In the 9th episode of The Sandman Season 2, Morpheus created the second iteration of Corinthian and teamed him up with Johanna to search for Lyta’s son, Daniel. The little boy had been stolen by Loki and Robin to lure the Dream King out of the Dreaming and unleash the fury of the Kindly Ones on him because he had spilled family blood. Since Morpheus had appointed Daniel as the next Dream, Loki knew that he’d stop at nothing until Daniel was rescued, and he’d be forced to step out of his realm. If Morpheus died in the process, ideally, that’d free Loki from his contract with Morpheus. But Robin took a liking to Daniel and refused to be a part of Loki’s nefarious scheme. He pointed Corinthian and Johanna in Loki’s direction and left the scene. By the time the dynamic duo sent Loki packing back to Asgard, he had killed the human part of Daniel and transformed him into the next Dream. So, yes, technically Daniel was alive, but the part of him that mattered to Lyta was dead. Hettie and the Kindly Ones used this ambiguity to turn Lyta into a weapon of mass destruction and unleash her upon the Dreaming as soon as Morpheus exited his realm, even momentarily. In the meantime, over at Faerie, Robin informed Nuala that the Fates were coming after Morpheus. She felt the need to warn Morpheus immediately, but since her pendant, which doubled as a communication device, was with Queen Titania, she had to retrieve it from her first. Titania, who was oddly obsessed with Morpheus, summoned the Dream King to Faerie right after knowing that that could be done via the pendant, thereby sealing his and his realm’s fate. The first to face Lyta’s wrath was Fidler’s Green. Who was next on her list? Let’s talk about the 10th episode of The Sandman Season 2 to find out.
Spoiler Alert
Nuala’s Boon
Episode 10 of The Sandman Season 2 opens with Lyta killing Abel after the Kindly Ones state that, this time, he won’t be resurrected like he usually is after being murdered by Cain. For the brief moment that Lyta’s sword is in Abel’s body instead of her hand, she regains control of her mind, and she begins to realize that the Kindly Ones are using her misunderstanding that Morpheus has killed Daniel to complete their task of ending his reign. Of course, Lyta isn’t powerful enough to push back against the witches’ ability to manipulate her for too long, and she ends up picking up the sword again and turning back into a vengeful warrior. Lyta and the witches then confront Merv Pumpkinhead, who welcomes them with what looks like an M60E3 machine gun. The line delivery of “Ladies, I’m your worst nightmare. I’m a pumpkin with a gun,” along with the imagery of this cross between a scarecrow and a jack-o’-lantern firing a machine gun, is undoubtedly badass. However, Merv’s awesomeness is short-lived, as the witches reverse the trajectory of the bullets and return them to their sender, thereby turning Morpheus’ janitor into pumpkin juice. Matthew rushes back to the castle to warn its inhabitants, which includes Cain and Lucienne, about the arrival of the witches and Lyta. Corinthian gets there with Daniel too. Since Morpheus isn’t around to protect the realm, his crew is unsure how much time they have left before Lyta destroys everything.
Speaking of Morpheus, he is stuck in Faerie until and unless he grants a boon to Nuala, because that is the purpose for which he has been summoned via the pendant. Yes, Titania summoned him so that he can live under her protection while Lyta and the Kindly Ones turn the Dreaming upside down. But since said summoning comes with the rule of invoking a boon, he has to fulfill that so he can leave. Nuala smartly wishes for Morpheus to return to his realm so that he can protect it, which both brings their “contract” to a close and also allows the Dream King to go back to the Dreaming. This little scene is awesome for two reasons: firstly, it proves yet again that Nuala is one of the kindest souls in existence, and secondly, she’ll never choose to be disrespectful even when there’s a clear opportunity to defy. I mean, Nuala could’ve used her boon to not just transport Morpheus to the Dreaming but herself as well, because that’s where she wants to be more than anywhere else. However, she didn’t want to bypass Queen Titania’s authority because that would’ve been insulting; hence, she specifically chose to send Morpheus back.
Morpheus’ Last Goodbye
Going back to the plot, in the time that it takes for Morpheus to return to his castle, Lyta and the Kindly Ones show up at its doorstep. The Gatekeepers tell them to return if they don’t want to be harmed, with the hippogriff even stepping down from her perch to block the door. So, the Kindly Ones decided to accelerate her aging. As the hippogriff is on the brink of death, Morpheus appears and heals the hippogriff. Knowing full well that a confrontation with Lyta and the witches is inevitable, he invites them into the castle for a chat. Morpheus tells Lucienne, Cain, Corinthian (who has Daniel in his arms), and Matthew to stay in the throne room until he has dealt with Lyta and the witches, but the witches proclaim that they aren’t going anywhere until Morpheus has been killed by Lyta. I love the expression that Lyta wears throughout this ordeal; it’s supposed to reflect her “warrior” spirit, except that it’s hollow because she isn’t the one in control. It’s irritating that she has this air of confidence even when she doesn’t know that she is being used. Thankfully, that stupid look on her face disappears as soon as she sees Daniel and realizes that Morpheus didn’t kill him. Morpheus uses this opportunity to try and wake Lyta from the slumber that Hettie has put her in and also break the spell that’s been put on her mind by the witches, and it works momentarily as Lyta and the witches disappear from the Dreaming for a short while.
As Lyta and the witches go back and forth about whether or not they should kill Morpheus—because even though he hasn’t killed Daniel, he’ll still claim the baby as his own so that he can become the next Dream, instead of letting him reunite with Lyta—Morpheus goes to Hettie’s flat with the intention of killing Lyta in her sleep and stopping her from wreaking any further havoc in the Dreaming. Morpheus notices the protective circle Lyta is in, and he tells Hettie that he can kill her without even touching the circle. Hettie knows that; what she also knows is that Morpheus isn’t a killer. Yes, he did kill Orpheus, but the circumstances were different. He won’t kill Lyta because if Daniel learns that Morpheus has killed his mother, then he might refuse to become the next Dream. Morpheus realizes the folly of his plan—along with the fact that there’s no real way to avert death because he has broken the rule that prohibits the killing of family members—and returns to his realm. He addresses Cain, Corinthian, Lucienne, and Matthew, saying that he’ll retreat to the furthest corner of the Dreaming and confront the witches there so that no harm comes to his realm. He says that he has had a “chat” with Daniel about what needs to be done after he’s gone. And he informs them that the Eagle Stone, which is around Daniel’s neck, will protect them in the meantime. On that note, Morpheus sends everyone except Matthew (because he insists on staying by his friend’s side all the way to the end) to the throne room and then goes off to meet the witches.
Morpheus Is Dead
Lucienne tries to keep an eye on Morpheus via a crystal ball, but it doesn’t work until Daniel touches it. Although the trio is doubtful about whether Daniel will be able to become the next Dream, this little moment proves that he is truly powerful. Since he is still an infant, he doesn’t manage to use the orb correctly. Fearing that Daniel will end up doing something that he doesn’t want to, Corinthian takes it off his hands and places it to the side. He tries to keep Daniel distracted, but the atmosphere in the room becomes tense as Death enters the scene. Cain, Lucienne, and Corinthian were hopeful about Morpheus’ return, but Death’s arrival cements the fact that this is the end for him. Morpheus makes one last bid to dissuade the witches from puppeteering Lyta into destroying the Dreaming, but they refuse to stand down. Hence, Morpheus requests of Matthew that he fly back to the castle and tell Death to come to him. It’s a pretty heartbreaking scene as Matthew realizes that Morpheus is about to kill himself to save his realm, and he doesn’t want him to be around to see it. Matthew reluctantly goes to the castle and passes on Morpheus’ message to Death.
Death joins Morpheus at the farthest edge of the Dreaming to have one last conversation with him. It basically boils down to this: Morpheus has returned from the dead multiple times, so why is he choosing not to do the same this time? Morpheus replies that the weight of Orpheus’ death is too much for him to bear. He understands that it’s something that he owed to his son. At the same time, it has broken him from the inside. He feels that he is unfit for the Dreaming now. He has changed in ways that he hadn’t expected, and that, for better or for worse, has had a direct effect on his realm. And as long as he continues to hang around, the Dreaming won’t evolve, which is why he needs to go. The witches ruin this melancholic moment by reminding Morpheus about what Lyta is doing to the realm, which angers Death a lot. However, the reminder does motivate Morpheus and Death to stop delaying the inevitable and just get on with it. Morpheus and Death sort of recreate Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” to bring his reign to an end.
Nuala Wakes Lyta Up
While all this is going on, I guess Nuala senses that Morpheus’ time is coming to an end and requests Cluracan to remove her glamor—the awful spell that makes fairies look like they have an Instagram beauty filter on their face—so that she can return to the Dreaming to serve Morpheus. Cluracan doesn’t want Nuala to go into a warzone because, without her, he thinks he’ll be worth nothing. I want to take a pause and wonder where these sentiments were when he abandoned Nuala in the Dreaming because Titania had ordered him to. Where did his care and love disappear to then, and why has it returned now? Sure, you can say that Cluracan has realized the error of his ways and him removing the glamor spell is his way of course-correction, but to me, he is just a hypocrite. Anyway, Nuala rides to the portal between Faerie and the Dreaming and notices that Titania and her warriors are standing guard there. She requests Titania to let her pass so that she can help Morpheus in any way she can.
For a second, it seems like Titania is about to use her sword to strike down Nuala. Instead, she hands it over to her so that she can use it to protect herself from any hostile forces in the Dreaming. At the end of The Sandman Season 2, episode 10, Nuala re-enters Morpheus’ realm, and she spots Lyta splitting the land in two and destroying the castle. She charges towards Lyta and chops off her head, which coincides with Morpheus’ death. No, Lyta isn’t dead; she just wakes up from her slumber. As she looks around the room, she sees that Hettie is gone. Where’s she? Well, she is outside, walking her dogs, one of whom is Barnabas, who is finally reunited with Delirium after 2 weeks. Delirium learns from Hettie that Morpheus has died. I think Delirium already knew that when Goldie, the dragon, disappeared right before her eyes; Hettie just confirmed what Delirium already knew.
Daniel Is The New Dream
Hettie returns to her room, where Lyta is still taking in everything that has transpired. Just in case it’s not clear to her, Hettie tells Lyta that she has been instrumental to Morpheus’ death. Yes, yes, Morpheus killed Orpheus; hence, he was fated to die. But if Lyta didn’t believe the lies that were fed to her by the witches, if she had realized that Loki was the one who had stolen her baby, if she had brokered some kind of a deal with Morpheus where she could’ve watched Daniel grow into the next Dream during her sleeping hours, the witches couldn’t have made a move. Morpheus would’ve still been around, and he could’ve made the necessary arrangements before “passing away.” It’s true that Morpheus wanted to die, but Lyta’s misplaced need for vengeance quickened the process and caused a lot of damage to the Dreaming as well. Lyta was supposedly doing all this because she was under the impression that she’d get her son back, but even that didn’t happen because that wasn’t a part of the deal she made with the witches. She wanted revenge, and in a way, she got it. Now the witches are gone, and Lyta is alone, with nobody around to help her with the complex feelings she is experiencing after losing her son and then embarking on a mind-boggling quest through the Dreaming. Well, what’s done is done, and the only way to go is forward. Hopefully, she’ll reunite with her bestie, Rose, and she’ll give her the therapy she needs to process all this.
During the concluding moments of the episode, Daniel transforms from a baby into an adult, thereby taking on his role as the new Dream. There’s no logical explanation for this transformation. The only one I can think of is this: Loki killed the human exterior of Daniel and turned him completely into a product of the Dreaming. Hence, the natural laws of life and growth don’t apply to him. Morpheus’ demise had left a vacuum that needed to be filled, and I guess Daniel sensed that. So, instead of taking his merry time to grow up, he just became an adult so that he could take the reins without any delay. Does he have any of Morpheus’ memories? Does he have any of Morpheus’ qualities? Or is he something completely different? Well, since he knows who Corinthian is, it’s evident that he has the memories that come with the mantle of Dream; I am unsure about the rest. In addition to that, I have to say that Jacob Anderson’s casting as a Dream is perfect. He has the solemn voice, the haunted look, and an otherworldly aura to play this role. It’s a shame that the show is coming to an end with this season, and we won’t get to see more of Anderson as Dream. But those are just my thoughts on the ending of The Sandman Season 2, episode 10. If you have any opinions on the same, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
