The Sandman reveals episode titles for curtailed second season

The second and final season of The Sandman airs next month. I really like Neil Gaiman's comic book series and enjoyed the first season of the show, about an eternal being named Dream (Tom Sturridge) who presides over the realm we all visit when we go to sleep. There's a ton of comic book left, but this second season will squeeze the rest of the story into 12 episodes, which is surely disappointing for many fans.

So far as we can tell, the show is being cut short because it's not popular enough to justify the expense, which makes sense in an era when all the streaming services are tightening their belts. At least according to the producers, it doesn't have anything to do with the sexual assault allegations against author Neil Gaiman. Although that might be why Netflix hasn't been talking about the series much; its recent Tudum event came and went with nary a peep about The Sandman.

Today, Netflix revealed the titles for all 12 episodes of the final season. Check them out below:

• Season 2, Episode 1: "Season of Mists"
• Season 2, Episode 2: "The Ruler of Hell"
• Season 2, Episode 3: "More Devils Than Vast Hell Can Hold"
• Season 2, Episode 4: "Brief Lives"
• Season 2, Episode 5: "The Song of Orpheus"
• Season 2, Episode 6: "Family Blood"
• Season 2, Episode 7: "Time and Night"
• Season 2, Episode 8: "Fuel for the Fire"
• Season 2, Episode 9: "The Kindly Ones"
• Season 2, Episode 10: "Long Live the King"
• Season 2, Episode 11: "A Tale of Graceful Ends"
• Season 2, Episode 12: "Death: The High Cost of Living"

"Season of Mists" is the title of the next big story arc for Dream. It will involve him traveling to hell and reuniting with Lucifer (Gwendoilne Christie), whom we met in the first season. "Brief Lives" is the title of the next big arc, where Dream teams up with his sister Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles) to search for their brother Descrution (Barry Sloane), who went missing a long time ago. "The Song of Orpheus" will surely tell us the tale what happened between Dream and his son Orpheus, who you might know from the Greek myth. Then we skip to "The Kindly Ones," one of the last story arcs in the comics. The Sandman comic also has a fairly long epilogue, and based on these titles, I have hope that we'll get at least one episode dedicated to it.

As much as I'd like to see the whole of The Sandman adapted to the screen, it's true that there are a lot of side stories that lift right out. For instance, there's a whole story arc called "A Game of You" where Dream barely appears. Would I like to see it adapted? Of course. Can I imagine a good season of TV that skips it? Yeah, probably.

And we will be getting some of the side material, including one of the comic's most famous stories, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which puts a whole new spin on the classic Shakespeare play. Jack Gleeson, aka King Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones, will play the mischievous fae trickster Puck.

All things considered, I think I'm more excited for this than I thought I would be given the shortened runtime. The first six episodes will drop on Netflix on July 3, the next five on July 24, and a final bonus episode on July 31.

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