‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Recap & Breakdown: The Story So Far

Netflix’s The Sandman was a huge hit for the streaming service, but following a three-year break between seasons, audiences are sure to forget what happened in the first season of the show. Here is a recap of Season 1. 

The Sandman follows Dream of the Endless, as he must restore his realm and the mortal world to its usual self following a century-long imprisonment. The first season was released in August 2022, and, now three years later, a second and final season is finally here. 

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 1: “Sleep of the Just”

The episode opens up with Morpheus, Dream of the Endless (Tom Sturridge), explaining his kingdom of Dreams and Nightmares and how one of his nightmares, a beast known as The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), had escaped into the mortal plane of existence. During the Gallipoli Campaign, Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance) holds an occult gathering to capture Death (Kirby) for financial gain and to bring back his son Randall, who had passed away on the Gallipoli frontlines. Meanwhile, Morpheus travels into the mortal plane to find The Corinthian, who has killed an innocent and begins to absorb The Corinthian into one of his totems of power, a ruby. Before he can fully do that, though, Roderick accidentally captures Dream instead of his sister, Death. 

Dream is bound to the plane and weakened by a binding circle, where Roderick and his youngest son Alex (Laurie Kynaston) take his totems of power, with Dream’s captive state unleashing a pandemic of sleepy sickness (a condition forcing many people to fall asleep indefinitely), including Unity Kinkaid (Sandra James-Young). The Corinthian, still free, visits Roderick and explains the concept of The Endless, primordial personifications of emotions and states of matter. The Corinthian gives instructions to help keep Dream captive and promptly leaves.

Ten years later, in 1926, Dream’s totems brought prosperity and youth to the Burgess family, whilst the sleepy sickness continued its rage, now making. Alex offers to guard Dream, and begins to express apologies to Morpheus before Roderick finds him out and berates him for his actions. Alex meets Paul, who later becomes his carer and romantic partner. Roderick is at this point in a relationship with his mistress Ethel Cripps (Joely Richardson), and soon finds out she is pregnant with Roderick’s child. Knowing Roderick wants to get rid of the baby, Ethel flees and takes with her all of the power totems that the Burgess family had owned as well as $200,000. 

Roderick talks to Dream and quickly fights with Alex before knocking his own head against the glass containing Dream and bleeding out. Ethel gives birth to her son 9 months later and names him Johnny. Years pass, and a guard finally falls asleep in Dream’s presence, allowing Morpheus to escape from his prison. Alex, now over 100 years old, is condemned to an eternal sleep by Morpheus for keeping him imprisoned for the past century. 

The Corinthian feels Dream’s newfound freedom whilst Morpheus returns to the Dreaming, where he is met by his librarian Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong), who attempted to maintain the space following his absence. The realm and Dream’s palace are in ruins, with structures crumbled, and the surrounding scenery decayed, whilst nightmares and dreams escaped.

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 2: “Imperfect Hosts”

Dream enters his once glorious palace and looks upon the carnage caused by his absence.  He uses his power to levitate, but due to his lack of strength caused by his slumber and lack of totems, fails to put his realm back together. In Buffalo, New York, Ethel Cripps is now an antiquities broker and has maintained some semblance of youth due to her possession of Dream’s totems. She is visited by The Corinthian, warning her that she and he are in danger from Morpheus due to her stealing his totems of power: the helm, the sand, and the ruby. 

Morpheus contemplates summoning The Fates, but Lucienne suggests requesting the help of his siblings, suggesting Destiny (Adrian Lester) and Desire (Mason Alexander Park). Morpheus quickly avoids this, stating that none of them came to his aid during his capture. He decides to gain some power by absorbing some of his creations, to gain enough power to summon the Fates. Morpheus and Lucienne visit Cain (Sanjeev Bhaskar) and Abel (Asim Chaudhry), twin brothers who occasionally kill each other, and Gregory, their pet gargoyle. Since Gregory was created as a Nightmare, Morpheus decides to absorb the dragon despite the wishes of Cain and Abel.

Ethel tells The Corinthian that she does not have the totems, and he talks about knowing that her son, John, has them. Morpheus summons the Fates after gathering his needed offerings. On a new plane, he meets with the Maiden (Dinita Gohil), Mother (Nina Wadia) and Crone (Souad Faress). They tell him where to find his totems: the pouch of sand was sold in London to a magic user named Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman), the helm was traded to a demon, and the ruby was passed from a mother to a son. Morpheus returns an egg to Cain and Abel, calling the new gargoyle Goldie.

Ethel reveals that she got rid of Dream’s tools, trading the sand and the helm to gain power in America, and says John took the ruby from her, before he was overtaken by it’s power. Ethel saves her own life by dispelling The Corinthian with her protection amulet that she traded with the demon for the helm. Ethel checks on John Dee (David Thewlis), her son, who is being held in a hospital and talks with him about the ruby. Morpheus bids Lucienne farewell to begin looking for his totems, leaving for London to search for his pouch of sand. The Corinthian pieces himself back together in The Dreaming and quickly leaves for the waking world again before Dream can return.

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 3: “Dream A Little Dream Of Me”

In London, Johanna Constantine is an occult detective responding to an urgent message from a young girl named Astra. An accident had occurred, where a man, the girl’s father, named Logue had summoned a demon inside a club. The scene flashes and it’s now present-day London, UK, where Johanna exits a taxi. As she crosses the street, she is confronted by Hettie (Claire Higgins), a homeless woman who says she is 280 years old. She warns Constantine that Morpheus is back. She turns around and Morpheus is there, but she brushes past him, ignoring his greeting, and meets with Ric the Vic (Meera Syal), a vicar in need of Constantine’s profession to address a demonic possession between footballer Kevin Brody and the London Princess. She expels a demon from Brody, but kills him in the process. Morpheus recognises the demon as Agilieth, but before Morpheus can find out the location of the helm, Constantine compels it back to Hell. 

In Buffalo, Ethel continues her conversation with John, trying to get the ruby to give back to Dream. John politely refuses. Back in London, Morpheus requests his sand pouch back from Constantine, but she no longer is in possession of it. She agrees to help him find it, but points out a nearby raven. It (Patton Oswalt) reveals that Lucienne sent a raven after him and names himself Matthew. He reveals that a couple of hours ago he had died in his sleep and was immediately reincarnated as a raven. 

Morpheus looks into the mind of Constantine, revealing her dreams, where she fights a demon and cannot save Astra Logue in the process. This recontextualises the opening scene, showing the past that Constantine is tortured by this event day in and day out. It is revealed through further conversation that John killed people after they tried to take the ruby from him, hence his incarceration at the hospital facility in Buffalo. Ethel grants John the protection amulet, trying to get him to give up the ruby given his lack of need for it.

Constantine visits an ex-girlfriend, Rachel, but is mystified by the sand, seeing a vision instead of reality. In reality, Rachel’s lifeforce is being sucked away by the sand pouch, and she dies without it. John takes the amulet, leading Ethel to rapidly age and pass away in front of him. A prison guard tries shooting John, but he explodes as a result of the amulet, in a way not dissimilar to The Corinthian in episode two. John escapes after killing another two guards. The Corinthian arrives and gives John his jacket. Constantine bids farewell to Morpheus, telling Matthew to take care of him. Morpheus then begins planning to go to Hell, trying to find the demon that now possesses his helm. 

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 4: “A Hope In Hell”

Morpheus and Matthew arrive in Hell, and see the souls of the damned bringing their own fire into the infernal hellscape. In Buffalo, John is nearly hit by a car and makes friends with the woman, Rosemary, who nearly hit him, who offers him a ride to Mayhew. Morpheus tells Matthew that they cannot enter Lucifer’s kingdom without an invitation, as a King may not enter another monarch’s realm without one. So he beats a cymbal, signalling a demon, Squatterbloat. 

In the car, John reveals to Rosemary that his mother had him imprisoned due to his theft of the ruby, as well as arson and murder, as well as an unspecified set of “other things,” which worries Rosemary. Dream says he’s known Lucifer for a very long time, first meeting her when she was the Angel Samael, who was the wisest and most powerful of the angels. Dream sees one of his former lovers, Nada, who was in love with him in a different form from a different time, but continues his journey to find Lucifer.

John believes all people are inherently selfish, which increasingly scares Rosemary, who is attempting to maintain her composure. Dream and Matthew arrive at Lucifer’s castle, and are greeted by Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) and Mazakeen of the Lilim. Dream demands his helm, but Lucifer tells him protocols must be followed, mocking a statement he said earlier when entering the realm. Lucifer summons every demon, and Dream quickly uses his sand pouch to find the demon. Choronzon is summoned, and Dream demands his helm, but it refuses. The two fight in a challenge, where Dream returns his helm as one stake and the other for Dream to become Choronzon’s servant for all time in the event of a loss. Choronzon chooses Lucifer as his champion, and the fight begins.

Rosemary arrives at a service station, and John reveals that he was in the Buffalo psychiatric hospital for 30 years. Rosemary makes the attendant call 9-1-1, and upon hearing this, John tries to take Rosemary back to the car. The attendant pulls a gun on John, trying to save Rosemary, and the attendant explodes. The two again drive away. In Hell, Lucifer and Dream fight a battle of words, attacking each other in another realm, simultaneously becoming objects and animals in an effort to one-up the other. Dream wins by becoming hope, as hope cannot die as long as one believes in them. Lucifer threatens to destroy Morpheus in the future, and Dream exits the realm, alongside Matthew, with his helm. 

Using the helm, Dream sees the ruby and travels to Mayhew, on the inside of a storage unit, where he finds the ruby hidden in a crate. He holds it and senses that someone has altered the ruby before being thrust into a wall by the jewel. Rosemary drives John to the unit, and John finds the ruby on the ground and picks it up. John proclaims her a good person, and gives her the protection amulet as a gesture of goodwill. He says his ruby has the ability to make dreams come true and says he is going to use it to save the world, before walking away from Rosemary’s truck.

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 5: “24/7”

Matthew fails to wake Dream from still being knocked out on the floor. John, still in his hospital garments, enters a diner. He takes a seat and is approached by a waitress, Bette, and shows her the ruby, saying it makes dreams come true. He says he is dreaming of a new world, a more honest one. Lindy, the line cook, is nearing the end of her double shift, and whilst making John his coffee, Bette asks Lindy to watch the front door in case people come in whilst she uses the bathroom. 

Bette fixes up her makeup and goes back to work. A new line cook, Marsh, arrives, and Lindy goes home. A woman named Judy enters the diner, and Bette offers her a cup of coffee. Judy gets a phone call from a girl named Rose, and Judy asks if a woman named Donna Cavanagh is with Rose. A man comes in, who is early for an interview nearby, and also takes a cup of coffee.

Judy rudely speaks to the man at the bar, and he offers to move before he introduces himself as Mark, whilst Judy wittily replies that she’s gay. Two more customers, who Bette set up on a date, arrive to celebrate their anniversary. The couple ask about Bette’s personal life, asking how Bernard is doing and how her novel is coming along. Bette reveals that Bernard is her son, who is off at college. The couple politely banter about unhealthy eating, and the background score of the scene rises to a tension. John eagerly watches. Judy remarks to Mark that Big Pharma is bad for the people, in reference to Mark having the interview at the town’s pharmaceutical corporation, Vanguard. It is revealed that the wife of the couple who walked in is the CEO of Vanguard. 

Bette finally takes John’s order. John foreshadows that all stories, even happy ones, end in death. John uses the power of the ruby to ask why Bette lied about thinking he is handsome, but she revealed that she wanted him to like her. The couple continue arguing, and John uses the power of the ruby to enhance their truths, revealing that the wife is very controlling. Judy and Mark also exhibit this truth-telling behaviour, and John, using the ruby, prevents Judy from leaving after she tries to storm out. Judy sits with John and he interrogates her, eager to hear her truth.

John begins stirring debate, saying to Judy that Bette thinks Donna isn’t good enough for her. The couple, Kate and Garry, try to leave but get to the door and turn around. Bette greets them as if she hadn’t seen them that day and them to her. It is clear that John is now playing with the customers’ and employees’ minds entirely. Bette invites Marsh to dinner, professing her love for him. Marsh then professes that he is in a romantic relationship with Bette’s son Bernard. Kate begins complaining about Garry to Mark, and Garry complains about Kate to Marsh in the kitchen. Judy and Bette kiss, Mark and Kate make out, and Gary and Marsh follow suit. John walks through the establishment, witnessing the hold he has over these people, and retrieves a drum of ice cream from the freezer. He watches the TV, which implies via news programs that John isn’t just controlling the diner, but the entire world.

Garry begins beating up Mark for making out with Kate. Mark stabs Garry in the neck, killing him. Bette believes that it’s John changing them, and he reveals he took away the lies of the world. He then sees that they enjoy suffering. Bette burns his novel page by page, and Mark drives a nail through his hand. Judy holds a knife in the bathroom, and Marsh cuts off his fingers with a cleaver. Mark reaches for a saw, Kate slits her throat, and the rest die from bleeding out. Bette, now the sole survivor, asks John how it is a better world, and proceeds to gouge out her eyes. 

The Fates appear to John in the form of Bette, Judy and Kate, and Dream awakens and confronts John for his ruby. Morpheus says the customers were not lying, but rather dreaming, with their dreams keeping them alive and John’s creation of their hopelessness leading to their deaths. Dream takes John into a dream and then The Dreaming, and attempts to wrangle the ruby from his grasp. John absorbs Dream into the ruby, breaking the ruby. It is then revealed that Dream is holding John, as the ruby released the power inside of it. Morpheus takes pity on John and takes him back to the Buffalo psychiatric hospital, leaving him there. Morpheus stands with Matthew and plans to rebuild the realm the next day. Watching the two walk away, Desire plots against Dream.

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 6: “The Sound of Her Wings”

Dream sits in a park, picking apart a baguette. A soccer ball soars towards his head, and he catches it one-handed. A woman, Death, sits next to him as he is feeding the pigeons. Dream is upset after finding vengeance for his capture, leaving him without satisfaction. Death scolds him, saying he is worse than his sister Desire. In the middle of this, she catches the ball like Dream did and says to the soccer player that she will see him again soon. 

Death and Dream walk through the city and find an old man playing a violin. Death tells him it’s time, and he begins praying, before she takes his hand and guides him into the afterlife. Dream and Death leave his body and continue their journey. By the river, Death finds a man named Sam who is on a honeymoon with his wife and has drowned. Death guides him, too, into the afterlife. Dream and Death continue their leisurely stroll. It is revealed that there are exceptions to Death’s rule, including Mad Hettie (seen in episode three) and a man named Hob Gadling. In a different house, Death takes a baby out of a crib and guides the newborn into the afterlife. Death talks about her gift, giving insight into the human experience, reigniting his love for the game of life. Death guides a man who has been shot in an alley, a drug addicted woman and others, before circling back to Franklin, the soccer player, who gets hit by a car. 

In 1389, Dream and Death enter a pub where Death tries to get him to mingle amongst the people of the waking world. They overhear Hob Gadling, a foolish man who says that Death is stupid and claims that he is not going to die. Dream sees this and says nobody would want immortality, and Death decides to grant him his wish to see how long he’d want to stay alive. Dream decides to tell him his gift, planning to meet him there in 100 years.

A hundred years later, in 1489, Dream meets with Hob Gadling, who has outlived all his friends. Another hundred years pass, and in 1589, Hob meets with Dream again, with Hob now holding a position of power, naming himself Sir Robert Gadlien as he is now intertwined with the royal family. A man enters the pub, whom Gadlien recognises as William Shaxburg, a bad playwright. Dream talks to Shaxburg, asking whether he’ll make great plays to spur the minds of men, creating new dreams. In 1689, Morpheus returns to find a dishevelled Gadling, now starved and poor. Despite his poor experience in the last century, he still wishes to live. In 1789, Robert Gadling is now back on his feet, taking part in the slave trade, and is scolded by Morpheus for doing so

Gadling points out that William Shakespeare (nee Shaxburg) turned out to be a decent playwright and assumes Morpheus made a deal with him, too. Gadling asks Morpheus for his name, but they are interrupted by Lady Johanna Constantine, an ancestor of the present-day Johanna Constantine. She had been investigating Hob and Morpheus, whose meetings have been ingrained into legend at this point. Dream refuses to grant her wisdom, and Gadling knocks out her guards before they can harm them. Morpheus grants Constantine a dream, and the two agree to meet in yet another 100 years. In 1889, Dream is met by a prostitute, Lushing Lou, who harasses him before he sits down with Hob. Morpheus is offended by Hob thinking that he needs a friend. 100 years later, in 1989, Dream does not meet with Hob, standing him up due to being imprisoned by the Burgess family. The bartender tells Hob that the pub has been sold to make way for a set of new flats, meaning it will be destroyed. In the present day, 2021, Dream sees that the flats are now condemned, leaving their hundreds of years of history gone. He sees a sign for The New Inn, and sees Hob there, where Morpheus apologizes to him for not seeing him in 1989. 

Desire stands in her gallery, and it is revealed that Desire had planned for Dream to be captured by the Burgess family and has a new plan. 

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 7: “The Doll’s House”

Dream reads the diary of Rose Walker. The diary recounts the events of 2015, where sister Rose and brother Jed Walker are separated when their parents’ divorce in Cape Kennedy, Florida. Rose and their mother move to New Brunswick, whilst Jed and their father stay in Cape Kennedy. Desire speaks with their twin sister, Despair, and Desire coerces Despair into helping them execute their plan, stating that there is a Dream Vortex in the form of a woman, bringing everything and everyone towards her. Desire reveals that the Vortex is Rose Walker.

In present-day New Brunswick, New Jersey, both parents of the Walker family have passed away, and Rose attempts to gain legal guardianship of Jed. By Rose’s highlights, it is clear that this is the same Rose who was friends with Judy (from episode five). Jed is placed into foster care, and Rose soon embarks to find him. Abel talks to Lucienne about rumours of a Vortex whilst she conducts a census of The Dreaming. Rose travels with her friend Lyta Hall to England. On the plane, Lyta speaks to her dead husband, Hector. Reporting to Morpheus, Lucienne completes the census and states that Gault, The Corinthian, and Fiddler’s Green have escaped The Dreaming. She also reports the Vortex to Morpheus, who is already aware of it. Dream sends Matthew to surveil Rose, whilst Dream surveils her when she sleeps.  

Rose meets with Unity Kinkaid, the girl who became sick with sleepy sickness in 1916. She shows Rose a dollhouse that she never got a chance to play with. She reveals she woke up eight months ago, meaning that the first seven episodes of the series take place over the course of eight months. She reveals that she is actually Rose and Jed’s great-grandmother. In a diner in Huntsville, Alabama, three people meet for lunch. The talk was about finding a replacement for someone named The Family Man at an event. They name-drop Moon River and The Candy Man as possible replacements, but settle on trying to get The Corinthian for the event. In an off-hand comment, it’s revealed that Fun Land is a pedophile, and it is revealed they are serial killers holding a serial killer convention.

Meanwhile, the Corinthian shows up at Rose’s home in New Brunswick and finds her house sitter and sleeps with him. The serial killers plan to copycat The Corinthian to attract his attention, despite Nimrod and Fun Land being reserved at first. One of the serial killers, The Good Doctor, kills the waiter and takes his eyes. In England, the Fates speak to Rose and warn her of dreams and houses, and in turn, Morpheus and The Corinthian. Unity employs Rose to find Jed and gives her a ring, a gold annulet. Mervyn Pumpkinhead (Mark Hamill), another creation of Dream’s, inquires about the rumours of the vortex, which Lucienne says is under control. Rose arrives in Cape Kennedy and meets with Hal Carter, the owner of the BNB where Rose is staying. Rose’s downstairs neighbour’s Ken and Barbie, introduce themselves and invite her out to dinner. Chantal and Zelda, two woman who live across the hall, also bid their condolences for the death of Rose’s mother and Lyta’s husband. Another member of the house, Gilbert (Stephen Fry), lives in the attic. It is revealed that Jed has been fostered by friends of her father.

The Bed & Breakfast occupants go out for dinner. Hal is a drag queen, and the other occupants go to watch Hal’s performance. A group of thieves accost Rose in an alley, but a man, later revealed to be Gilbert, saves her. The Corinthian finally tracks down Fun Land, Nimrod, and The Good Doctor, and requests a special guest of his own for the convention. Lucienne reveals that the last nightmare Jed Walker had before disappearing from the waking world and the dreaming was of the missing Gault. Rose sees this conversation in The Dreaming, and we see a scene of Jed’s Aunt Clarice finding Jed running away on a road before being found by the abusive Uncle Barnaby moments later, who tells Jed to get in the boot of his car.

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 8: “Playing House”

Dream tells Rose that she is welcome in his palace, and Morpheus tells him that he’s planning on tracking down her brother, because he’s with one of his nightmares. In the basement of Uncle Barnaby’s, Gault and Jed play pretend, and Jed dresses up as “The Sandman” and fights the villain, the Pied Piper. Jed hears the Piper’s tune and sees hundreds of rats emerge from the sewer. In reality, Jed is bitten by a rat in the basement. Jed asks his aunt and uncle for medical help, but Barnaby stops Clarice from helping him. The Corinthian speaks with Unity, continuing to track Rose down, and Unity tells him that she is in Cape Kennedy.

Lyta lies in bed with her dead husband. She says that he is a dream, and he shows her their dream home that he built in The Dreaming. Rose makes flyers searching for Jed. Morpheus learns that Unity Kinkaid is the sole survivor of the sleepy sickness and explains that there’s a possibility Rose’s birth as a vortex was caused by Morpheus’ absence. Lyta asks the child services officer to check up on Jed, leading Barnaby to bring him out of the basement. The Corinthian arrives on the pier where Rose is, at the same time as Matthew mistakenly reveals himself to Rose. The Corinthian takes a flyer from Hal. The Corinthian kills Ms. Rubio, the child services officer. 

Rose visits Hal in his dreams, who has a nightmare and rips off their flesh. She then visits Lyta, who has sex with her dead husband. In Chantal’s dream, she sees Morpheus, follows him and finds Ken’s dream. Then she sees Morpheus, who reveals that she is seeing her friend’s dreams because her being a vortex that draws others’ dreams to her. They watch a few other dreams from the occupants of the B&B and then try to find Jed’s “home” since that is the most common place to dream of. Gault sees Morpheus on a monitor and Jed as The Sandman, and offers to fight him. Gault politely refuses and says it is her battle to face. Jed leaves anyway and tries to fight Morpheus. Gault comes out too, and Rose recognises Gault as her mother, as she assumed the form that Jed wanted her to. Morpheus takes Gault and leaves Rose to find Jed on her own. 

Rose wakes everyone in the house and says she found Jed. This wakes Lyta up from her dream with her deceased husband. She wakes up to find that she is visibly pregnant. Dream sentences Gault to a few thousand years in the darkness as punishment. The Corinthian arrives at Jed’s home and kills Uncle Barnaby and Aunt Clarice and Jed finds the home trashed when he emerges from the basement. The Corinthian pretends that Rose sent him and when Rose arrives at Jed’s home, the police treat the house as a crime scene and wheel the two bodies away. The Corinthian takes Jed on the road. 

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 9: “Collectors”

Rose recounts her experience of the past day and night to Lyta, who believes her due to her own immaculate conception experience over the same time span. Matthew reports this to Lucienne, who says Rose is starting to weaken the walls between the waking world and The Dreaming. She refuses to tell Morpheus, as he wants to handle the situation by himself. The Corinthian buys Jed ice cream and tells him that they’ll call Rose from a convention he is going to, which we viewers realise is the serial killer convention. The Corinthian assures Jed that his uncle won’t come looking for him. 

Lyta decides to take up Hector’s offer and live with him in his dreamworld, and mid-conversation, The Corinthian calls Rose with Jed. They tell her to meet them at the Cereal Convention at The Royal Empire Hotel in Georgia. The Corinthian picks up badges for himself and Rose, whilst Jed disturbingly speaks to Fun Land. Gilbert asks to accompany Rose to pick up Jed, and Rose reluctantly accepts. An earthquake happens in Lyta and Hector’s dream, and you can see that the land surrounding their dream home is cracked and broken. Morpheus learns that The Dreaming is starting to become damaged, and another earthquake cracks the palace. Lucienne reveals that it is Rose causing this damage. 

The Corinthian leaves Jed in a hotel room and goes downstairs to the convention. Jed sneaks downstairs and follows him, still thinking it is a convention for cereal. The convention begins, and The Corinthian is presented as the new guest of honour to great applause. Rose nods off in the car and visits Lyta in the dreamworld as Morpheus and Matthew watch on. Dream follows them, ready to take care of the situation. Dream tells Lyta she cannot stay and banishes Hector to the place appointed for him. Gilbert and Rose arrive at the convention and spread out to look for Jed, but slowly realise the true nature of the convention.

Gilbert sees The Corinthian and begins to worry. Morpheus meets with Gilbert, who is revealed to be Fiddler’s Green, and Gilbert warns Dream that The Corinthian has built up a cult of worshippers and is now close to gaining control of Rose. Fun Land takes Jed to his room after he begins running from some killers. Jed finds Rose, and they run away from Fun Land, who chases them. The Corinthian kills Fun Land and greets Rose, granting her safety.

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 10: “Lost Hearts”

The Corinthian tells Rose that Morpheus is trying to kill her, radicalising her against him. He leaves her in a room, still distrustful of him. The Corinthian gives an address to the serial killers and sees Morpheus mid-speech, who freezes the humans. When Morpheus tries to send The Corinthian to The Dreaming, The Corinthian stabs Dream. Rose is getting more powerful, and since Dream sent all the killers to sleep, they’re dreaming too, and all of them go after Rose and Jed. Morpheus says that Rose is bringing down the walls between dreams, creating a single volatile dream that can accidentally kill everyone in the universe. Dream says it has happened before, and tries to convince Rose to stop, and she recreates the walls. 

Dream turns The Corinthian into a skull and begins to address the serial killers. He tells them they are craven, selfish, and monstrous and inflicts upon them the pain their victims have felt. They all either kill themselves or turn themselves in to the authorities. Rose and Jed drive away. Lyta goes into labour and the Walkers meet with them. Rose speaks with Lyta and says that she doesn’t want to end Morpheus, but Lyta encourages her to sort it out when she goes to bed that night. In her dream, the vortex physically appears in the form of a cloud and a sinkhole and sucks the members of the Bed & Breakfast into it. 

Morpheus stops it by transporting Rose away and says she needs to die. Fiddler’s Green appears there too, and bids farewell to her, becoming the Fiddler’s Green location yet again. Lucienne brings Unity to Morpheus and it is revealed that Unity was meant to be a vortex when she was 21, but since Morpheus was absent from The Dreaming, it was passed down to her descendant. Rose removes the Vortex and makes Unity it and Unity dies in her sleep, solving the vortex problem. It is revealed that Rose’s great-grandfather was Desire. 

Jed and Rose return to normal life at the Bed & Breakfast and get ready to leave for New Brunswick. Hal sells the B&B to Chantal and Zelda and moves to New York. Morpheus visits Desire and confronts them about their meddling in his affairs and against Death and Destiny. And Desire threatens him, saying next time, they’ll “draw blood.” Morpheus forms new dreams and nightmares, and Lucienne tells Dream that Rose wrote a story. Morpheus tells Lucienne to place The Corinthian’s skull in a safe place, and recreates Gault as a dream.

In Hell, Lucifer speaks with Azazel, who notifies her that the Lords of Hell wish to invade The Dreaming. Lucifer tells Azazel that she will act, and Azazel leaves. She says that she plans on doing something that will make God livid and bring Morpheus to his knees. The demons of Hell say Lucifer’s name.

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 11: Bonus Episode “Dream Of A Thousand Cats”

A tabby kitten lives in a nice home, and is visited by a grey cat at night. It asks if the kitten is coming, and tells the cat how to get out of the house. The kitten jumps from the window and onto a tree branch. The two set off and meet a black cat, who too joins them on their journey. Other cats join them on their way to meet “her.” In a cemetery, the cats are addressed by a Siamese cat who is a prophet.

The prophet was once a pet, who was treated well, but one day she met another cat whom she fell in love with, but never saw again. The prophet had kittens, and the male owner, Paul, took the kittens and threw them in the river, leaving them to drown. The prophet cat feels imprisoned, and begins to pray to the King of Cats and begins dreaming. She dreams of a world ruled by cats, and finds a crow with a skull for a head. The prophet cat says she is there for justice and wisdom. The crow tells her that she will find revelation, given this world, The Dreaming, is the province of Dream, but only if her heart is strong and fearless.

The skull crow tells the cat that she will find him in a cave in the mountains and she embarks on a treacherous journey and is met with a Wyvern, Pegasus and Gryphon, who guard Dream. She finds Dream, who takes the form of a big black cat. The cat finds its truth, and finds out that cats ruled the world once upon a time, where cats were giant and hunted humans. A man rose up having dreamt of a new world, and realized dreams shaped the world and with enough dreaming of a better world, that world would happen, and those cats became domesticated and small. The humans had changed the world so that cats never ruled. Dream tasks the Cat with finding enough dreaming cats to change the world back to how it used to be. That is why the cat preaches its message. The tabby kitten speaks to the Siamese cat and says she believes. The tabby kitten returns home with the grey cat, who remains a skeptic given the selfish nature of cats. At home, the cat dreams of hunting humans.

‘The Sandman’ Season 1 Episode 11: Bonus Episode “Calliope”

In 2018, a lecturer and struggling author, Richard Madoc, is tortured by a lack of ideas. He visits Erasmus Fry, an old man who used to write, and proclaims that he hasn’t written a word in over a year. Madoc brings a bezoar to Fry as a present. Fry says he went to Greece for a trip, and reveals that he has captured the Muse Calliope, who previously was the Muse of Homer, the writer of The Odyssey and The Iliad. Fry gifts Calliope to Madoc, which angers Calliope as she had been promised freedom. 

Madoc and Calliope go back to his home, where Calliope begs for her freedom. Madoc tries to begin his novel, but is not having any luck. His publisher threatens to drop him if he cannot get a novel out, and he begins writing his novel. The Fates appear to Calliope after she prays to them, and they refuse to help her due to ancient laws. They recommend that she speak with Morpheus, as they once were lovers and had a child. Their child was Orpheus. However, Dream is still captured by the Burgess family at this point. 

In 2020, yet another Madoc novel has been published. Madoc returns home from a press event, and Calliope is still imprisoned as his Muse. She grabs a newspaper and finds that Unity has awoken after her century-long slumber, indicating that Dream has been freed from his imprisonment. Calliope runs downstairs when Madoc is not there and prays to Dream, requesting aid, but Madoc stops her and burns a piece of paper with Morpheus’ name on it.

A journalist reveals to Madoc that Erasmus Fry passed away last Summer after committing suicide by poison due to not being able to get a book of his to be republished. Morpheus visits Calliope and says that he will punish Madoc and try to free her. Morpheus is in Madoc’s home and tells Madoc that he should set her free. Madoc tries bribing Dream, and Dream curses Madoc with ideas. He is afflicted with nightmares and can no longer go about his daily business without being overwhelmed by ideas. He conducts a lecture and begins spouting ideas uncontrollably as Morpheus watches on silently. Madoc tells one of his students to go to his house and free Calliope, as he goes to the hospital since he cannot stop spouting ideas, his head racing with information.

Calliope is freed and Dream asks what she will do now. Calliope tries to put measures into place to prevent this from happening again, inspiring humanity to do better and rewriting the ancient laws. She requests that Dream lift his curse from Madoc, who now has no idea, his mind absent of any thought. Calliope bids Dream farewell.

The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Gwendoline Christie, Patton Oswalt, David Thewlis, and many more.

The Sandman Season 2 hits Netflix in three volumes, starting July 3. 

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