Summary
In episode two, Morpheus calls upon his siblings to help him find his tools, so he can retrieve them and rebuild his once beautiful, now destroyed, realm.
This recap of Netflix’s The Sandman season 1, episode 2, “Imperfect Hosts,” contains spoilers.
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The Sandman season 1, episode 2 recap
In the ending of the last episode, we saw Morpheus return to the Dreaming, to find his beautiful realm drastically destroyed.
Episode two opens with Morpheus slowly walking around his broken once beautiful castle in his realm. The royal librarian is one of the only people left, claiming she never felt abandoned and had all faith that he would one day return. The realm is mirrored with Morpheus; this death and decay show us how beaten and mentally defeated he felt caged away, unable to fulfill his duties. He tries to bring his castle back to life, but he is too weak. He needs his tools, his sand, his mask, and his ruby.
It is suggested that Morpheus contacts one of his siblings for help, but he points out that they are well aware of what is happening and no one came to his aid. However, we can feel that soon we will be meeting some of his siblings from the other Realms.
Only one thing remains intact in his realm, and that is his lovely little dragon gargoyle called Gregory, who is like a big, cute, playful dog. For the Dreaming to be restored, Morpheus must take back Gregory and absorb him, as he was once a dream, leaving his owners distraught.
We’re introduced to a fierce, strong, charming art dealer, whose life is interrupted when The Corinthian comes to visit her. We soon realize, this woman is Ethel, so many years have passed since she ran away with Dream’s tools. The Nightmare and Ethel are discussing how Morpheus will come back to kill them both, and probably John, Ethel’s son, who is the son of Roderick.
Morpheus needs the help of his siblings as the dreams and nightmares do not recognize their master, and he has to remind them to bring more balance. We have a sequence of Morpheus falling between dreams and nightmares, finding offerings for the Fates to come to help him. With his voice-over talking us through his challenges, he then summons The Fates.
The ending
They all allow him to ask three questions, to which they will give one answer. He asks, where his pouch of sand has gone, which has been purchased by Constantine. The second question, his Helm, what has happened to it? It was traded away to a demon, for an Amulet of protection.
Last question, where is his Ruby? The ruby belongs to John, the son of Roderick. With this information, Morpheus can come back to the waking world and hunt his objects.
One item is left, an egg. This egg was not meant as a gift for the fates. This egg is a gargoyle egg. The egg hatches and out comes little Goldie, a ridiculously cute baby Gargoyle.
The Corinthian tries to take Ethel’s eyes, but she has a magic protection amulet that takes him instead. Ethel’s character is stronger and more reliant than we once thought. Ethel goes to visit her son, Johnny, in a highly secure hospital. Mentally ill or was he imprisoned by his mother on purpose?
The ending of the episode surrounds Morpheus heading to London to find his tools. Meanwhile, Corinthian is forced back to the dream realm but quickly returns himself back to the waking world, clearly showing he is not afraid of his creator, stating you can’t change or save Morpheus.
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