Diksha Sundriyal
FX’s ‘American Horror Story: 13’ begins with a plane crash survivor named Ben taking a job as a hospice worker for a rich old man, Mr. Nas. Soon, however, he starts to feel that something is not right about his employer, and with each episode, he stumbles upon something that unsettles him even more. Still, there are very few people who can walk into a building that has a literal portal to hell in its basement and leave it with their body and soul intact. The fourth episode of the series reveals a major hint that could answer several questions about Ben, while paving the path for the eventual revelation of what purpose he actually serves in the grand design being executed by Constance. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Ben’s Connection to Satan is Highlighted by the Number 13
One of Ben’s defining traits is his fear of the number 13. And perhaps, because of his fear, the number seems to follow him everywhere since his birth. In the fifth episode, Ben tells Ashley how he came to have triskaidekaphobia. It turns out that he was born on Friday the 13th. His mother died in childbirth, and his father died a few years later in a car crash. Ben also mentions that he was brought up by a group of people who seemed to be churchgoers but never really attended a service. They also worshipped him! Following his father’s death, Ben was sent into foster homes, and not surprisingly, it was the 13th parent who finally gave him the love and care he always craved.
Unfortunately, she died on Ben’s 13th birthday due to cancer. This tragic recurrence of the number 13 explains why anyone would be afraid of encountering it again. Sure enough, on another Friday the 13th, his girlfriend dies on a flight that repeated 13 over and over like an alarm bell. Ben’s connection to the number, despite his fear, is clearly not a coincidence, considering how Mr. Nas, aka Satan, is also obsessed with the same. It is the sacrifice of 13 people that raises his blood markers. And leave it to Phibes to get 13 vials of his blood and explain the biblical importance of the number.
With every character serving a purpose, it wouldn’t make sense for Constance to hire simply anyone to take care of Mr. Nas. There is a reason Ben was chosen for the job. When she roofies him in Episode 3, she talks about him remembering who he really is. She also stops Tate from killing him. Later, Ben has a hallucination where he is fed something from the chalice by two different versions of Mr. Nas. Later, Phibes talks about how Satan let his son drink from the chalice, which is a huge development.
The 616 Relates to the Number of the Beast
To drive the point of Ben’s true identity home, it is revealed at the end of Episode 5 that he has the number “616” branded on his lower back. Ashley points it out to him, and he has no idea how or when he got it, which tracks, since he doesn’t really have any clear memories from his childhood. The number is interesting because, according to a 2005 discovery related to the New Testament, 616 is believed to be the original number of the Beast, not 666. The show’s choice of 616 over 666 lends further credence to the theory that Ben is Satan’s son, since, once again, we see the number 13 (6+1+6) recurring.
This is not the first time the show has presented the Anti-Christ child, but it remains to be seen whether Ben is someone we have encountered before (likely Devan) or someone entirely new. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he were revealed to be Devan. It would be interesting to see how much he has grown in a few years, since he was still a baby the last time we saw him. However, this sudden growth would also explain why he has little to no memories of his childhood and why the weird church people (clearly not God’s church, though) worshipped him. Above all, it remains to be seen if he is being fattened up to be a sacrifice for Mr. Nas, who has already had scores of people killed in groups of 13 to raise his biomarkers to 100 and reach his full potential so he can rule the world.
Read More: AHS 13: Is the Apollyon a Real Place in New York?
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