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In s01e01, Amenadiel says to Lucifer, trying to persuade him to go back to hell:

What exactly do you think happens when the Devil leaves Hell? All of those demons, all of those tormented and tortured souls, where do you think they'd go?

In s01e07, he says more along the same lines:

Luci, since your grand departure from Hell, I've been the one that's had to patrol the gates. I've been the one keeping damned souls from slipping loose, a job, by the way, that I loathe.

Yet, in s03e07 Lucifer reveals that

all doors in Hell are open. The souls may leave anytime, but they never do because their own sense of guilt holds them there.

So why (in and out-universe) did Amenadiel give a rather different picture of what's going on while Lucifer is on his "vacation"?

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In Universe

At the end of season 4:

A whole bunch of demons decides to leave Hell and to go to earth.

As far as we know, this was the first time something like this happened in a very long time (since Lucifer forbid the practice).

However, it is possible that after Lucifer's departure from Hell some demons remembered this "old" practice, thought it was fun and decided to do it again (and thus leaving Hell) since the boss wasn't around to prevent them from doing so.

So, when Amenadiel says:

Luci, since your grand departure from Hell, I've been the one that's had to patrol the gates. I've been the one keeping damned souls from slipping loose, a job, by the way, that I loathe.

It might be possible that "damned souls" actually refers to demons.

As for the other citation:

What exactly do you think happens when the Devil leaves Hell? All of those demons, all of those tormented and tortured souls, where do you think they'd go?

It is possible that Amenadiel was trying to depict a darker picture than the reality. He might have added "all of those tormented and tortured souls" for emphasis, not realizing that tormented souls actually don't escape (because they are trap by their own guilt).

After all, this isn't Amenadiel's usual job. So it would make sense that he doesn't know that much about it. Especially since talking about Hell and Lucifer might be a bit taboo in Heaven (after all Lucifer did try to overthrow God and failed and was punished for it).

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  • That still leaves the "All of those demons, all of those tormented and tortured souls, where do you think they'd go" though! Unless the second part here is another synonym for those demons, which I guess is possible, but is certainly not the first interpretation that comes to mind.
    – GSerg
    Aug 22, 2020 at 15:23
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    @GSerg Maybe Amenadiel just added "all of those tormented and tortured souls" for emphasis? And maybe he didn't realize that tormented souls actually don't escape because they are trap by their own guilt? After all, this isn't Amenadiel's usual job. So it would make sense that he doesn't know that much about it. Especial since talking about Hell and Lucifer might be a bit taboo un Heaven (after all Lucifer did try to overthrow God)
    – Ælis
    Aug 22, 2020 at 16:08
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In Universe

This may be a case of splitting hairs but there is presumably a difference between the demons and the tortured souls.

For example, Mazikeen is a demon and she was able to leave hell without issue. She wasn't a human that sinned, died and was in hell as a result of her lifestyle. She was presumably born there (daughter of Lilith? I don't recall)

Tortured and damned souls perhaps make a show of trying to break loose but their own guilt causes them to foil their own plans like a Bond Villain

Perhaps, Amenediel was trying to manipulate Lucifer into returning to Hell to maintain order.

Out of Universe

This sounds to me like a Ret-Con. Remember that this was a comic book series spin off of Sandman. As such, there is a long history of twists and surprise moments that the writers can pull from or ignore altogether.

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    The difference between devils and damned souls is not splitting hairs. Angels, including fallen angels or devils, and humans are theologically totally different. It isn't like the difference between different species of biological beings, more like the much larger differences between animals and plants, or between lifeforms and electricity, or between matter and energy, between the letter "E" and the color orange, or between yourself and Einsteins's Theory of Relativity. It is supposed to be an incredibly vast difference.
    – M. A. Golding
    Aug 17, 2019 at 19:51
  • Take it up with Amenediel or the writers for his dialogue, that is the "In Universe” part of the answer, where Einstein’s theory of Relativity may not hold unless specifically addressed.
    – m1gp0z
    Aug 18, 2019 at 20:20
  • @M.A.Golding It might be worth to notice, that if the show follows the Vertigo multiverse, certain very determined (read: evil) humans can ascend to demonhood. For example, Constantine accidentally creates a demon version of himself by sending to hell a part of his soul containing all the evil he has ever done. Tl, dr - there is a difference, but not as huge.
    – Yasskier
    Aug 24, 2020 at 2:54

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