# Castlevania (TV series)

Castlevania is an American animated series based on the video game series by Konami. The plot of the series is loosely based on the events of the third installment, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, following Trevor Belmont's fight against Count Dracula.
The series was written by Warren Ellis and released on Netflix on July 7, 2017. The fourth and final season was released on May 13, 2021.

## Season 1 Episodes
### [1.01] Witchbottle

    Lisa: You don't travel much?
    Dracula: I can travel. This entire structure is a traveling machine.
    Lisa: But, you don't. Do you?
    Lisa: They won't be peasants anymore if you teach them. They won't live such short, scared lives if they have real medicine. They won't be superstitious if they learn how the world really works.
    Dracula: Why should I do that?
    Lisa: To make the world better. Start with me, and I'll start with you.
    Dracula: I think I might like you.
    Lisa: Don't hurt them! They don't understand!
    Mayor: Who's she talking to?
    The Bishop: I believe she's exhorting Satan not to take revenge on us, which I suppose is almost commendable, for a witch. Perhaps I'll say a prayer for her. A small one.
    The Bishop: I should minister to the Archbishop. I fear he's not long for this world, to be honest.
    Mayor: Off to heaven with him, eh? I suppose that's the ultimate goal for you priests, serving God in His true house and all that.
    The Bishop: It holds little appeal for me, to be honest.
    Mayor: Really?
    The Bishop: There's so much left to be done on earth. Wallachia could be God's own country had I but time to burn out all the evil that hides here.
    [Dracula has just given Wallachia one year to make amends for sentencing his wife Lisa to death for witchcraft.]
    Dracula: One year. It will take me one year to summon an army from the guts of Hell itself!
    [A set of heavy doors open and Alucard appears.]
    Alucard: No.
    Dracula: What do you mean, no? That woman was the only reason on earth for me to tolerate human life!
    Alucard: Then find the one who did the deed. If you loose an army of the night on Wallachia, you cannot undo it, and many thousands of people just as innocent as her will suffer and die.
    Dracula: THERE ARE NO INNOCENTS! Not anymore! Any one of them could have stood up and said, "No, we won't behave like animals anymore."
    Alucard: I won't let you do it. I grieve with you, but I won't let you commit genocide.
    [Dracula growls and attacks Alucard.]
    Arch-Bishop: For twenty years now have I served you and God as the Arch-Bishop to Târgoviște Cathedral. Yet never before have I felt the love of God shine so upon this great city. A little more than one year ago, many of us suffered a vision during the God-willed punishment of a witch in our midst. The Devil himself came to us and threatened us with doom in one year! And yet, here we are. The Devil lied! Why should we be surprised?
    [Clouds begin to cover the sun... ]
    Arch-Bishop: Do we not know the Devil for a liar? Do we not know his works to be illusions? Of course we do! Illusions and falsehoods hold no fear for us, for we are the righteous of Târgoviște, living as if cradled in the love of God!
    [... and blood rains from the sky. As people scream, the cathedral's windows explode, raining huge shards that impale the Arch-Bishop and his canons, and Dracula's face appears in the sky.]
    Dracula: One year. I gave you one year to make your peace with your God. And what do you do? Celebrate the day you killed my wife. One year I gave you, while I assembled my armies. And now I bring your death. You had your chance.
    Dracula: Kill everything you see. Kill them all. And once Târgoviște has been made into a graveyard for my love, go forth into the country. Go now. Go to all the cities of Wallachia. Arges, Severin, Gresit, Chilia, Enisara! Go now and kill! Kill for my love. Kill for the only true love I ever knew. Kill for the endless lifetime of hate before me.

### [1.02] Necropolis

    [During a bar fight, Trevor gets kicked in the groin - again.]
    Trevor: [groaning] Would you please leave my testicles alone?
    Trevor: I'm Trevor fucking Belmont, and I've never lost a fight to man nor fucking beast! [gets knocked down by Kob, who raises a chair over his head] Oh, shit...
    [Trevor stumbles out of the tavern.]
    Trevor: Oh, Christ... [falls to his knees and vomits] Bastards, I hope you all bleed out... THROUGH YOUR ARSES! Every last rat-bastard of you...
    [A priest raises a cross to strike the Elder.]
    The Elder: Will killing an old man make you less afraid of the dark?
    Priest: I don't know. Maybe it'll just make me feel better.
    [Trevor lashes out with his whip. The cross lands in the dirt, along with the priest's index finger.]
    Trevor: Oh, hell. I'm sorry, I was trying to snatch the stave out of your hand. How's your finger?
    Priest: [through clenched teeth] What fucking finger?!
    Priest: Kill the bastard!
    Trevor: Look, I don't like priests at the best of times. I mean, I really, really don't like priests. If you leave now, we'll say no more about it.
    Priest: Kill him now!
    Trevor: Last warning, this'll get nasty...
    The Elder: There were speakers in Targoviste last year. The Church burned Dracula's wife at the stake as a witch.
    Trevor: Shit...
    The Elder: That is indeed one way of putting it.

### [1.03] Labyrinth

    Trevor: Stone-eyed Cyclops, right out of the family bestiary... God shits in my dinner once again.
    Sypha Belnades: What happened?
    Trevor: You walked into a Cyclops. Turns you to stone with its eye, then feeds on your terror while you're trapped in your own body.
    Sypha Belnades: Did... did you climb on me?
    Trevor: Mmm, a bit.
    Sypha Belnades: That was rude!
    Trevor: You Speakers carry information down through the generations. We Belmonts pass things down as well. Do you remember what we saw down there? Metal veins pumping hot liquid? Torches that light by themselves that exactly fit descriptions written by my great-grandfather. Descriptions of the inside of Dracula's castle.
    Trevor: Right, I'll come back later. See if you can find some beer. [leaves]
    Sypha Belnades: I could pee in a bucket and tell him it's beer.
    The Elder: Sypha, he saved your life!
    Sypha Belnades: He's rude!
    Trevor Belmont: You know...
    Priest: Silence! Look at you. You stink, you can barely keep your eyes open. What do you hope to achieve against us?
    Trevor Belmont: [smiles] Absolutely nothing.
    Priest: So you're going to die for nothing? For people you don't know?
    Trevor Belmont: I don't know any of you. But that doesn't matter, does it? My family - the family you demonized and excommunicated - has fought and died through generations for this country. We do this thing for Wallachia and her people. We don't have to know you all. We do it anyway. And it's not the dying that frightens us. It's never having stood up and fought for you. I am Trevor Belmont, of the House of Belmont, and dying has never frightened me.
    Priest: [draws a dagger] Good.

### [1.04] Monument

    [Demons enter Gresit's cathedral.]
    Bishop: You cannot enter the house of God.
    Blue Fangs: God is not here. This is an empty box.
    Bishop: God is in all His churches.
    Blue Fangs: Your God's love is not unconditional. He does not love us. And He does not love you.
    Bishop: I have done His bidding. My life's work is in His name.
    Blue Fangs: Your life's work makes Him puke.
    Bishop: I am the Bishop of Gresit!
    Blue Fangs: Your God knows that we wouldn't be here without you. This is all your fault, isn't it?
    Bishop: [trembling] SHE WAS A WITCH!
    Blue Fangs: Lies? In your house of God? No wonder He has abandoned you. But we love you.
    Bishop: What?!
    Blue Fangs: We love you. We couldn't be here without you. [seizes the Bishop by the shoulders and opens its jaws] Let me... kiss you.
[Alucard, having disarmed Trevor, grabs him by the hair and bares his fangs]
    Adrian "Alucard" Tepes: Do you have a God to put a last prayer to, Belmont?
    Trevor Belmont: Yeah. "Dear God, please don't let the vampire's guts ruin my good tunic."
    Adrian Tepes: What...?
    [Trevor slips a knife into his chest, just short of his heart]
    Adrian Tepes: I can still rip your throat out.
    Trevor Belmont: You can. But it won't stop me staking you.
    Adrian Tepes: But you will still die.
    Trevor Belmont: But I don't care. Killing you was the point. Living through it was just a luxury.
    [After a pause, Alucard laughs. Behind him, Sypha ignites flame between her fingers.]
    Sypha Belnades: I will incinerate you before your fangs touch that man's throat.
    Adrian Tepes: I thought I was your legendary savior.
    Sypha Belnades: So did I. But he saved my life.
    Alucard: You're a Speaker magician.
    Sypha Belnades: Yes, and his goal is mine: to stand up for the people.
    Adrian Tepes: ...Good. Very good. A vampire hunter and a magician. You'll do. [He lets go of Trevor; his wound heals as he stands up] I am Adrian Tepes. Known to the Wallachians as Alucard... son of Vlad Dracula Tepes. I've been asleep here in my private keep under Gresit for a year, to heal the wounds dealt by my father when I attempted to stop him unleashing his demon armies.
    Sypha Belnades: You are the Sleeping Soldier!
    Adrian Tepes: I'm aware of the stories. I'm also aware that the Speakers consider the story to be information from the future. Do you know the whole story?
    Sypha Belnades: [reddening] Yes.
    Adrian Tepes: The Sleeping Soldier will be met by a Hunter, and a Scholar.
    Trevor Belmont: No one told me that.
    Sypha Belnades: Why do you think my grandfather tried everything to make you stay?!
    Trevor Belmont: I hate Speakers. [stands up, as Alucard dresses himself]
    Sypha Belnades: So, what happens now?
    Adrian Tepes: I need a Hunter, and a Scholar. [his enchanted sword flies into the sheath on his belt] I need help to save Wallachia, perhaps the world, and defeat my father.
    Trevor Belmont: Why?
    Adrian Tepes: ...Because it is what my mother would have wanted. And we are all, in the end, slaves to our family's wishes.
    Trevor Belmont: You'll help us kill Dracula, and save Wallachia?
    Adrian Tepes: My father has to die. We three... we can destroy him.

## Season 2 Episodes
### [2.01] War Council

    [Dracula has summoned his legions, all his generals, and his two Devil Forgemasters in the throne room to discuss plans to eradicate the human race.]
    Dracula: My generals, we prosecute a good war. In killing my wife, humanity has proven to me that they don't deserve Wallachia. Wallachia will now become our seat. We will scour them off the land. We will continue to use the night hordes, all the creatures of terror that humanity once drove away. Afterwards, I think I will give Wallachia to them. (more to himself) Perhaps, that will be better.
    [The generals are left confused as to what Dracula meant.]
    Dracula: Hector, Isaac, present me with plans for our next steps today.
    [Dracula turns and starts to walk away.]
    Godbrand: (outraged) The only two humans in your inner court, and they are the ones who will plan our next attack?!
    [Dracula stops walking and turns to face Godbrand.]
    Dracula: The only two generals in my court who are not driven by thirst. The only two who are bound by loyalty and intellect. True. They are not vampires like you and I, Godbrand. And that is why I trust them. For we are about the business of wiping humanity from the Earth. And they still stand with me.
    [Dracula exits the throne room, leaving the generals alone.]
    Godbrand: What the hell was that? He summons us from all over the world, tells us it's war. We're finally putting the screws to the livestock and taking over. And now this? Turning the whole thing over to a couple of humans? What is this shit?
    [Hector and Isaac follow after Dracula.]
    Godbrand: Hey! Where are you two going?
    Hector: We're going to talk to him.
    Godbrand: Why would he want to talk to you rather than me? Perhaps he wants to meet with his own kind.
    Hector: Godbrand, you've never met anything you didn't immediately kill, fuck, or make a boat out of.
    Isaac: I don't understand why our lord doesn't tie you up outside with the rest of the animals.
    [Hector and Isaac exit.]
    Godbrand: Bigot! I like boats! I'm a fucking Viking! We're supposed to make boats out of things!

### [2.02] Old Homes

[Carmilla enters Dracula's study]
    Carmilla: Yes? You wished to speak to me, my Lord?
    Dracula: That was a dramatic entrance, Carmilla.
    Carmilla: It was not meant to disrespect you. It was intended to unsettle a room full of men. I prefer in such situations to arrive with as many advantages as possible.
    Dracula: And how is it that you're here?
    Carmilla: Godbrand has been keeping me appraised of your castle's position. Your current location was also advantageous.
    Dracula: And why has Godbrand been in regular communication with you?
    Carmilla: I suspect he still wants to sleep with me.
    Dracula: And will you?
    Carmilla: [chuckles, turns away] My Lord! From another man, that would be impossible impertinence.
    Dracula: And yet... I prefer to know my Generals' ties and compromises.
    Carmilla: I may...If all the other vampire males in the world drop dead, and half the females. Some of the animals.
    Dracula: [chuckles] Very good, Carmilla. Speaking of impertinence... You just denounced the choice not to turn my dead wife, in front of all my generals. [glares at her] What advantage, does my anger buy you?
    Carmilla: None! It's a question they have all been asking themselves. I gave you an opportunity to address it, my Lord.
    Dracula: Oh, so you were helping.
    Carmilla: Of course, my Lord.
    Dracula: Then why have you only just arrived? You were summoned some time ago. Surely, I needed help much earlier.
    Carmilla: Distractions at home. Securing my region. Villagers, pitchforks, torches. The usual.
    Dracula: Hmm. Rejoin the others. Hector and Isaac, my Forgemasters, will be directing our next moves; I'm sure they would enjoy your help.
    Carmilla: As you wish, my Lord. [leaves]
    Sypha: I'm still not completely clear on why you don't catch fire in the daylight.
    Alucard: I am half-human. My mother's name was Lisa, and she was mortal.
    Sypha: I would very much like to hear the story of how that happened.
    Alucard: [chuckles] She actually showed up, at his front door. She found the castle, and banged on the front door with the pommel of her knife.
    Sypha: She sounds interesting.
    Alucard: Oh, she was remarkable. She beat on the door until my father let her in, and then demanded he teach her how to be a doctor-
    Trevor Belmont: [sits up] Wait, Dracula taught a human woman how to be a doctor? [chuckles scornfully] What was first, bloodletting?
    Alucard: God, you still think you're funny. My father-
    Trevor Belmont: Dracula-
    Alucard: -Is a man of science. A philosopher, a scholar. And knows things our society has forgotten three times over. Do you still not understand the enormity of what we're doing? He's gone mad. And from that, there is no recovering him.
    Trevor Belmont: [sarcastically] Shame.
    Alucard: It's a tragedy. He's a repository of centuries of learning. He could've changed the world; I think he might've, if Mother hadn't died. She'd sent him out into the world. That's why he wasn't there, when the Bishops took her.
    Sypha: She sent him away?
    Alucard: She sent him to... travel. To learn the true state of the world, the true nature of humans and how they live.
    Sypha: She was... turning him.
    Alucard: Imagine if he could've aimed all that knowledge at improving lives... If the religious inquisition hadn't proved true, all of his worst instincts about humans.
    Trevor Belmont: And now he's going to use her death, as an excuse to destroy the world.
    Alucard: Oh, the world will still be here, Belmont. Trees will still grow, birds will still sing, animals will still hump away in the undergrowth. But you won't be here. And you won't be here. None of you. The sun will still set, but you will not see it rise. There will only be Dracula, and his War Council, and the hordes of the night. [pause] He writes in great books, you know. He hews the covers himself from oak, and wraps them in the preserved skin of the people who he hated most. And he writes plans; I've seen them. Ideas for darkening clouds, and making them as permanent in the air as the frost of the North. Great strange flying machines, that pull shrouds across the sky to block out the sun. Imagine it. A world without humans, under endless invented night. And Dracula in his castle... his revenge so horribly complete, that there is nothing left to do but look out over a world without art or memory or laughter, and know that he did his work well. That he did it all for love.

### [2.03] Shadow Battles

[Trevor, Sypha and Alucard explore the Belmont Hold]
    Sypha: What was your Leon Belmont doing in Wallachia?
[Trevor glances over his shoulder; Sypha follows his gaze to Alucard, who is staring at a display case full of vampire skulls]
    Alucard: [darkly] Hunting Dracula.
    Trevor: ...Here it all is, then. The last of us [notices a chest under a broken shelf] Bloody hell. Is that what I think it is?
    Sypha: Careful, Trevor. You almost sounded excited about something.
    Trevor: It couldn't be, could it?
    [Trevor drags the chest from its resting place into the open, while Sypha keeps studying a tome. Trevor takes out a knife and uses it to break the lock off. He opens the chest, revealing a long metal chain with a handle on one end and spiked head on the other. Trevor picks it up.]
    Trevor: Beautiful.
    Sypha: What on Earth is that ugly thing?
    Trevor: I don't believe they hid it. It's the Morning Star!
    Sypha: [going through one of the Belmonts' books] It's all here. You're right, this is quite amazing! [Notices Alucard is still staring at the vampire skulls] Isn't it? It's amazing.
    Alucard: [sarcastically] Charming.
    Sypha: You're not even a little bit impressed?
    Alucard: It's like a museum dedicated to the extermination of my people, so no. Not thrilled.
    [Dracula sits alone in his study in front of the fireplace as Godbrand enters.]
    Godbrand: May I speak to you?
    Dracula: Approach, Godbrand.
    Godbrand: I have a question.
    Dracula: Go on.
    Godbrand: If you kill all the humans, what are we gonna eat?
    Dracula: (looks up) What?
    Godbrand: It's very simple, Dracula. If you kill all the humans, where does the continuing supply of human blood come from?
    Dracula: (exasperated sigh) I allow you to go on feeding raids when we change location. I have blood stored in cold canisters. There are animals in the lower levels. You won't go hungry, Godbrand.
    Godbrand: Not right now, no. But later. I don't want to be rationing myself on fucking pig blood.
    Dracula: (glaringly) Careful.
    Godbrand: Pig blood gives me the shits. I'm sorry, but there it is.
    Dracula: You will be taken care of, Godbrand.
    Godbrand: Yes, of course. Right. Except, what if we're not? What if you just wanna kill all the humans and you don't leave us enough to keep in camps to feed from?
    [Dracula rises up from his chair and walks threateningly towards Godbrand until the latter is backed against a wall.]
    Dracula: I will not be questioned by you. I have told you how it will be. The humans will die. You will be taken care of. Little Godbrand. Little vampire. Little parasite. Little boot weevil who delights in making noise and pretending he is important and dangerous. Are you going to continue questioning me? Are you going to fight me, little Godbrand?
    Godbrand: (pauses) No.
    [Dracula keeps his face just inches away from Godbrand.]
    Dracula: Then why are you still here making your little noises? Get out before I slit you up the middle and bite out your heart.
    [Godbrand scurries out of the room while Dracula sits back down in his seat, breathing heavily and tired out.

### [2.04] Broken Mast

    Dracula: Isaac. I feel like the tone of the War Hall is turning against me. Even Hector looks at me, as if he no longer knows me.
    Isaac: I have respect for Hector, but he is a gentle soul. He's still a little boy. Probably the same little boy who didn't understand why he was beaten for keeping pets.
    Dracula: [chuckles, sits next to him] Well... His pets were reanimated dead animals. One can understand any parent's discomfort, at a dead cat doing a dance in the living room.
    Isaac: He really only wants pets, you see. He really only understands pets. That's how he perceives your war. To cull humans back to a small population and then keep them in pens; he understands that.
    Dracula: That is partly my fault. He's a child in a man's body; that does make him easy to lie to.
    Isaac: You are Dracula. No one has a right to your true beliefs.
    Dracula: Not even you?
    Isaac: Not even me. You've given me purpose, and treated me with respect. A lie doesn't change that. You are unique; you don't owe anybody anything.
    Dracula: ...You, Isaac, are the only one I've told the truth to. Because I believe you are the only one... who grasps the necessity of it all.
    Isaac: You rarely come to my working place. How can I be of service to you, Master Dracula?
    Dracula: [meets his eyes]... Are you still my friend?
    Isaac: Always.
    Dracula: ...Then know, that you may be alone.

### [2.05] Last Spell

    Hector: (sigh) You can spend so long in the castle that you forget how the sun feels. Don't you think?
    Isaac: I like the castle. The stone stays cool, no matter where we are.
    Hector: You like the cold?
    Isaac: When I'm cold, I can eat meat or throw a cloak on. I spent my life in hot places. You can't escape heat. Keep walking. Vampires have sharp ears, and you said we needed to talk.
    Hector: You're concerned about the vampires hearing us?
    Isaac: I'm not a fool, Hector. If you weren't concerned, you wouldn't want the conversation out in the daylight.
    Hector: I just didn't want to be interrupted by argument.
    Isaac: They are good at arguing.
    Hector: I used to liken them to wolves or bats. A strong sense of community, acting as one. But lately... I see the vampires as cats. Swiping, hunting or ignoring each other.
    Isaac: You think of vampires as animals?
    Hector: In a way. They are pure creatures. They have grace. Animals don't act with malice.
    Isaac: Cats play with their food all the time.
    Hector: True. But it's not malicious. There's joy in it.
    Isaac: Not for the food.
    [Hector and Isaac move further from the castle and into a nearby forest.]:
    Isaac: So?
    Hector: The cats need herding, Isaac.
    Isaac: That's a good way to get your eyes clawed out, Hector.
    Hector: I mean it. Dracula gave us the task of creating a war plan. But between his generals, their fighting, and his own attitude...
    Isaac: And what attitude is that?
    Hector: He doesn't care.
    Isaac: He cares very much. He wants all of the humans to die. He's quite clear on that.
    Hector: That hasn't escaped me. My point is that he doesn't care how. And we're failing him.
    Isaac: Oh, are we, now?
    Hector: Yes. We need to assert an order to the war. We're the agents of his rage, not paintings of it. We can't just thrash around.
    Isaac: What do you want, Hector?
    Hector: I want to present a united front. I want a plan. I want to move forward, get this over with in an orderly manner. I want you to agree to move on Braila. (sigh) I know that, strictly speaking, we're never been friends.
    Isaac: It seems counterproductive to cultivate human friends, when we're engaged in the product of ending the human race.
    Hector: But we are on the same side. [puts his hand on Isaac's shoulder.]
    Isaac: Is this where we kiss like Benedictine monks from different monasteries?
    Hector: I don't think I've heard you try to tell a joke before.
    Isaac: [removes Hector's hand, walks past him] You still haven't.
    Hector: All Dracula hears, is the noise in the War Hall. He needs us to be the clear voice over that noise; he needs us to speak in one voice.
    Isaac: He needs us to be loyal.
    Hector: How is it disloyal to provide the guidance he requested of us?
    Isaac: If it's serving you, and not him. There are people in the court who have their own plans. Their own agendas.
    Hector: I am loyal to him, and his intent. But he asked for a plan. And we need to give him one, unambiguously. We go to Braila, prevent a diaspora by boat, and then proceed along the coast from there. What do you say?
    Isaac: Well... It will please Carmilla, so I distrust it. But... it would stop her making mischief, for the moment. And, it would get the War Room pointed in the same direction. [chuckles darkly] I imagine it would even make Godbrand smile.
    Hector: Yeah, well... don't talk me out of it. [they both chuckle]

### [2.06] The River

    Sypha: I did it!
    Alucard: Where did you land the castle, Sypha?
    Sypha: (proudly) Right on top of us!
    [The roof creaks. Alucard gives her a look.]
    Sypha: ...Oh, yes. I landed it on the surface, right above this underground space that's probably only held up by wood and dirt. Let's go!

### [2.07] For Love

    Isaac: Your son is here.
    Dracula: Alucard has entered the castle?
    Isaac: And a woman who stinks of magic. And a hunter. To your study. [they reach Dracula's study] Behind me, Dracula. They will not reach you while I live!
    Dracula: [astonished] You would give your mortal life to preserve my immortal one?
    Isaac: To save your genius, your knowledge, and your will? Without question. I am just a Forgemaster. Yours is the wisdom of ages.
    Dracula: ... You are the greatest of your people, Isaac. [behind them, Dracula's magic mirror begins to assemble] You have a soul, I think. Perhaps that is more valuable to the world to come than a dusty collection of books and apparatus. Or perhaps you simply deserve a better fate than to die instead of me.
    Isaac: I choose my death, as I chose my life.
    Dracula: [puts a hand on Isaac's shoulder] Then, I regret only that I have taken a choice for you.
    [He hurls Isaac through a mirror, teleporting him away from the castle.]
    Isaac: No! Dracula! No!
    [The portal closes, leaving Isaac alone in the desert. In the castle, Dracula turns back to the doorway, where Alucard is standing]
    Alucard: Father.
    Dracula: Son.
    Alucard: Your war is over.
    Dracula: [smirks] Because you say so?
    Alucard: It ends... in the name of my mother.
    Dracula: [sharply] It ENDURES in the name of your mother.
    Alucard: I told you before I won't let you do it. I grieve with you, but I won't let you commit genocide.
    Dracula: You couldn't stop me before.
    [Trevor and Sypha enter the study beside Alucard.]
    Alucard: I was alone before.
    [The fight begins.]
    Dracula: (wounded, but not seriously) The Morning Star whip... well played, Belmont. But I am no ordinary vampire to be killed by your human magics. I am Vlad Dracula Tepes, AND I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!
    Dracula: (laughs contemptuously) You mean to stake me?
    Alucard: You want me to.
    Dracula: What?
    Alucard: You didn't kill me before. You won't kill me now. You want this to end as much as I do.
    Dracula: DO I?!
    Alucard: You died when my mother died, you know you did. This entire catastrophe has been nothing but history's longest suicide note!
    [Dracula's fight with Alucard carries them into the latter's childhood bedroom in the castle. He freezes]
    Dracula:... It's your room. [his eyes clear] My boy. I'm- I... I'm killing my boy. Lisa... I'm killing our boy. We painted this room, we... made these toys. It's our boy, Lisa. Your greatest gift to me, and I'm killing him... I must already be dead.
    [He does not resist as Alucard breaks off one of his bedposts, steps up to him and stakes him through the heart.]
    Dracula: Son...
    Alucard: Father...

### [2.08] End Times

    [at an oasis in the desert]
    Isaac: Keep moving. I'm not in the mood.
    Bandit: Well, what do we have here? It's thirsty, whatever it is. Don't drink the entire pool.
    Isaac: There is enough water for all.
    Bandit: Oh, I don't care about all. I only care about us.
    Isaac: There will be plenty for you after I'm gone.
    Bandit: But perhaps we want it all.
    Isaac: Yes, you probably do. Your kind always does.
    2nd Bandit: I think the desert has left us a little gift, don't you?
    Bandit: Put a rope around it. Drag it behind us. Perhaps we can sell it at the next town. Unless we get hungry between now and then, I suppose.
    Isaac: Is that really the best you have? Your best response to finding a lone stranger drinking at an oasis. Call him "it," and immediately draw plans to sell him or eat him?
    Bandit: You don't matter. You don't deserve my best. You're just some drifting clump of shit I discovered on the road and I'll do with you as I wish. Only I and my friends here matter. You are simply meat.
    Isaac: I'm not human?
    Bandit: Oh, I'm sure you're human, Sir Philosopher of the Water Hole. I simply don't care.
    Isaac: (smiles) Me neither.
    [He draws his dagger, leaps onto the bandit's horse and slashes a huge wound in his chest. The other four bandits attack, and he easily kills them all.]
    Sypha: When I met you, you reeked of piss, blood and stale beer. You killed a monster largely by accident...
    Trevor: Hey, that took serious skills!
    Sypha: And then demanded alcohol before storming off like a toddler with a thistle up his back end.
    Trevor: Right-right, how does that even...?
    Sypha: Shh! And now, in the short time we have known each other, you have rediscovered yourself, and you've grown. Today might be the first time I felt like I was talking to an adult man. You're better than you were when I met you. Do you know why I think that is? It's because you're doing what you were born for. As insane as it sounds, this entire nightmare scenario has made you complete. I think you should see it through... with me.
    Trevor: With you?
    Sypha: Yes. You could be my handsome sidekick or mascot. Imagine that. If you didn't talk much, people would think you were my deformed pet bear and throw you free food.
    [Alucard is alone and exploring his father's castle. He sees a ghostly image of Dracula.]
    Alucard: Is this how the castle felt to you before my mother first arrived at your door?

## Season 3 Episodes
### [3.01] Bless Your Dead Little Hearts

    Sypha: [overacting] Oh, no! Night creatures! Whatever shall I do? Out here alone in the forest, with only my brain-damaged servant who talks about nothing but beer? I am certainly doomed!
    Trevor: Oh God, not this again...
    Sypha: Doomed, I say! I am defenseless and frozen to my seat with fear!
    Trevor: Laying it on a little thick, aren't you, Sypha?
    Sypha: It's always easier when we let them get in range.

### [3.03] Investigators

    Captain: I have brandy. You know brandy? Fire and wine. Do you partake of alcohol?
    Isaac: I do not.
    Captain: Ah, thought so. Muslim?
    Isaac: Sufi.
    Captain: The spinning-around kind or the self-flagellating kind?
    Isaac: The latter. Or, I was.
    Captain: Well, I imagine it hurts. You can't be blamed for stopping.
    Isaac: It's not pain as you understand it. I've been hit by people. It's not the same thing, at all. It brings clarity. It stills the body and frees the mind to focus.
    Captain: So why did you stop?
    Isaac: I don't know. I'm too angry. I cannot find myself. I cannot pray. I cannot see God. [he slurps a bit of his drink]
    Captain: Tell me the story, Isaac. The night is long, and sailors like stories.
    Isaac: I was a member of Dracula's court.
    Captain: Dracula? [he sips his drink and chuckles] Oh, this should be good. Dracula the Vampire King? Dracula, who wants to kill everyone in Wallachia?
    Isaac: Everyone in the world. All the humans.
    Captain: Including you?
    Isaac: I assumed that eventually this would include me, yes.
    Captain: So working for Dracula was like suicide, the long way round?
    Isaac: Perhaps. I find the human race worthless, and I suspect a fresh start would be good for the world.
    Captain: Present company excepted, of course?
    [they both chuckle]
    Captain: So, you were planning on killin' everyone in the world. I knew you wouldn't be boring. I cannot, however, fail to note that I am still here. And you're not in Wallachia. What happened?
    Isaac: [sighs] His castle was attacked. Dracula threw me to the desert through a magic mirror. To save my life.
    Captain: That doesn't sound like someone who wants to kill all the people of the Earth.
    Isaac: He was confused. He was grieving. There were other vampires conspiring against him and they were aided by the other human in the court.
    Captain: He was certainly confused. And also betrayed. You just can't get the staff any more. Believe me, I know. You should talk to some of the freaks I have on my crew. And now you're sailing back to Europe to find Dracula?
    Isaac: I believe he is dead. I have other reasons to return. I was given this by a man in Tunis.
    [Isaac claps and reveals his distance mirror, before clapping again and deactivating his mirror]
    Isaac: It showed me that the other human in the court is being kept prisoner by one of the vampires who schemed against Dracula.
    Captain: That's a nice gift, though.
    Isaac: The man who gave it to me said it was in exchange for saving him from Hell when he died. After which, the men-at-arms of Tunis attempted to drive us out, because they were full of hatred and fear, like all people.
    Captain: Did he laugh when he said it?
    Isaac: He did, actually.
    Captain: Then it was a gift. I mean, can you save people from Hell?
    Isaac: I am a forgemaster. I can take demons from Hell, and install them in dead bodies on Earth.
    Captain: That's quite a trick.
    Isaac: It is a skill, learned over many years. Vampires cannot do it. It requires a human connection.
    Captain: Why? Vampires can learn magic.
    [Isaac takes out his Forgemaster's dagger and activates it]
    Isaac: Not this magic. Hell is populated by humans who went against the will of God. But the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says that one day Hell will be emptied and its doors will rattle in the wind. Through my hand, God lifts the damned from Hell in his mercy to enact their penance on the Earth as my soldiers.
    Captain: That's... [he sips his drink and slowly lets out a breath] I thought I'd heard every story, but that's new to me. And you learned how to do this.
    Isaac: I did.
    Captain: And other things, too, I'll mark.
    Isaac: I have some other skills.
    Captain: And now you sail to Europe, to exact revenge on the people who betrayed your Dracula?
    Isaac: I do.
    Captain: Where will you go?
    Isaac: Styria, home to Carmilla, who rules that region.
    Captain: And then what?
    Isaac: What?
    Captain: Well, after you've had your blood. What will you do then? Take up your Dracula's cause and kill all the people in the world?
    Isaac: I might.
    Captain: Hmm. Have you ever heard this maxim? "If you don't have your own story, you become part of someone else's."
    Isaac: I have not.
    Captain: That's because I invented it. You're welcome. [he chuckles]
    Isaac: You saw that I have a knife, right?
    Captain: Hear me out. Why live out a dead vampire's story when you have your own story to tell?
    Isaac: Dracula's "story," as you put it, is right and good. The human race is poisonous and corrupt and should be wiped off the world.
    Captain: And yet yesterday, a man gave you a gift and made a joke. But all you really remember is the port authority trying to run you and your beasties out of town.
    Isaac: Do you deny our species is cruel, Captain?
    Captain: [he takes another drink and sighs] No. I've been cruel. It's a cruel world. Maybe we do all deserve to die. But maybe we could be better, too. If you kill us all, you end human cruelty, yes. But you end human kindness, too. No more jokes. No more gifts. No more surprises. Why would a man with all your fantastic knowledge not use it to teach people how to be kind?
    Isaac: What?
    Captain: Revenge is good. Bastards need punishing. But after you win, and you control their region, you become a ruler of a place, Isaac.
    Isaac: I do not.
    Captain: You do. By right of conquest. You could lead, Isaac. Just like you lead your beasties up there. What could your rule be like if you just taught people?
    Isaac: I would like more water.
    Captain: Then you shall have it, Isaac the Forgemaster. My gift, given freely.
    [The Captain pours water on Isaac's cup]

### [3.04] I Have a Scheme

    [Having arrived at the dock in Genoa, Isaac and his horde of night creatures find their way blocked by pike militia]
    Isaac: [smiles] You have nothing to fear from me. We were just leaving.
    Militia Sergeant: No.
    Isaac:... No?
    Militia Sergeant: No! You will not enter Genoa. Get back on your ship, with your monstrosities, and leave.
    Isaac: [glances over his shoulder] ...It seems my ship has already left. It has a shrewd captain. It took his wit, to show me that I'd stopped praying. Can you imagine that? I stopped praying and devoting myself, and I hadn't even noticed... what a monster I have become. You don't want me to be a monster right here, in your nice port, do you? Let us pass.
    Militia Sergeant: No.
    Isaac: My ship is gone, and I need to go north. Let us through.
    Militia Sergeant: We'll drive you and your filthy creatures into the sea, if we have to! We know what's been happening in Wallachia! It will not happen here!
    Isaac: Ohh... I cannot believe this is happening again. It's absurd. I just... can't. [angrily] Why do I keep doing the same thing, and expecting a different result? Isn't that the definition of insanity? Am I mad? [pause] You know... one day, the last of you will ask me: "Why did you work with Dracula himself, to murder all the people?" And you know what I'll say? It's because you're all so fucking rude.
    [He snaps his fingers, and the night creatures rush forward, slaughtering the militia]
    Isaac: [drawing his Forgemaster's dagger] Bring me fresh material!
    [Isaac starts converting the dead soldiers into Night Creatures as well]

### [3.06] The Good Dream

    [summons FlysEyes to him to talk about his former life]
    Isaac: Where's the one that can talk well? The one with the eyes I made in Genoa?
    FlysEyes: You mean... me?
    Isaac: I do. Sit with me a moment.
    [FlysEyes does so]
    FlysEyes: What do you wish?
    Isaac: I was curious. The night is long, and I have been given much to think of late. May I ask you a question?
    FlysEyes: Of course.
    Isaac: Do you remember who you were, before you went to Hell?
    FlysEyes: I... almost do. [thinks on it] It's like I remember how it was to dream. And to remember moments of the dream. But never the entire play. Do you see?
    Isaac: I do. What do you remember?
    FlysEyes: I was... a scholar.
    Isaac: Really?
    FlysEyes: I was. In a place called... Athens. I think it was a long time ago.
    Isaac: What did you study?
    FlysEyes: I was a philosopher.
    Isaac: And this was a thing that sent you to Hell?
    FlysEyes: I lived as a man during a time in the empire that ruled Athens, changed its religion and laws. I believed Philosophy to be the Studies of the Systems of the World and our purpose in it. And yet discussions of the nature of the Divine became a crime.
    Isaac: Who declared this a crime?
    FlysEyes: Christians. To be a philosopher was a sin. And one important Christian was heard to say, that the people should hunt down sinners and drive them into salvation, as a hunter drives his prey into traps.
    Isaac: To think about God would surely not be a sin in God's eyes.
    FlysEyes: Perhaps. And yet... here I am.
    Isaac: And perhaps you did not tell me all of your dream.
    FlysEyes: I was betrayed, Forgemaster. I was hunted, I was tortured, I lied for my life. In a church, before a judge. I gave up others, so that I may live. I became a sinner.
    Isaac: And?
    FlysEyes: They killed me... anyway. I woke up in Hell, because this world is insane, and I learned something about sin.
    Isaac: [Looking disturbed by FlysEyes story] And what did you learn?
    FlysEyes: I learned... to like it. [begins to crawl to Isaac] Yet here I am, back on the surface of the Earth... strong and free, in a world where thinking is considered something that should be tortured and murdered. [He stops crawling and then disturbingly begins to smile] Thank you for my second life. [Isaac looks at the Night Creature with remorse] I intend to use it well, and make wonderful new dreams of it.

### [3.10] Abandon All Hope

    [leaving Lindenfeld]
    Sypha: This could not have gone more wrong... what happened?
    Trevor: We've spent a couple of months living your life. Adventures and victories. And now... we're living my life.

## Season 4 Episodes
### [Episode 4.01] Murder Wakes It Up

    [Trevor and Sypha are fighting Fleaman demons in a field.]
    Sypha: Shit!
    Trevor: What did you just say?
    Sypha: I said "shit", okay?
    Trevor: Yes, it's just that you never, you know, curse.
    Sypha: I never used to, and then all this happened. And then you happened.
    Trevor: Me?
    Sypha: Yes, you. I was nice. And then I met you, and now I'm like you.
    Trevor: Oh, so it's my fault.
    Sypha: It's all your fault! You did this to me!
    Trevor: I found you turned into a statue in a fucking tomb!
    Sypha: And climbed all over me, and since that moment everything has been shit, and... [two more Fleaman lunge at her] AAH! I AM FUCKING TALKING HERE! [Sypha incinerates them] You turned me into someone who says "shit"! Fuckity-shit-hairy-arse-warts-giant-slimy-balls... SHIT!

### [Episode 4.03] Walk Away

    [Isaac is overseeing his Night Creatures repairing The Magician's town.]
    FlysEyes: May I ask you a question?
    Isaac: Of course.
    FlysEyes: What are we doing here?
    Isaac: That is a very broad question. Be more specific. Sit.
    [FlysEyes sits with him]
    FlysEyes: I do not need to tell you what night creatures are, forgemaster.
    Isaac: You can call me Isaac. [offers him a berry] Would you like a berry?
    FlysEyes: Case in point. I am a night creature. I eat... blood and... meat.
    Isaac: [smiling] A berry would probably not kill you.
    FlysEyes: Night creatures kill, destroy and... despoil. It is... our pleasure.
    Isaac: Night creatures do the will of their forgemasters.
    FlysEyes: Then perhaps I simply don't understand your will. You have us... burying people.
    Isaac: The city was littered with dead. Too many of them were too decayed to be converted by magic.
    FlysEyes: So?
    Isaac: So they need to be buried. You are not a fool. Insects and diseases would breed. And I would remind you that everyone here was a victim. They deserve a burial.
    FlysEyes: Then why do we care about... insects and diseases?
    Isaac: Ask your question.
    FlysEyes: We... kill, destroy and... despoil! You have us burying the rotten... dead and rebuilding and repairing this place. Why do you have us going against... our... nature?
    Isaac: Your nature is fluid. You believe you are tools of destruction only because this is how your kind have always been used. Have a berry.
    [He tastes a berry, and starts remembering more of his past life]
    FlysEyes: Memories.
    Isaac: It's not blood or meat, but you don't appear to have died from it. I'll answer your question. This city was once home to many hundreds of people, perhaps more. It could be resettled, once the bodies are buried, the debris is disposed of and the structures are repaired. We will be moving on soon. After we are gone, the city will be here for people to find and make homes in. Would you like another berry?
    FlysEyes: I think so.
    Isaac: Take one. You see, you can use a hammer to build a house or crack a skull. You are returned to Earth as tools, and I will use tools as I wish.
    FlysEyes: [as he tastes the berry] So many... memories.
    Isaac: I can also choose, in the end, to recognize that you are not tools at all. For no tool would taste a berry and remember the time in its first life when it encountered them.
    FlysEyes: But we... are creatures of... Hell. To be commanded... to fight.
    Isaac: One day Hell will be emptied and its doors will rattle in the wind.
    FlysEyes: What?
    Isaac: Through my hand, God lifts the damned from Hell in his mercy to enact their penance on the Earth as my soldiers.
    FlysEyes: Yes.
    Isaac: [angered] Should the penance on Earth be eternal TOO?!
    FlysEyes: [confused] I... do not know.
    Isaac: [calm again] Neither do I. We should find out together. In the meantime, we can both do a little more than what we were intended for.
    FlysEyes: May I make an observation?
    Isaac: You may.
    FlysEyes: You are changing. But, there is still revenge in you, I think. But... other things, too.
    Isaac: Perhaps.
    FlysEyes: Are we still fighting, Isaac?
    Isaac: We're always fighting for something. But I take your meaning. Soon.

### [Episode 4.06] You Don't Deserve my Blood

    Lenore: What the hell was that?
    Hector: The mirror? I got it from one of the mad vampire wizards you keep in the dungeons. They're really very easily bribed.
    Lenore: I mean - and you know that I mean - what did you just do?!
    Hector: Oh, that. Well, I've been conferring with fellow scholars on a way to bring Dracula back. It seemed only fair, since I got him killed in the first place. And I laid a few traps in here during the month, because... well, you never know when you're going to need a good cage, do you?
    Lenore: You've gone mad.
    Hector: I've been mad. This doesn't feel like that. Maybe I've gone sane. [footsteps approach] And here we are.
    [Lenore turns as Isaac enters the room.]
    Isaac: Hector.
    Hector: Isaac. [Isaac uses his Forgemaster's dagger to enter Lenore's cage; she backs away from him] Leave her alone.
    Isaac: Is this not one of Carmilla's ruling council?
    Hector: If you're here to kill me, kill me. But leave her alone; she is not the threat here.
    [After a pause, Isaac exits the cage and approaches Hector as Lenore watches.]
    Isaac: Are you the threat, Hector?
    Hector: No. Carmilla is. Isaac, I've taken steps to return Dracula to life. [Isaac's eyes narrow slightly] I've done my part to atone for all that has happened. I'm done. Take your revenge. I hold no malice.
    [Hector closes his eyes and bows his head. Tense silence.]
    Isaac: I am not here to kill you.
    Hector: ...What?
    Isaac: You and I, Hector, we have been children. Revenge is for children. It is our duty to grow up, don't you think?
    Hector: I... I've tried to.
    Isaac: Good. It is time to find our own way. But I will ask a favor.
    Hector: Yes?
    Isaac: This place has many of your Night Creatures. Command them to stand down.
    Hector: Heh. [holds up his left arm, revealing Lenore's curse ring] I can't.
    Isaac: Ah.
    Hector: Yes. Command and control flows through me, to Lenore here, and to her friends. Hold on. [he pulls a pentacle from his belt pouch] I used debris from broken hammers to make this while nobody was looking. I've been putting down fence posts for an escape channel, all through the castle for weeks.
    Isaac: How far will this channel take me?
    Hector: All the way up to Carmilla's chambers. I had to assume I might be running from the top of the castle, one day. [he gives it to Isaac] Place your intent upon it. The command is "Ba'al Initium."
    Isaac: You have been busy.
    Hector: Well, I needed a way out. Carmilla intends to actually, literally rule the world... and I suspect the world, would find that bad for its' health. [points at Lenore] This one stays safe with me. Carmilla, on the other hand... should probably meet you.
    Isaac: I tend to agree. But even if this device works, it would take time to fight through the creatures you've made for her.
    Hector: Can I borrow your knife?
    [Isaac hands his dagger to Hector, who uses it to slice off his left ring finger and the ring with it. As Hector clutches his bleeding hand, groaning in pain, Isaac takes the dagger back and uses its power to cauterize the wound.]
    Hector: I just cut off Carmilla's command and control over the night creatures. Makes them easier to pick off.
    Isaac: Thank you.
    Hector: Just get it done.
    [Isaac nods, then releases his hand and passes back through Lenore's cage.]
    Isaac: [mockingly] Lady.
    Lenore: Fuck you! [Isaac leaves] He's going to murder Carmilla!
    Hector: Yes, he is. But not you. Or me, it seems. That was unexpected. I don't really know what to do next.
[He exits.]
[Isaac and his Night Creatures have encircled Carmilla in her throne room]
    Carmilla: Is that Isaac? The least interesting man, in Dracula's castle.
    Isaac: Hello, Carmilla.
    Carmilla: Eat shit! Is this about Dracula? Hector's downstairs, if you want someone to kill.
    Isaac: I've spoken to Hector.
    Carmilla: Oh. I see. The humans are sticking together.
    Isaac: I understand you have developed some more... ambitions?
    Carmilla: I'm nothing but ambition. I'm a Queen. This world belongs to me, because the likes of you, never knew what to do with it!
    Isaac: I am not sure that is the point of having a world.
    Carmilla: What kind of Druid bollocks is that?
    Isaac: An opinion I came to, wandering the world, following your destruction of Dracula, his army and his castle.
    Carmilla: I never touched his fucking castle. [chuckles] So, you've personally come to Styria, to kill me, is that it?
    Isaac: ...I think the world would be a better place without you, yes. You can't be trusted. I would always fear you, and your ambitions. So, yes, I'm very much afraid, I have to kill you.
[Isaac returns to Hector's tower after defeating Carmilla]
    Isaac: Where is your vampire friend?
    Hector: This structure has a basement; she's down there for the moment.
    Isaac: How is your hand?
    Hector: [lifts his bandaged hand] I may never play the pipe organ again.
    Isaac: [amused] Did you ever?
    Hector: No, but I might've wanted to. [Isaac crosses to the table, where a pitcher of water and a bowl of limes are set] Do we now ride, to aide the return of Dracula?
    Isaac: ...No.
    Hector: What?
    Isaac: No.
    Hector: But, that- [clutches his forehead in frustration and confusion] I've been working towards this for weeks!
    Isaac: Of course you have. [fills a cup with water] You feel guilt. You want redemption.
    Hector: I want to mend my mistakes.
    Isaac: ...The mistakes, you have suffered for. [Hector sits] That said, Hector, you had no agency in those events. You were manipulated. You were used as a tool for leverage, by those who were truly responsible, for the end of Dracula.
    Hector: You believe that?
    Isaac: I've had a lot of time, to put it all together and think it all over. Do you know... I've even been talking to other people?
    Hector: ...Actual living people?
    Isaac: Well... mostly. [slices a lime]
    Hector: [scoffs, looks at Isaac curiously]... You've changed.
    Isaac: I hope so. I believe you have as well. [pause] Let him sleep, Hector. We were both mistreated by the human world. [he squeezes the lime's juice into the water] We were both admirers of Dracula's intellect. We both saw something bigger than ourselves, in him. We both wanted to see the world, punished. [shakes his head] We can do more than that. Dracula earned his rest. We can, and should, move forward. [raises the cup to Hector] What do you want, Hector?
    Hector: [looks down at his maimed hand] ... I want to be left alone. With Lenore. I want to read... and make things, and think. That's... all I really want, now.
    Isaac: Then you shall have it.
    Hector:...What do you want, Isaac?
    Isaac: [drinks] ...I have recently begun to consider the future. Which has been a novelty for me, because I never really thought I had one. This is how they get us, Hector. They convince us that there is no future; there's only an eternal now... and the best we can do, is survive until dawn, and then do it all again. That's no way to live. And I have discovered, to some surprise... that I am interested in living. [he picks up Hector's Forgemaster's hammer] I am interested in building a way to live. And I think I will start here. I have come to wonder, that perhaps Dracula did not run things well... even before his wife died. He lived in one, long night, and never the future. I think, perhaps, he earned his rest... and that we should not disturb it. I will instead, build something new, on all these old bones. Something where people can live, for a future. [smiles] I'm going to live.

## About Castlevania (TV series)

* As alluded to in the first two seasons and explicitly shown in the third season, the humans are analogous to animals in the eyes of vampires. There is commentary to be explored about Hector seen as an animal and his treatment being based upon what type of animal he represents: livestock, a beast of burden or a pet. It is refreshing to see men sexually dominated in the same serious way that women have been on screen. Though I am not condoning such actions in real life, conveying gender equality — even in the darkest ways in which film and television do — is important to elicit reactions from the viewer.
** Jeff Ehren, “Castlevania” on Netflix Explores Power Dynamics”, Medium, (Jan 10).
* Where the show falters isn’t in the ideas themselves, but how they are executed. For instance the show spends the first episode making Dracula into sympathetic character as opposed to cartoonish vil-lain with no real motivation beyond an unjustified drive to be evil. And yet, the cartoonish villain role still materializes, when it becomes apparent that the season’s true antagonist is the Church. The clergy not only invoke Dracula’s wrath by burning his wife to death as a witch, but then spend the next three episodes actively impeding anyone who might stop Dracula — for no other reason a vague notion of controlling the masses.
** D. M. Moore, “Netflix’s Castlevania isn’t a perfect video game adaptation, but it’s on the right track”, The Verge, (Jul 7, 2017)
* Characters’ goals can turn with little more incentive than a twist of dialogue. Trevor is a selfish man and reluctant hero weighed down by his family’s legacy, at least until an old man tells him enough times that he needs to protect people from Dracula’s demons. The show is also full of people getting brutally dismembered, bleeding and vomiting. It never justifies these graphic depictions the way a show like “Game of Thrones”, might use a viscerally violent scene to create a sense of danger. Instead, the violence feels intentionally flashy and sleek.
** D. M. Moore, “Netflix’s Castlevania isn’t a perfect video game adaptation, but it’s on the right track”, The Verge', (Jul 7, 2017)
* Impressively animated fight scenes, brutal violence, and vampiric political intrigue accost monster-hunting trio Trevor, Sypha, and Adrian in Netflix’s take on Konami’s vampire and monster-laden “Castlevania” series.
** Jordan Moreau, “Castlevania”, Variety, (April 21, 2021)
* “By giving Dracula the human dimension that he really has to have to make the story sustainable, you have to find the human element in him,” said Frederator Studios founder and executive producer Fred Seibert of the character. “Nobody is ultimately all bad. Once you know someone is bad, why spend your time with them? All of our time is precious. Committing to a film where characters are unlikeable – what’s the point?
** Fred Seibert as quoted by Brittany Vincent in “Warren Ellis on the Tender Vision of Dracula’s Curse in Netflix’s ‘Castlevania’”, “Variety”, (November 28, 2018)
* The gruesome dirge, where an army of vampire and demon soldiers routinely eviscerate humans with gleeful fervor in the name of Dracula’s sorrow-fueled vendetta against the entire race, is oddly hopeful and tender. For what feels like the first time in the history of “Castlevania,” you want to root for the lord of all vampires. They took his love away, you see, and so the whole of humanity must pay.
** Brittany Vincent, “Warren Ellis on the Tender Vision of Dracula’s Curse in Netflix’s ‘Castlevania’”, “Variety”, (November 28, 2018)
* It could have been a simple narrative borne from the original games’ lore, sprinkled with sleek choreography and exciting battles between humanity and their vampiric nemeses – but the various personalities working on the show saw something more in the adaptation, they told Variety during a set of interviews. The show eventually came together after a painfully long development time that nearly saw it languish in obscurity.
** Brittany Vincent, “Warren Ellis on the Tender Vision of Dracula’s Curse in Netflix’s ‘Castlevania’”, “Variety”, (November 28, 2018)
* “I think Warren has an instinct for creating that human dimension for a character that makes you want to spend time with them even if what they ultimately do is not something that you’re supportive of,” said Seibert, which is quite obvious here – Dracula commands his armies to kill every human on sight, terrorizing them nightly to punish the entire race for the actions of a select few, murdering women and children in the process. With Dracula’s crusade to eliminate the whole of humanity, shades of the character’s villainous history do indeed shine through. But we’re also shown the immense pain and immeasurable bleakness that he must feel, knowing he’s doomed to an eternity without, quite possibly, the only one he’s ever loved at his side.
** Brittany Vincent, “Warren Ellis on the Tender Vision of Dracula’s Curse in Netflix’s ‘Castlevania’”, Variety, (November 28, 2018)

## Cast

* Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont
* James Callis as Alucard
* Graham McTavish as Vlad Dracula Tepes
* Alejandra Reynoso as Sypha Belnades
* Tony Amendola as The Elder
* Matt Frewer as The Bishop
* Emily Swallow as Lisa Tepes
* Theo James as Hector
* Adetokumboh M'Cormack as Isaac
* Peter Stormare as Godbrand
* Jaime Murray as Carmilla
* Bill Nighy as St. Germain
* Jessica Brown Findlay as Lenore
* Ivana Milicevic as Striga
* Yasmine Al Massri as Morana
* Malcolm McDowell as Varney
* Titus Welliver as Ratko
* Marsha Thomason as Greta