The Empire Season 2 spring premiere started with a bang. Lucious is livid from losing his place in Empire Entertainment, while Cookie tries to get the company back by infiltrating from the inside. Andre and Rhonda are devastated from the loss of their son. Jamal feels happy to no longer be head of Empire and wants to focus on his music.
But what of Hakeem? The youngest Lyon is the only person who wants to run Empire, outside of Lucious, of course. Hakeem is currently Empire’s CEO, after Lucious bullied board member Jago Locke out of the position.
But how long will Hakeem remain head of his family’s company? At the end of episode 11, Lucious urged Hakeem to kill him and take complete control over Empire Entertainment, but Hakeem refused. Lucious then threatened to kill Hakeem the next time they meet.
But it appears Lucious cannot live up to his word. In a promo for episode 12 of Empire , Lucious is present and an event where Hakeem introduces himself as CEO. Instead of a gun, he holds a microphone, identical to the one Hakeem holds on stage.
We also see Hakeem unveil a new logo for Empire Entertainment, which features his likeness. The logo mimics the original logo of Empire, which features Lucious’ likeness staring up at the sky. The youngest Lyon seems serious about leaving Empire; however, other issues in his personal life threaten to get in the way of what he calls his “birthright.”
While we know Hakeem has always wanted to lead Empire, it remains to be seen whether his loyalties are truly with girlfriend Camilla, who also currently runs Empire, or with his family. In episode 11, Hakeem agreed to Cookie’s proposal for Empire to acquire Lyon Dynasty and to have Cookie be head of A&R for both companies. Currently, the only person who remains on the outside is Lucious, but with the episode 12 promo also showing him pointing a gun at Camilla, it is certain Lucious won’t quietly let his company be taken over.
Empire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on Fox.
