The Sandman - Issue 28 - Season of Mists - Epilogue

In which we bid farewell to absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the Season of Mists and in which we give the Devil his due.

Issue 28 - Epilogue, Season of Mists ends with the quiet stillness that belies the world-changing events of the last issue. Like the morning after a terrible storm, the issue feels so tranquil, you can almost smell the damp moss of morning.

In Hell, Remiel stands atop Lucifer’s former castle, watching the demons returning home, puzzled that none of them exhibits any true happiness to be back, only resignation that they must take up their burden once more. He tries to engage Duma to take an interest, but the Angel of Silence seems content to remain indifferent to the whole situation. Remiel supposes it doesn’t matter if their new charges feel any different to the reopening of Hell. Soon the damned will return and the business of Hell will go on as it always has, even if Remiel and Duma are the only ones who know the difference.

He and Duma are Hell’s masters by Heaven’s decree. Nothing is going to change that. All they have is each other until the end of time.

Back in the Dreaming, we finally get the meeting we’ve been waiting for since Issue 4, Hope in Hell. Morpheus readies himself for dinner with Nada, shifting into the guise of Kai’ckul, the stranger who captured her heart so long ago. Their initial greeting is polite and awkward, understandable considering what transpired between them, but this veneer of civility is wafer thin. A simple question about hunger reveals Nada’s simmering resentment.

The Dream lord then offers what may be the worst apology made by any Immortal to his wronged lover since it has the weight of a little boy being forced to say sorry by his parents. Nada reacts to this as expected. After ten thousand years of hunger, isolation, pain and weeping, she is all out of mercy in the face of his half-assed apology. Nada doesn’t hold back and actually slaps Morpheus in her fury.

The blow stuns Morpheus, and he is about to retaliate until he realises Nada is absolutely correct. Nada’s bitch slap knocked some sense into him with Morpheus waking up to the reality of what he did to her. With more self-awareness, he tries again and reiterates his regret with sincerity. He behaved abominably because she injured his pride. It was cruel and unfair and he knows it.

This time, Nada accepts the apology, seeing the genuine contrition behind it. Once past the turbulent emotional currents, the doomed couple exchange a kiss, revealing the affection they still have for each other. Morpheus reiterates the offer he made to Nada so long ago, to remain in the Dreaming to be his queen, but ten thousand years hasn’t changed Nada’s mind. It’s still a bad idea and she declines. Thankfully, this time Morpheus reacts better to her rejection. Instead, they sit down to discuss what comes next.

A short time later, we find Susano-O-No in his suite, trying to make a surreptitious exit before anyone notices it. However, this is the Dreaming, and nothing gets past the Lord Shaper in his domain. Morpheus catches the storm god before he can leave the gates of the castle, surprised that Susano-O-No would leave without a word of farewell. Susano-O-No tries to cover by claiming his summons to the Floating Bridge of Heaven and admits to being unworthy of Morpheus’s hospitality.

To his surprise, Morpheus agrees.

He is in the process of feigning all kinds of outrage when Morpheus silences him with the revelation that he isn’t Susano-O-No but Loki!

Loki gives up all pretexts, aware that it is fruitless trying to fool the Dream Lord in his kingdom. Morpheus laments not guessing Loki’s subterfuge earlier and sparing the real Susano-O-No the inconvenience of getting throttled by Thor and forced to suffer Loki’s torture in the bowels of the earth. When questioned why Loki would pick Susano-O-No of all deities to take his place, the answer is unsurprising. Loki isn’t too fond of storm gods. (Cough... cough... Thor).

This doesn’t sit well with Morpheus at all. Susano-O-No was his guest and entitled to his protection. Loki reminds Morpheus that he is a guest too. isn’t he entitled to the same? In whatever medium, Loki’s always a slick hustler. The argument works and Loki’s plight moves Morpheus to offer another solution. Morpheus will rescue Susano-O-No and replace him with a dream image of Loki, sparing the god of mischief his eternal torture. In exchange, Loki will be in his debt. Loki is more than thrilled to accept these terms and the duo venture off to discuss the matter more fully.

Careful Morpheus, this bargain is going to bite.

We now go to Cluracan and Nuala, readying their (ahem) departure from the Dreaming. Cluracan is already missing Seneferu, his lover from the Egyptian embassy. He's getting too old for one-night stands and wonders if Seneferu will write. Nuala, who appears very accustomed to her brother’s dalliances, questions whether Cluracan could read anything his lover wrote since it is likely Seneferu will do it in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Her brother sees her point.

Morpheus’s arrival interrupts this fascinating banter. Nuala takes the lead as she’s eager to go home, and thanks Morpheus for his hospitality. Before she can continue, however, Cluracan interrupts her with some important information. She’s not going home with him. She’s come to the Dreaming to stay. Cluracan explains rather belatedly to both Morpheus and Nuala that Queen Titania has gifted her to the Dream Lord and will not take kindly to Nuala being rejected. Nuala is horrified at being misled into believing this was just a quick trip as an embassy of Faerie.

Morpheus has no desire to keep Nuala if she doesn’t want to remain, but Cluracan explains that rejecting Titania’s gift will not bode well for his sister. Exasperated, Morpheus accepts the gift. Nuala, still reeling, is assured by her brother that in time, Titania might let her come home to visit. Accepting her into his household, Morpheus then forbids the use of any faerie magic in his presence. This includes the glamour Nuala is presently wearing. He breaks the spell and the image of the tall, beautiful blond woman vanishes. She now appears as her true self, a shorter, petite faerie complete with tapered ears and unruly dark hair.

As Nuala begins to weep at her betrayal, Nada interrupts Morpheus. During their earlier discussions, Morpheus gave her two choices for her fate, and Nada has now decided. Despite his entreaties for her to remain in the Dreaming a little longer, Nada is eager to begin the next chapter of her life. She’s let go of her resentment and no longer ponders what might have been. Will he remember her, Nada asks. Morpheus reveals she’ll always be in his heart. Will she remember him? The answer is less clear. However, Morpheus promises he’ll remember for the both of them.

In a delivery room in Hong Kong, a young mother is joyously awaiting her new child. After an arduous labour, the infant enters the world. A boy. She feeds him at the breast before he’s taken away to maternity where he is settled in the waiting room of his new life. Morpheus is there, and he carries the child in his arms, revealing Nada’s choice to start life anew. He cradles the newborn in his arms, wishing Nada the best in her new existence and promising her she will always be welcome in the Dreaming, no matter whose body she wears. It is a singularly beautiful moment that gives Morpheus some absolution and Nada the chance of life denied her after ten thousand years in the pit.

Meanwhile in Perth, Australia, an old bloke is walking down a stretch of beach when he encounters a stranger. The old fella has noticed the stranger living rough on the beach and the two strike up a somewhat one-sided conversation. The guy gives his best Bill Kerr impersonation (Aussies, you’ll know who this is) about the weather, sheilas, nude beaches and those bloody kids while our stranger listens with mild interest. Still, Bill comes here to admire the sunset. At first with his family before tragedy took them away from him one after another, then finally on his own. Sad.

Yet despite the losses in his life, he can’t hate any god who can create such beautiful sunsets, a different one for every night. You have to respect the old bastard for that, right?

With that very Aussie observation, Bill heads home, saying he’ll see the stranger tomorrow if he’s still here. The stranger makes no promises.

Lucifer Morningstar watches Bill go, pondering Bill’s comment with a smile that is pure Bowie before begrudgingly admitting the man has a point.

“The sunsets are bloody marvellous, you old bastard. Satisfied?”

With that, the Devil goes back to enjoying the sunset on a beach (until he heads off to Los Angeles to start a new career at a piano bar - fight me if you disagree 😀)for another day.

We return to Hell one last time and find Remiel trying to put a positive spin on his new role as Hell’s regent. He’s challenging Duma to see their positions as an opportunity to mine the minor acts of kindness and charity that surface in Hell as an example of redemptive hope. When he intervenes on the flaying of a sinner, he tells the damned that the new Hell does not torture mindlessly or inflict wanton violence. What suffering they administer is not for punishment but for redemption. It is done to purify the sinner because the new Hell loves them.

For the sinner, this just makes the pain worse.

Remiel hears none of this. He flies above the skies of Hell and sees the flames not as a burning pit of punishment but as a cleansing fire of redemption. Despite the pain of being removed from Heaven’s sight, Remiel smiles, believing Hell for all its horrors was part of the Name’s design and has its purpose too.

Perhaps things have ended up as they should, happily ever after.

And that’s it! I hope you’ve enjoyed the epilogue of this epic story. I’ve certainly enjoyed recapping it for you. Next week, the return of Lady Constantine!

NEXT - ISSUE 29 - Thermidor

PREVIOUS - ISSUE 27 - Chapter Six