Lucifer Season 5 Explains How Michael Injured His Shoulder

Warning: SPOILERS for Lucifer season 5, part 2.

Luciferrevealed the reason why Michael (Tom Ellis), the Devil’s fiendish twin brother, has an injured shoulder. Returning for season 5, part 2 on Netflix, Lucifer‘s greatest game-changer arrived when God (Dennis Haysbert) materialized on Earth to break up His sons, Lucifer, Michael, and Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside), brawl at LAPD headquarters. When God called for a family dinner, old grudges and secrets among the archangels and their almighty father inevitably spilled out.

Michael is the main villain this season and the cause of his limp shoulder was one of the first half of Lucifer season 5’s unanswered questions. As Lucifer’s identical twin, Michael initially came to Earth and impersonated the Devil, taking over his life while Lucifer was back ruling Hell. However, Michael lacked his brother’s mojo and it wasn’t long before both Lucifer returned to Earth to expose him and Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) realized Michael was an imposter. Michael had a shady long game he was playing that involved turning Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) against Lucifer and manipulating Amenadiel’s fears about his infant son, Charlie. But Michael eventually resorted to more straightforward villainy by kidnapping Chloe. To prevent Michael from stealing his life again, Lucifer used a demon blade to carve a permanent scar on Michael’s face.

However, Lucifer season 5, part 2’s premiere, “Family Dinner”, finally answered the question of what was up with Michael’s shoulder. The initially cordial dinner between God, Lucifer, Michael, Amenadiel, and Dr. Linda Martin (Rachael Harris), the mother of Amenadiel’s son, quickly ignited into family squabbles. Of course, Lucifer and Michael got into it for reasons both ancient (Michael’s resentment that Lucifer got his own kingdom for rebelling against God) and recent (Lucifer calling Michael out for stealing his life and kidnapping Chloe). As tensions erupted, Michael and the Devil got face-to-face and Lucifer made clear what was wrong with Michael’s “injured” shoulder: “We were dealt the same hand, the same face, the same bloody shoulders except you had a chip on yours so big you managed to self-actualize it.”

Self-actualization is an ongoing plot device in Lucifer. It was Amenadiel who theorized that celestial beings like angels can determine their physical appearance as well as gain or lose their powers and abilities based on how they perceive themselves. What celestial beings subconsciously believe about themselves can be self-actualized since their physical and spiritual selves are tied together. In Amenadiel’s case, he lost his powers to manipulate time and even his wings for a while when he believed himself unworthy of being an archangel. Lucifer’s own powers and invulnerability ebbed and flowed throughout the series, which were largely determined by whether or not the Devil felt he deserved Chloe’s love.

Lucifer season 5 later revealed that God Himself can also self-actualize and He believed he was losing his omnipotence. But since it turned out this was part of Michael’s own manipulation of God, it means that Lucifer’s twin knows about self-actualization and he even used it to his advantage. Self-actualization also explained why Michael could still use his “injured” shoulder normally, such as when he was impersonating Lucifer. But since Michael’s shoulder is tied to his subconscious mind, his limp inevitably returns and will remain for as long as Michael bears the chip on his shoulder against his twin brother. Given how the Devil achieved the Godhood that Michael wanted for himself at the end of Lucifer season 5, it’s safe to say the chip on Michael’s shoulder will remain, perhaps permanently.

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