The first season of Netflix’s Castlevania: Nocturne spinoff series remixed the game’s vampire mythology to tell a powerful story about revolution and the agony of having to fight for one’s freedom. The show keeps that same politically charged energy in its new second season as it sends Richter Belmont and his allies to the front lines of the interclass war tearing 18th-century France apart. But this chapter of Castlevania’s story puts more energy into making you think about what it takes to be a lover in a world full of literal and figurative monsters.
By the end of Nocturne’s first season, the world was plunged into a magical darkness that serial-killer-turned-vampire-messiah Erzsebet Báthory (Franka Potente) intended to use to conquer the world. Even without her right-hand woman Drolta Tzuentes (Elarica Johnson) by her side, Erzsebet’s victory over sorceresses Annette (Thuso Mbedu) and Maria (Pixie Davies) and demon hunter Richter (Edward Bluemel) seemed all but assured after she ascended to godhood by guzzling the blood of an ancient Egyptian deity. But just when it seemed as if humanity’s luck had run out, Erzsebet’s plans were derailed by the unexpected arrival of Adrian “Alucard” Țepeș, the dhampir son of Castlevania’s Dracula.
Nocturne’s new season picks up shortly after season 1 to find Richter and his friends still shaken by their last encounter with Erzsebet but hopeful that they might have a chance at turning the tides in their fight to stop her. With the sun shining brightly once again, everyone can breathe at least a little bit easier knowing vampires no longer have free rein to skulk around without fear of being burned to a crisp. But as much as everyone might want to take a breather, the French Revolution is still raging on. And with Erzsebet still out there plotting, they know that dropping their guard could easily lead to death.
Though Nocturne has always been a story about political unrest transforming France and its colonies on a societal level, the new season puts even more focus on how the Revolution has pushed Castlevania’s heroes to their personal breaking points.
Many of this season’s most powerful scenes are soft-spoken moments when characters open up about their fear not just of death, but of losing themselves in the madness of war. Everyone — even villains like Drolta, who undergoes yet another extraordinary metamorphosis — can feel the Revolution changing their perceptions of the world and other people. But one of the more poignant themes running through Nocturne’s new episodes is the idea that a life of fighting ghouls can turn someone into a monster.
Nocturne highlights this especially well as it brings Maria’s mother Tera (Nastassja Kinski) back into the fold as a newly made vampire torn between her love for her daughter and her sworn fealty to Erzsebet. While complicated family dynamics are a Castlevania hallmark, the way Nocturne contrasts Tera’s physical transformation with Maria’s spiritual / ideological one is brilliant because of how it speaks to their own shifting interpersonal dynamics and captures the turmoil blossoming all over France.
The show does something similar with Erzsebet’s disloyal vampire subject Olrox (Zahn McClarnon) and his human lover Mizrak (Aaron Neil), who find their relationship even further strained by differing beliefs about which battles are worth dying for. But even for people who seem to be on the same page like Erzsebet and Drolta, Nocturne never lets you forget that these are all people with deeply personal — and sometimes conflicting — motivations for participating in the Revolution.
Like its narrative, this season’s visuals are sumptuous in their beauty — particularly in fights that feel designed to show you how much more skilled at wielding different kinds of magic everyone has become. The show’s action feels bigger and more bombastic this time around but also clever in the way it helps Nocturne incorporate even more of the otherworldly lore of the games.
It’s somewhat understandable because of how dense Nocturne’s story is, but this season falters a bit when it comes to its exploration of how the French Revolution’s impacts could be felt throughout colonies like Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). Aside from a few pivotal moments showcasing her power and a handful of beats gesturing toward another season, Annette isn’t given all that much to do this go-around. That point stands out, in part, because of how much of her onscreen time is spent on a sort of solo mission that showcases her powers and new facets of Castlevania’s supernatural world. But even though this season of Nocturne feels comparatively more Richter / Maria / Alucard-forward than the first, it’s through Annette that the show conveys the potential for this story to continue.
Castlevania: Nocturne quickly cemented itself as one of the more phenomenal video game adaptations, and this new season makes clear that season 1 was in no way a fluke. A smidge of the surprise is gone, but it continues to play to its already impressive strengths well, and Netflix would be foolish not to bring it back for more.
Castlevania: Nocturne also stars Sydney James Harcourt, Richard Dormer, Sharon D. Clarke, and Iain Glen. Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
