Castlevania Season 1 Episode 1 Recap – Witchbottle

The Doctor

A swarm of bats flies through the dark landscape of Wallachia. The year is 1455. A woman enters a huge castle surrounded by a field of corpses; she’s carrying a knife.

She finds a man inside and introduces herself as Lisa, an aspiring doctor from Lupu. The man hovers behind her. His name is Vlad Dracula Tepes, and he doesn’t welcome visitors.

Lisa wants knowledge, but Dracula is skeptical. She claims that she isn’t a witch and only wants to heal people.

Dracula can’t believe someone is asking him for help. She asks him if he travels and sees the world outside. He says the castle can travel but later reveals that he does not.

He leads her to his study containing rows upon rows of books and science equipment.

Lisa thinks everyone’s lives can improve with all the knowledge in this room. She invites him to share it all with them while she himself works with Dracula. He accepts.

The Witch

Targoviste, Wachallia 1475. The people gather as Lisa burns at the stake. Clergymen surround her, claiming that her collection of tools and machines comes from the devil. The Archbishop wants Wallachia’s study of science to be kept simple.

In her last breath, Lisa cries out at the sky–for him not to seek revenge. The priests think it’s intended for the devil, and perhaps the witch is worthy of praying for.

Dracula walks silently across a dark village. He stops to find an old home burned and destroyed. An old woman approaches him and asks if he’s Mr. Tepes.

She tells him the Bishop took Lisa, intending to burn her at the stake. Lisa should be dead by now. The old woman offers him flowers.

All these years, Dracula traveled at the behest of his wife so that he could live as a man. Enraged, she warns the old woman to leave and not look back. He considers it his final act of mercy. A pillar of flame engulfs him, and he disappears.

Back at the Cathedral, the final remains of Lisa crumble into ash, and the stake explodes into fire and rubble. Dracula’s face appears in the flames and asks them what they had done.

The Bishop scorns him, telling him she’s a witch and that he’s not real. Dracula screams and swears to destroy everything in Wallachia in one year for the death of his wife. As he leaves, fire rains from the sky.

Dracula goes back to his castle to plan his destruction. A man called Alucard appears to stop him. Unleashing the army of the night in Wallachia will leave severe consequences for humanity, but Dracula lashes out at him.

Fury

A year later, in Targoviste, the Archibishop addresses his people about the devil’s lies and threats. Suddenly, everything goes dark, and blood rains from the sky, causing everyone to panic. Then comes a torrent of deformed flesh followed by bursting pillars of fire. Dracula’s face appears in the sky, heralding Wallachia’s doom.

Demonic creatures swarm the town from all over, murdering everyone in sight. Fire spew from their throats, wreaking havoc on every person and building in sight.

Dracula commands his army to go to every other town in Wallachia and kill them all for the hatred he will endure forever.

Inside a tavern, two drunk patrons discuss an incident linked to a neighbor’s affection for goats. Another man frantically comes in and reports the arrival of the demon horde. Nearby, Gresit has been attacked, and it could come for their town next.

Our Thoughts:

Right out of the gates, the story goes all out with some dark and heavy themes. Video game adaptations don’t have the greatest track record, but this start isn’t so bad, and it looks promising. I rate it 3.5/5