The Endings
Episode 9 of Castlevania Season 4 begins with fighting breaking out at Dracula’s castle. It’s carnage, with bloodshed and devastation gripping the hallways. As flames blast out the crevasses, Belmont and Sypha suddenly appear and join the hunt. They join Alucard in the attack, as swords slash and blood is spilled. Each take a different hallway to slaughter the hell beasts venturing within. While all this is going on, Saint Germain and Varney continue to conjure the Infinite Corridor portal. The key shimmers and shudders in midair, while several men drop off the cobbled-together Frankenstein’s monster, ready to serve as the demonic vessel for Dracula After thwarting more enemies standing in their way, Alucard, Belmont and Sypha hurry to Saint Germain but Varney is there to stop him. Suddenly, he reveals his true from. He is Death; the grim reaper. Death has been waiting for his opportune moment to strike and that time is now. He places a shield between himself and the trio outside. It can’t be broken, and as Dracula and Lisa are brought forward into this world, Saint Germain plunges both of them into this monstrous, stitched-together creature. As the creature contorts and twists in confused agony, Saint Germain realizes the error of his ways and tries to break the spell. The creature has been spawned though and as the shield is broken, the tower crumbles. The faint outline of Saint Germain’s lover is shown just long enough for the portal to shimmer and fade away. The glowing key falls to the ground, which the grim reaper gobbles up hungrily. Saint Germain however, sits with a blade through his heart. In the carnage, Trevor Belmont is separated from the others. He confronts Death, knowing he’s about to meet his demise. He turns back though, telling Sypha he loves her (A cheeky “I know” is retorted back) before he faces off against Death. Despite fighting valiantly, he’s worn down and ravaged. There’s a beautiful shot in the midst of all this; a 2D viewpoint of Belmont and Death that looks like it’s ripped right from a turn-based pixelated RPG of old. Anyway, the two fight it out, with Belmont finally realizing how meaningful his life – and the Belmont name – actually is. Remember that dagger earlier in the season with the jewel? Well, Belmont powers it up and using the last of his strength, stabs Death through the skull. Loud cries pierce through the air as a blinding light engulfs the world… and then vanishes into quiet nothingness.
The Episode Review
When it comes to epic fights, Castlevania has never shied away from adrenaline-soaked action. And so that is the case here again, as fighting erupts right the way through the episode. It’s cleverly done too, feeling like the final push through the enemy-filled dungeons leading up to the final boss. That feeling is replicated beautifully here and unlike season 3’s fights that sporadically charged through different episodes, everything here feels like it’s been building up to this very moment. I still stand by the fact that Carmilla and the vampires being sidelined so early is a missed opportunity and a little disappointing, especially after so much build-up. Despite that, the foreshadowed glimpses that death would be coming is beautifully paid off here and the episode does a great job teasing that until the very end. That reveal with Varney is certainly shocking, and everything looks set for a climactic final episode to follow, where all the loose ends will (hopefully) be tied up.
