Netflix’s animated adaptation of the iconic video games series Castlevania premiered its second season this week, which builds to an emotional season finale and ending. In the long and checkered history of video game adaptations, there aren’t many films or television shows that could legitimately be called great. Yet Castlevania, Netflix and comic book writer Warren Ellis’s anime-inspired take on the Konami games, proudly stands head and shoulders above its competition. The hyper-stylized series is visually gripping and offers a fresh take on Castlevania mythos that will comfort fans while still prove surprising.
In season 2, the show upped the ante with more episodes (this season is double the length of the previous one), more vampires, and an expansion of the mythology. The action picked up right where season 1 left it, with the city of Gresit in ruins after Dracula's ordered attack. The Count, deep in the throes of nihilistic depression, calls upon his War Council to formulate further war upon Wallachia's citizens. Standing in his way is fallen monster hunter Trevor Belmont, magic crafter Sypha Belnades, and his own son, the dhampir Alucard. But the torment did not stop there, as Dracula faced treachery from his own kind - including the scheming Carmilla.
Related: Castlevania Season 2 Voice Cast and Character Guide
A third season of the show had already been announced back in July, so fans won't have to wonder if the series ends on season 2's admittedly satisfying conclusion. Here’s a summary of what went down in the climax of season 2 of Castlevania.
- This Page: Dracula's Death and The Season Finale
- Page 2: Carmilla Takes Over, Trevor and Sypha Move On
What Happens in The Castlevania Season 2 Finale
The season finale is the aftermath to the penultimate episode, following immediately after Alucard's battle with his father, which left Dracula dead and his castle forever stuck in its location above the Belmont hold thanks to Sypha's magic. The central trio - Alucard, Trevor Belmont and Sypha - survey the damage and decide what to do now that their central task is complete. Alucard decides to stay with the castle, claiming it as his legacy, and Trevor bequeaths him with the centuries-old Belmont archives, allowing their two worlds to converge once and for all for the greater good.
Isaac, Dracula's most loyal Demon Forgemaster and one of the season's newest characters, remained in the nameless desert he had been forcibly sent to by Dracula, formulating his future plans. A band of rogues came upon him at an oasis and, after insulting and threatening to enslave him, Isaac had them quickly killed before resurrecting them as his newest undead soldiers. The finale last shows him on horseback with his new slaves, presumably looking for a way back to Wallachia. With his cynicism in humanity once again confirmed, Isaac seemed ready to return to Dracula.
Sypha, a Speaker whose people are oral archivists and storytellers, chose not to return to her family full-time and convinced Trevor to join her in further adventures. Much to Trevor's own surprise, he agreed and the pair optimistically watched the sun set together. While the season hinted at romantic feelings between them both, this was as close as the show got to confirming them.
Related: Watch the Trailer For Castlevania Season 2
The scheming Carmilla, formerly one of Dracula's loyal generals, had seen her scheme to usurp the head vampire come close to fruition. With her own forces decimated but everyone else's weakened too, she made plans to fight for the top spot, but she needed a new army to do so. Hector, the other Demon Forgemaster on Dracula's side, had been manipulated into joining her side and quickly found himself enslaved by Carmilla and ready to be forced to produce a new undead army for her future battles.
By the end of the finale, Alucard found himself alone in the house he grew up in, finally able to understand the crushing loneliness his father felt before his mother first arrived.
Dracula is Dead
All series long, Count Dracula has been on a suicide mission of sorts. The death of his wife turned him against humanity once more and he sought nothing less than the total annihilation of their species. Yet for most of season two, Dracula has been quiet and excluded himself from making the military decisions required to pull off such a task. His lack of a long-term plan – including the small question of what vampires would eat if humans were all dead – made other vampires suspicious of his intents. He even seemed to stop feeding himself, utterly drained of the will to live.
Eventually, his desire for an end came to be during a climactic battle with his own son. As the pair thought and stumbled into Alucard’s childhood bedroom, Dracula became bereft with guilt and allowed his son to finish the job. Dracula is dead, his moving castle is now permanently located above the secret Belmont family archives, and Alucard finds himself all alone, just as his father was before his mother arrived. The final shot of the season is Alucard crying with guilt and awareness of what he has just done. Even by the standards of this bleak and cynical show, the ending is a pretty big bummer. It also opens up season 3 to major game-changing possibilities. Dracula isn't the only big bad vampire in the Castlevania games, but does his death mean he's truly dead, or will he return in some form?
Page 2: Carmilla Takes Over, Trevor and Sypha Move On
Carmilla Takes Over
While the other vampires expressed cynicism over Dracula’s plans, only one of them took the initiative to challenge his authority, and that was a new arrival to season 2: Carmilla. A fan-favorite from the games, taken from the Joseph Sheridan le Fanu book of the same name, Carmilla finds Dracula’s plans untenable and decides the old guard of power could use a shake-up. Through manipulation of new character Hector, she became the new vampire power player and Dracula’s death leaves the door open for her to take over. A third season promises much in the way of her political machinations, as the inter-vampire battles for the top spot continue.
Hector and Isaac’s Fates
Season 2 introduced two new humans to the fray: The Devil Forgemasters Hector and Isaac. Both men are gifted with the ability to turn the dead into monstrous creatures that will do their bidding, and they chose to align themselves with Dracula and the vampires over their fellow man. Each of them had their own reasons for betraying their own kind, although they are both united in their repulsion at how humanity has ruined the world and saw Dracula’s genocidal schemes as being for the greater good.
Related: Konami is Developing a New Castlevania Video Game
While Isaac remained fervently loyal to Dracula while Carmilla planned to usurp him, Hector fell prey to her lies and aided her in her plans. By the season’s end, Hector was being kept essentially as Carmilla’s slave, to be forced to forge new monsters to serve her as she stepped up her plans for domination of the vampire world. Isaac, however, had been spared a bloody death at the hands of Alucard by Dracula, who sent him to an unknown desert land for his own safety - something Isaac did not appreciate. While in the desert, a band of travellers insulted and tried to imprison him, but Isaac quickly killed them, revived them as his undead army, and set off on a journey, seemingly back to Dracula. In a show that has always held a pretty nihilistic view towards humans, Isaac may be the strongest representation of that.
Trevor and Sypha Move On
In season 1, Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades joined forces more out of necessity than genuine like of one another: Trevor needed a powerful ally and Sypha needed a guide into the world of vampires and monsters. Along with Alucard, the trio became unlikely comrades and true friends, although much of the season hints at a romantic future for Trevor and Sypha. After their defeat of Dracula and his vampire allies, Sypha decided she did not want to return to life as a Speaker with her family and joined forces with Trevor for more adventures. Their ending, in contrast to Alucard’s emotional torment, was decidedly more optimistic, although it’s unclear how long that will last. They have promised to stick together and take on whatever mad adventures come their way, and a new vampire war headed by an evil crueller force than Dracula would certainly fit that bill.
More: Castlevania: 8 Best (And 7 Worst) Games, Ranked
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