The conflict in Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams was presented as a battle between humans on Earth and the monsters from the mythological underworld realm of Agartha. As per the lore of the series, Agarthans were created along with humans, but for some reason, the Agarthans were relegated to a place underneath the surface of the earth, called the hollow Earth. Since then, they’ve been growing envious of humans and have been trying to find ways to consume or enslave them. As things like financial crises, homelessness, and food scarcity plagued humankind, it became easier for the Agarthans to pick humans apart and occupy positions of influence in society. That said, there was one character who neither emulated the characteristics of the Agarthans nor the humans. That’s right! I’m talking about Syafin.
Spoiler Alert
Syafin appeared in the second episode of Nightmares and Daydreams, which is titled The Orphan, and the reason it has been the source of a lot of speculation is because it doesn’t seem to connect with the overarching story. In the last episode of the series, we saw Panji, Dewi, Ali, Rania, and Wahyu, with the elderly messiah-like character explaining how they were involved in the fight between humans and Agarthans. In that montage, we did get a glimpse of Syafin, but he was nowhere to be seen during Valdya’s rescue mission. So, where was he? Well, for starters, the 2nd episode and the 7th episode in the series both take place in 2024. But a closer look will reveal the fact that, chronologically speaking, the events of episode 2 happened after episode 7. During the concluding moments of episode 7, the date on Valdya’s phone read April 16, 2024. And the date on the certificate of ownership of the house that Iyos and Ipah got was October 10, 2024. Hence, that sort of explains why Syafin or Ipah weren’t around during the show’s final showdown.
Now, let’s come to the origins and powers of Syafin and what they signify. The second episode doesn’t reveal a lot about Syafin or where he has come from. We know that he is an orphan, and whoever adopts him gets rich immediately. But, six days later, after the adoption, the parents end up dying. When Ipah and Iyos adopted him, they were told that Syafin needed love, and as long as the couple was honest and caring, the kid kept rewarding them. However, as Iyos got greedy, Syafin’s fountain of gifts dried up. That said, when Ipah and Iyos were essentially willing to sacrifice their lives to save Syafin, he gave them their dream house. That had some disastrous consequences, and Iyos and Ipah seemingly died. However, the point remains that Syafin exhibited powers that were unlike anything we had seen from the Agarthans and humans. Most of them dabbled in telepathic mind manipulation. The twins in the nursing home transferred youth. And Rania was able to possess a human and an Agarthan. However, Syafin conjured gifts out of thin air, and he emitted a bright white light while trying to resurrect Ipah. So, what’s that all about?
Well, I have a couple of theories. For starters, I think Syafin is the same creature that emerged from the rubble underneath the demented nursing home at the end of episode 1 of Nightmares and Daydreams. That creature had four fingers, and so did Syafin. The first episode took place in the year 2015, and the second episode took place in 2024. That’s nine years. Syafin looked like he was around ten years old. So, the math kinda checks out, no?. But if Syafin is a product of Agartha, why is he so nice? Maybe it’s a case of nature versus nurture. Syafin didn’t grow up in Agartha, and that’s why he didn’t act like the inhabitants of that hellhole. If he has emerged from the ashes of the twin monsters, he seems to have retained their powers of “giving,” but not their heinous desire to bring harm to people. He doesn’t need sacrifices; he just needs love. Alternatively, since we’ve seen the angel from Encounter emit light (much like Syafin does while presumably resurrecting Ipah) and Syafin sounds a lot like Seraphim (the heavenly being who is referenced in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which is the religion followed by the majority of Indonesian population), there’s a good chance that Syafin is an angel in a human form.
All the Agarthans are determined to take over the surface, and Earth doesn’t have enough defenders yet. So, maybe Syafin is there to tip the scales in favor of humans. That said, it’s totally possible that if he realizes that humans aren’t worth saving, he is going to stay on the sidelines and wait it out with his mother. He has seen humans exhibit an insane amount of greed, and the only person who has loved him unconditionally is Ipah. Hence, I won’t hold it against him if he decides to protect Ipah and turn a blind eye to everything else that’s going on. If the Agarthans find out about Syafin’s existence, they’ll probably try to seduce him to join their cause. However, if someone thinks that humans are bad, then there’s no way they’re going to side with the Agarthans. Since the Agarthans are vindictive creatures, they might threaten Ipah, and that’ll probably force Syafin to show his destructive side, thereby benefiting humans in a roundabout way. In conclusion, I do think that, despite being the outlier in Season 1, Syafin is definitely going to be the centerpiece of Nightmares and Daydreams Season 2 (if Netflix greenlights it).
