As with any Netflix series, particularly one of its surprisingly good video game adaptations, the ending of Devil May Cry has two distinct purposes. Yes, it needs to tie up the core Season 1 plot, which finds White Rabbit on the cusp of unleashing the denizens of Hell through a combination of Dante’s amulet, blood, brother, and his father’s sword, and that needs dealing with. But it also needs to set up Season 2 and beyond, since you can’t adapt a long-running series with oodles of characters and mythology and only make eight episodes out of it.
Compared to some of the outlandish set-pieces and conceptual flourishes earlier in the season, the finale is relatively boilerplate by comparison, in part because it has to be a servant to these two different masters. But it nevertheless has some reveals, some big character moments, and a pleasingly apocalyptic vibe worthy of consideration. So, let’s consider it together.
White Rabbit’s Background and Endgame
Here’s where we are in Episode 8, more or less:
It looks like White Rabbit’s plans to collapse the barrier between Earth and Hell have failed, and White Rabbit, having been revealed as a human intimately connected to Lady’s past, has fallen to his death. DARKCOM are in crisis management mode trying to cover up the debacle and aren’t afraid of throwing their own under the bus to do it, especially if Baines has anything to say about it (seriously, never trust someone who talks about God so much.)
Despite the fact that Dante lies to protect Mary by claiming that White Rabbit took the amulet which is now in his possession, DARKCOM turn on Dante and plan to apprehend him for forcible use in the upcoming holy war. But everyone’s distracted by the re-emergence of White Rabbit in a new, more monstrous form (in the games this would be, like, phase 3 of the final boss battle.)
White Rabbit has mutated into this horrific monster thanks to an overconsumption of demon blood. Initially, he was being kept alive by a contraption that dispensed demon and human claret fairly equally. But in his efforts to procure Dante’s blood and other family heirlooms, that balance has been upset, and the demon blood has taken over.
It’s worth mentioning that the reason White Rabbit needed this kind of assistance to survive in the first place is because of Lady, who had found him and the Makaian refugees he had travelled to Earth with after Mundus ransacked his adoptive homeland. So, there’s an element of personal responsibility there, as well as a hint that White Rabbit, as bad as he is, is really nothing compared to Mundus. Speaking of which…
Mundus, Sparda, and Vergil
A brief aside now for some clarifying parental history and demon lore backstory.
Enter Mundus, Big Bad, a demonic tyrant who two millennia prior had sought to demolish Earth and Makai – the Demon World, Underworld, Hell, or ominous-sounding moniker of your preference – for typically villainous reasons. He was prevented from doing so by a demon named Sparda, who rebelled and created the barrier between Earth and Makai that White Rabbit it trying to destroy.
Sparda and his wife Eva had two twin sons, Dante and Vergil, both of whose blood White Rabbit needed for his endgame. However, Vergil is believed to be dead in this show, which he turns out not to be (unsurprisingly – he’s one of the franchise’s prime antagonists.) Sparda, now missing, is uniquely hated by almost everyone since he was a demon but left his own kind to languish under Mundus’s rule. It’s like a classic immigrant story with a bit more flourish.
It’s only when White Rabbit manages to unite the Sword of Sparda with the amulet and Dante and Vergil’s blood that Dante realizes his brother is still alive.
Hoon Lee as White Rabbit in Devil May Cry S1. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025
White Rabbit Succeeds (Sort Of)
Needless to say, White Rabbit doing this constitutes a success for him, and the barrier between Earth and Makai comes down.
The fight prior to this also results in Enzo’s death, which is a shame, since he’s really the only friend Dante had. If you wanted proof that Devil May Cry is surprisingly decent narratively, just look at what they did with this guy – a scheming, cowardly middle-man type who nonetheless gets his heroic moment and whose death counts for something.
Anyway, White Rabbit wins – but not for long. Lady shoots his chest contraption with one of her anti-demon bullets and Dante turns into his Demon Form, which finally makes him powerful enough to pull out the Sword of Sparda and save the day. White Rabbit dies, the barrier is restored, but some matters remain outstanding, such as Vergil’s location and motivations.
Lady Betrays Dante at the end of Devil May Cry
Since Dante knows the fight is far from over, that DARKCOM is flagrantly corrupt, and that his brother is still alive, he knows he needs an ally. And he’d like that ally to be Lady. However, at the end of Devil May Cry, she proves she’s still at least partially loyal to DARKCOM by knocking Dante out and delivering him to their doorstep.
DARKCOM, through Baines and White Rabbit’s stolen portal machine, are in the midst of aggressively colonizing Makai, displacing its citizens and exploiting its natural resources. This is doubtlessly going to attract the attention of Mundus, bringing humanity into direct conflict with him and his demons. It’ll be the holy war Baines can’t shut up about.
It presumably won’t be long until Lady comes to her senses, presumably frees Dante and/or Vergil, and goes after Baines, Arius, and Uroboros. But that’ll be for Season 2 to unpack. Based on this finale, there’ll definitely be one. And based on the quality of the adaptation overall, that’s probably a good thing.
