The Final Chapter?
Having bested the Magician, the season 3 finale of Castlevania begins with Isaac using the Mirror and deciding no more destruction should befall the Magician’s city. Instead, he tasks his monsters to turn the humans to his cause. As he admires the beauty of the night, Belmont and the others contemplate what to do next as the creature suddenly breaks free from its crucifix and reigns hellfire upon Earth. Disgusting, foul beasts arrive through the portal and surround the trio as the fight begins. Sypha and Belmont both find themselves attempting to slay the beasts but despite a whole slew of punishment and beatings, Belmont is unable to best the Visitor as it seemingly grows in power. While they fight, the Judge looks out at the devastation and finds himself face to face with Sala. Only, Sala plunges a knife in the Judge’s stomach before he can do anything about it. As blood oozes from his mouth, he promises Sala that the fight is not over and encourages him to run toward the apple tree as he collapses on the floor, gasping for air but laughing in the process. Saint Germain struggles to try and close the portal as it closes in on Dracula’s location. As Drac holds his hand out to enter their realm, the window suddenly changes as Saint Germain thrusts his magical item into the creature’s eye and changes the course to where he wants to go. The creature throws him through the portal to parts unknown, where he closes it from the other side. He thanks Belmont and Sypha for their help before fading from view. With all of his energy mustered up, Belmont manages to finally best the creature and kill it. The twins meanwhile promise to learn the truth about Alucard and his castle as they attempt to stab him. Unfortunately the magical weapons within the castle slit their throats and leave them in a pool of their own blood as Alucard nonchalantly tells them he never lied and breathes a deep sigh at this betrayal. Outside, the Judge gives Sypha and Belmont instructions to find Sala, informing them that he’s already dead. He goes on to tell them to burn his house down before dying. Out in the forest, Sypha and Belmont find Sala impaled in a twisted, spiked pit while skeletal remains lie around them. As they head back to the town, they see the one house remaining is that of the Judge’s. Deciding to heed his words and head in to investigate, Sypha and Belmont learn the horrifying truth about the Judge – he was the one who killed Sala and seemingly numerous other people too – including the apple-picking child. His “little pleasures” he referred to earlier in the season is him killing these people in his spiked pit. Sypha conjures her magic and burns the house down as she clenches her fists in rage. The duo leave the ruinous town behind them as Belmont decides that it’s time to live his life instead. Meanwhile, Lorene shows the true extent of her plan as she boasts to her sisters about controlling Hector and forcing him into doing her bidding. As Hector backs up, the sisters admire what Lorene has done. As she leaves with the imprisoned Hector, she promises him their work is only just beginning as he realizes the horror of what lies before him. As the episode ends, Alucard heads into his castle and shuts the door as the two impaled carcasses of the twins hang outside as an ominous warning outside to any who dare cross him in the future. So where now for season 4? If the show has managed to make it this far and clearly has a loyal anime (and video game!) following, it seems only logical that this show continue on. There’s certainly enough here to suggest a fourth season is on the table and unlike season 2, this season effectively feels like the opening of a three-act structure, with a lot of beginnings and “call to actions” thrown in. Isaac still needs to find Hector, the vampire sisters haven’t even started their reign of terror on the East yet, while Alucard essentially ends up back where he started as the season ends. Sypha and Belmont are an intriguing enough couple and their future is certainly wide open too as they head back on the road after the horrors of Lindenfeld. Given people are already asking about season 5 should be indication enough that I’m not alone in assuming this has quite the run ahead of it. Whether Netflix and the powers that be see it that way however, remains to be seen. For now though, season 3 of Castlevania bows out on a high and certainly improves on its predecessors to deliver a very intriguing (but very unfinished!) story.
