The Great Work

The Great Work is the seventh episode of the fourth season, and the 29th episode overall, of Netflix's original series, Castlevania.
==Synopsis==
:Varney and Ratko discover their plan is working – but who gets the credit? Also, Zamfir finally takes Belmont and Sypha underground.
==Plot==
===Targoviste=== 
Ratko returns to his hideout, where Varney is laying low. He uses the tracking stone that was placed on Zamfir to find the location of the underground court of Targoviste. Varney tries to take credit for the plan and upsets his partner. Ratko refuses to be acknowledged as a lackey because he's a soldier and quits working with Varney once and for all. He's also finished hiding and moves out to destroy what's left of the royal guard, determined to remind people what vampires truly are.
Above ground, Trevor and Sypha try to get Zamfir to show them the underground court so they can start rebuilding the city. Zamfir acts like it's her idea to take them underground as a way to keep the newcomers in their place. This annoys Sypha, but Trevor is willing to go along with it to progress.
===Dracula's castle===
Meanwhile, refugees at Alucard's home try to set up a camp for themselves. While everyone is working, Saint Germain begins placing strange devices around the castle. They mark the same sign that the Visitor used to collect souls in Lindenfeld. Their shape also resembles the items Hector used to create a channel in Carmilla's castle. When Saint Germain finishes, he gives the signal to his cohorts.
As Saint Germain schemes are unknown to Alucard, he quells his boredom by playing among the children. Greta greatly appreciates this notion, noting how human Alucard is despite his bloodline. She also inquires about the items within the castle, but Alucard isn't sure what supplies they have. Instead, he directs her to talk about defenses and shows her where the weapons are kept.
As night falls, monsters march toward Dracula's castle, guided to its location by Saint Germain's signal. Inside one of the transports, there is a body being created for the "Great Work", a vessel for the Rebis.
===Targoviste=== 
Zamfir finally brings Trevor and Sypha underground, where they are surprised to see the conditions are just as bad as they were above ground. The underground court is being kept in a large, old treasure vault. There are coins everywhere, and Trevor notices a magic weapon just lying around. It catches his eye, and he explains to Sypha that it was made by the weapon masters of the Raja-Putra clans of India for a vampire hunter. Apparently, it's in the shape of a cross because vampires' field of view close up isn't very good, and it can be used to disorient them. Trevor learned all this growing up to become a great vampire hunter himself before the Belmonts were exiled.
Trevor forces his way past Zamfir and her guards into the "royal chamber". He finds two corpses dressed in lavish clothing and jewelry on their thrones. Zamfir believes they're asleep, but Sypha says they need to be laid to rest by a priest. Zamfir claims they killed all the priests, and the catastrophe of Targoviste will never repeat itself. Trevor and Sypha don't agree with Zamfir's methods for helping people. She uses flowing water for defense instead of giving the thirsty people something to drink.
Zamfir admits she went insane the day Dracula descended to punish the world. She actually believes the royal family will wake because they're magicians sleeping in other realms. Sypha believes Zamfir was the last of royal blood left alive, and she's suffering. However, Zamfir believes this is her great work. While the two women go back and forth, Trevor goes around collecting pieces of a magic weapon. Their debate is interrupted when Ratko and his band of monsters suddenly attack.
===Dracula's Castle===
Another attack occurs at the same time of the night. As the moon rises over Dracula's castle, a horde of vampires and demons draws closer.
==Cast==
*Richard Armitage as Trevor
*Alejandra Reynoso as Sypha
*James Callis as Alucard
*Bill Nighy as Saint Germain
*Malcolm McDowell as Varney
*Titus Welliver as Ratko
*Marsha Thomason as Greta
*Toks Olagundoye as Zamfir
==Quotes==
:– Varney: Dracula sent me here. I was to make Targoviste a gift to him. Now I will return him to earth and present it to him. You're just my little helper.
:– Ratko: *** you to hell, Varney. I am entirely *** finished with propping up your delusional *** just to get things done.
:– Varney: What?
:– Ratko: I'm a soldier. I still do not know what the *** you are supposed to be.
:– Varney: I'm Varney of London, you insolent Slavic ***.
:– Sypha: You're insane.
:– Zamfir: Of course I'm insane.
:– Sypha: The *** what now?
:– Zamfir: I went insane the day Dracula hit the city. I saw his face in the sky. It was like the devil himself punched the world. How could you not lose your mind, seeing hell touch your home?
==Trivia==
*The title of this episode alludes to the Magnum opus, or "Great Work", which is an alchemical term for the process of working with the prima materia to create the philosopher's stone.
*In the episode, Trevor explained that vampires are basically an evolved predator species, so their eyesight is pretty different to humans. If someone puts a big geometric shape (e.g., a cross) right up close in their field of vision, it greatly confuses their brains and makes them panic. Thus, for example, even though a Hindu vampire wouldn't know the religious meaning of a cross, theoretically they'd still be vulnerable to its effect.
*When Trevor and Sypha enter the underground court of Targoviste, a woman can be seen rolling a golden chalice. It could be a reference to a legend in which Vlad the Impaler would have placed a gold cup on a fountain in the Târgoviște's public square and would have ordered death to anyone who dared to steal this cup.
Category:Castlevania (Animated Series) Season 4 Episodes