How AHS: Apocalypse Fixed Tate & Violet’s Romance (& Broke It Again)

How did American Horror Story: Apocalypse fix Tate and Violet’s relationship only to tear it apart again? The messed-up romance between Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) and Violet Harmon (Taissa Farmiga) dates back to the first season of the FX anthology series, AKA American Horror Story: Murder House. The pair met when Violet moved into the titular haunted house with her dysfunctional family and Tate started seeing her psychiatrist father Ben for therapy. The troubled teens bonded over their respective woes and fell in love, but their relationship wasn’t smooth sailing.

It was soon revealed that Peter’s Tate Langdon was a ghost and was shot to death by a SWAT team after committing a shooting at his high school. In response, an overwhelmed Violet attempted suicide with Tate seemingly saving her from death. In reality, however, Violet’s attempt was successful and Tate hid from her the fact she was also a ghost by stashing her body in the house’s crawl space. Despite continuing their romance after learning she was a ghost, Violet eventually broke up with Tate when she discovered he’d assaulted and impregnated her mother Vivien (Connie Britton) with a demonic baby that caused her to die during childbirth.

Though their relationship was hugely problematic, Tate and Violet became a fan favorite American Horror Story couple. Consequently, the fandom was pleased when both characters were reintroduced in the show’s eighth season American Horror Story: Apocalypse which chronicled the end of the world brought about by the Antichrist who just so happened to be a grown-up Michael Langdon (Cody Fern) – the child Tate sired with Vivien in season 1. In the episode “Return To Murder House”, witch Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts) informed Violet that Tate wasn’t evil but rather a vessel for the dark forces in the house that used him to create Michael.

The episode ended with Tate and Violet reconciling, but unfortunately, the star-crossed lovers’ reunion would be short-lived. To prevent the upcoming apocalypse, Billie Lourd’s character Mallory traveled back in time and killed a young Michael Langdon. While Mallory’s actions saved the world from the end times, they also effectively erased the timeline in which Tate and Violet reunited, meaning the ghostly couple never got their happy ending after all.

That said, there may be a slither of hope that Tate and Violet’s relationship survived the timeline erasure. Back in American Horror Story: Murder House, medium Billie Dean Howard (Sarah Paulson) stated that spirits aren’t affected by time so it could be the case that Tate and Violet are still together despite Mallory’s timeline shenanigans. However, considering the problematic nature of their romance, it’s debatable whether that’s a good or a bad thing.