The final episode of Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams is the most gory one of the lot and, in a way, it is the most entertaining episode of the entire season. The shocking revelations made during Nightmares and Daydreams’ ending connect all the missing links from the previous episodes and finally give the answer that we had been yearning for. It also hints at the possibility of a second season, so without further ado, let’s explore the ending of Nightmares and Daydreams and what we can expect next.
Spoiler Alert
Who are the Antibodies?
The end of episode 6 revealed that Dewi (from episode 5) had been recruiting members for a special task force called Antibodies. Its purpose was to save humanity from their sworn enemies that belonged to a mythical kingdom in hollow Earth, often referred to as Agartha . The name Agartha was first used in episode 3, when Rania used her powers to control the body of her sister’s captor, Adrian Rajasa. In that brief moment, Rania saw a glimpse of the underworld kingdom but couldn’t comprehend what exactly it was. But wait, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and start from the very beginning.
So, as per the show’s timeline, the fourth episode, which took place in 1985, marked the beginning of the affairs when a fisherman, Wahyu, received divine knowledge from an angel. During the exchange, Wahyu, too, saw a glimpse of Agartha, which implied that he knew everything about the kingdom and the monsters living there. It could be possible that Wahyu, through his powers, found out about the imminent threat and decided to create a team so as to put up a fight against these creatures. The second person in the team was Dewi, the woman who lost her husband, Bandi, to the creature and later decided to take revenge. The fifth episode didn’t explicitly reveal Dewi’s powers, but it hinted that she could control minds just like the Agarthans. Later, Dewi recruited Ali at the end of episode 6, who had the power to hypnotize people by just tapping on their shoulders. In short, he had psychic powers too. Now the trio might have gone looking for other individuals and finally came around Panji Suwono from episode 1, who was the first to witness the cult of Agartha, operating in the dungeons of an elite old-age home. Panji also saw an Agarthaian demon in the dungeon and lit the entire building on fire while trying to save his mother. So at this point, the Antibodies knew all about the cult operating on the surface and how these creatures had been manipulating humans in order to take over Earth. The team later came across new superhumans from the 2024 timeline, namely Rania (from episode 3), and Laxmi (who was introduced in episode 7). At the end of episode 7, they also brought in a new member named Valdya Anjani, who probably had some superpowers associated with her eyes. She joined the team, and her superpowers will be explored in the next season, where these superhumans will try their best to stop the uprising of Agarthans and force them to return to their hellish hole in hollow Earth.
Furthermore, Syafin’s story (from episode 2), as per the show’s timeline, takes place after the events of the last episode. The ending of the episode implied that Syafin could be an Agarthan, too. But from the looks of it, he didn’t seem to share the evil intentions of his fellow brothers and sisters. It could be possible that Syafin might help the heroes of Earth to stop the Agarthan invasion and facilitate peace between the two realms. Hopefully, the second season will shed further light on Syafin’s arc.
What Did the Creatures of Agartha Want?
Nightmares and Daydreams’ ending revealed the true motive of these creatures, who wanted to establish their reign on Earth and rule over mankind. The third episode showcased that these creatures like to abduct innocent human beings and lock them in their magical dungeons to make them their prisoners for life. In folklore, the creatures of Agartha had created a network of tunnels through which they could travel to any corner of the world and spy on the surface people so that one day they would take back what was rightfully theirs. In Joko Anwar’s show, it’s revealed that these creatures have special mind-control powers, through which they could imprison a person in their own conscience and turn them into a lifeless entity so that they wouldn’t revolt against their enemies. A similar thing took place in episode 1, where a woman called the Whisperer whispered in a person’s ear to convince them to surrender to her wishes. These creatures used a vocal ripple effect to send a person into a trance mode where they started hallucinating about their most desired dream and lost touch with reality. That’s what happened with Dewi’s husband, Bandi, in episode 5, where he was imprisoned in a fictional movie theater and refused to come back to reality. I guess Dewi and Ali too have the same powers; however, it works differently for them. And even the twin demons that we saw in episode 1 seemed to belong to Agartha, who were brought to the surface to give greedy humans a taste of evil magic of Agartha so that these creatures could turn these humans into faithful followers.
The creatures of Agartha considered humans an inferior species and therefore feasted upon them. They had also formed a cult whose sign was an inverted triangle, which we have seen in various occult fiction. The last episode revealed three of their prominent leaders, Sofia, Adrian, and Mikail, who most likely were the ones who had been running a cult and luring humans to their dungeon through P.O. Box 888. But I believe the servants present in the room were not from Agartha and were normal humans who had already accepted these Agarthans as their masters. These servants might have been promised a special place on Earth in case these creatures took charge of the surface. Now, Joko Anwar’s show didn’t try to associate these creatures with Satan, but the fourth episode did establish the presence of gods and angels, which means we might see the Devil too in the next season, who might be helping these creatures expand his kingdom and take over Earth.
What to Expect Next?
If the first season of Nightmares and Daydreams invested so much time establishing the key characters and their superpowers, I guess the next season would bring them back, where they would work as a team to fight against their worst nemesis and stop their invasion. So even though the Antibodies had eliminated the leaders of the cult: Sofia, Adrian, and Mikail, I guess there might be more to come. We might even see the king of Agartha arriving on Earth to take revenge for their fallen brothers and sisters and kill the members of the Antibodies brutally. Whatever the case might be, the Antibodies don’t seem like a strong team, and they might need a lot of help if they truly want to eliminate the threat and scare these creatures back to Agartha. The second season of Nightmares and Daydreams can also bring new stories centered around new individuals with superpowers who would join the Antibodies and help them in their cause. I don’t think that the danger looming over humans is going to end in the near future, and Netflix might release two or three seasons of Joko Anwar’s show depending on its success. So, let’s keep our hopes high if you enjoyed the show like me.
