Our score: 9/10
Synopsis: Do not read if you don’t want to read any spoilers.
We could not identify any triggers in this episode.
Hades, or the underworld, is another name for Hell. Hell is cold in this world. Everyone who enters hell is required to bring their own fire. Dream states that he must adhere to protocol and requests to be a guest. Dream speaks to Matthew the Raven, telling him that Lucifer Morningstar is more powerful than him, but that he must confront her in order to reclaim his helmet. In hell, he runs into one of his ex-lovers. She begs him to forgive her, but he refuses. He admits that he still adores her after 10,000 years. Her name was Nada, and she was the ruler of a tribe known as the First People. She rebelled against Dream and ended up in hell (read the side-story below this episode synopsis).
Gwendoline Christie as the evil lord was a pleasant surprise. The epic dream battle is one of our favourite scenes in the series!
“What power do dreams have in hell? To say that dreams have no power in hell… what power does hell have if those imprisoned here are unable to dream… of heaven?” Dream eventually regains possession of his helmet.
He then puts on his helmet and searches for the ruby, only to discover that it has been altered. When he discovers the ruby, it knocks him out.
Rosemary, a kind lady, picks up John and gives him a lift. John discusses his mother with Rosemary, claiming that she was a bad mother. He eventually confesses to Rosemary that he killed people, committed arson, and stole. He is clearly insane. John eventually finds the ruby and picks it up from where Dream had dropped it. He bestows the protection amulet on Rosemary. John tells Rosemary that he doesn’t need the amulet because the ruby will protect him; he will now fulfill his dreams and save the world.
THE EPIC BATTLE
Side-story: Dream and Nada’s story
Nada was the 16-year-old queen of the city where man began, according to an African myth passed down orally from generation to generation. Dream of the Endless took her as his lover, despite the fact that it was forbidden for one of his kind to do so. According to legend, when the sun saw what they had done, it melted Nada’s city of glass with a massive fireball. Nada committed suicide after seeing the damage their relationship had caused but being unable to find a way to end it.
Dream followed her spirit to Death’s realm and invited her to be his queen, but she refused. Dream, enraged by her rejection of him, condemned her to Hell and showed no remorse for doing so. Morpheus said to Nada during his visit to Hell centuries later, “I still love you, but I have not yet forgiven you.” He changed his mind only after Death reprimanded him for it.
Dream, compelled to make amends, delivered her from Hell. He apologized to her, and though he offers himself again, she declines to stay with him. He tells her that she is always welcome in the Dreaming in whatever form she chooses, and reincarnates her as an infant on Earth.
Desire’s admission that “Nada was a mistake” reveals that they were the one behind this tragic romance.
