WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Lucifer Season 5B, streaming now on Netflix.
After nearly a year, Season 5 of Netflix's Lucifer has come to a close. What appeared to be just another conflict between the celestial siblings, Lucifer and his twin Michael, grew into a climactic battle for the Silver City and existence itself. And after the battle came to a conclusion, the show left Lucifer in a place even long-time fans never expected him to be.
In the season finale, after temporarily losing Chloe and retrieving her soul from Heaven, Lucifer is seemingly obliterated -- vanquished by Heaven itself, as per the rules of Lucifer's banishment. Yet, as Chloe uses the supernatural abilities gifted to her by Lilith's ring and the Key to fight Michael, the Devil returns from what looked to be a permanent end. Only, evidently, Lucifer wasn't the Devil anymore. The angels and even Michael knelt before him as he realized he had earned the role of God.
So, now that the universe has someone new taking care of it, it's time to look at what fans can look forward to in Season 6. Throughout Season 5B, Lucifer planned his reign as God, though conflicted about his true reasons for wanting the ultimate throne. In the end, he accepted that he was doing it, not just because he would be better at it than his siblings, or really to keep Michael from acquiring it, but in his own misguided way, for love. While there were doubts about whether or not he would succeed in this endeavor, Chloe readily believed in him and started planning about what her life would be like.
Lucifer, unsurprisingly, has first and foremost been about the titular Devil's personal journey here on Earth. He's spent the last five years learning to live amongst humans, where once he saw himself above it all. Lucifer learned to enjoy tasks like solving crimes, value life and love those he thought lesser as he realized more and more how similar he was to everyone else. It could be argued that his new role as God is the natural conclusion to his journey.
Chloe surely guided his actions as well, but there's no doubt that his understanding of life's brevity and significance will shape his future as the ruler of Heaven. What that means is anyone's guess right now, but it's likely that fans will see Lucifer shed the last of his Devilish persona-- that is, the act that he puts on to hide from the world and himself. That doesn't necessarily mean he'll lose all that charm and charisma, just that he might be a bit more balanced. While his journey may include solving more crimes, it's also likely to include at least one adventure in Hell, at least to bring Dan's soul out from those torturous depths to Heaven. Considering his new divine position, let's pray to...well, Lucifer, for that to happen.
The only thing that is entirely uncertain is who the series' next Big Bad will be. Despite having the role of God, there are clearly those in the Kingdom of Heaven willing to try and overthrow him, and even the Almighty wasn't completely immune to Michael's trickery. However, with Michael's wings removed and the archangels undoubtedly made aware of his attempt to gaslight their father, it's unlikely they'll cause any more trouble. But while none the other archangels appeared to be as vehemently against Lucifer in Season 5B as Michael, that doesn't mean at least one of them won't attempt their own rebellion.
But what makes this uncertainty all the more interesting is the fact that next season is going to be Lucifer's last. Showrunner Joe Henderson teased that Season 6, which has completed filming, will be "wildly different" from anything fans of the Netflix series have seen so far. So, with the Devil ruling over Heaven, truly everything is up in the air.
Lucifer stars Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar, Lauren German as Det. Chloe Decker, D.B. Woodside as Amenadiel, Rachael Harris as Dr. Linda Martin, Kevin Alejandro as Det. Dan Espinoza, Lesley-Ann Brandt as Mazikeen Smith and Aimee Garcia as Ella Lopez. Season 5B is now on Netflix.