Castlevania Season 2 Episode 1 Recap – War Council

Witchcraft

The year is January 1475. We flashback to Lisa’s home in Lupu, where she’s helping a patient with a cough. The patient notices her ring, and Lisa tells her that her husband is traveling abroad. Back in her lab, Lisa thanks his husband for giving her the knowledge to heal people. She provides the woman with a bottle of medicine.

As the old woman leaves, they find the bishop waiting outside along with other priests. They go inside her house and search the place where they find her laboratory. The bishop calls it Satan’s tools and tells everyone to burn the place and destroy it.

Lisa explains that these are sciences lost from old times. The bishop dismisses it as paganism and takes her in for Inquisition. Lisa warns them that hurting her will have consequences; she offers to leave the place instead. The bishop insists and takes her away, burning everything in her home.

Vampire Council

Back in the present, Dracula meets with his War Council. He tells his generals that Wallachia will be the seat of their power. Two of his generals, Hector and Isaac, are assigned to plan the next phase of the attack.

The vampire generals object to him for trusting the only two humans in his court, but Dracula tells them they are trusted for their lack of thirst and impulse. Even as their race is being erased, the two still stand with him.

The Viking vampire Godbrand calls out the two for wanting to speak with Dracula; Hector tells him his savagery always gets in the way.

In his private study, Hector and Isaac ask Dracula the real reason why they’re in charge. Dracula laments that Godbrand and the others see the humans as merely livestock. Hector and Isaac, on the other hand, hate humans. They have a focus and clarity that the others lack. The two thank Dracula for his trust but worry that the others will defy them. Dracula tells them they have no other choice.

Hector stares at the fire, remembering the atrocities he’s faced during his life. Isaac vows that the humans will suffer. Dracula doesn’t care about their suffering, only their death.

Identities

Back in Gresit, the humans are recovering from the night’s attack, rebuilding the walls, and disposing of the dead. Trevor and Sypha wave the other Speakers goodbye. Trevor tells her they’ll be fine, but Sypha worries that they’ll be vulnerable. She worries about being alone. Belmont isn’t used to it either, but he promises her he’ll try and not get her killed, and Sypha thinks it’s rude.

Inside the walls, Alucard thinks of his parents. He laments how people think he’s the opposite of his father. His mother worried that he’d define his identity around him. She wanted him to make his own choices, so Alucard chooses to kill his father and changes his name to Alucard of Wallachia, the name of her people.

Godbrand comes into Hector’s lab while he’s hard at work. The vampire mocks Necromancy but acknowledges his craft is why Dracula invests in him so much. He came to apologize and admitted he should have held his tongue. But he came to relay questions from the others and asked if Hector thought the war was going well.

Godbrand tells him that the effort is too chaotic, and they have no real plan beyond wild destruction. Hector says it’s what Dracula wants, but Godbrand suggests a little more order and planning could help.

Assistants come and bring in the dead from Gresit. Hector bangs his hammer and starts “forging” the corpses. Meanwhile, Dracula teleports the castle elsewhere.

Our Thoughts

The addition of a war council gives the story more depth and structure. I can’t wait for these characters to clash with our main cast and their own council. I rate this episode 3.5/5.