WARNING: The following contains spoilers for American Gods Season 3, Episode 9, “The Lake Effect,” which aired Sunday on Starz.
Throughout the entirety of American Gods, Mr. Wednesday has been gearing up for war. As the New Gods gain prominence in contemporary America, the Old Gods lose relevance and their powers diminish. Wednesday sees the New Gods as a threat to himself, the Old Gods and humanity, so he’s taken it upon himself to wage a war, dragging other deities and his son, Shadow Moon, into this fight; however, the latest episode of Season 3, “The Lake Effect,” reveals Wednesday has had a surprising change of heart.
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In the most recent episodes of American Gods, Wednesday has been dealt some major blows. His former wife, Demeter, has abandoned him, likely due to his obsession with war. Many of his mortal followers have been murdered, and the person behind this happened to be one of Wednesday’s oldest allies, Tyr. This betrayal led to Wednesday killing his former friend, so when Episode 9 kicks off, it’s unsurprising that he is reevaluating how he approaches this war.
However, it is surprising that he would consider discussing peace at all with the New God’s leader, Mr. World. It’s not like Wednesday, a war god, to turn down war, especially given his history. Regardless, Wednesday and Cordelia are settled on this new path for the Allfather, heading off to Czernobog’s to explain the plan. Czernobog has been an ally of Wednesday’s since Season 1, and he’s always been one of the more violent gods. Even after Zorya’s death, he still agrees to fight beside Wednesday and the Old Gods, so the notion of peace deeply frustrates him.
He tries to remind Wednesday that there will never be peace with the New Gods, and if they give up, then the Old Gods will be forgotten. However, Wednesday is oddly hopeful, remarking that there will be some devoted followers who will continue to tell their stories. This is not enough to reassure Czernobog, who says that they need to also protect those who do believe in them, so giving up would harm the Old Gods and their followers.
While Czernobog disagrees deeply with peace, he eventually agrees to be Wednesday’s second during the peace talks. At the meeting, Wednesday gets to the point, proposing that war harms both parties, demeaning godhood as a whole, but Mr. World hijacks the peace talks. The New God then proposes that the Old Gods can either “peacefully” disappear on their own terms or they can be hunted down, so at the end of the day the Old Gods will no longer exist no matter what.
This angers Czernobog, and he offers to fight this war with or without the Allfather. He would also do what Wednesday originally planned, bringing in the other Old Gods to fight by his side. While this turn gets Wednesday to stop the peace talks, he remains silent about what his next approach will be; however, regardless of what he was thinking, Laura Moon arrives to the scene and fulfills her destiny, impaling Wednesday with Gungnir.
The New Gods made a deal with Laura to have her kill Wednesday on their behalf so the Old Gods wouldn’t suspect them. This, along with the New Gods’ plans to eradicate every Old God, doesn’t bode well for Wednesday’s former allies, especially with war appearing to be inevitable.
Based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, American Gods stars Ricky Whittle, Emily Browning, Bruce Langley, Yetide Badaki, Ian McShane, Omid Abtahi and Ashley Reyes. The series airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Starz.
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