The entire first season of Empire (which seems like decades ago at this point) was centered on Lucious Lyon slowly dying of ALS and having to choose a son to be his successor. But as it turns out, Lucious has myasthenia gravis instead, which is not as severe as ALS, and things are mostly fine. Until now, that is. Will Lucious Lyon die on Empire? Previews for future episodes show him in critical condition.
According to Myasthenia.org, myasthenia gravis is “a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disorder that is characterized by fluctuating weakness of the voluntary muscle groups.” That explains why doctors thought that Lucious’ muscle weakness was ALS and not MG, but it doesn’t explain (yet, at least) why Lucious is in bed with a breathing apparatus strapped to his face. My guess is that his MG is acting up, because the myasthenia website lists “difficulty breathing” as one of the common symptoms, along with “weakness in the arms and legs” and “chronic muscle fatigue.” Lucious is in bed, and he can’t breathe, so I’m going to take the medical degree I earned watching every episode of E.R. and Grey’s Anatomy and say this MG could be the case. Call me Dr. Drama, because I’ve seen everything. It could also be lupus, because on House, M.D., lupus was always an option.
Lucious’ health may be failing, and now, he’s an even bigger target. If I were Anika, I would pull the plug and take all of his money — they never signed a prenuptial agreement before they got married. I don’t think a world without Lucious Lyon would be so bad of a world, honestly. Maybe then Anika and Cookie and the Lyon brothers could live in a world of perfect harmony, jaunty berets, and killer fur coats. It’s a dream, but it could be a reality.
