American Gods weaves a wild narrative of deceit and betrayal among deities, but some parts of the second season's storyline fail to fall into place.
What good is a god without worshipers? How long can a god last without sacrifices last? Well, not long, if Wednesday's war is anything to go by. Both the old and the progressive gods won't stop at anything until Americans worship them, because, allegedly, that is the only way they stay alive. But, is this war of the gods really necessary?
There is just so much about Wednesday's war that doesn't make sense. When the first season of American Gods ended, it seemed as if the Old Gods were winning, but that never lasted into the second season. Wednesday's allies continued to lose against Mr.World. The second season also introduced the supernatural side of Shadow Moon, but it ended without answering lots of questions about the gods and their pawns.
This is the question that all fans have been asking since Wednesday met Shadow when he got out of that prison: why now? Wednesday and Mr. World have both been around for a long time, and Wednesday watched his popularity fade while World became more famous. The Old Gods have actually had lots of time to save themselves from extinction.
Despite all those years that Shadow and Laura were together making mistakes but being human, Wednesday and Sweeney don't seem to have cared much about them. As World changed the rules and got more popular, Wednesday just watched. So, why exactly is Wednesday fighting now killing all those poor Old Gods in the process?
The Lady of the Spring was the shocker of the first season when she converted vast fields into deserts at Wednesday's request. She had obviously accepted Wednesday's plea and joined the fight, which meant that World and his allies were losing, but that wasn't the case in season two.
She was only mentioned by Nancy, who told Wednesday that she wasn't coming because Wednesday killed her rabbits, which doesn't make any sense. Wednesday killed the bunnies before Ostara accepted to work with him, which means she didn't care much about the dead animals. She had a strong liking for Odin, trusting him to help her regain her throne and worship.
Mr. World nearly died in the season one finale when Odin summoned his lightning and struck him, but, somehow, he is still alive. Assuming he is a hard one to kill, the drought is something else altogether. Ostara sided with Odin and ended the Spring causing vast fields of America and probably the world to dry out in the first season.
The second season was supposed to start in a world in crisis, but it didn't; everything seemed green as ever. So, what exactly happened after that drought that Ostara brought? If there was a truce, or if the gods had a rethink or harsh their method of seeking worshipers, why didn't it extend into season two?
Laura was actually dead and buried by the time Shadow got out of prison, and things would have remained that way if Sweeney didn't give Shadow the wrong gold coin—or the right one, depending on your view on Laura. So, as Laura remains alive, Sweeney's luck diminishes, leaving him vulnerable to misfortune that shouldn't befall a Leprechaun. However, he can't take back his coin from Laura because she has to give it voluntarily, leading to what looks like his eventual death.
So, a body with no blood flow and maggots eating at it has stayed alive through two seasons of the show, with no warm blood and no life! She is not dying yet; she is dead, so what are the maggots eating at? Even if the maggots are remote controlled, they should have eaten at an artery or the brain that would cause her to collapse dead at one point.
In the first season at Ester's estate, Shadow witnessed Jesus turn water into wine again and again for his amusement, which was fun. There were different versions of Jesus at the party, actually, who didn't seem much interested in Wednesday's war.
According to Wednesday, the only thing that made Jesus a god was walking out of his grave on Easter. Ostara was a no-show in season two, as were all the Jesuses she had at her party in the first season. So, couldn't Wednesday convince at least one Jesus to fight on his side?
Odin, the God of War and the ruler of Valhalla and the dead, doesn't have any more worshipers, so he starts a war with new progressive gods, but why? Odin enjoys blood sacrifices as his worship, which will obviously not be offered by any Americans any time soon.
The other Old Gods who except Nancy seem very comfortable with the little to no worship they are receiving and are not willing to go on a killing spree for Wednesday. With Shadow skeptical of him and Sweeney probably dead, Wednesday seems to be fighting a losing battle. His war doesn't seem to have a direction or an endgame in sight.
Ever heard of a single car powerful enough to cause a trainwreck? Wednesday knew that Shadow was on the train and still wrecked it, which gave the impression that he probably doesn't care much about Shadow. Luckily, only Laura got her limbs chopped off, which could easily be sewed back on by Ibis.
The main shocker was the cause of the wreck; Wednesday's 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood which seemed to have evolved into a whole other train when Wednesday left it on the track. After Wednesday said goodbye to Betty, calling her the Barbarian and the berserker, promising to meet her in her reincarnation, she seems to have listened and done things that cars just can't do. So, what exactly was she made of?
Mad Sweeney, played by Pablo Schreiber, is probably the unluckiest Leprechaun in the history of mythology and TV, all because he fell into Wednesday's debt. He made the mistake of losing his lucky coin to Shadow, who, in turn, used it to raise Laura from the dead, leaving Sweeney with no luck.
Finding himself in any Leprechaun's worst place was caused by his debt to Wednesday. He killed Laura to pay the debt and dragged shadow into trouble for the same debt. Staying around Wednesday has cost the poor Leprechaun everything in the world, but the debt doesn't seem to be fully paid yet. So, what exactly did Wednesday do for Sweeney that is so costly?
Shadow Moon, Wednesday's poor pawn that later turned out to be his son, was the human half of American Gods. Unlike Sweeney, Shadow didn't owe Wednesday anything. He was just an abandoned loner that lost everything all thanks to Wednesday.
While everything fell apart for him and he was sent to prison, Wednesday didn't lift a finger to help him until he got out of prison. With Wednesday's interest in Shadow came many enemies that Shadow didn't have before that nearly got him killed. So, where was Wednesday all these years, and why didn't Shadow's powers come in handy while he was beaten senseless in the streets?
Ibis is the Egyptian God who now disguises himself as the owner of a funeral parlor in Cairo to continue receiving bodies. His job is to take the souls of the dead from this world to the next, so he doesn't care whose bodies they belonged to. He still tolerates Wednesday, though, maybe because Nancy is his friend, but he doesn't seem very interested in his cause.
Ibis is also cunning and seems to get ahead of every other god including Wednesday and Nancy. His treatment of Shadow and Laura is also sympathetic, suggesting that he doesn't approve of how Wednesday has misused the poor couple, which begs the question of whether he is Wednesday's ally or enemy.
