After teasing a Bloody Mary season for a few years, Ryan Murphy did an unexpected take on the character in American Horror Story: Delicate.

With American Horror Story: Delicate, Ryan Murphy finally offered the Bloody Mary appearance he hinted at a few years ago. Before the tenth season of Murphy’s anthology series, the writer and director created a poll for fans to vote on the theme of American Horror Story season 10. Bloody Mary was one of the options, though he ended up going in a different direction.

With the twelfth season, American Horror Story: Delicate, Murphy still hasn’t delivered the Bloody Mary season he teased in his poll. Instead, the season is based on Danielle Valentine’s book Delicate Condition, which shares similarities with American Horror Story: Coven. However, the latest episode of Murphy’s series included Bloody Mary in an unexpected way.

American Horror Story: Delicate Featured The Historical “Bloody Mary”

While Ryan Murphy didn’t center American Horror Story season 12 around the Bloody Mary folklore legend, he did find a way to include her. American Horror Story: Delicate episode 4 opens with the historical figure Mary Tudor, the first-ever queen of England. In the scene, Mary has just given birth to a baby, and when her sister Elizabeth visits her, she finds her in bed, covered in blood, claiming the baby is a monster. She soon gives her newborn up to two witches who harm Elizabeth, causing her to crawl out of Mary’s room when her sister demands she leave.

Obviously, this entire storyline with Mary Tudor was an invention of the show. The American Horror Story scene plays into the witch themes of Danielle Valentine’s Delicate Condition book. It also connects Mary to the Bloody Mary legend as it makes her a darker character than she actually was. In reality, Mary Tudor was nicknamed Bloody Mary because of the many deaths caused by her desire to restore Catholicism. Her religious policies resulted in many Protestants being executed, imprisoned, or forced into exile from the country.

American Horror Stories Makes It Unlikely AHS Will Do A Bloody Mary Season

While Ryan Murphy may have given fans the option of a Bloody Mary-themed season, an episode of the American Horror Story spinoff American Horror Stories suggests this might not happen. American Horror Stories season 2 episode 5 was titled “Bloody Mary” and was based on the folklore character. The episode follows a group of teenage girls who summon Mary through a bathroom mirror, hoping she can help them see their future.

Unfortunately, they soon learn the consequences of messing with her as she puts their lives at stake and is constantly spying on them. While Bloody Mary only appeared in one episode of American Horror Stories, the episode elaborated enough on the character and provided her with a complete story so that there isn’t much else for American Horror Story to do with her. It would be quite underwhelming for Ryan Murphy to reuse the Bloody Mary storyline for American Horror Story.