The Ruler of Hell

I already enjoyed The Sandman, but this episode definitely provided a different kind of enjoyment. It was reminiscent of early Game of Thrones. Lots of politicking & maneuvering, lots of lore drops, heavy on the exposition but also tons of weight in each conversation.

Watching famous legends from various mythologies interact with each other was cool, especially for a mythology geek like myself.

I will say I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic, given where episode 1 ended, but this was exciting in a different way. No big battle or Dream vs Lucifer match up, but a battle of wits instead.

That being said, the scenery, visuals & VFX were beautiful as always. A lot of Netflix shows have these reportedly gargantuan budgets, yet when you watch them, all you can think is "this looks so cheap... where did all that money go?" This show isn't like that at all. No idea what the budget was, but none of it looks cheap.

Anyway, I could probably watch various immortals talk & bribe Dream all day. I could seriously watch many more seasons like this, with tons of mythological deities all vying for power, negotiating, leveraging their powers, mingling with each other, etc. Sadly, I'm pretty sure this show is ending with S2.

Oh well, few things ever last long on Netflix aside from sitcoms, reality shows & a handful of old holdovers from when they still cared about quality > quantity. So with that, I'll enjoy The Sandman while it lasts.

The Dreaming gets political, and it's dangerously entertaining.

In Ep 2, The Sandman leans into power plays and cosmic diplomacy, trading action for high-stakes maneuvering with style. It's the kind of episode where every glance hides an agenda, and every word feels like it's doing two things at once.

The pacing is slick, the dialogue razor-sharp, and the guest cast? Outrageously good. You can feel the weight of millennia in the room, but it's delivered with such visual flair and narrative confidence that it never feels heavy. Instead, it's witty, strange, and quietly thrilling.

Tom Sturridge continues to carry the show with that perfect mix of regal stillness and visible strain. He doesn't say much but when he does, you listen. The world-building expands subtly here, giving us glimpses of bigger forces circling the Dreaming, without ever pulling focus from the main thread.

If Season 2 is about testing Dream's limits, this episode sets the chessboard beautifully. No battles, just veiled threats and veiler smiles.

Enjoyed this episode so much, the way the principalities where portrayed & the haggling involved, it's the reason I had the juice to sit out the rest of the following episodes which seemed to switch into multiple plots that went all over the place.

I mean it's season 2 & by this point I believe there shld be a tangible plot line.

We had the entire season one of dancing with mopheous as a character, we can't have another one also shipping us into that character on a different angle Don't get me wrong it's great for a soapie but not a film of this nature.

This film is about principalities & by now I believe in my opinion it would be wise to have settings like episode two stretching cosmic politics, where hard decisions & concequenses collide.

Dissapointment given we had to wait for 3yrs to get a season that just seemed like it didn't know what to touch on.

And now we sitting with multiple plot holes none of which I do want to find out how they take shape, though it feels shallow given it was episode on episode building loops, deviating from the first plot introduction.

But overall episode 2 was by far the best of all in my opinion, given that you have some insight in mythology & religion..

It was one episode that stuck to its purpose, no side loaded plots or anything, straight to the point.