The Sandman (2022) s02e01 Episode Script

1
[gentle, ethereal music rises]
[Dream] Every dream,
like every dreamer,
is unique.
Yet the one thing
all dreams have in common
is change.
[majestic music building]
[low rumbling]
[Dream] Dreams are constantly shifting,
evolving,
transforming even
the most familiar landscapes
into new worlds
of experience and discovery.
If I'd known
he was building a new palace,
I wouldn't have spent
so much time repairing the old one.
But then you'd have
nothing to complain about.
Don't distract him.
He's working.
[energy thrumming]
[wind gusts]
[Dream] I have spent too long reclaiming
what was mine.
Restoring what was lost.
But today, we leave the past behind.
And the Dreaming is reborn.
[Destiny, booming] Siblings.
[epic music fades]
I stand in my gallery
and summon the family to me.
It is I,
Destiny of the Endless, who calls you.
[ominous music playing]
[Destiny] Sister.
Will you speak with me?
[muffled whoosh]
So, what's the occasion?
Or the problem?
I will tell you.
Once the others have arrived.
Can I get a hint?
Do you not feel that you should be
more appropriately attired?
Come on.
Next, you'll be moaning
I ought to get a scythe.
Sister.
All right, fine.
[music grows gentle]
Satisfied?
Yes, I'm satisfied.
[Death] Mm.
Brother Dream, will you come?
[whoosh]
Well met, brother.
Sister,
I see you've dressed somewhat formally.
My compliments.
Don't you start.
So,
a family meeting.
The first since our brother
announced he was leaving us.
It will be interesting to find out
why you've called us here.
[Destiny] It will, indeed.
Perhaps for you
more than any of us, my brother.
Why?
In good time.
Once we're all assembled.
What have you done?
[softly] Nothing.
Is anyone else here?
You mean Desire?
["Eat Your Young" by Hozier playing]
[overlapping conversations]
[Desire] Don't mind if I do.
I'm starving, darling ♪
Let me put my lips to something ♪
Let me wrap my teeth
around the world ♪
Start carving, darling ♪
I wanna smell the dinner cooking ♪
I wanna feel the edges
start to burn ♪
Honey,
I wanna race you to the table ♪
If you hesitate ♪
Desire.
Destiny.
The family must meet.
What?
All of us?
Well, in that case,
I'll be right with you.
When the flood comes ♪
Throw enough rope
Until the legs have swung ♪
Seven new ways
That you can eat your young ♪
[Desire] Mm.
[dark, sultry music ends abruptly]
[Death] Oi!
Why doesn't your dress code
apply to Desire?
Dress code?
[scoffs] He's wearing a burnoose.
Now, where is Despair?
[unsettling music playing]
[water sloshing]
[Destiny] Despair.
[Despair] Brother?
The family are gathering.
Will you join us?
He manages a supermarket in Nebraska.
Yesterday,
his wife found pornography
on his laptop.
Children doing things with adults.
Him with their five-year-old niece.
[indistinct chatter on TV]
[Despair]
She's just gone to the police.
He knows his life is over.
But he's wondering
if he has it in him to run.
He doesn't.
Isn't it beautiful?
Will you join us, my sister?
[takes a deep breath]
Mustn't keep everyone waiting.
[whoosh]
Has he said why we're here?
Not until we're all together.
Fine.
Well, two of us are still missing.
There is only one left to gather,
Despair.
Wherever the other one is,
he made his feelings
on the matter perfectly clear.
I suppose I was hoping he'd called.
Tell us he's changed his mind.
I miss him.
[Death] We all miss him.
[Destiny] Sister,
youngest of the Endless,
I stand in my gallery,
and I summon you.
[hopeful, pleasant tune playing]
[Destiny] Sister,
your family awaits you.
Come.
[tune warps and grows eerie]
[rhythmic rock music playing]
Hi. It's me.
[rhythmic beat fades]
Delirium. How you doing?
Well, yesterday
I did some terribly bad things.
But today I did some good stuff,
so, I mean
I don't know.
Now that we are all assembled,
there are things to discuss.
Please make yourselves comfortable.
I know you're wondering
why I called you all here.
Yes.
The three sisters
visited my garden earlier this day.
- [Dream] The Fates?
- [Destiny] In one aspect.
The Gray Women.
And?
[Delirium] Look, everybody.
[gentle music playing]
I made butterflies.
[Destiny] As for what they wanted,
their pronouncements were
unsurprisingly oracular and ambiguous.
What did they say?
[thunder rumbles]
[foreboding music playing]
Greetings to you,
Destiny of the Endless.
Greetings to you,
you who are not of my children.
Greetings to you, for whom
all has already been written.
And greetings to you also, Gray Ladies.
To what do I owe this visit?
We are here because this is where
we must be at this time, my dearie dove.
Look in your book and know this.
A king will forsake his kingdom.
Life and death will clash and fray.
The oldest battle begins once more.
Well, that's just
a lot of words smooshed together.
- [ominous music fades]
- What does it mean?
I consulted my book.
It detailed my encounter
with the Three.
And clarified that
something important will happen.
An occasion
that sparks a chain of events
causing much change and upheaval.
Wh What's the occasion?
This meeting.
That is all.
What kind of change and upheaval?
I have told you all I have to tell you.
The rest is up to the five of you.
But what are we meant to do?
Drink the wines, eat of the fruit
of my garden, talk to one another.
[takes a deep breath, sighs]
It has been centuries
since we were all together.
We must have much to discuss.
You are saying you summoned us here
because it is necessary
for us to be here at this time.
Exactly.
- This is foolish.
- [Death] Dream.
I am rebuilding my kingdom.
There is much that must be done.
I will leave you now.
- That will not happen yet.
- [Death] Come on.
Hang out with us for a bit.
What's a little lost time?
We have all the time in the world.
I lost some time once. It's always
in the last place you look for it.
Here, have a grape.
I do not want a grape.
I can make you want one.
Careful, sibling.
I'm Desire, am I not?
- [tense music rises]
- That is what I do.
Where I touch, things want and need
and love.
Drawn to one another like
butterflies to a candle's flame.
Moths.
You mean moths.
Butterflies.
[soft whooshing]
- [tense music subsides]
- They're yours now, sister.
[somber music rises]
Yes.
[Delirium] Those were mine.
You didn't have to do that, Desire.
You really didn't have to.
[Dream] But that is what Desire does.
[Desire] Here we go.
Interferes.
Corrupts.
Destroys.
Dream finds it convenient to blame me
for his failed relationships,
when instead, he should be thanking me.
For trying to make me
spill family blood?
Will you stop it?
Both of you!
- [music fades]
- [Despair] We shouldn't argue.
We shouldn't fight.
After all, there's only six of us now.
We never argued when he was here.
Yes, we did.
[Despair] Yeah. But he would have made
a a joke about it or something.
Don't you ever wonder where he is?
Or if he's even okay or anything?
[sadly] All the time.
Sometimes.
Why didn't we ever try to find him?
Because he explicitly asked us not to.
Yes, but sometimes
that's just what you say
when you want to find out
if anybody cares enough not to listen.
Well, that almost made sense.
Don't make fun of me, Desire.
- [intense music playing]
- I know what you all think of me.
But I know things
that none of you knows.
Things about us.
Things not even you know!
Calm yourself, little sister.
I am calm!
God, I'm calm!
I'm calm.
Is this what you meant when you said
we should talk with one another?
Yes.
What have we to discuss?
Well, what about you, my brother?
Tell us. How's your love life? [scoffs]
You killed any girlfriends recently?
Or sentenced any others to Hell?
What did you say?
Surely you remember Nada, Dream.
The queen of the First People.
[Nada, echoing] Kai'ckul?
Dream Lord?
[Desire] The mortal
who made the fatal mistake
of falling in love with the Dream King.
And what did you do?
Because she wouldn't stay with you
until you grew tired of her,
so you had her sentenced to Hell.
Enough!
But you would never, ever interfere
in the lives of mortals.
If you say one more word, I will--
You will do nothing
in this place, brother.
Except perhaps take a moment
to collect yourself.
Please excuse me.
[somber music playing]
[Death] Are you okay?
Desire was just trying to upset you.
[Dream] And not one of you
spoke out for me.
[Death] Well,
that's because Desire was right.
What?
- Maybe not about everything, but--
- You know how I felt for Nada.
How I feel for her still.
You sentenced her to Hell
for all eternity.
She had a choice.
And she chose Hell.
She was ruler of the First People.
Do you think she would have allowed me
to decide her fate for her?
That is why I loved her.
That and her dreams.
[majestic music playing]
[Dream] Nada's dreams
were not for herself,
but for her people.
She dreamed of a city without poverty,
disease, or politics.
And in her waking hours,
Nada made her dreams come true.
A feat the King of Dreams
could not ignore.
[indistinct chatter]
[women] Your Majesty.
Prime Minister Zewde?
Yes, Your Majesty.
Imani and her friends appear
to be gossiping about something.
They are gossiping about you.
Would you like to know
what they are saying?
I can hazard a guess.
They are saying that it is time
for you to take a husband.
Have they any suggestions?
For I have met every man in this city,
and I have yet to meet my husband.
[Zewde] And what sort of man will he be,
your husband?
He will be a man worthy of our people,
who puts his duties
above his own needs.
[Zewde] Hmm.
- And his eyes burn with love for me.
- [Zewde chuckles]
I regret to inform Your Majesty
that such men do not exist.
This one does.
I have seen him,
every night in my dreams.
[Zewde] What is it?
[uplifting music rises]
[Nada] That's him.
[gasps softly]
That's the man in my dreams.
Your Majesty.
You have me at a disadvantage, sir.
You know who I am, but
I do not know you.
I am the queen's humble servant.
You are not my subject.
You know all of your subjects?
How am I to serve them
if I do not know them?
I know many monarchs
who do not share that view.
You know many monarchs?
I know of many.
I have heard stories.
Stories are just that.
Not to be trusted.
Have you heard stories about me?
They say you refuse to marry.
Do they say why?
There are as many theories
as there are storytellers.
Each one thinks
they know why you're alone.
I am never alone.
As you can see.
Your people love you.
I must not keep you from them.
[Dream] I was so inspired
by her devotion to her people
and her duty
that I lost myself in mine for a time.
Every day, Nada asked her guards
to search the city for me.
And every night,
her search continued in her dreams.
Until one night,
I allowed her to find me.
[Nada gasps]
[stirring string music playing]
Your Majesty.
Dream Lord.
[Dream, echoing] Greetings to you,
Queen Nada of the First People.
It is I who come to ask for help, Sire.
I seek a stranger
who I first met in your realm.
He came to my city one day,
and then he disappeared.
[Dream] Why do you search
for a man you do not know?
Because [takes a deep breath]
I think that I love him.
And that he loves me.
He does
love you.
You.
You are the King of Dreams?
How can this be?
It is not given to mortals
to love the Endless.
Only disaster would follow from it.
Disaster for you.
For me.
For my people.
I know.
I should not have come to you that day.
But I could not stop myself.
Just as I cannot stop myself now.
Nada.
Will you do me the honor
of becoming my wife,
to rule by my side?
And if not,
I will not trouble you again.
[regal string music swells]
[fire crackling]
[distant pop]
[music grows menacing]
[rumbling echoes and fades]
[explosions blasting in distance]
[mournful choir music resonates]
They're dead.
All of them.
My people are dead.
Because of what I did,
my people are gone.
My
My city is a waste.
This is why a mortal
cannot be with the Endless.
If I were to stay with you,
far darker things would happen
to both our realms.
[sighs]
You must forget me.
And I I will pay
for this selfishness,
in this life and hereafter,
even if it means
an eternity of suffering.
You would condemn yourself
to an eternity of suffering,
rather than accept
an eternity of my love?
It is my duty, Lord.
I am asking you to share my duties.
[Death] I gave her a choice.
[somber music fades]
[Death] You gave her an ultimatum.
And when she didn't choose you,
you punished her for it.
Even you turn on me.
Shut up and let me finish.
Nada loved you.
She really did.
And she was right.
It is wrong for us
to get involved with them.
You know that.
I would have made her a god.
Maybe she didn't want to be a god,
little brother.
Did you ever consider that?
You were imprisoned for over 100 years
because of Roderick Burgess.
Nada has been imprisoned for 10,000.
Because of you.
Because she chose her duty
to her people over her love for you,
just as you would have in her place.
Is this how you feel, truly?
That I have been unjust?
Yes.
[Dream] Then my course is clear.
[unsettling music playing]
I must journey to Hell.
Hold on. I'm not suggesting that you--
What would you have me do?
Reflect. Learn from your mistakes.
But what of Nada?
It's a bit late
to be thinking about that.
It's been 10,000 years.
If I have committed a wrong,
I must make it right.
Not all wrongs can be.
Would you not have me try?
I pray, tell our siblings
that I was needed elsewhere
and could not stay.
[inhales sharply] Hey, Dream.
[delicate, somber music playing]
Don't do anything stupid.
I shall try my best.
I can do no more.
Idiot. [sighs]
[Despair] Is he all right?
He's fine.
What did he say?
He said he's sorry,
but he had to take off.
Well, he has
his responsibilities to attend to,
as he never tires of telling us.
You can't drive him away
and then be angry that he left.
Actually, I can.
Desire, why do you always
have to ruin everything?
We never see each other anymore.
Well, the rest of us are still here.
Not all of us.
She's right.
So, let's make the most of it.
Stay and talk.
[Destiny] There is no need.
Dream is returning to Hell.
[sighs]
It has begun.
[foreboding music resonates]
As you know,
I have only recently returned
to this realm from an enforced absence.
Well
it appears I may
have to leave you once more.
- What? Why?
- Where are you going?
Some time ago,
I condemned a mortal to Hell.
I have come to realize
that I may have acted
impulsively.
I intend to return to Hades
and set her free.
Ah, jeez.
Boss, you can't be serious.
While I am gone,
you will answer to Lucienne.
[sighs] My lord,
I admire your decision to go.
But you think it irresponsible of me?
[sighs] I think it prudent to ask,
is the rescue of a single soul
worth risking your entire kingdom?
What kind of king would I be
if I did not risk everything
to right a wrong
for which I am responsible?
You'd be like every other king
that ever lived.
Every single one.
Send someone else.
- Send me.
- No, send me.
That would not be honorable.
I have already sent
an envoy to Lucifer.
But whom did you send?
[tense music rises]
I have a message for your sovereign.
Speak when you are spoken to.
[Lucifer] Wait, Mazikeen.
We know you.
Yes, we know you of old.
The first man born of woman.
What is your name?
Cain, Your Majesty.
[Lucifer] Ah, yes.
And why are you here, Cain?
To deliver a message.
Go on, then.
From his darkness,
Dream of the Endless,
to Your Infernal Majesty Lucifer,
called Morningstar.
"Greetings, our right trusted
and most beloved cousin."
No, not the message. Just the content.
He is coming.
Here.
For the woman, Nada.
He hopes you will give him access.
But if you will or no, he is coming.
Ah.
- [menacing music playing]
- [sword unsheathes]
Lord Morpheus embarrassed us publicly
during his last visit.
We swore then we would destroy him.
Did he tell you that?
There were rumors.
And now he is returning to Hell
with or without my permission.
Yes.
Isn't that wonderful?
I'm coming with you.
Not this time.
It's too dangerous.
It was too dangerous last time,
and I was extremely helpful.
Which is why I need you to remain here
and be helpful to Lucienne.
I'll need it.
What if something happens?
What if you get captured?
What if--
I am making preparations before I leave
to ensure that what happened
last time does not happen again.
[baby crying]
[intriguing music playing]
Get away from him.
Calm yourself, Hippolyta.
You have nothing to fear from me.
I came to see your son.
That is all.
Why?
Why won't you leave us alone?
Because he was conceived in my realm.
He is a part of it.
It is a part of him.
I have been forced
to embark upon a journey.
I may be some time away.
What are you talking about?
I merely came to see the boy.
You saw him.
Now get out.
Very well.
Good night.
[soft whooshing]
I am sorry, Your Majesty.
Bastard hard disk's crashed again.
[pleasant instrumental music playing]
But this hardware is still better
than Roger Bacon's mechanical head.
Time is, time was,
time's past, Sir Robert.
Bold as brass, ma'am.
[Dream, echoing] Hob.
Might I intrude?
Hang on.
Queen Bess, a computer, you.
Yeah. Bloody hell.
I'm dreaming, aren't I?
Yes, you are.
I've brought you a gift.
[Hob] Château Lafite, 1828.
I didn't think there was
a bottle of that left on Earth.
[Dream] I doubt that there is.
But a few bottles
still remain in dreams.
What's going on?
I thought I ought to talk to you.
You see, it is possible that I may not
be able to attend our next meeting.
Why not?
I am going on a journey.
I may be gone a long time.
The idea of what someone
like you considers a long time
sends shivers down my spine.
But you'll definitely be coming back,
won't you?
Eventually?
Drink your wine, Hob Gadling.
Shouldn't we make some kind of toast?
If you wish.
All right. Hang on.
Let me think of a good one.
To absent friends,
lost loves,
old gods,
and the season of mists.
And may each and every one of us
always give the devil his due.
That was a bloody peculiar toast.
I have no idea where it came from.
Oh well.
You say strange things in dreams.
Indeed.
I must go.
I have procrastinated long enough.
It was lovely seeing you.
Even if it is only a dream.
And you.
Good night, Hob.
Are you sure you can't stay?
It's a good wine, my friend.
[Dream, echoing]
You may keep the bottle.
Are you sure you
- Bobby?
- Wait.
- You're talking in your sleep.
- Hmm?
You're talking in your sleep.
You woke me up.
[sighs] Sorry, love.
I had a dream.
[thunder rumbling outside]
[darkly intriguing music rises]
[Lucienne] You're leaving now?
- There is no time to waste.
- And apparently, no time to prepare.
Or to come up with a decent plan!
I have a plan.
[Goldie gibbering]
[Abel, panting] I'm sorry, my lord.
We're looking for Cain.
- Have you seen him?
- [Goldie grunts]
- [crowd clamoring]
- [tense, rhythmic music playing]
[Lucifer] Hearken unto us, all of you.
This day, Lord Morpheus comes to us
in a futile attempt
to free one he loves from our domain.
But he will not be leaving.
Tell the Dream Lord
we have received his message.
Tell him we will be waiting for him.
Tell him
Hell is anticipating
his visit most avidly.
[Cain screams]
[Abel] Cain!
- Cain!
- [Goldie whimpering]
[Abel] Can you hear me? It's me.
[Cain groaning]
What happened to him?
My lord.
They're waiting for you.
Not just Lucifer.
All of them.
An army of demons.
Millions of them.
They want you to come.
[eerie, foreboding music playing]
You mustn't go, my lord.
I beg you to reconsider. Please.
Preparations have been made.
The Dreaming will survive.
Even if I do not.
[ominous music swells]
[wind gusts powerfully]
[Dream] Walk any path in Destiny's garden,
and you will be forced to choose.
[low, menacing strings building]
I could turn back.
Abandon my quest.
Live with the knowledge that I have hurt
those who I professed to love.
No.
We do as we must do.
"Welcome to Hell," I tell myself.
And I am afraid.
[chilling music ends]
[whimsical chimes playing]
[music peaks, fades]