Episode 8 – “Devourer of Light”
We’re greeted with Erzsebet transforming into her final form – the Goddess of War, Mistress of Dread, Lady of Slaughter – Sekhmet herself. This is, by far, the best episode in this first season.
Richter, Annette, Tera, and Mizrak are faced with more of the supposedly Christian and Godly fighters that protect the Abbot, and find out that they are not about to stand aside for our crew to enter and do what they need to do – so they fight them and make their way inside anyway.
The Abbot has a knife in his hand, ready to sacrifice Maria as he is praying over her bound body at the altar. Tera tries to talk some sense into him, as he asks her where his ram is – his one beacon of hope to get out of this situation.
The fighting gets even more intense as Tera starts to read from the book (cue Dr. Allen Chamberlain from The Mummy screaming “No! You must not read from the book!”), Annette runs down towards the basement of the church, looking for the machine, and hears Edouard singing sadly as she runs around, fighting night creatures that get in her way. Eventually, night creature Jacques and their friend hold the big night creature down so Annette can stab and kill it, and then continue her way down.
Drolta, Richter, and Maria get entangled in an intense fight for their lives as Mizrak fights his own, but gets a little help from his vampire boyfriend, Olrox – who floats above unnoticed. Annette finally reaches Edouard and he’s talking as if he’d never died, and he encourages her to keep going. She eventually finds it and goes straight to business, summoning magic to push the machine into the portal Tera is working on.
As it looks like they’re winning, with Richter slicing into Drolta, Maria and Mizrak beating their opponents, Tera being able to keep chanting the words necessary to keep the portal open, and that damned demon machine being nicely pushed into the portal more and more, we are reminded that we are watching Castlevania – this show doesn’t like to pull punches. As Erzsebet enters the abbey, the entire vibe of the episode changes.
One by one, everyone realizes none of their powers are good enough to stop her. Tera drops the book and the chanting, her eyes on Maria. Richter can’t stop her. Mizrak is about to try but is whisked away by Olrox so he doesn’t die (that’s pretty sweet). The portal closes and the machine stays. Tera stands by Maria and the Abbot, whose name is Emmanuel and I’ve somehow managed to just now find out, and begs him to make this stop and turn his night creatures against her. And then, another revelation is unveiled before our eyes: Erzsebet didn’t want to kill Maria. No. She wants to turn Maria into a vampire.
Under Erzsebet’s request, Emmanuel sends night creatures to “silence” the singing – Edouard’s voice is apparently not soothing to her ears. However, night creature Jacques is now sentient and unstoppable as he slices his fellow monstrosity in half for even approaching Edouard’s cell. We also see Mizrak calling Olrox a coward for whisking him away. Olrox reminds him that nobody can kill her and that if he goes back he will die, and he doesn’t want Mizrak to die. Mizrak calls him an animal and leaves, and I think I heard Olrox’s old heart break a little from here as he stood there with tears in his eyes.
Back in the abbey, Edouard gets set free and finds Annette as the portal closes. Tera does what every mother would do in her place: she offers herself as a sacrifice instead of Maria. Erzsebet starts to laugh it off, saying it has to be someone he loves, only to see on Emmanuel’s face just how much more he loves Tera than Maria. And that seals the deal for Erzsebet as she grabs her and gives her eternal life.
"“I’m the ram, Emmanuel. God has given you the ram.”"
Richter takes Maria, only to be ambushed by vampires. Annette makes an exit for them as Tera witnesses them escaping as she’s being turned into a vampire. Watching Tera become a vampire was… fascinating. Her initial thirst was intense, and Emmanuel just stared in shock as he let the entire weight of what he’d done sink in. You did this.
The citizens of Machecoul start to boo and throw things at Annette and Richter, and they’re joined by Mizrak. Drolta decides she’s bored and goes after them, ambushing them with at least 15 other vampires, only to be impaled by a beautiful blade that literally came out of nowhere. Yep. My jaw hit the floor – ALUCARD IS BACK!
"“I’m Alucard, son of Dracula. And if you fight me, you will die, like thousands of vampires before you.” “Who is Dracula?”"
HE IS BACK!!
And what a way to come back! Literally out of nowhere and when most needed. This has paved the way to even more epic storytelling for season 2 as Alucard seems to be the biggest game-changer in this beyond unfair situation our friends find themselves in.
Final thoughts on Castlevania: Nocturne
With this enormous cliffhanger, season 1 of Castlevania: Nocturne comes to an end. There was never a dull moment in these eight episodes: so much action, family drama, trauma processing, love discovering, and jaw-dropping moments! I wasn’t sure what to expect after the excellent first series, Castlevania, graced our screens and brought such a beloved fandom to the world of streaming shows. And I still must admit that I did enjoy this season as much, if not more than I enjoyed the first series overall. I’m sure there will be somewhat boring or filler episodes in the next seasons of Nocturne, but this first season doesn’t waste a single minute and brings you right back to the world of Castlevania.
Yes, there is no Dracula. But we have Erzsebet, the Messiah, Devourer of the Sun. She’s intimidating, powerful, ancient, resilient, and does not back down – a terrifying enemy to fight against. It’ll be interesting to see what all becomes of these night creatures, especially Jacques and Edouard as they’re both sentient and very aware of who they used to be. All the cells in my body are telling me they won’t survive the first two episodes of season 2, but I do hope I’m wrong.
Though no season 2 has been greenlit or announced as of yet, there are high hopes for that. But there you have it – an excellent return of a critically acclaimed franchise that did not disappoint in the least.
I highly recommend the first season of Castlevania: Nocturne, and I rate it a legit 10/10.