War Council

"If you anger him, he's worse. Because he's real. Please! He's comes so far! Don't make him do it! No, do make him kill you all Please!"

— Lisa

War Council is the first episode of the second season, and the 5th episode overall, of Netflix's original series, Castlevania.

Synopsis[]

Dracula's generals gather to prosecute the war against humanity. There is discord when Dracula's human allies, Hector and Isaac, are given command of the armies of the night.

Plot[]

Lupu, 1475[]

In her cottage, Lisa Tepes gives medicine to Mrs. Djuvara and advises her on the best ways to use it. They are interrupted when the Bishop of Targoviste and his priests storm in. Decrying her medical herbs and instruments as witchcraft, the Bishop orders her arrested, ignoring her protests as she is dragged from the house, and ordering his priests to burn the building down.

Dracula's Castle, 1476[]

Count Vlad sits in a chair in his study, staring sadly into the fire - doubtless thinking of the flames that consumed his wife and their home, and destroyed his one chance at happiness.

Emerging into the main hall, Vlad addresses the vampires of his inner court who lead his army, telling them their war against humanity is just, and their strategy of using the night hordes shall continue. Then he stuns his generals by ordering Hector and Isaac, his two Devil Forgemasters - the only humans in his court - to draw up the plans for their next attack. The assembled vampires are shocked and outraged, but only one, Godbrand, is brave or foolish enough to ask why. Vlad says it is simple: the rest of his generals are loyal to him only because the war gives them the chance to feed; Hector and Isaac are human, yet the fact that they choose to stay loyal to him, rather than the rest of humanity, proves that Vlad can trust them. The Count then turns and leaves as abruptly as he entered. Hector and Isaac follow. When Godbrand protests that Dracula should want to meet with his own kind instead of a couple of humans, Hector rejoins that they are meeting with him because Dracula needs someone to talk to and make plans with; when he needs something killed, ***, or made into a boat; doubtless he'll call for Godbrand.

The Forgemasters approach Dracula in his study, where he is back staring into the fire. Although they reaffirm their loyalty, Hector and Isaac privately admit that they are as surprised by Dracula's choice as the others and would like to know his reasons. Dracula's explanation is equally simple, albeit different from what he told Godbrand: to the other vampires, humans are nothing more than "livestock", and it is as impossible for most vampires to hate humans as for humans to hate cattle. But the Forgemasters know full well what kind of cruelty and deception humans are capable of, and so only they are capable of the hatred that Dracula needs to inform his army's decisions.

Staring into the flames, Hector recalls the words of his own parents, who abused him mercilessly and mocked him for his failure to understand how the "real world" works. His recollection takes him to their last words, which became screams as he locked them inside their home and burned it to the ground. Breaking out of his reverie, he and Isaac assure their lord that they will make humanity suffer dearly. In a melancholy voice, Dracula says he doesn't care anymore about suffering - as long as they all die.

Gresit[]

The sun rises on the aftermath of the city's battle with Dracula's night hordes - tending to their wounded, burying their dead, rebuilding the walls, and weeping over lost loved ones. The bodies of the slain demons are chopped into pieces and thrown into the city sewer.

At the gate, Sypha waves a sad goodbye to her grandfather and the rest of the Speakers, who are leaving Gresit to carry on their duties in other towns. She admits to Trevor that she is not worried for their safety, as much as she feels abandoned, as she has never traveled alone before. After an awkward silence, Sypha irritably tells Trevor that he's failed to offer the routine assurances that she's not alone. Trevor admits he hasn't had much experience with companionship of any kind, and asks whether they can focus on making sure their current task doesn't get them killed since, in his opinion, that is her best chance of seeing her friends again. Sypha angrily repeats her earlier assessment of Trevor: that he's rude.

In the Speakers' partially collapsed hut, Alucard is sitting on the floor, idly drawing portraits of his father and mother in the dirt floor. Sadly he speaks to his father's image, reflecting that Lisa never liked the Wallachians' name for him (an anagram of his father's name), wanting both her husband and her son to be their own persons. Yet here he is, choosing to embrace his name as the "opposition to you" and kill his father for the sake of his mother's memory. A single tear falls onto his mother's portrait before Trevor and Sypha arrive to collect him.

Dracula's Castle[]

Hector is working in his forge, and cuddling Cezar, a re-animated puppy that is one of his several pets. Godbrand enters and makes a grudging apology for his outburst in the War Hall, accepting that they are on the same side, and their shared loyalty to Dracula demands that they work together. Hector accepts graciously, but Godbrand says the generals and his own officers still have doubts. So far, their war on humanity has been less of a military campaign than just lashing out in the bloodiest manner possible. Godbrand feels that any war, even a genocidal one, should be conducted with a bit more order and a bit less chaos. While he has no love for humanity, Hector admits that the bloodshed has been just a little more "wanton" than he would like.

They are interrupted by a vampire wheeling in a cart full of corpses, carrying the last of the human victims from Gresit (one of them is the Bishop's, his head half bitten off by Blue Fangs). Hector polishes his enchanted hammer and begins the process of reanimating them but pauses as the castle tremors.

In the control room, Dracula activates the mechanism that teleports the castle from the ruins of Targoviste into a secluded valley.

Cast[]

Quotes[]

– 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, ***, 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.

– Godbrand: Bigot! I like boats! I'm a *** Viking! We're supposed to make boats out of things!

– Hector's mother: I never wanted you, Hector. You sicken me. Do you understand? The moment you came out of me, I knew you were wrong.

– Hector's father: Alchemy is for money and power, boy. Money and power and buying our safety are all that matters. Stop whining about cruelty. This is the world. This is the way things are. Now, get away from me.

– Hector's mother: Hector? Hector, unlock this door at once! Are you burning something out there?

– Hector's mother and father: (both scream)

– Sypha: I was right about you the first time, you know? You are rude!

– Trevor: I've been called worse.

– Sypha: Oho, I'm just getting started.

– Alucard: Alucard, they called me. The opposite of you. Mother never liked that. Did you know that? She hated the idea that I might define myself by you. Even in opposition to you. She loved us both. Enough that she wanted us to be our own people. Living our own lives. Making our own choices. And so here I am. Choosing to honor my mother by killing my father. No longer Adrian Tepes. Choosing to be Alucard of Wallachia, the name of my mother's people. I'm sorry Mother.

War Council

Contents