Posted by Castlevania: Nocturne‘s second season just released a little while ago, and it’s time to share my thoughts on it. I thought that the first season of Nocturne was fine. There were definitely some elements of the story that annoyed me, namely important details and character backstories being left unexplained. Season two redeemed and retroactively made season one better in my mind. It genuinely solved all of the problems I had with season one and advanced the narrative in compelling and satisfying ways.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
The story of the season is concerned with Erzsebet’s defeat. Alucard, Richter, and Annette travel to Paris to find the heart of Sekhmet in the hopes of weakening Erzsebet. Unfortunately, Erzsebet gets the abbot to revive Drolta as a night creature, then sends her after the trio in Paris. Drolta succeeds, and Erzsebet becomes even more powerful. Meanwhile, Maria undergoes her own crisis at home with her mother now being a vampire and the revelation that her father is the abbot. She grapples with her inner darkness, eventually succumbing and killing her father in anger. As she grapples with the aftermath of patricide, Juste, Richter’s grandfather, helps her step back and sort through her complicated emotions. Back in Paris, Annette travels into the spirit world to find Sekhmet’s third soul, and successfully becomes an avatar of the goddess. Erzsebet’s forces clash with our heroes, and after a hard fought battle, Erzsebet is brutally wounded and Drolta swoops in to save her. Drolta, who throughout flashbacks in the season has been revealed to have been Sekhmet’s priestess and the driving force behind incarnating the goddess, betrays Erzsebet and takes Sekhmet’s power for herself. Our heroes then have to battle and defeat her.
I really liked the direction the story took this season. As mentioned earlier, it explains away all of the problems I had with the previous season. Erzsebet got her Sekhmet powers by drinking the goddess’ blood after Drolta, Sekhmet’s priestess, survived an attack on her temple, became a vampire, and chose to find someone that would incarnate into the goddess. Alucard did investigate Sekhmet and her temple, but he’s also been busy with all sorts of other challenges. Finally, the abbot briefly acknowledges that sometimes the night creatures retain bits of their souls and personalities, which explains why Edouard, and another night creature in season two, retain their personalities. Overall, the narrative felt very tight and there wasn’t a lot of meandering. The last episode was a little slow, but that’s because it was the falling action so it had to wrap things up.
Another strength of the show is its compelling and complex characters. Olrox and Mizrak ended up being some of my favorites because Olrox should be an antagonist, seeing as he’s not only a vampire, but also the one who killed Richter’s mother, but he loves Mizrak so he chooses to stand against Erzsebet. Mizrak is a devout Catholic knight, so his relationship with Olrox is understandably complicated. However, the season ends with Mizrak accepting a new life as a vampire after nearly dying during the final battle. While on death’s door, he sees the devil appear, and it shakes his faith in his own salvation. As a result, he’s willing to become a vampire to escape that faith. The abbot has a similar complexity where he fully accepts that he has sinned against and failed God, so he accepts his damnation in hell while still praying for the salvation of those around him. Maria is another complex character who grapples with losing her family and what it means. Richter and Annette’s complexity in season two is present in their budding romantic relationship. Even Drolta is fairly complex as her allegiance to Sekhmet eclipses Erzsebet.
The other major strength of season two is the action. At the end of season one, Richter began using magic in his fights. Now that he incorporates magic into his fighting style, the fights become even more stylish and enjoyable to watch. The final battles against Erzsebet and Drolta are some of the best, but even the earlier fights against basic vampires have some incredibly interesting and creative choreography.
SPOILERS END
If Nocturne‘s first season was good, its second season is a masterpiece. The story, action, and characterization is all top-notch. It retroactively solves all of the problems that I had with the first season. It also ends on a satisfying, yet open-ended note. If there’s no season three, Nocturne‘s current ending works just fine. If there is a season three, there are definitely some remaining plot threads that can be expanded upon. Overall, it’s a good spot for the show to be in. If you enjoyed Nocturne‘s first season, you’ll definitely enjoy the second. And if you haven’t checked out either, I’d highly recommend it (if you enjoy violent action shows, the Castlevania games/franchise, or supernatural shows).
Broad Scope Entertainment 