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âJust because he told us his plan doesnât mean thatâs his plan. Itâs Uriel.â
Iâve been thinking about Uriel. And Iâve been wondering how much of the pattern he could see at any given moment. Because heâs an angel; an immortal. A human minute is not the same to an immortal being who doesnât have to live within the concept of a lifespan of perhaps 80-90 years. Does Uriel see patterns of days? Yes; he claims pressing the key will kill Chloe in two days. Does he see months? Years? Is it a clue that, when talking about Mum, he says, âSheâs been here, what? Three minutes? Now youâre already defending her.â
Because hereâs the real question: Why does Uriel bring Azraelâs blade to Earth? (And why, for that matter, does Azrael let him? Death is always watching.) We, the audience, think itâs because heâs going to use it to kill Mum. We think that because itâs the conclusion Lucifer jumps to, and even though we have seen Lucifer jump to many many wrong conclusions in the past, we believe him. Not only that, Urielâs very appearance, I believe, plays on audience-held prejudices and biases.Â
Before Uriel, every celestial we meet is tall and strong and beautiful. We trust Lucifer because heâs our POV character, even though we know that his own feelings and emotions and history make him an unreliable narrator. We have seen the beautiful favorite son, firstborn angel Amenadiel fall in slow motion and then crawl haltingly back toward the light. Weâve seen Amenadiel do good things and we trust him, too, especially when Lucifer grows to trust him.
When Uriel shows up, heâs shorter and thicker than either Lucifer or Amenadiel. His human form is older; he is not young and beautiful, his clothes are drab and either too baggy or too tight. And if first impressions donât ensure we already dislike him, Luciferâs attitude toward Uriel takes us the rest of the way---disparaging Urielâs trenchcoat as âpe/do/phile chic,â for example. Thatâs a laden word.
We, the audience, think we know what Lucifer thinks he knows: Uriel has come to hurt Chloe. Like Lucifer, we love Chloe and hate anyone who would hurt her. We distrust Uriel because his clothes, his appearance, his New York accent, his Mafiaesque vibe, like relying on âaccidentsâ to get what he wants and ensure his outcomes (Hell, the actorâs connection to The Sopranos) encourage us to. Kimo breaks legs for the Mob in the same episode weâve got an Italian American actor known for major gangster-related roles pulling strings; these things are rarely coincidental with the Lucifer writers.
This episode is about appearances. Lying about them. Changing them. Pretending to be something youâre not. Amenadiel pretends to still be a powerful angel; Chloe pretends sheâs not as upset about the accident as she is; Kimo pretends he still has movie star money; Jamie Lee pretends she still loves Kimo; the manager pretends he has Kimoâs best interests at heart; Kimo and Wesley pretend to be enemies; Chloe reads Coraline--appearances!!--to Trixie. What is Uriel pretending to be? How, perhaps, is his appearance at odds with his truth?
Uriel pulls out Azraelâs blade after explaining, âDadâll do the same thing [forgive Mum], heâll let his guard down, and then sheâll destroy him. I need to make sure that doesnât happen.â If we look at the events of âGod Johnson,â this is exactly what happens. The God we see in God Johnson may not be the full power of the Almighty, but we know He has some of Godâs essence, some of His memories. Itâs not just the healing power of life; God knows Lucifer as Samael without prompting. And we know that iteration of God is willing to forgive. Mum is the one we know isnât interested in forgiveness because she tells us again and again that sheâs got an axe to grind and boy she canât wait to get at the sharpener.
God, after all, is still an enigma---as âThe Weaponizerâ reminds us with Luciferâs angry speech about how no one knows what He wants, and the various grace notes peppered throughout the episode reminding us everyone is essentially blind when it comes to Godâs actual wants/plans/needs---âNobody bloody knows because the selfish bastard wonât just tell us!â That this is immediately followed by âThereâs my Lightbringerâ in an episode that is going to introduce us to the flaming sword is not a coincidence. Mum means Lightbringer as truthbringer, I think; shedding light in the darkness. Itâs one of the many meanings of Luciferâs name and his insistence on never lying.
But back to Lucifer and Uriel at the church. Lucifer is the one who points out itâs Azraelâs blade; he explains its power; he says, âNo Heaven, no Hell, just gone.â
Uriel replies, âFinally a moment of clarity between us.â
But is it the clarity we, the audience, think it is? Is it the death we (and Lucifer) assume Uriel is planning? Because when we get to the finale (Uriel says, âMaybe Iâm working up to a big finale.â), isnât that what happens? Lucifer slices open the universe and Mum leaves. No Heaven. No Hell. Just gone.
Lucifer, still assuming Uriel intends to use the blade on Mum, says, âYouâve gone completely insane, brother.â
And Uriel says, âIâm doing what has to be done, and youâve run out of time. I donât care about your deal with Dad, I donât care about your little human, but itâs obvious you care for her a tad more than you do Mom. Now, all I need to do is hit this one little key, right here. A sequence will begin and two days from now, your cute little human will finally die. So, Lucifer, you can either let that happen or you can give me Mom. Last chance. You choose.âÂ
The bolding is mine; Iâll come back to it in a moment. But first, hereâs the thing: Uriel doesnât tell us what it is he cares about, not in so many words. What can we infer? That he doesnât want Heaven to go to war. He doesnât want the Universe to be destroyed by Mum and Dad fighting. He looked up to his siblings and kept trying to play with them, even when they rejected him, and even when, as Lucifer says, it was âstrange, considering he already knew what the outcome would be.â So what is he doing here? Revenge? I donât think so. Thatâs Mumâs thing. He couldâve killed Amenadiel. He couldâve used Azraelâs blade on Lucifer.
Why does Uriel bring Azraelâs blade to Earth? If itâs to âkillâ Mum, why are his last words to Lucifer about âthe pieceâ? If Urielâs plan was to avoid Mum returning to Heaven, being forgiven, destroying Dad (and possibly the Universe in the process, including his siblings), why would he tell Lucifer what he needs to know to fix the flaming sword? The cut-through-the-gates-of-Heaven, maybe-Lucifer-wouldâve-succeeded-in-his-rebellion-if-heâd-had-it flaming sword?
What if Uriel saw a different outcome all along?
Back to Urielâs monologue, then, and his actions on Earth. These actions seem focused on Lucifer; he only deals with Amenadiel because Lucifer adds that variable. He doesnât seek Amenadiel out. There, I think, we see the actions of the frustrated, stubborn, rejected little boy whose siblings never played with him. But I donât think that kind of vengeance (or even justice, some might say) is why Uriel involves himself. I think, on some level, Uriel believes Lucifer is the only one who can come close to understanding him (though I wonder if Uriel and Azrael didnât hatch part of this plan together, both being young and small and not the best or brightest or most beautiful).Â
Think about it. If Uriel was always rejected and excluded, who of his siblings can now understand that best of all? He needs Lucifer to help him but he also knows he canât just ask Lucifer to help him; Lucifer is paranoid and distrustful. Lucifer might say no. The pattern might change. Perhaps Uriel has seen all the ways it will never work just to ask.
So Uriel goads him. Finds his weaknesses. Plays on them. Exactly like Mum is doing to Lucifer. Only Urielâs doing it to try and save everything, whereas Mum is doing it to get Lucifer and Amenadiel to help her âretakeâ Heaven; war is always implied. Death is always implied. Patricide is implied.Â
In their fight, Uriel says, âPatterns are tricky like that; it takes time to get a real sense of them.â He looks Lucifer in the eyes. âI needed to study you a bit.â
Again, we assume because Lucifer assumes that Uriel means he had to study Luciferâs fighting style. But I donât think thatâs it---at least, not all of it. Uriel arranges the car accident; he watches Luciferâs reaction to it. Uriel arranges the confrontation between Kimo and Chloe; he watches Luciferâs reaction to it. Uriel gives Lucifer an ultimatum (Lucifer, who once rebelled against the Creator of the Universe because Lucifer asked, âWhy canât I choose my own way?â and Dad said, âBecause I said so.â).Â
Uriel goads Lucifer, knowing damned well that goading Lucifer is usually an efficient way to get him to do something. Tell him he canât. Insult the things he loves to get his ire up; Lucifer is impulsive and protective. Uriel suspected Chloe was a weakness---or, perhaps, even a source of change that makes Lucifer better. So he insults her, belittles her, attacks her, knowing Lucifer will shoot from the hip. Uriel says he doesnât care about her; he says he doesnât care about Luciferâs âdeal with Dadâ---we know Lucifer loves Chloe; we know Lucifer values the honor inherent in keeping his deals above all things. These words are very precise jabs at Luciferâs weaknesses, his Achilles heels. Uriel knows what heâs doing. And Lucifer doesnât see it; he falls for the âtrap;â he lets his anger drive him. (Later, Uriel also mocks and insults Mazikeen---Luciferâs favorite---but again, though he has the chance, he does not kill her. Heâs still trying to push Lucifer toward an action.)
But Uriel does give Lucifer what he most desires; choice---at least he says he does. The thing Lucifer wanted so badly that he ended up rebelling and being banished from Heaven for it. Here, too, a parallel between Lucifer and Uriel: Uriel is making choices here, something that would never have happened Before. He still looks up to his brother, still wants to be like him.
Mum says, âHeâs not going to give up until he has either me or that detective.â Asked to make this choice, Lucifer says, âI refuse to believe that. There is always another way.â
âIf anyone can find it,â says Mum, âitâs you.â
Because hasnât that always been Luciferâs role? To find loopholes? Other ways? To do the unexpected?
And believe it or not, I think Luciferâs ability to find other ways is what Uriel was counting on, too.
âYour pride was always going to be your undoing,â Uriel tells Amenadiel. (And doesnât everyone think/know that pride is Luciferâs thing too? Pride goeth, doesnât it?)
Ultimately, pride is Urielâs undoing, too. Like every other celestial weâve met, Uriel underestimates the intensity of Luciferâs loyalty to those he loves, human or not. Because the celestials donât âgetâ Luciferâs (or Godâs!) fascination with humanity, relegating them to the equivalent of toys or pets, they do not understand the lengths Lucifer will go to in protecting them. When Lucifer kills Uriel (because itâs the only other choice he sees, and Uriel has goaded him relentlessly into thinking this is true), and Uriel says, âI didnât see this coming,â itâs proof that Uriel---with all his patterns, all his prescience---still failed to accept that his celestial brother, his brightest brother, could possibly care enough about humanity to do the unthinkable.
Perhaps in the pattern Uriel thought most likely, Lucifer ended up working with him to build the flaming sword and banish Mum with it after they traversed this path. Perhaps he believed (wrongly, always wrongly) that he could manipulate Lucifer successfully (the way so many others have tried and failed to do). Perhaps he didnât understand that his brother does not negotiate with terrorists, especially those who hold the safety of his loved ones hostage. Uriel says he will take both Mum and the detective; he says, âYou canât stop me, brother.âÂ
Getting Lucifer to act by telling him what he can and cannot do.Â
And in that final moment, I think Uriel understands. In studying Lucifer, he missed the most important lesson. His brother isnât the man he once was; heâs changed. And this changed Lucifer might have been reasoned with. This changed Lucifer might have helped.Â
And so Uriel tells this changed Lucifer, âThe piece is here,â hoping that Lucifer will pick up the thread of the pattern that should have been, the one where everyone is saved, where Mum gets her own universe, where his family doesnât go to war with one another, where thereâs no Heaven, no Hell, just gone.
Uriel just wonât be there to enjoy it. In this pattern, his is the sacrifice that makes the best outcome possible. Hell, maybe he did know that all along, too. How sad that would be. To be your worst self in order to make the best outcome happen. When Uriel says, âYouâre lucky I would never use Azraelâs blade on you, brother,â is he planting the idea that becomes Lucifer using Azraelâs blade on him? How much of the pattern has he seen?
And I would like to believe, from one rejected brother to another, Uriel does see that his own actions led to this fratricide---and that he regrets it, because in making his brother a murderer, Uriel has potentially undone all the work that has gone into changing Lucifer for the better since last they met. (They call each other brother so often, even though they are, on the surface, enemies here. Brothers. Something that could have been and now never will. Even in dying---forever removed from existence---Uriel reaches for his brother, entrusts him with information. And somewhere in Luciferâs subconscious this gets stored not as a lie, but as help---because otherwise, HellUriel wouldnât be able to âtellâ Lucifer what he needs to be thinking about.)
Pride goeth before the Fall, and in this case, the Fall is a very final one---and perhaps neither Lucifer nor his brother actually âgot what they deserved,â no matter what Maze says. (âThe prick got what he deserved.â Lucifer doesnât think of him as a prick here, no. âHe was my brother,â he says, tortured. âWhat have I done?â)
And in a world without Chloe Decker, without Linda Martin, without people who love him back, I think Lucifer mightâve fallen all over again after killing Uriel. But he doesnât. And thatâs a change, too. A really damned important one.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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