Summary
The final of Lucifer is a Hellish treat as war commences, which provides some unprecedented moments in the story.
This recap of Netflix’s Lucifer season 5, episode 16, “A Chance at a Happy Ending,” — the ending explained — contains major spoilers.
What a thrilling finale this is — although it does present more questions than answers, especially with that ending; fans will be desperate to understand how the events unfolded.
The finale of season 5 begins with a bus full of prisoners. A man with face tattoos manages to uncuff himself. He asks for one of the guards and then strangles him — the guard accidentally shoots the driver off the bus, and the vehicle flees over the edge of a mountain. Episode 16 of Lucifer season 5 then flits to the club, and Michael is playing the piano. Lucifer grabs his brother, but Michael warns him about fighting in front of the humans. Michael says he has already won by assembling the Flaming Sword — he wants to avoid bloodshed and make peace. He asks Lucifer if he wants to have a throne in Hell and rule down there however he sees fit, and Chloe will be down there with him. Lucifer tells him that is impossible, but Michael says Chloe has enough guilt to go down to Hell.
Lucifer believes that Dan may have been killed as part of an engineered plan and headbutts his brother. Michael reminds him that the vote will be on earth soon, and he states he’s offering Lucifer the chance at a happy ending — episode 16 of season 5 gets off to a ferocious start.
Lucifer tries to break down the situation with Chloe // Remi shows up dead
So, Lucifer is in a pickle in the finale of season 5; it appears he will have to fight in order to stop his brother. Plenty of times, this series has presented Michael as the problem, but this is a unique challenge in the lead character’s story arc.
Lucifer invites Chloe to his apartment; the detective tries to apologize for their argument, but Lucifer says she is right and that he was trying to be God for the wrong reasons — he believes he should be God for Dan’s sake. He explains how everything is Michael’s fault and that he killed Dan so that she would feel guilty so that she would go to Hell to join him on the throne. He tells her not to feel guilty and not give in to the manipulation. Chloe tells Lucifer that’s not how emotions work and proves it — she asks him to “feel worthy” and make himself vulnerable. Then, she asks where Dan is, but then angel Remi shows up and collapses and dies on the spot.
Chloe tells Lucifer there’s no burning, so it can’t be the Flaming Sword — Lucifer believes Michael used the Azrael sword, so Michael is bluffing. Lucifer asks Chloe to be the detective one last time — “let’s take that bastard down.”
Investigation begins
Chloe gives Ella a feather from Remi’s wings and asks for a DNA test. Ella believes Lucifer hit a rare bird on the road. Chloe raises that TJ used to operate from an abandoned beer factory, which is where the yeast on the feather may come from. She wonders if Remi was trying to tell them before Michael got there and got to her first. Lucifer asks Ella to do him a favor.
Distracting Michael
Lucifer season 5, episode 16 flits to TJ fighting angels — they want the necklace. But, he refuses to give it up, so the angels tell Michael to kill the human so he can have everything he wants. Suddenly, Michael reveals himself to be Lucifer — Ella put scar makeup on him. But then Michael turns up and slices TJ’s neck. Lucifer asks if they want this kind of God that kills people. Chloe then shoots Michael from behind, which is ineffective, but it wasn’t supposed to hurt him — it distracted him. When he turns around, Michael has disappeared.
Preparing to fight
But Michael is well prepared in episode 16, which means Lucifer and the gang have to bang their heads together, leave the past behind, and strategize on an offense to stop Michael from becoming God.
Amenadiel, Lucifer, and Chloe have an impromptu funeral and burial for Remi. Lucifer blames his father for not choosing a successor, but Amenadiel states that their father trusted them to make the right choice. Lucifer believes people are going to die for his cowardice. Chloe says they owe it to Dan and Remi to fight back. Maze gives Chloe a weapon to help fight — Chloe tells Lucifer that she’s going to fight for Dan. Amenadiel has an idea to form their own army and does not want any killing because the angels are their family.
The vote
Michael has picked the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to hold the vote. Amenadiel tells Michael that they accept him as a new God. Lucifer cannot lie and calls his brother’s outfit awful and wonders if “winter is coming.” Michael asks who is not voting for him. No one puts their hands up, so it looks like a quick election. Lucifer gives a speech and tells them they don’t want Michael to be God and that he’s using fear over them. He gives them the real reason he wants to be God — Zadkiel interrupts and says Lucifer wants to be God due to love “for all things,” and everyone laughs — Zadkiel joins Lucifer in his support and hails that he is worthy. More angels join Lucifer but not enough to sway the vote.
The demon army forms
The battle begins as the ending of Lucifer season 5 starts to take place — our patience for episode 16 has well and truly paid off.
Michael announces himself as God, but nothing happens. Finally, Gabriel tells him that it may have to be unanimous. Lucifer asks Amenadiel if Maze is close with their army, so Lucifer tries to buy time by singing, “Can’t Touch This,” and his team joins in. Suddenly, Maze, Eve, and the prisoners we saw at the start of the chapter join Lucifer and the team — it’s a demon army. Chloe shoots two of the angels in the air, and Michael is shocked to see them fall — they’ve melted a demon blade and made bullets for her.
Michael versus Lucifer
Lucifer offers Michael a fight — whoever wins gets to be God — if Lucifer wins, he goes back to Hell. Michael wants the fight to the death, and Lucifer agrees. So Michael draws the Flaming Sword and starts beating Lucifer. Amenadiel offers Lucifer a staff — the only one that remains of the “Tree of Life.” The brothers fight in the air. Eventually, Lucifer falls, but then both brothers hold the sword and struggle. But then Chloe heads over and takes out the Azrael blade.
Michael takes it one step too far
The Angel of Death Azrael turns up and apologizes to Lucifer — Michael then stabs Chloe. This is a significant moment, and everyone is in shock. Lucifer is hysterical, but a dying Chloe tells Lucifer that she chose to be here. She tells Lucifer that what happened to Dan is not her fault, and what happened here is not his fault. Chloe dies, and Lucifer sobs — he’s in disbelief. Michael tells Lucifer that he bets Chloe made it to Heaven and that he should have taken his offer. Lucifer does not believe this is right.
Lucifer vows to get her back, but Michael says he will die if he tries to go to Heaven as he’s banished. Meanwhile, Amenadiel tells Maze to hold as she looks furiously at Michael. She asks to fight. It’s demons versus angels, and even Amenadiel joins in.
Heaven
Lucifer proves himself to be worthy as we reach the final few scenes of season 5.
Chloe is in Heaven enjoying paradise with her father. Suddenly they see a flaming light in the distance falling into Heaven. It’s Lucifer, and as soon as he arrives, he is struggling. Lee welcomes him. Lucifer wonders why he isn’t burnt to a crisp, but he looks at Lilith’s immortality ring and realizes it protects him for a short while. Lucifer is confused about how Lee made it to Heaven, but the man tells him he faced the family and his guilt.
Lucifer meets Chloe, and she asks him what he’s doing here. He tells her it isn’t her time and needs to come back. Chloe remembers the war and that she left Trixie, her friends, and him. She’s worried about her dad, but he tells her he will be fine and will always be in Heaven. Lucifer tells Chloe that there is not enough power in the ring for the both of them and offers it to her — he tells her, “I choose you, Chloe.” He puts the ring on Chloe’s hand and tells her, “I love you,” before turning to ashes.
Chloe and the fans get what we always wanted, but in tragic circumstances — Lucifer has told Chloe he loves her.
The ending
Chloe wakes up on the earth, still heavily wounded. Angels and demons are still fighting. Michael is surprised that Lucifer brought her back, and he tries to kill her again. Chloe gets up and struggles. She punches him, and she has super-strength — she’s wielding a celestial weapon, and she beats Michael to a pulp — she gets extremely emotional and puts the Azrael dagger up to his throat and says, “you took the man I love from me!”. Michael tells her to kill him, but then she hears Lucifer talking from the sky. He floats down with his wings and tells Chloe that this isn’t her. Chloe hands her celestial weapons back.
Lucifer tells Michael to bend the knee and then activates the Flaming Sword. He cuts off Michael’s wings and announces, “no more killing.” He gives his brother a second chance.
Lucifer has no idea how he is still alive, but then Amenadiel nods and kneels — everyone else kneels, including Michael. Thus, the ending of Lucifer season 5, episode 16, implies that Lucifer is God.
Questions from Lucifer season 5, episode 16 — the ending
But we have plenty of questions — how an earth did Lucifer come back? One theory is that in order to be God, you have to prove you are worthy. Lucifer proved his worth by sacrificing himself to save Chloe in Heaven. It’s a little similar to other myths, though I am citing Disney’s Hercules, whereby the hero heads into Hell to save his true love. And is Lucifer God? With everyone kneeling, it appears he has the unanimous vote — the way he returned to earth would also imply he is God — he had a booming voice as he called for Chloe.
However, anything is possible in Lucifer, and we can only assume for now, while the real answers come in season 6.
Additional points
- Maze is in emotional pain — she misses Dan incredibly. Linda tells her that when you care about people, you have to go through pain and loss.
- Maze makes Eve at the Lux club under a name called Steve to fool her. She tells Eve that she’s decided that she doesn’t care if she dies (which is romantic and sweet in its context). Maze wants to be with Eve, and they are both happy to be with each other.
