“The Sandman,” a 2022 Netflix series, has been developed by Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg. Neil Gaiman also wrote the original graphic comics that were published by DC Comics in 1989 for the very first time. Though the essence of the comics is kept intact, there are many subtle changes that are made in the adapted screenplay. So let’s see what fate had in store for the various characters who had a role to play in the changing dynamics of the Waking World and The Dreaming.
Spoilers Ahead
What Was The Corinthian’s End Goal?
As “The Sandman” Season 1 began, the king of dreams and nightmares, a.k.a. Lord Morpheus, was looking for a rogue nightmare in the year 1916. He had come to know that the Nightmare, whom he had created, was somewhere in Berlin, Germany. The Nightmare was named “The Corinthian.” Lord Morpheus had decided that he would leave his realm and find Corinthian. The head librarian, and a confidant, Lucienne, for some apparent reason, had a bad intuitive feeling about Morpheus leaving their realm. She knew that dreams rarely survived in the waking world but that nightmares thrived there. She was worried about him. She was concerned about what would happen to his realm, The Dreaming, if he didn’t come back. But Lord Morpheus was known to act out his will. He found Corinthian, but before he could capture him, something unprecedented happened.
An occult sorcerer by the name of Roderick Burgess was performing a ritual to capture Death in Wych Cross, England, but by mistake, he ended up capturing Dream. It was a blessing in disguise for the Corinthian. He wanted to make sure that Dream forever remained imprisoned, so that he could roam about freely and indulge in any kind of activity that he would otherwise be barred from doing. Corinthian visits Roderick Burgess and tells him that it was actually The King of Dreams, whom he had captured by mistake. He tells him that his binding circle, drawn on the floor, wouldn’t be enough to contain Lord Morpheus, who was probably even more powerful than the gods. He asks him to put him inside a glass cage to contain the physical manifestations of Morpheus.
In addition to that, Corinthian tells Roderick Burgess to keep a watch on him at all times, and that nobody should be allowed to sleep in his presence, as there was a chance that he would escape through their dreams. Morpheus was able to escape after spending more than a century in the captivity of first Roderick Burgess and then his son Alex Burgess. Corinthian felt it on the inside. He knew that Lord Morpheus would go to find his symbols of office, i.e., the Ruby, the Helm, and the Sand Pouch. So next, Corinthian went to Ethel Cripps, who had camouflaged her identity and had the Ruby in her possession. She had traded the helm for an amulet with a demon named Choronzon. Ethel tells Corinthian that her son, named John Dee, had taken the Ruby from her, and it had instead consumed him. Corinthian says to reveal the whereabouts of Ruby, but she lies that she does not have a clue. Before Corinthian could do anything to her, she used the amulet to dissipate him temporarily. Corinthian finds himself in The Dreaming and meets Lucienne. Lucky for him, Lord Morpheus was not present at that time in his realm. It gives him an opportunity to once again go back to the waking world. Corinthian meets John Dee, who had escaped from the mental asylum after his mother, Ethel Cripps, had given her life to save him. She gave John Dee the amulet, which had kept her safe for 116 years. Corinthian was hoping that John would be successful in his endeavor. He gave him his coat and waited for his wrath to wreak havoc on the world.
Corinthian had come to know about Rose Walker and that she had been searching for her brother Jed. Corinthian found the whereabouts of Jed, killed Barnaby and Clarice, under whose foster care he was staying. He then called Rose Walker to a convention that he was attending and asked her to take her brother, who was in his possession. It was called the “cereal convention,” but in reality, it was a gathering of all the dreaded killers from all over the country. Corinthian tells Rose Walker that Dream would eventually kill her since she was the Vortex. He tells her to believe him and that he wouldn’t do any wrong to her. The Corinthian knew that if Rose Walker was able to take the place of Morpheus in the center of The Dreaming, then the king of dreams would be displaced from his position of power, and the walls that existed between the different dreams of two different individuals would be brought down.
The Corinthian was able to inspire the merged dreams and thought that because Rose Walker knew that Morpheus wanted to kill her, she wouldn’t listen to his command. Morpheus tells Rose that it was not her dream but Corinthian’s, that she was a part of. Rose says that she will find her own way and orders the walls to go up, once again, leaving Corinthian agitated and helpless. The Corinthian lost his last bet there. He tells Lord Morpheus that he killed people and manipulated them so that he could feel what it was like to be human. Morpheus says that maybe it was all his fault, and he wasn’t able to create Corinthian the way he wished to. He uncreates Corinthian, who, while departing, says that the only regret he would have is not being able to witness how Rose Walker makes The King of Dreams meet his own fateful end. At the end of “The Sandman” Season 1, Morpheus didn’t completely eradicate Corinthian’s existence because he wished to recreate his masterpiece once again without any flaws. Hence, we are going to see a remodeled Corinthian in the upcoming seasons.
What Will Happen To The Son Of Lyta Hall?
It was the year 2021, and Unity Kincaid had finally contacted her great-granddaughter, Rose Walker. She had sent the air tickets for her and also for another woman who was accompanying her. This woman was Lyta Hall. Her husband, Hector Hall, had died some time back, but Lyta used to see him in her dreams. It is to be taken into account that the version given in comics is a bit different from that shown in the Netflix “The Sandman” series. In the comics, Brute, and Glob, two nightmares that had gotten out of The Dreaming, grabbed Hector’s soul after he died and kept him in a dream dimension. They made him believe that he was the sandman, during the time Lord Morpheus had been imprisoned by Roderick Burgess. Eventually, Hector lured his wife, Lyta Hall, also into that dimension.
In “The Sandman,” Season 1, we see that Lyta gets these vivid dreams of her husband, but one day he asks her why doesn’t he disappear when she wakes up, if he was only a dream. They realize that this dream that they were having was something different. He tells Lyta that he goes to work and has finally built their house, in which he wants to stay with her. Hector tells her that if they want to make their dream a reality, she must return to him. But Lyta knew that eventually, she would have to wake up. The next time Lyta goes back to meet her husband in his dream, he once again convinces her to stay there and start a family, as they had always planned. Suddenly, she feels something in her stomach. She was unexpectedly pregnant. She was beyond perplexed to find out when she woke up that she was still pregnant. She couldn’t understand what was happening. She considered her husband to be merely a figment of her imagination, but she realized that maybe he was present in reality. She tells the same to Rose Walker, who also does not understand how she could get pregnant in her dreams. Lyta was now adamant about giving up her life in the waking world and going to reside with her husband in The Dreaming forever. “The Dreaming,” the realm of Lord Morpheus, had started experiencing seismic disturbances because of the vortex. Neither Lyta nor Hector were supposed to stay back in The Dreaming. Morpheus orders Hector to go to the place appointed for the dead, and he vanishes. Then he tells Lyta that her baby belongs to her as of now, but since it was conceived in The Dreaming, one day, it would have to be returned to him. While in “The Sandman” Season 1, the name of Lyta Hall’s son isn’t revealed to the audience, according to the comic books, her son will be called Daniel Hall, who will supposedly become Morpheus’s successor and will rule the realm of the dreams.
See More: Character Of ‘The Corinthian,’ Explained
‘The Sandman’ Season 1: Ending Explained – Is Rose Walker Dead Or Alive? What Was Desire’s Secret Plan?
Rose Walker was the Vortex, and Lord Morpheus wanted to use her to get his missing Arcanas back. Lucienne had told Lord Morpheus that in his absence, the Vortex had come into existence. But he couldn’t join the dots. He didn’t understand that if vortexes are naturally occurring phenomenons that take place once in every era, then how did his disappearance trigger the formation of one? But he didn’t pay heed to those theories and went after Rose Walker. He told her that it was necessary to kill her, as otherwise she would weaken the walls between their two dreams. When a vortex brings a wall down, then it creates a volatile dream that collapses upon itself and takes the waking world with it. Rose Walker is left with no option. She realizes that to save her brother Jed and all those whom she loved dearly and called family, she would have to make the sacrifice. Just then, Fiddlers Green, whom she knew as Gilbert, came and offered his life to Lord Morpheus. He said that he was ready to make the sacrifice if it meant that Rose would live. But Lord Morpheus tells him that he cannot do so. He was just about to take her life when Lucienne arrived with Unity Kincaid and told him to stop. Unity tells Lord Morpheus that, according to the book, which contained the details of her unlived life, she was supposed to be the Vortex of this era.
When Morpheus was imprisoned by Roderick Burgess, “sleepy sickness” spread through the whole country. Later, the doctors called it encephalitis lethargica. Unity Kincaid was the only diseased person who woke up from her slumber and got cured. When she was sleeping, at that time, she met a golden-eyed man, with whom she had her daughter. That golden-eyed man she was referring to was actually Dream’s younger sibling, Desire. Unity Kincaid asks Rose Walker to take out from inside her whatever makes her the Vortex. She takes out a red-colored glass heart. It was Desire’s symbol of office. Rose Walker gave her life to save Unity. Finally, Rose returned to the waking world and was reunited with Jed, Lyta, and the others. She arrived just in time to be there for Lyta when she was giving birth to her baby. Things went back to normal, at least for the time being, for Rose, but the Lord of Dreams had a score to settle.
Desire had always tried to meddle in the affairs of the elder brother, Dream. She had raped Unity Kincaid in furtherance of a well-thought-out plan. It was forbidden for the Endless to spill family blood. If, unknowingly, Dream had killed Rose Walker, then his hands would have been tainted with the blood of one of his own. Then he would have to pay for it and most likely be punished. Desire always felt that a dream was but an echo of desire and despair. Desire often plotted schemes against Dream with her twin sister, Despair. Desire had a problem with the way Dream considered his realm to be superior to theirs. Desire had a hand to play when Kai’ckul fell for Nada and also when Roderick Burgess performed a ritual, as he desired to bring back his dead son Randall, and also was laden with greed to become wealthy and immortal himself. Though all these ploys had failed to bring permanent damage, Desire was sure that with the Vortex, she would really be able to teach Dream a lesson.
Lord Morpheus confronted Desire at the end of “The Sandman” Season 1. He told Desire that the Endless were there to serve the living and not to manipulate them. He warned them to stop playing their petty games, as next time, he wouldn’t spare them. Morpheus leaves Desire’s realm. Desire vows to draw blood next time, which means that the twin siblings, i.e Desire and Despair, were not going to mend their ways and keep adding obstacles in the path of the King of Dreams and Nightmares.
Lucifer Morningstar is seen at the end of “The Sandman” Season 1. She is still bitter from the loss she had to bear from the hands of Lord Morpheus. She is told that Lord Azazel (who is the co-monarch of Hell in the comics) wanted to have a word with her. He tells her that armies of hell are waiting for Lucifer’s command, in case she wishes to launch an onslaught against The Dream of the Endless. They said that if they could never leave hell then why not extend its boundaries and bring The Dreaming under their jurisdiction. Lucifer Morningstar wanted to attack not only The Dreaming, but also The Waking World and The Silver City. She wanted to do something that would make Morpheus helpless and powerless. Terrifying chants of “Lucifer Lucifer” were heard throughout the hell, and it seemed like a decision to wage a war against the Lord of Dreams and Nightmare had been made.
