How ‘The Sandman’ Just Set up Final Episodes

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Sandman Season 2 Volume 1.]

The Sandman has returned to teach an immortal being lessons he has spent millennia avoiding. The stubborn, powerful Dream/Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) embarked on a tumultuous journey through space, time, and his own memories in Season 2 Volume 1, available on Netflix as of July 3. And with the six episodes came the remaining Endless siblings from the Neil Gaiman Sandman comics. (Gaiman worked on story development for Season 2 prior to the sexual assault allegations that came out against him earlier this year.) Season 2 Volume 2 will be the last episodes of the series (Season 2 was previously announced to be the final season). A bonus episode will be released on July 31, one week after Volume 2 comes out on July 24. Here’s how Volume 1 set up The Sandman‘s final episodes.

What is The Sandman Season 2 based on?

The Sandman Season 2 pulls its stories from The Sandman: Season of Mists and Distant Mirrors comics. Season 1 saw Dream escape from Hell after his conflict with Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie). The new episodes plunged Dream back into Hell to save a woman he knew long ago — Nada, queen of the first people (played by Umulisa Gahiga) — whom he gravely wronged thousands of years before. Dream and Nada fell in love, but Nada received swift punishment from the universe for doing so. Her people were destroyed, prompting her to reject Dream, who then sent her to Hell for 10,000 years.

Convinced by his Endless siblings — Death, Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), Despair (Donna Preston), and Destiny (Adrian Lester) — that what he did to Nada was wrong, Dream went back to Hell to end her suffering, but it was Lucifer who was seeking reprieve upon his arrival. The Morningstar abdicated the throne to Hell and gave Dream its key. With Hell’s gate closed until further notice, Nada was unreachable. Dream spent the next few episodes fielding pitches from other mythical beings such as Odin (Clive Russell), Thor (Laurence O’Fuarain), and Loki (Freddie Fox), emissaries of Oberyn and Titania, and more, all of whom hoped to be given the key to the dark kingdom. Dream’s choice was a wise one in the end: He returned control of Hell back to Heaven.

With Hell taken care of, he could refocus his efforts. Nada was freed from a Hell demon in Dream’s realm, and Dream granted her a life back in the human world upon her request. Her one stipulation was that her left her alone; she wouldn’t repeat the same mistake from 10,000 years before no matter how much the yearning Dream asked for them to romantically reunite.

Who is Orpheus in The Sandman Season 2?

Dream defied Nada’s request and went to the human world anyway. This trip with younger sister Delirium was disastrous and broke Delirium’s trust in her older brother. When it came time for them to reunite again to try and find their long-absent brother, Destruction/The Prodigal (Barry Sloane), Dream delivered a rare apology.

It was this leg of the journey that made Dream realize where all these winding roads were leading. Dream was being sent to right the major wrongs he committed throughout his eternal life, with the final destination being his son, Orpheus (Ruairi O’Connor) — yes, the same Orpheus from the Greek tragedy. Orpheus’ tragedy with lover Eurydice plays out in Volume 1, taking the myth further by showing Orpheus’ life after his most famous story ended. It was frought with horror, and led to Dream owing his son “a boon,” aka a reprieve from his immortality.

Ruairi O’Connor as Orpheus in The Sandman Season 2 Episode 5 (Netflix)

Orpheus made a deal with his aunt, Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), to save Eurydice from the underworld after she was bitten and killed by a venomous snake on their wedding night. Death would make Orpheus immortal so he could enter the realm of Hades and Persephone and bring his wife back. As the tragedy foretells, he fails, and he also fails to die after a devastating attempt to be killed by a group of magical creatures. Orpheus is decapitated, but he lives and spends the rest of time as a decapitated head. His father never sees him again. Dream does, however, send people to be his son’s guardians and sends Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) to save him after a kidnapping hundreds of years later, showing that he still cared no matter how much he avoided seeing his child.

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Reuniting with Orpheus on his home island led to Dream and Delirium finding Destruction, who had been living on an island near his nephew for 300 years. Destruction refused to reunite with the rest of his siblings like Dream and Delirium wished, choosing instead to leave this world entirely and exist in the cosmos. He will never return to this realm. Destruction is “gone from that place and this world,” Dream said with sadness. One of The Prodigal’s parting words to his brother was, “Love is the only reason to do anything.” This hit heavy for Dream, who has been learning this lesson of letting go of duty and rules in favor of compassion and empathy and love. He then returned to his son to make good on this lesson.

How does The Sandman end?

Dream’s long journey in Volume 1 culminated in him giving his son that “boon.” He used his powers to bring Orpheus’ immortal life to an end, killing his son by piercing Orpheus’ eyes with his fingers. It was an act of mercy, but it was also the spilling of Endless family blood. This is a high crime, one the Mother, Maiden, and Crone (Dinita Gohil, Souad Faress, and Nina Wadia) must punish. Volume 1 ended with Dream back in his realm, weeping in the privacy of his bedroom, and the Mother, Maiden, and Crone seeing a dark future ahead.

“The oldest battle begins once more,” they said, alarmed by history repeating itself. Two of the women were hesitant to punish Morpheus, and they were uneasy still as they gave into the third sisters’ leadership.

“All good things, eh?” one asked, as the leader replied, “Got to finish sometime.” And then, a thread of life was cut.

Dream may have to fight for his life in The Sandman Volume 2. Or is he ready to end it all? Perhaps The Sandman bonus episode, which centers fan-favorite character Death, will show Dream in the afterlife, guided through by his Endless sibling. Time will tell.

The Sandman, Season 2 Volume 2 Premiere, Thursday, July 24, Netflix

The Sandman, Season 2 Bonus Episode, Thursday, July 31, Netflix