#i haven't rewatched s1 through this lens... so this might be SO incompatable with canon lol

[collidedscope]

After watching Good Omens 2, I have a bit of an out-of-the-box theory as to a plot twist that might be coming in s3: Crowley used to be Lucifer and had his pre-fall memory removed.

My evidence:

Crowley was the one who tempted Eve to eat the apple. According to the Bible, this was Lucifer's doing.

I'm pretty sure Crowley is the only entity who we know is able to stop time.

Adam is described as being "human incarnate"… But he was SUPPOSED to be Hell incarnate… what changed? Crowley. Crowley "went native" and so did his son.

[The more compelling pieces of info are from s2 and they are under the "keep reading". I spent a LOT of time on this so please give it a chance.]

Both Saraqael (the new archangel) and Furfur (the demon who made the Nazis zombies) immediately recognized Crowley, but he had no memory of either of them. It seems odd to include both of these instances within 6eps, especially considering the fact that other lines were removed for not being plot-relevant.

The convo with Saraqael: Throughout the conversation, Crowley has his smiling facade, but looks clueless (even surprised she knows him by name), and Muriel looks smug. "Hello Crowley. I didn't expect to ever see each other again." "Do we know each other?" "When you were an angel. We worked together on the Horsehead Nebula." "I meet a lot of people..." She then smirks and immediately changes the topic.

The convo with Furfur: "We have [met], haven't we?" "Have we?" Furfur looks incredulous that Crowley didn't recognize him on sight. "What do you mean 'have we'- you know we have. We were in the same legion... just before the fall...? Doing dubious battle on the plains of Heaven...? Remember?!?" "... Well, I remember going into battle, I don't remember being there with you- sorry." "Wha-? I was right next to you!!! We did loads together!!! You used to jump on my back like a monkey in a waistcoat!!!"

Crowley did not remember a very high-ranking person he collaborated with (on a project he was very passionate about). He also did not recognize someone he was very chummy with, even when he was reminded of specific events, even though Furfur had immediately recognized Crowley by name all these years later.

Crowley was able to open the confidential file on Gabriel. And when he did it, he looked like he was trying to open them... no sarcastic remark beforehand, no bragging about his previous position... just Crowley trying to open it. (As if he doesn't remember his rank.)

Crowley tells Aziraphale "I am NOT the angel you met"... I believe he meant this in the sense that he's truly not the same entity... he's not operating on the same memories that angel!Crowley was, and he isn't going to remember his experiences he had with Aziraphale as an angel,

The miracle that Aziraphale and Crowley did together (masking Gabriel) was described as an archangel-level miracle, enough to raise someone from the dead 25 times over. Now, maybe this was because A&C were working together.... however, they were under the assumption that this would make them less conspicuous.

In the instance of Gabriel being removed from the position of supreme-archangel, his memory was erased. He assumed he would be sent to Hell, and seemed to already have a plan for his memory to be erased- he immediately requested a box, Beelzebub had already gifted him the perfect place to hide his memory, and Gabriel had quickly carried everything out before anyone else was even suspicious. Almost like this had happened before and he knew what to expect. (And according to the Metatron, there was only ever one other "Prince of Heaven" who was removed and cast down to Hell.)

Now, the the Metatron was going to erase Gabriel's memory "as a kindness"... So what was the reasoning for erasing Lucifer's memory? Control. My guess is that Lucifer somehow messed up God's original plan... Just like how Crowley was the reason Armageddon failed (I acknowledge there were many reasons why Armageddon failed, but Crowley was the instigator and Crowley was the one who stopped time to prepare Adam.)

It makes sense that if someone upended your system, it would seem like a safe bet to erase their memories and stick them in a fairly low-level position, where they are barely able to interact with any powerful entities.

Who would now be in charge of Hell and why? My guess is that there's some demonic equivalent of the Metatron, and they are given power over Hell in exchange for pretending like there's still a Satan.

Then what was the Satanic monstrosity in s1e6?? idk man, i just go here. Maybe a paid actor or something. But Adam defeated it by saying "YOU'RE NOT MY DAD! You never were." and then it just... vanished??? into smoke???? That never made sense to me... like did fucking Satan just... die??? (Do not ask me what really happened or how Crowley didn't know he had a son.)

Okay now the big question: WHY????

We all know that Aziraphale still has a lot of unlearning to do when it comes to his ideology of "Heaven/angels= good, Hell/demons= bad". Because, SURE, there's been exceptions to this rule, and Aziraphale has come to understand that human morality is somewhat nuanced.

And sure, there's some "bad apple" angels like Gabriel, who just don't understand God's will. but he still believes that God is unequivocally good and Heaven will be too, as long as it's under good management.

Right now, Aziraphale views Crowley as some kind of exception, an anomaly. In Aziraphale's mind, Crowley should be an angel- there really must've been some mistake that he's supposed to be a demon.

And Aziraphale has believed this for MILLIONS OF YEARS. Since the beginning of existence, Aziraphale has been brainwashed. And I think the only thing that will break it is being presented with irrefutable proof that Crowley is Lucifer and having to figure out which one is false:

Crowley is not evil.

Lucifer is evil.

Crowley is Lucifer.

I think first, Aziraphale will disbelieve #3. He will refuse to believe Crowley is Lucifer until it's undeniably true.

Then, I think he will instinctually disbelieve #1. He will believe Crowley was lying, tempting him, tricking him all along.... until he is confronted by every undeniably nice thing that Crowley has ever done for him.

Then... #2 is the only one left. It must be wrong. Hell must not be inherently evil. Which means Heaven must not be inherently good. Which means everything has been a lie. It means Heaven and Hell are 2 sides of the same coin. It means a full dismantling of the system.

It means a full episode will be dedicated to a 50minute "I was wrong, you were right" dance.

I certainly believe this all lines up with Neil's description of s3 to be "Bigger, Louder, Final."