Dreams are the architecture of human memories, wishes, and some illusions that “The Sandman” series has brilliantly brought before our eyes. “The Sandman” depicts elements of magic realism and philosophy of life through its impeccable visualization of dreams and nightmares. The protagonist of the story, the Dream Lord Morpheus, is depicted as an artist here, who is not only the emperor of the Dream realm but has built from smaller to bigger particles here with his own hands. Each of these entities he made, creates diversity in the Dreaming. Some are as beautiful as a garden; others are as terrifying as the fear of death. But who are they? Where are they from? So let’s begin a detailed discussion to recognize these dreams and nightmares in the realm of Dreaming.
Lucienne
Lucienne, trusted by the dream lord, takes charge of this vast empire during Morpheus’ imprisonment. Although Lucienne is assigned a male gender in the source material, we see the meticulous gender swapping of this character in the series, which does not detract from the weight of her character in any way. Lucienne is more of a friend than a servant of Morpheus, which can be seen in her benevolence towards Morpheus. Although Lucienne works as the Dream realm’s librarian, she takes charge of the realm in her master’s absence and never tries to rule it. When Morpheus returns, she becomes happy because she knows the Dream Lord is the creator. In his absence, she only maintained the Dreaming, but still, it got destroyed. Lucienne is a bookish and loyal entity whose appearance is characterized by her hairless head, pointy ears, and round glasses. We usually see her in vintage suit pants in both the comics and the series. In this library, she not only keeps track of all the books in the world but also records the schedules of every human being. Every man has the possibility of having an unwritten book about his life in Lucienne’s library.
In fact, Lucienne keeps all the news and all the necessary information about the realm as well as the world. She takes care of the realm dutifully and also informs Morpheus about the missing entities. Although Morpheus is a little irritated by Lucienne’s extra work, he is satisfied with her devotion and accurate analysis in the end, which leads him to allow her to work independently. It is very likely that Lucienne, like Matthew, the raven, may have been a good person before death, so in the afterlife, she takes place in the Dream realm.
Raven
In Sandman, Raven is one of the most likable characters. As we’ve seen, Sandman’s previous raven, Jessamy, lost her life while Sandman was being imprisoned. From then on, Morpheus became indifferent to the raven. But Lucienne disobeyed Morpheus and sent a Raven named Matthew with him. He is sent to serve Morpheus. Hearing from Matthew, we understand that he was a human before death, so in the afterlife, he was chosen to be the Dream Lord’s raven. But seeing Morpheus’ angst, there is still no distress in Mathew’s mind. Instead, when Morpheus tells him to turn back, he does not leave his master alone in danger, be it on Earth or in Hell.
Cain and Abel
In “The Sandman,” Cain and Abel are two supporting characters who are two entities of the dreaming world, derived from the two brothers in the Bible with the same names. According to the Holy Bible, these two brothers are the first murderers and the first victims on Earth. So in Dreaming as well, one brother kills another, just like Cain and Abel in the Bible. In Morpheus’ Dream kingdom, Cain is usually a bad-tempered and violent person who kills Abel over and over again for any small inconvenience, and Abel revives him each time he dies.
Abel, on the other hand, is a neurotic, quiet character who allows himself to be victimized by Cain for his peace of mind, rather, he wants a brotherly relationship with Cain, as we hear him tell the story of two happy brothers to the little gargoyle. These two live in two separate palaces, ‘The House of Mystery’ and ‘The House of Secrets,’ respectively, and raise a small gargoyle, for whom their affection grows. However, these two brothers are neither harmful to Dreaming nor humanity. Rather, they are too busy playing this Kill and Revive game among themselves.
Gargoyle
The gargoyle named Gregory was also a creation of Morpheus, like almost everything in this dream world. But after being imprisoned for decades, when Morpheus is finally released, he no longer has his tools or his strength. So he has to summon the deity of fate or the three witches, which isn’t free of cost, and as a price, Morpheus has to kill his own creation, the gargoyle that has grown so close to Cain and Abel. And here, we see Cain and Abel’s paternal affection for the gargoyle, which lends a gloomy tone to this scene. But in the end, Morpheus turns Gregory into the sand, and the gargoyle bravely surrenders to save his master.
But Morpheus doesn’t completely destroy anything. As we see, when Abel rises from his tomb, he finds a gargoyle egg that hatches into an extremely cute and tiny baby gargoyle. Cain and Abel adopt the baby gargoyle to forget the grief of losing Gregory, but they quarrel over what to name the gargoyle. Although Cain eventually named it “Goldie,” to Abel, it was his little “Irving.”
Gault
Like many other improvisations in the series, Gault is one of the completely new inventions in this show, which was created as a nightmare by Morpheus, the Dream Lord. Lucienne informs Morpheus about Gault among the list of missing entities. When later, it is revealed that dream vortex Rose Walker’s brother Jed spends his days being tortured in Uncle Barnaby’s basement, we find Gault’s being there for him. Gault shifts the shape of Jed’s mother, Miranda, and lives in Jed’s dream for a long time. She makes him dream of being a famous DC superhero, Sandman, which makes him happy, at least in his subconsciousness. When being tortured for over a year, Gault is the only dream dressed as a nightmare that inspires Jed to be something.
But when Morpheus finds out, he gets angry with Gault for violating the dream rules and interrogates her, sending her back to the Dreaming. Gault bravely stands up for herself, saying that nightmares are not only to scare people; sometimes, they inspire. When Jed is tortured by Barnaby, he gets nothing but the dream of Gault by his side. Morpheus turns Gault to dust, despite Lucienne’s disapproval.
As we have seen before, Morpheus isn’t a destroyer. He realizes his mistake, and we see him recasting Gault as a dream instead of a nightmare in the ending scene, where Gault is gifted with wings by Morpheus.
Corinthian
Corinthian is another and most vital Nightmare created by Morpheus himself. His appearance is wicked and terrible from the beginning of the series. Corinthian roams the streets as a cold-blooded killer and kills people like a serial killer, which becomes his passion. Corinthian has two mouths instead of eyes, which already gives him a menacing look; with dark glasses covering those eyes, he becomes more of a human sensation than a nightmare. Corinthian wants to leave this Dream realm and roam freely, which is harmful to the sake of humanity. In fact, fascinated by Corinthian’s murderous behavior, he is invited to be the chief guest at a serial killer convention organized by mortals. Throughout the series, we see Corinthian doing everything he can to prevent Morpheus from coming, but his end is not saved. Finally, Morpheus arrives at the convention and destroys Corinthian.
But we get a hint that when Morpheus later rebuilds the Corinthian, he will build him up with more positive attributes so that he doesn’t let Morpheus down again. And we see the Dream Lord hand over Corinthian’s skull to Lucienne in the final scene, so we might see Corinthian again as a loyal entity in the next season.
Glob and Brute
Brute and Glob are two demonic nightmares created by Morpheus, who left the Dream realm for the greed of a monopoly during the imprisonment of Morpheus. They made a sandman in their own version. They take shelter in the dreams of Rose Walker’s brother Jed Walker and take control of a scientist named Garrett Sanford, to create a new Sandman. But when Garrett kills himself, they turn a dead man, Hector Hall, into “The Sandman” to expand their dimension, which continues entirely in Jed Walker’s dreams. Hector brings his living wife, Lyta, into this dream and impregnates her. But all the news reached Morpheus.
So think deeply. Have you heard the story somewhere before? Yes, this much sounds like Gault’s work of events. Actually, we find Brute and Globe in Gaiman’s comic novel “The Dolls House.” But in the series, we see Gault, a fused character of Brute and Globe, who, just like this, expands this dimension by making Jed the Sandman using his mind. But in the series, we see Lyta Hall’s story unfold in a different way that Gault was not directly attached to.
But the result is the same in both comics or series. Morpheus also destroys Brute and Glob along with Hector, from which Lyta gets a big shock, and her heart breaks. But the ultimate twist is Lyta’s unborn child, who carries on the legacy of Dreaming.
Fiddler’s Green
The series first ever mentions Fiddler Green’s name when Lucienne informs Dream Lord about the three missing entities. Fiddler’s Green was the third name among them, after Gault and Corinthian. Fiddler’s Green is not a human entity but an afterlife. In the world of Dreaming, it is a pleasant place that can be identified as the sentient part of the realm that every traveler tries to find one day.
While Morpheus was imprisoned for ages, Fiddler’s Green, who is the heart of the Dreaming, leaves it and wanders among mortals in the guise of a common man to enjoy the taste of human life. Later, we see Fiddler’s Green as a human disguise named Gilbert. Gilbert appears as a very gregarious, older man, whom we first see when he rescues Rose from thugs. Gilbert becomes Rose’s good friend and comes to her rescue in times of danger. He presents himself as a literary lover dressed in vintage clothes. His descriptive speech gives us the air of a very ancient man. But the question arises in viewers’ minds when Corinthian and Gilbert recognize each other at the serial killer convention. Finally, when Morpheus is about to kill the dream vortex Rose Walker, Gilbert comes to the rescue again. And we get to know his true identity as Fiddler’s Green. Gilbert transforms himself into beautiful greenery with flowers, birds, and plants that were once the heart of the dream world. With the return of Fiddler’s Green, Morpheus’ dream kingdom regains its lost glory.
The Sandman as a series is promising in every aspect. The rebirth of Gault as a dream and Corinthian’s potential for a comeback in the very last scene make us eagerly wait for WB’s announcement for the next season. We are also equally keen to see the emergence of other entities in the next season. Keeping the original essence of the comics intact, the way more complicated and darker improvisations have been sketched, it is expected that the story of the next season is going to be stronger. But until the next season is knocking on Netflix’s door again, let’s just wait a little longer.
