story: Delicate” end?

You know how Anna (Emma Roberts) spent all season convinced that her husband was gaslighting her? Turns out, he wasn’t the one she should have been worried about. She should have been paranoid of everyone else.

“The Auteur” picks up right after the events of Episode 8 with Anna’s water breaking right as she accepted her Oscar. Though she’s mad at her husband Dex (Matt Czuchry) for cheating, she allowed him to ride in the ambulance with her. Big mistake. The driver of that ambulance is none other than the mysterious Ivy (Cara Delevingne), who murders Anna’s guard and has no intention of taking her to a real hospital. Realizing how dire her situation is, Anna begs Dex to help her give birth, but when he does, the baby bites off his hand. Things only get worse when Ivy finally stops the vehicle. After murdering Dex by suffocating him with his own hand, Ivy takes Anna to a new location.

Surrounded by mysterious cloaked women dressed in black, Anna gives birth to a bloody, clawed creature. But when she asks to hold her son, she’s denied. “Let me hold him!” Anna screams.

“You’re holding what you chose. And I’m holding what you gave up for it,” Ivy responds, referring to the Oscar still clutched in Anna’s hand.

Anna tries to physically take her son from the women but is stabbed by a fingernail for her effort. She’s then drugged, bound and gagged before being taken to a third location.

When Anna wakes up, she realizes that she’s unable to walk. That’s when she learns who’s been behind this nightmare all along: her “publicist” and “best friend” Siobhan (Kim Kardashian). This whole time, Siobhan has been the leader of a cult that finds and exploits women with fertility issues who want it all. She offers Anna a place in the cult as well as eternal youth, beauty and power before unveiling her master plan.

This whole time, Virginia (Debra Monk) wasn’t Dex’s biological mother. The immortal Siobhan was. By some fluke, Siobhan and Dex’s father (Reed Birney) produced a human child. That laid the groundwork for her master plan. By using her son’s sperm and implanting one of her own eggs inside of Anna, Siobhan was able to create a being that was three-quarters her and more powerful than any of them. That being is Anna’s child.

Though Dex was killed, the cult members preserved his testicles. Using his sperm and Anna as a vessel, Siobhan intends to breed super-powered children who will kill all men.

“We’ll finally have a matriarchy,” Siobhan says.

As horrified as Anna is by all of this, that doesn’t change the fact that this cult has her baby. She agrees to join them so she can hold her son. He may have claws and bite her breast, but he’s still hers.

But once she agrees to be part of the cult, the tide shifts. The presumably dead Adeline (Annabelle Dexter-Jones) appears to Anna and tells her that only light can snuff out the dark. Soon after, Anna joins Adeline in chanting, an action that causes Siobhan to disintegrate. As soon as she seemingly dies, the rest of the women disappear.

“Delicate” ends with Anna alone in her house, which is still painted red. Suddenly able to use her legs again, she gets out of the wheelchair and puts on what used to be Siobhan’s headdress. Slowly, she goes to her baby who’s crying in the next room. He’s now no longer a monster but a normal child. As Anna holds her son, she looks at her Oscar on the shelf of the nursery. Despite what the cult members said, she finally does have it all, her career dreams and motherhood.

Is Anna the cult’s leader now?

Since she was the only one who was able to destroy Siobhan and ends the season wearing her headdress, that appears to be the case. As to whether this fertility cult will be mentioned again in future seasons, who knows? After all, this is far from the first cult to pop up in the FX horror anthology series.

Is the ending different from the book?

Since this is the first season of the FX series to be based off a book, it’s worth diving into how Danielle Valentine’s original novel ended. Many of the same beats from “Delicate” appear in “Delicate Condition.” Anna learns that her best friend Siobhan is part of a coven around the same time that she learns her husband had an affair.

But that’s about where the differences stop. In the book, Anna has a miscarriage. Devastated for her friend, Siobhan performs a spell that will bring the baby back to life. But because this unholy spell brings back a soulless creature, she transfers her own soul into Anna’s baby’s body. There is another reason for Siobhan’s actions. By transferring her soul into a baby, she can be reincarnated, ensuring her immortality. The book ends with Anna raising this combination of her friend and her child.

All episodes of “American Horror Story: Delicate” are available to stream on Hulu.

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