Warning: SPOILERS for Lucifer Season 5, Part 2.
God (Dennis Haysbert) lost his powers and became mortal in Luciferseason 5, part 2, which placed the universe in a dire predicament. Although only Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside), and the other angels truly understood what it meant that their Almighty Father was losing His heavenly touch, God’s arc in Lucifer set up His eventual exit from the universe – and for one of His sons to replace him – which was God’s divine plan all along.
Of course, God has been a significant presence in Lucifer long before the Creator finally appeared in human form at the end of Lucifer season 5, part 1. Although it was an absolute shock when God materialized on Earth to break up the brawl between Lucifer, his nefarious identical twin brother Michael, and Amenadiel at the LAPD’s headquarters. Previously, God’s ex-wife the Goddess (Tricia Helfer) was a major player in Lucifer, and she took over the body of attorney Charlotte Richards before the Goddess ultimately left to rule her own universe. But as one would expect, God taking on physical form in Lucifer is a game-changer for the series and for the Devil himself.
Related: Michael Is The Villain Lucifer Needed All Along
At first, it seemed like God simply wanted to bring his squabbling family together for a simple family dinner but that ultimately wasn’t the case. Despite being all-powerful and all-knowing, God was also revealed to be as susceptible to the same kinds of flaws as his sons, and Michael was exploiting their Heavenly Father all throughout Lucifer season 5 (and even before that). God turned out to be emotional and vulnerable, in His own way, but there was much more going on to the dilemma of God’s powers behaving strangely before He decided to lose his powers altogether and become a human for a short time. While God works in mysterious ways, here’s what was really happening to Lucifer‘s father in season 5, part 2.
Michael Gaslighted God Into Thinking He Was Losing His Powers
Michael was certainly playing the long game throughout Lucifer season 5, but his endgame was always to replace his heavenly father as the new God. Michael’s sojourn on Earth to try to seduce Chloe Decker (Lauren German) and wreak havoc in Lucifer’s life was just a small part of his overall scheme, which began after Amenadiel left his role at God’s side so that he could live on Earth among humans. Although God wouldn’t speak directly to Michael, the opposite wasn’t true and Michael slid into Amenadiel’s seat at the Silver City to begin “advising” God. But what Michael was really doing was planting the doubt in God’s mind that He was losing His powers. Michael succeeded in making his Heavenly Father start to doubt His abilities so that He began believing He was making mistakes.
What Michael hoped to achieve by impersonating Lucifer, turning the Devil’s friends like Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) against him, and pushing Lucifer’s buttons was to cause enough chaos so that God would finally leave Heaven and come to Earth to put a stop to his family’s infighting. This is exactly what occurred, and Michael then played the role of the supplicant son, allowing Lucifer to air his lifelong grievances. But it was important for Michael that God stayed on Earth for a while and that God even banished him from returning to the mortal realm. This allowed for both God to continue doubting His powers and thinking He was making mistakes while Michael remained in the Silver City to play the victim while rallying his fellow archangels to his side when he made his move to replace God.
What Really Happened To God’s Powers in Lucifer Season 5
God spending time in Los Angeles was very amusing for Lucifer‘s fans but not so much for the Devil or his friends, like Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro), whom God briefly exploded when they met because Detective Douche was in a relationship with God’s ex-wife, the Goddess. God enjoyed himself following Lucifer around at his job but His powers also seemed to go awry at times, and it wasn’t 100% clear whether God was purposefully making Lucifer and those around him sing and dance in the musical episode, “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam”, or if God’s powers were indeed malfunctioning. God always smiled knowingly and kept the truth to Himself, with everyone chalking it up to His “mysterious ways”.
But what really happened was that when Michael managed to gaslight God to doubt His own abilities, he used self-actualization against his own father. Michael must have realized before Amenadiel and Lucifer did that a celestial being’s physical and spiritual sides are tied together. Since an angel can physically self-actualize their fears of their own worthiness, as Michael did with his own “injured” shoulder, it turned out the same can happen to God. Hence, once God starting doubting Himself and his powers thanks to Michael, the Almighty self-actualized His own powers going on the fritz.
God’s temporary solution was to become mortal, all the better to enjoy tagging along on one of Lucifer and Chloe’s cases and enjoy the perks of being human, like actually being surprised without His omniscience or drinking a Slurpee. But as a mortal who was self-actualizing being flawed, God’s memory played tricks on Him and He forgot where he placed his powers. After speaking with Chloe’s daughter Trixie (Scarlett Estevez), God remembered that He temporarily placed His powers in His grandson Charlie’s baby rattle. Once God returned to full power, He left Earth again to carry out the final phase of His plan.
God’s Plan In Lucifer Season 5 Was Retirement So The Devil Would Replace Him
The end result of Michael’s attempts to manipulate his Heavenly Father was that God realized that He did want to retire. To hear God tell it, He has been in charge of all of reality since the Big Bang and was simply tired. God also wanted time to come to terms with what He learned from his stay on Earth with Lucifer, the Devil’s friends, and God’s own family. Lucifer suggested Amenadiel take their father’s place as the new God but after some contemplation, Amenadiel realized being God wasn’t what he wanted for himself. Instead, Lucifer decided he was the Devil for the job, although Lucifer secretly wanted ‘the promotion’ to God because he felt it would mean that the Devil would finally become worthy of Chloe Decker’s love.
Thanks to Lucifer, who sent his sister Gabriel to the other universe to fetch their mother, the Goddess was able to come to Earth long enough to finally reconcile with her husband. God and Goddess then left Earth for her universe, where God could enjoy His retirement with His wife. Of course, this left Lucifer‘s universe without a God, which led to the Devil and Michael declaring their intent to become the new Almighty while the archangels were left to decide whose side they would be on. Making his children take sides between Lucifer and Michael was also part of God’s plan and the end result God intended was for Lucifer to finally tell Chloe he loves her and sacrifice himself for their love to earn Godhood.
Since Lucifer won the war and became God at the end of Lucifer season 5, it must mean that God ultimately did intend Lucifer to replace Him and that was His master plan all along. But because God moves in mysterious ways, it’s impossible to know for sure – unless God returns and resumes being the Heavenly Father in Luciferseason 6.
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