Chapter 21: Long Live the King is the tenth episode of the second season of the Netflix original dark fantasy series, The Sandman.
Synopsis[]
Fueled by rage, a grieving mother unleashes her wrath upon the Dreaming, as Morpheus confronts the Kindly Ones at the furthest reaches of his kingdom.
Plot[]
Abel greets The Furies and Lyta at his and his brother's domain, but is killed by Lyta at the Furies' order.
Out in the fields, Mervyn and Matthew are confronted by the Furies, and after Mervyn fires his gun at them, they reflect the bullets onto him, which kill him. Circling Matthew, the Furies note that it's Dream's bird and that he wouldn't like it if they killed him.
Back at Dream's castle, The Corinthian returns there with Daniel and is met by Cain and Lucienne. While Lucienne closes the front doors, Cain informs Corinthian that Gilbert and Abel are dead, and Matthew manages to fly into the place before the doors are shut. Matthew informs them that Mervyn is dead, leading to the revelation that Dream isn't there, and none of them know where he is.
In the Faerie Realm, Titania apologizes to Dream as she thought that summoning him would make him safe, which Dream refuted. Though because Dream owed Nuala a boon, she wishes that Dream return to his Realm and that they one day meet with each other again, but Dream says that is impossible. Still, Nuala asks that Dream return to his Realm, which he does.
Reaching the front gates of Dream's Palace, the Furies incapacitate the three Guardians, and after they do, Dream heals one of them and allows them entry into his palace. Inside, Dream orders his subjects to retreat into the throne room, where they'll be safe, but the Furies intervene, stating they have usurped control over Dream's Realm after he left. With that, the Furies intended to use Lyta to enact her vengeance for killing her son Daniel, but as Dream reveals, Daniel wasn't exactly dead. Daniel was now a dream himself and was being manipulated by the Furies so they could fulfill their role. Thanks to Dream telling Lyta she was dreaming, it forces the Furies to retreat temporarily.
With the brief window of opportunity, Dream heads to the Mortal realm, intending on killing Lyta, but couldn't due to Mad Hettie's circle of protection. The two talk, and Mad Hettie's words convince Dream to reconsider his actions as they've all experienced the loss of a child.
Confronting Cluracan in his room, Nuala demands that he remove the glamor he placed on her so she can return to Dream's Realm. However, Cluracan refuses, citing that if she leaves, he'll be left to suffer on his own and be the person that everyone in the Faerie Realm thinks of him. Nuala offers him to join her, but Cluracan doesn't like dying in the Dream Realm, so Cluracan removes Nuala's glamour and the two hug each other goodbye.
In the Mortal Realm, Delirium and Goldie draw attention from the people they walk around, and to be less inconspicuous, Delirium ties a gold string around Goldie's leg to make it seem he's a balloon.
Dream informs Cain, Lucienne, Corinthian, and Matthew that he has failed to kill Lyta, and after speaking with Daniel, he will confront the Furies at the end of the Dream. He also entrusts Daniel with an Eagle Stone, and after expressing his thanks to them all, he teleports them away, but Matthew defies the odds and stays behind. Matthew then asked if Dream really intended to survive what was to come, and followed up with whether he would come back if he went too. Dream answered no for both of them, and despite Dream's response, he decides to come along.
At the farthest place in the Dream Realm, Dream summons the Furies who beckon to his call.
In the throne room, Lucienne uses the crystal ball that Dream used to rebuild his palace to try to track Dream, but to no avail. The crystal is passed down from Cain, to Corinthian, and finally to Daniel, all while talking about those they miss who have died thanks to the Furies' wraith. It's said that when Dream dies, Daniel will take over Dream's place, and right after this, the crystal started to glow, and Corinthian rolls away the crystal and promises to find something else for him to play with. The ball is stopped by Death, who greets them all. She asked where Dream was, and Lucienne answered that he was with the ladies, which Death said she would wait for his return then.
Dream demands that the Furies stop their conquest to destroy his realm, but they refuse as their avatar, Lyta, destroys his Realm. He then says he'll fight them, but cannot, as his son's blood is on his hands. Left with no other choice, Dream asks Matthew to return to the castle and ask that his sister come to him and then stay there.
Returning to the throne room, and upon arriving there, he tells Death to join Dream where he is.
Riding on horseback, intending to return to the Dream Realm, she's stopped by Queen Titania and her two guards, and after announcing her intentions to go to the Dream Realm to fight. Queen Titania gifts Nuala a sword.
Sitting beside Dream, Death, and her brother have an emotional heart-to-heart as Lyta proceeds to head toward the castle, only to be decapitated by Nuala, and Dream touches Death and dies.
In the real world, Goldie is sent away, leaving Delirium sad and alone. Lyta awakens and Barnabas reunites with Delirium after being in the care of Mad Hettie. Delirium offers a reward to Mad Hettie, but she declines, citing the dangers of accepting a reward from someone like her. Before she goes off, Mad Hettie extends her condolences to Delirium for her loss, and she explains to Barnabas that it was Dream who had died.
Mad Hettie returns home and sees that Lyta is awake; she offers her some tea, and Lyta asks what happened, to which Mad Hettie replies that Lyta had killed Dream. Even so, Lyta asks where Daniel is, and Mad Hettie says that she won't see Daniel, not after what she did, but still Lyta wanted to see him.
As the sky around the Dream Realm starts to clear, Abel, Matthew, Corinthian, and Lucienne take note that the Furies have left the realm. However, they're concerned that Dream has not yet returned to them, but a voice calls out to them, correcting that he has returned. Turning around, they all see Daniel as a full-grown man dressed in a white robe, now as the new Lord of Dream world.
Cast[]
- Tom Sturridge as Dream
- Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne
- Patton Oswalt as Matthew
- Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death
- Esme Creed-Miles as Delirium
- Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian
- Jacob Anderson as Daniel Hall
- Ann Skelly as Nuala
- Douglas Booth as Cluracan
- Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain
- Asim Chaudhry as Abel
- Nina Wadia as Fate Mother
- Souad Faress as Fate Crone
- Dinita Gohil as Fate Maiden
- Razane Jammal as Lyta Hall
- Clare Higgins as Mad Hettie
- Ruta Gedmintas as Queen Titania
- Mark Hamill as Merv Pumpkinhead (voice)
- Nicholas Anscombe as Merv Pumpkinhead (Body)
- Paul Rhys as Paul McGuire
- Steve Coogan as Barnabas (voice)
- Nonso Anozie as Wyvern (voice)
Trivia[]
To be added
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
References[]