The Sandman - Issue 16 - Lost Hearts

Recap: So here we are at the final chapter of The Doll's House, Lost Hearts. Morpheus must contend with another threat to the Dreaming, again at the hands of a human. Despite those similarities, the situation between Rose Walker and John Dee could not be more different. Morpheus's fight with Doctor Destiny left no doubt what needed to be done. Dee was mad and willing to tear down the entire Dreaming to satisfy his insane version of the world. Rose Walker, in comparison, is an innocent who, through no fault of her own, possesses the power to destroy the world and everyone in it.

As seen in the previous issue, Into the Night, Rose's unknowing intrusion into the dreams of her housemates demanded Morpheus's swift intervention before anyone was seriously harmed. However, whether Hal, Chantal, Zelda, Barbie, and Ken come through this experience unscathed remains to be seen. Morpheus spirits Rose away just as Matthew learns from Gilbert that to save the Dreaming, Morpheus must kill Rose Walker.

Lost Hearts resumes immediately after Gilbert's ominous revelation, with Morpheus explaining to Rose why she needs to die. As expected, Rose runs through a gauntlet of emotions after learning she is the Vortex, starting with anger, confusion, and finally, disbelief. For a few seconds, she almost convinces herself that this is a dream and that she'll wake up safe and sound in bed. Morpheus dispels this hope immediately. If she dies in this dream, she'll die in the waking world.

Meanwhile, Gilbert returns to The Dreaming for the first time in fifty years, harboring little hope of being able to alter Rose's fate, but is compelled to try. He's even willing to suffer Morpheus's anger at the abandonment of his post, which leads Matthew to believe that Gilbert must have been a major player in the Dreaming. However, Gilbert corrects Matthews's misconception that Gilbert is a person.

He isn't, he's a place.

Before Gilbert can elaborate further, we return to Morpheus and Rose. This time, Morpheus reveals the mysterious nature of the Vortex and how it emerges from time to time, manifesting in a mortal who becomes the center of the Dreaming. Morpheus's function as the lord of his realm is to protect the Dreaming from it. Any inaction on his part can lead to disaster. In the past, his delay in fulfilling this duty resulted in the loss of an entire world. It is a mistake he is unprepared to make again.

Rose is not ready to accept this and begs Morpheus to take this burden away, which makes it all the harder for the Lord Shaper to do what he must. He cannot shirk his duty but does try to mitigate it, offering Rose a place in the Dreaming as recompense. Even Gilbert's timely arrival does little to stay his hand, although we do learn that Gilbert was, in fact, Fiddler's Green, one of the missing arcana from Lucius' census way back in Part One of the Doll House. Gilbert's offer to sacrifice his life for Rose is simply not an option. The Vortex must be stopped despite Morpheus's wish otherwise.

Miranda Walker sits at her mother's side in England as Unity Kinkaid draws closer to her inevitable meeting with Death. As she lingers in the never verse between life and death, she hears the whisper of a man's voice in her head, a man with eyes like twin stars. In this limbo, he whispers a truth she did not know before and, in learning it, allows herself to fall asleep and dream...

What little hope Rose had in Gilbert's appearance is dashed when Morpheus reveals the arcana's helplessness in this matter. Instead, Morpheus commands Gilbert to take up his post again but allows the two friends to say goodbye. Gilbert laments his inability to help Rose and wishes he had been a better human. Rose ignores this and hugs Gilbert before she weeps, not wanting Morpheus the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Gilbert takes his final bow before turning into Fiddler's Green, transforming the rocky, barren terrain of earlier into a lush, green paradise complete with resplendent cascades and snow-peaked mountains. The first time I read this, I could not imagine a more perfect persona for Fiddler's Green than Gilbert. It's a credit to Neil's writing that he created a character and a place that felt so gloriously right when imagined together.

For Rose Walker, it is the end of the line. It is time for Morpheus to carry out his grim task, and despite his apparent regret at doing so, he is unwilling to prolong this any further. To her credit, Rose accepts what has to happen, even though she desperately wants to live, telling Morpheus to get on with it. However, before Morpheus can carry out this execution, he is interrupted by the arrival of Unity Kinkaid.

Unity, now appearing no older than Rose, is not about to sacrifice her grandaughter. While Morpheus struggles to understand what is happening, Unity proposes that she should have been the Vortex. Had Morpheus not been imprisoned by Roderick Burgess, it would have been her standing before him, not Rose. Unity commands Rose to reach inside her, and find whatever makes her the Vortex. Rose is confused by the request until Unity reminds her they are in the Dreaming, where anything is possible.

Rose reaches into herself and draws out a heart-shaped piece of glass, not unlike the one found by the young warrior in the desert, a fragment of Nada's city. Taking it from her granddaughter, Unity places the heart into her chest and becomes the Vortex, perhaps as she should have always been. In the waking world, Unity breathes her last and dies. By dying, she saves Rose and eliminates the threat to the Dreaming once and for all. Although confused by how any of this has come about, Morpheus is clearly relieved at being spared the task of killing Rose. As a gift for all her family's suffering, Morpheus promises to revive Jed from his comatose state and bids Rose farewell.

Six months later, we find Rose finally shaking off the traumatic events of her time in the Dreaming. She, Miranda, and Jed live in a big house outside Seattle, bought with Miranda's sizable inheritance from Unity. A letter from Hal reveals Miss Dolly's alter ego has decided to sell the house and move west, possibly because of new love. Chantal and Zelda are buying the home instead, which is good because I pity the moving company having to deal with those spiders if they needed to relocate. Ken and Barbie went their separate ways, with Ken predictably trading Barbie in for a younger model. However, Barbie has embarked on her own journey, but we'll hear more about that later. Wink, wink.

Gilbert's whereabouts remain unknown.

Rose has been in stasis since the night of Unity's Death, trying to process everything that happened. Her memories of the Dreaming are vague, and though she remembers some of it, it's nothing she can easily explain. Rose wishes her friend Judy was alive to help her figure all this out, but sadly Judy is now just a headline in the wake of the massacre at the 24-hours diner. One thing has emerged from this experience, however.

Rose now knows reality is nowhere as constant as she once believed, that there are forces beyond their understanding guiding and directing the paths of their lives. Like they're all dolls in someone else's playhouse.

Nevertheless, Rose decides to get out there and start living her best life with the people she loves.

Back in the Dreaming, the events surrounding the Vortex and Rose Walker still trouble Morpheus, compelling him to go to his gallery and announce his intention to visit Desire. Morpheus has been thinking, leading him to alarming conclusions. As guessed already by Unity, she should have been the Vortex, not Rose. The Vortex was somehow transmitted along her genetic line to her granddaughter. Morpheus accuses Desire of being responsible for this and further guesses that Desire fathered Miranda Walker while Unity was in her deep sleep.

Desire denies nothing.

Morpheus ponders Desire's endgame. Had Desire intended him to spill family blood and bring on the wrath of the Kindly Ones? Desire gives him no answer prompting Morpheus to remind his sibling that mortals are not to be toyed with. If anything, the Endless owe their existence to mortals because, without them, none of the Endless would have a purpose. This concept is beyond Desire's understanding, but Morpheus still intends to give his younger sibling a teachable moment.

Morpheus warns Desire violently that if they meddle in his affairs again, they will face more than just him but also their older siblings, Destiny and Death. I don't know about you, but I don't want to see a wrathful Death. With that, he leaves Desire to their own devices.

The threat ultimately fails to move Desire at all. Desire believes they are the masters of their realm and humans are their playthings. Desire is no one's creature and certainly no one's doll.

And that's it! Tune in next week for Dream Country's Calliope.

NEXT - Issue 17 - Calliope

PREVIOUS - Issue 15 - Into the Night