Castlevania (Season 3)
Spoiler warning for the entire show so far. I had a lot of feelingz yet this still ended up being even longer than I thought it would. I don’t expect anyone to read all of it. I bolded certain lines to make this easier to digest if anyone is interested.
Season 2 ended with:
1. Dracula allowing Alucard to kill him while Trevor and Sypha mostly watched.
2. Alucard deciding not to voluntarily sleep “forever” instead opting to sulk a lot.
3. Trevor and Sypha deciding to travel the country to rid it of monsters. Adventurers!
4. Isaac building an army of not-Innocent Devils (as in game canon). My understanding is Devil Forgemasters in the show create “night creatures” by summoning damned souls in and demons from hell to inhabit dead human bodies which transforms them into horrible but completely obedient monsters. I think they can also straight up resurrect dead humans into mostly mindless zombie-like creatures. This change from the games is really important in hindsight.
5. Carmilla kidnapping Hector with the implication that she will force him to build an army of not-Innocent Devils for her. How she plans on doing that is... well, she didn’t think that far. And that’s essentially Hector’s entire arc in Season 3.
Everyone else is dead.
Season 3 is good, not great. After surprise-killing Dracula (I doubt anyone expected it so soon), series writer Warren Ellis seemed like he had a pretty standard path forward then mostly stalled for half of the remaining players in Season 3. I don’t want to judge this too harshly because I appreciate long form storytelling when done correctly.
1. Alucard did next to nothing. He started losing his grip on sanity in like a month of isolation. Then, two former human slaves of one of the vampire lords (Cho) killed in Season 2 found Alucard and convinced him to train them. There was always something off about Taka and Sumi. After frolicking around with Alucard (seriously), they had sex with him (!), there were some anime-tiddies, then Alucard was forced to murder them when they tried to kill him for not showing them more things quickly. His entire season-long arc suggests he’s beginning to follow Dracula’s madness and disdain humans. Interesting take. I don’t think Ellis earned that. Additionally, the siblings weren’t especially interesting or likable. The show had been much better at characterization. Taka and Sumi may as well have been named Traitor and Betrayla.
2. Trevor and Sypha ended up in a town called Lindenfeld where they uncovered a plot by a weird cult/former priory that wished to resurrect Dracula. No major complaints here. This was my favorite thread of Season 3. It had the best supporting cast led by Bill Nighy as Saint Germain (one of the best characters in the entire show and SO much better than his game canon counterpart) and Jason Isaac as the Judge (Isaac previously voiced Satan in the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow reboot series).
There was a bit at the very end in which Trevor and Sypha discover the Judge has been sending the town’s children to their deaths (oddly implying he had time to dig up all those pits and install spikes in them) and creepily collecting their shoes which felt really tacked on and unnecessary. I suppose it kind of crushed Sypha’s spirit, but what purpose did that serve? Maybe we’ll find out in Season 4.
3. Isaac just seemed like he was having a really good time. Every time he runs into any kind of adversity, he quickly dispatches of his enemies. Isaac is in three of the best scenes of Season 3: his conversation with a sea captain (expertly voiced by Lance Reddick AKA that guy who shows up into any number of shows and movies that makes you say, “Hey, it’s that guy!”), another conversation with one of his not-Innocent Devils named Flyeyes, and his fight against Legion which Ellis awesomely included into the show. Admittedly, I didn’t really understand the point. It was cool, but I was also uncertain why it happened or needed to. I thought Isaac was going to use all of those dead bodies to bolster his army except it looked like he just fucked off and left the bodies there.
Ultimately, Isaac wants revenge on anyone who betrayed Dracula starting with Carmilla and Hector. It seemed like Ellis opted to have Isaac seek a path of enlightenment after Isaac conversed with the unnamed sea captain. Nope, seems like a straight up revenge tale which is too bad. I don’t hate it because I think I know where Ellis is taking this. However, I would have been interested to see Isaac regain some faith in humanity.
4. Carmilla took a backseat this season to her vampire “sisters”. It’s seeming increasingly likely that Carmilla is going down hard in Season 4 or 5. I am curious who eventually does it. I have theories.
5. And Hector. Yikes! Ellis has admitted that he just likes kicking Hector around, and boy does Hector get kicked around. Literally and figuratively. After being manipulated by Carmilla into betraying Dracula, Hector is kidnapped and forced to walk 800 miles naked. THEN, once they’re in Styria, fucking Lenore happens. Literally and figuratively. Lenore, one of Carmilla’s “sisters“ on the council, manipulated Hector into willfully becoming her slave through magic while they fucked. The council requires his fealty even if coerced because they need to control the army he forges in order for their plan to work.
Okay, so this is at once one of the most interesting and frustrating aspects of the show and season. The plan is clever; Hector falling for it is such a facepalm. Why would he trust a vampire ever again? That isn’t bad writing. Hector’s characterization is that he sucks at being a person. He’s too trusting, too easily manipulated; and he pays for it. He’s going to keep paying for it until he learns from it or dies.
Lenore has a weird following on the internet even though the implication is that she will be a future rapist. Ew! Stahp! Yes, Lenore is the only vampire who ever asked Hector what he wants (albeit with the intention of using that information to manipulate him), and she gives it to him.......... but in an evil monkey’s paw kind of way. Hector wants to feel safe, be free, and largely be left alone. Well, Lenore provides him a comfortable life in that he’ll have nice quarters, a seat at the council table, and can forge all the night creatures he wants (which is like the only thing he really aspires to do).......... as long as he does what he’s told including but not limited to fucking Lenore whenever she wants. Hector is still a prisoner, but with amenities.
I don’t remember the last time I felt this uncomfortable watching anything which is both praise and criticism of Warren Ellis. Praise because writers are supposed to make people feel things, and he certainly accomplished this. Criticism because Ellis hella leaned on the whole Hector-as-Lenore’s-pet thing. Seriously, it’s super-weird, almost fetish-like in execution. Lenore made Hector wear a leash and said “good boy” repeatedly. I cringed so hard I turned into a diamond, but I think Ellis’ intention was to make people uncomfortable and presumably not (entirely) because of his strange affinity for Hot Vampire Pussy®. Hector was either going to snap out of it or go full-blown sex slave. And here we are.
Here’s where I’m conflicted. So Lenore is awful and probably a future rapist (since Hector can no longer consent to sex) as she flat-out states her intention of having ALL THE SEX with Hector, demanding he get a big bed for explicit Hot Vampire Pussy®. Lenore now has complete control over Hector (more on where this may go later). Minus the implied future rape, isn’t this what Hector does as a Devil Forgemaster? The night creatures he creates are completely obedient to him and presumably not voluntarily. They are for all intents and purposes his pets/slaves. I never thought about it that way before, and now I feel gross and irresponsible because I didn’t hate Hector for displaying similar behavior. The show is very clear in conflating the two. Granted, he isn’t conniving nor is he fucking the night creatures, but the implication is that he absolutely can, right? He can do whatever he wants to the night creatures, and never seems bothered when they’re killed. We can’t even really make the argument that Lenore’s actions are different (or particularly worse) than Hector’s, notably because Lenore enslaved a human. Hector had been desecrating/repurposing dead human bodies and subjecting damned human souls into being his servants. If Lenore is terrible (she is), it follows that Hector is as well albeit without implied future rape. If we’re being fair, we can’t condemn Lenore’s actions without also condemning Hector’s. With all of that taken into consideration, my conflict is that I shouldn’t feel bad for Hector yet I still kind of do. There may be some residual thoughts of the unquestionably heroic (and admittedly flat and boring) Hector from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. I suppose it is necessary to acknowledge that Hector and Lenore are similarly terrible and feeling bad that Lenore took advantage of his childlike naïveté aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m still processing this.
We’re drawn to sympathize with Hector because he’s a person and bad things are happening to him. We don’t think of the night creatures in the same way even though we probably should. Isaac’s conversation with Flyeyes shows that some night creatures (at least partially) remember their former lives. Additionally, Flyeyes actually thanks Isaac for his second chance at living even as a grotesque monster to which Isaac seems almost disturbed (there was no payoff... yet). Give and take. That was Lenore’s point. Hector is her slave, but he gets something in return. Ugh, this is so uncomfortable. Damn, Warren Ellis. I did not expect philosophy in my Castlevania.
Anyway...
Over the last month and a half, I’ve been thinking a lot of where the show is taking these characters. Here are some predictions:
1. Alucard is going Dark Side. Trevor and Sypha will bring him back.
2. Trevor and Sypha will get drawn into Carmilla’s plan to subjugate an entire continent.
3. No idea what happens to Saint Germain. The show was particularly coy about what the Infinite Corridor is. There’s fan speculation that Castlevania and the greenlit Devil May Cry show will be linked somehow through this plot device. I don’t want that. Keep them separate. I’m any case, I welcome more Bill Nighy.
4. Isaac’s hatred and rejection of humans will ultimately be his downfall. Given Ellis’ track record in the show, Isaac seems to be set up to fall even if he was straight up winning all over Season 3. He won’t heed the sea captain’s advice to use his knowledge to teach the world to be kind. He’s too blinded by his hatred for humans to see his path to a peaceful life. That’s dramatic irony 101.
5. It’s too obvious to have Carmilla defeated by Isaac or Hector. I kind of want it to be Trevor and Sypha, but that lacks dramatic weight since they’re unaware of each other. I kind of feel like it’s going to be Lenore.
6. How Hector’s story plays out is particularly interesting to me. There are many ways to take it. I don’t want him to develop Stockholm Syndrome. Ellis has proved to be a skilled writer so I think a reversal is possible, but it’ll be tricky.
Hot take: Lenore is playing 4D chess. The rings she gave Carmilla, Morana, and Striga either have no power or they give Lenore some advantage over them. There were moments in Season 3 when I felt she wasn’t really loyal to her sisters. She’s a manipulator, seems likely everything she does is a ruse. The other vampires view Lenore as a weak diplomat. She can’t simply overpower them. I haven’t decided if Lenore necessarily wants more power or if she just wants to be rid of the others.
With that in mind, it’s possible Hector’s slave ring isn’t actually a slave ring at all as in it may have some untold magic, but more importantly, Hector isn’t actually Lenore’s slave. She made him think she’s her slave. He’s going to be obedient because he doesn’t know he doesn’t have to be. However, this would complicate the whole implied future rape thing. If Hector actually can consent, it would imply all kinds of things I have not thought through yet (e.g. he actually desires Lenore meaning it wouldn’t be rape but remains a mind-**** either way). Maybe this is how he eventually finds out he isn’t a slave. Either way, I don’t want Ellis to try to ship Hector and Lenore. It’s too weird and gross. I also generally hate shipping characters. Best case, Lenore is manipulating Hector as a means to an end. If the slave ring actually is one, I expect Lenore to just release Hector when after her plan succeeds.
Or maybe Lenore just sucks and the text is the text: She manipulated Hector into being her slave. She’ll eventually get her comeuppance, and maybe it leads to Hector becoming a person with actual aspirations and hopefully, some penance over the whole subjugation of night creatures thing. He gives up that Devil Forgemaster life before the events of Curse of Darkness so this isn’t too much of a stretch.
TL;DR: Go watch Castlevania. It’s good.