Lost Hearts is issue 16 of the Sandman comic series, created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith, and Mike Drigenberg. It was originally released April 24, 1990.
Synopsis[]
Rose faces Morpheus and discovers her delicate place in the cosmos. If she wakes, she could destroy everything. But if she remains in the dream realm, she'll cease to exist.
Summary[]
In the Dreaming, Morpheus explains to Rose her nature and the threat that she poses to the world. He is remorseful about having to kill her and offers her an afterlife in his kingdom. Then Gilbert barges in together with Matthew; in penance for his 50-year absence, the dream offers his life instead of Rose's. Morpheus regretfully replies that it's not an option and asks Gilbert to take his proper place as Fiddler's Green. After a heartfelt farewell, Rose grows irritated with Morpheus's hesitation, shouting "just do it!".
In England, while Rose's mother is keeping watch at Unity Kinkaid's bedside, Unity enters the Dreaming. She appears on Fiddler's Green besides Rose, young again, and stops a puzzled Morpheus. She now realizes that being the vortex was her destiny - a destiny that Dream's capture prevented - and asks Rose to part with her essence. Rose reaches within and produces a glass heart, which Unity then breaks in her hands, instantly dying in reality. Morpheus then lets Rose go and even promises to awaken her brother, stating "Your family has suffered enough".
Six months later, Rose still ruminates on those events. Since then, her mother has used Unity's inheritance to buy a big house outside Seattle, where they settled together with Jed. Most of the tenants in Hal's house have radically changed their lives after that traumatic night, and Rose herself has spent this time in mild depression, trying to deal with the implications and the emotional fallout of her journey. Now she decides that half a year of brooding is enough and decides to go out and "hunt down some old friends".
In the aftermath, Dream comes to Desire's gallery and demands answers. He has figured out that it was Desire who raped Unity in her sleep, in the hopes that Dream would have to break the rules and spill family blood "with all that would entail". He warns Desire never to meddle in his affairs again, and lectures them on the place of the Endless in the universe - as servants of the living, not their masters. Desire is taken aback, but quickly shrugs it off, being a creature of the moment that it is.
Appearances[]
Featured Characters[]
Supporting Characters[]
Antagonists[]
Other Characters[]
- Miranda Walker
- Jed Walker
- Hal Carter (mentioned only)
- Chantal and Zelda (mentioned only)
- Barbie (mentioned only)
- Ken (mentioned only)
- Judy (mentioned only)
Objects[]
- Rose's Heart
- Unity's Annulet (mentioned only)
Locations[]
Continuity Notes[]
- In the epilogue that happens six months after the events, Rose mentions that Judy died "a year ago". This places the main body of the arc in October, 1989, and brings the events of the series back to speed with its release schedule.
Trivia[]
- Lost Hearts is a 1895 ghost story by M.R.James. Zelda was reciting it to Chantal in their dream in the previous issue.