In Season 1, Episode 2 of the Netflix series Castlevania: Nocturne, titled “Horror Beyond Nightmares,” the show delves into a brief backstory of the Vampire Messiah and the initial confrontation with the vampires. The episode opens with Abbot Emmanuel (Richard Dormer) delivering a sermon condemning the French Revolution as an abomination, an insult to the natural order, common decency, God, and the church. He explains to the congregation that his holy order, the Knights of Saint John, has been forced to submit to the “blasphemous” First French Republic. Despite the turmoil of the revolution, Emmanuel assures the churchgoers that a savior, a new Joan of Arc, and a formidable warrior queen will lead them to salvation. This revelation exposes Abbot Emmanuel as an ally of the Vampire Messiah and the Forgemaster responsible for creating the Night Creatures. Essentially, the Knights of Saint John will become adversaries, not allies, to the protagonists.
Simultaneously, the Vampire Messiah’s priestess and emissary, Drolta Tzuentes (Elarica Johnson), arrives in France to oversee the vampire followers, secure an alliance with Abbot Emmanuel, and gain the support of Olrox (Zahn McClarnon). Drolta witnesses a gruesome act of the French Revolution as clergy and nobles face their execution at the guillotine for “crimes” against the people of France and the Revolution. Soon, the National Guard, representatives of the Insurrectionary Commune of Paris, confront Drolta, and she states her mission in France on behalf of the Messiah before dispatching the revolutionary guards.
At the Renard household, Maria (Pixie Davies) discusses the Haitian Revolution in Saint Domingue with Annette (Thuso Mbedu) and Edouard (Sydney James Harcourt). The conversation revolves around the slaves’ uprising, the destruction of sugar plantations, and the killing of slave owners. Annette corrects Maria, mentioning that one slave owner managed to escape, and adds that many white colonists were vampires, inflicting different forms of evil on Saint Domingue. Despite this, the Haitian Revolution persists and is ongoing. Maria expresses interest in starting a new revolution meeting, with Annette and Edouard representing another revolution, aiming to inspire those involved in the French Revolution.
The discussion then turns to the Vampire Messiah, with Annette sharing information obtained from her mentor, Saint-Domingue’s mambo (priestess), a powerful sorcerer and seer. Annette’s mentor informed her that vampires lived closely with European dukes, barons, and royalty, resented their dependence on human monarchs, and hoped the Vampire Messiah would establish their unquestioned dominion over the world. In this scenario, human monarchs would become puppets, controlling the commoners after crushing the Revolution and its ideals. Furthermore, Annette reveals that the Vampire Messiah, known as Countess Erzsebet Bathory (Franka Potente), was a monster in her human life, torturing and murdering young girls and boys before becoming a vampire.
Tera (Nastassja Kinski) is shocked upon hearing Bathory’s name, as she had a prior encounter with Erzsebet during her youth in Russia. Tera shares her story of being born in Russia and how she and her family of sorcerers, known as Speakers, settled in Russian villages to alleviate the suffering of the commoners oppressed by vampire overlords. However, the vampires and their human soldiers, led by Drolta Tzuentes, massacred and captured the Speakers and the villages they assisted. Tera infiltrated Bathory’s castle to rescue her younger sister but arrived too late. Bathory had already turned her sister into a soul-tainted vampire, forcing Tera to kill her to prevent her from becoming a monster and a servant of Bathory. This act of kinslaying deeply affected Tera, prompting her to flee Russia to France, where she found refuge with the Knights of Saint John and its church. After hearing Tera’s story, Richter (Edward Bluemel) and the group, except for Tera, proceed to the Marquis’ Chateau to confront the vampires before the arrival of the Vampire Messiah.
While journeying to the Marquis’ Chateau, the group shares knowledge of their magical powers. Marie explains that her magical abilities have ancient origins, tracing back to people who constructed stone circles to connect with a realm titled the Otherworld. Edouard likens the Otherworld to the spirit world, where Annette’s ancestors resided after their mortal lives. Annette’s lineage goes back to the African orisha named Ogun, the god of iron and war, from her father’s side, and to Orunmila, an orisha of wisdom and divination, from her mother’s side. As a descendant of two orishas, Annette possesses the power to manipulate metal and rock, abilities derived from her deity ancestors. Richter and his group arrive at the Marquis’ Chateau, where they observe the Night Creatures collecting new corpses for their Forgemaster and the arrival of Vaublanc (Alastair Duncan). Edouard reveals to Richter and Maria that Vaublanc is the vampire who enslaved Annette and murdered her mother. Annette’s traumatic memories resurface, drawing the attention of the vampires and Night Creatures. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the group fights to escape, but the vampires and Night Creatures capture and kill Eduoard, leaving Annette in shock and grief. In the aftermath, the Night Creatures transport the corpses of Eduoard and other revolutionaries on a boat, with Olrox following and tracking them in his shadowy form. They arrive at Macheocoul and its church, where the Abbot and Mizrak (Aaron Neil) take the corpses underground to a sinister Hellish contraption, the Infernal Machine, transforming the bodies into new Night Creatures. The Abbot uses Edouard’s lifeless body to create a new Nightcreature, a new addition to his growing Nightcreature army. Olrox secretly observes Edouard’s transformation from above, finding amusement that a man of God, Abbot Emmanuel, is the Forgemaster responsible for creating new Night Creatures. He mocks the situation by exclaiming, “Glory be to God.”
The Infernal Machine
In Castlevania: Nocturne Season 1, Episode 2, directors Sam Deats and Saren Stone, along with writer Clive Bradley, deliver a chilling episode that delves into the dark past of Countess Erzsebet Bathory and the shocking revelation of Abbot Emmanuel’s true identity as the Forgemaster. Bathory’s history is nothing short of horrifying; she was a psychopath as a human, responsible for the torture and murder of young boys and girls. Her descent into vampirism led her to continue her sinister practices, including drinking the blood of her victims and manipulating young virgins into becoming her vampiric servants. On the other hand, it’s equally disturbing to discover that Abbot Emmanuel, a man of God, is the Forgemaster responsible for creating new Night Creatures, all while in an alliance with the Vampire Messiah. This revelation is particularly unsettling because one would expect a man of faith to oppose vampires and evil, not collaborate with them. In summary, this episode makes it abundantly clear that no one is safe from the influence of the Vampire Messiah, as even the church, representing the divine, has allied with these dark, demonic forces.
Rating: 9/10