Lucifer season 5 part 2 ending explained: Who becomes the new God?

The final season of Lucifer will have a lot to cover in its 10-episode run as this latest chapter leaves a lot of questions hanging in the air, as the celestial world sees its biggest power shift since time began.

RadioTimes.com has your full explanation of the Lucifer season five ending – but be warned, major spoilers follow. If you want more of an oversight on the whole series, you can read our Lucifer review instead.

Lucifer season five part two ending explained

Lucifer season five part two picks up mere moments from where the midseason finale left off, with God (Dennis Haysbert) descending from the heavens to break up a fight between his celestial sons.

After a family dinner takes a turn for the worse, God tells his scheming son Michael to return to heaven and spends some time getting to understand the new life adopted by Lucifer (Tom Ellis) and Amenadiel (DB Woodside) in Los Angeles.

In an emotional confrontation with his most rebellious son, God confides that he believes he is losing control of his powers and has decided to retire for that reason.

However, after some investigation, Amenadiel later discovers that it was Michael who first "noticed" that God's abilities were becoming unstable, realising that his father was being gaslighted.

The brothers wasted no time relaying this information back to God, but he stuck to his decision to retire and moved to an alternate dimension to be with his wife, the Goddess (Tricia Helfer).

He does not publicly name a successor before leaving, resulting in his numerous celestial children organising themselves into two main factions: those supporting Lucifer's claim and those backing Michael.

It's the latter who enjoys the most support, using his connections in heaven and his brother's bad reputation to secure the majority vote, despite Lucifer's best efforts to turn the tide.

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Michael holds the election at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where he gathers his siblings and Lucifer is drastically outvoted – but the result is not unanimous.

Michael believes this is the reason why he is not immediately bestowed with God's powers, so he agrees to a one-on-one fight to the death with his brother and rival, Lucifer.

It is revealed that Lucifer and Chloe planned for this eventuality, as she intervenes at a crucial point in the battle to remove a key component from Azrael's Blade, stripping Michael of his greatest weapon.

However, things take a dark turn when Michael impales her on a broken staff and she bleeds out in Lucifer's arms, ascending to heaven as she relinquished her guilt in her dying breath.

Heartbroken and furious, Lucifer flies to heaven to bring her back even though it spells certain death for him, as he was banished from heaven millennia ago and will burn upon setting foot in the kingdom.

He is temporarily protected by the immortality stored in Lilith's ring but it will not protect him from his curse for long so he rushes to find Chloe with the help of former foe Lee Garner (Jeremiah Birkett).

In order to give her the power to break out of heaven and return to her mortal body on Earth, he transfers Lilith's ring to her and finally admits that he loves her before seemingly perishing on the spot.

When she awakes amid a celestial coliseum, she bests Michael in combat by wielding the power of Amenadiel's necklace and is moments from killing Michael when Lucifer appears to stop her.

Lucifer removes Michael's wings but does not kill him, believing now that everyone deserves a second chance.

He is initially confused as to how he survived his time in heaven, but it quickly becomes apparent: through his selfless and honourable actions, he has proven himself worthy of being God's successor and has inherited his immense powers.

The season ends with members of the Lucifer cast, mainly his friends and siblings – including Michael – respectfully bowing to him, as he exclaims: "Oh my me!" – thus acknowledging his status as God.

Plot details for season six are scarce at the time of writing, but it seems likely the final 10 episodes of the show will delve into Lucifer's vision for the universe as he settles into his powerful new job.

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Lucifer seasons four and five are available to stream on Netflix. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix or the best movies on Netflix.

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