“The Ruler of Hell,” the second episode of the second season of The Sandman, opens, predictably, with Dream arriving in hell where Lucifer Morningstar is more than ready to receive him. The King of Dreams is quite weary of the whole situation, knowing perfectly well that Lucifer is nothing if not cunning and full of tricks, but what he finds in hell shocks both him and us viewers: the place is empty.
What follows is a truly beautiful performance from Gwendoline Christie that gifts us Lucifer at his most Miltonian self, tormented and full of regret and passion. We learn that Lucifer is quite simply tired of the incredible task of making sure Hell stays within the boundaries of what Heaven wants it to be, so it's a perfect and forever unchanging mirror. And so Lucifer has decided to simply leave it, releasing all the souls trapped within it to the vast nothingness beyond the borders of his former kingdom—which makes me wonder whether Lucifer might instead be “the king who will forsake his kingdom.”
So the confrontation between Lucifer and Dream becomes not a remake of their battle of wits in season 1 but an exchange of vulnerability between two immensely powerful entities, which ends with Lucifer asking Dream to cut off his wings so that he might go into the world to lead a whole new life. But even wingless and crownless, Lucifer has one final trick to play: he entrusts Dream with the key to hell, meaning that Dream is now responsible for it and that everyone who wants to extend their dominion over hell will now come knocking at the doors of the Dreaming.
That’s where an episode that was already great thanks to the sheer acting skills of two of its main cast members becomes even greater, leaning into yet another feature of The Sandman that makes the whole story incredibly entertaining: We are treated to glimpses of the larger world in which the Endless move, filled with all kinds of mythologies and lore from all over the world, as a series of delegations arrive at Dream’s palace requesting he give them the key to Hell.
There’s a delegation of demons, of course, led by Azazel and Merkin, who want to take back Hell because it’s the only home they know. There’s Odin and his fellowship of Norse gods, including Thor and an always fabulous Loki, who is always the coolest character around in each and every one of his onscreen iterations—and played in this case by Freddie Fox of House of the Dragon fame—who wish to include Hell in his dominion to help stave off Ragnarok. Then there’s the colorful and creepy group that personifies Chaos, led by what seems like a little girl who would be very good friends with Pennywise the Clown. A group of serious-looking suits who carry around an empty box that supposedly contains their master, Lord Kilderkin of the Lords of Order. The Japanese deity Lord Susanoo seems like the calmest of the bunch.
Finishing off the party is a delegation from Faerie, led by siblings Cluracan and Nuala, who are sent by Queen Titania to stop the tithings their kingdom has to pay to Hell. And then, of course, there are a couple of angels who descend directly from Heaven to watch over the proceedings. Every single delegation finds their way to make their offer—or their threat—to Dream to persuade him to give Hell to them, but of course, the episode leaves us hanging before we can discover what the King of Dreams decides.
“The Ruler of Hell” is hands down one of the best episodes of the first part of this new season of The Sandman, with its incredible character play in the first half and its lore-rich party in the Dreaming in the second half. It truly shows off everything that is good about this show and manages to keep up the stakes from the first episode, saddling Dream with quite a heavy decision when he already has so many things to worry about. And to think that he only wanted some quiet time in his renewed Dreaming.
Bullet Point Summary
- We return to Hell with Dream but we find it much changed. It’s empty, for starters, all the souls trapped within it and the demons that inhabited it sent away by Lucifer Morningstar, who reveals he’s tired of keeping watch over Hell and has decided to leave it for good. He asks Dream to cut off his wings so that he might continue on to his new life, but he surprises him with one last bit of trickery by entrusting him with the key to Hell—which means that Dream is now responsible for it and will have to choose its next ruler if he doesn’t wish to take on the burden himself.
- The second part of the episode sees a whole array of delegations arriving in the Dreaming to ask Dream to entrust Hell to them for this or that reason. We see the Lords of Order in the (invisible) form of Lord Kilderkin; the Japanese god Susanoo; Odin and his fellow Norse Gods, including Thor and Loki; demons led by Azazel and Merkin; the fairies, guided by siblings Cluracan and Nuala; a group of creatures representing Chaos; and of course, two angels to watch over the entire thing.
- Each of the delegations pleads their case to Dream, telling him why they should be the one to now rule Hell. Some are offers and some are threats; Azazel shows Dream that he has swallowed Nada’s soul and is ready to consume her out existence if he doesn’t return Hell to demons.
- The episode, of course, finishes off on this threat and leaves us hanging for Dream’s decision until the next one, now with even higher stakes—as if deciding what to do with literal Hell wasn’t enough of a worry on its own.
Episode Grade: A-
The Sandman Episode 2 reviews:
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 1: "Season of Mists"
- The Sandman season 2, Epsiode 2: "The Ruler of Hell"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 3: "More Devils Than Vast Hell Can Hold"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 4: "Brief Lives"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 5: "The Song of Orpheus"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 6: "Family Blood"
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