The Sandman Season 1, The Sound of her Wings, the aftermath of Recovery.

Now, I did heavily debate keeping the entirety of Season 1 in one Blog Post, but given the fact that the story of Sandman is so intricate that even the first 5 episodes took up like 18 minutes of reading time, the post was already long enough.

As such I did not think the whole season could be done justice in one go.

Besides, post episode 5 there is a very clear splitting off point where the story takes a turn, up until this point Dream was the underdog, fighting for his life, trying to get his tools of office back, trying to set things right.

Now, things are different, he has everything back, and things can finally return to normal... but can they? And if they can, is it something that should happen? I mean after all, even though Dream's capture was an accident, it was only possible because he left his realm to capture a Rogue Nightmare, which was only needed because the Nightmare left in the first place, which happened because Dream created him poorly and because of the way he ruled.

So... should things go back to the way they were? If they even can.

Well, the beginning of Episode 6 the sound of her wings says otherwise, as Dream is making way for fat pigeons... you'll get the Joke if you saw the episode.

But this episode has yet another reason for existing other than of course continue Sandman's story.

And that is, to introduce another of the Endless, you see this whole thing began due to Roderick Burgess's 'Desire' to entrap 'Death'

And so who better to introduce in this episode than Death.

And speaking of Death, you would think that Death is... cruel... uncaring, unyielding, after all every single version of Death is, in fact the very beginning of this show gave us that very same impression of Death, someone who so unfairly took two children from their parents.

But here we learn the true purpose of the Endless, or at least are hinted towards it, this is later expanded upon in the comics and the later episodes of the show.

People live and Die eve without the presence of Death of the Endless, but after they die not everyone can find their true resting place, the Sunless Lands are faraway and the journey is hard, most people would be glad for the company of a Friend.

Yes I just Quoted Death.

In fact we saw a good example of this in Dead-boy detectives, a show which follows two ghosts as they strive to solve the mysteries of the Deaths of other Ghosts so they can finally find their way to peace.

It is even heavily implied in that show that Death often doesn't come for Ghosts until they have resolved all business on Earth, we see it in the case of the Devlin's house, a set of four Ghosts who are trapped in the house in which they died forced to keep repeating the most traumatizing moment of their lives, that lead to their deaths.

So locked in the cycle that they can't even respond to any external stimuli.

And then of course there is the world war soldier Willfred who kept fighting his battles even a hundred years after his death.

Death specifically mentions she came for him then but...

This implies that the Dead can roam the Earth if left unchecked, often stuck in conditions they would much rather die than be stuck in, except of course that will never come... Many can never come out of this torment, the Endless exist to make sure that doesn't happen.

Just like, in the absence of Morpheus people kept Dreaming, but Nightmares ran rampant, and the kingdom of Dreaming was destroyed.

But the unfortunate truth is Mortals do not understand what lies in store for them if Death doesn't exist, the absence of Death in someone's life is dealt with in this episode and much later in season 2, and most of the time it is implied that it is not great...

But since Mortals will not understand this until they have experienced it and by then it is often too late, most of them resent Death.

They believe that she is the reason for their misery when in reality there are forces out of her control that often cause the misery, she simply exists to guide souls to a place where they can feel less of it.

In her own words she thought she had the hardest job amongst all the Endless.

She did go through a phase where it all started to get to her, she became hard and Brittle inside.

"People feel as pleased to have been born as if they did it themselves, but they feel upset and hurt and Shaken when they die."

Until she learnt that all they need is a kind word and a Friendly face.

But why take this detour from Dream's story you may wonder, well one thing is to of course learn about the other Endless, especially the one who in some sense started it all.

But another reason is because Death is Dream's Elder Sister, and like any Elder Sister she is worried about her brother, and doing her best to guide him to a better place, like she does for all the Dead.

Strange, even though this depiction of Death is indefinitely different from any other Depictions I have ever seen, yet she is still exactly how one would imagine her to be, if you put into perspective her real job, not to kill people, but to guide the ones already dead.

And in the case of her younger brother, what better way to guide him than to tell her own experience with her Job as an endless.

Dream wished for a purpose beyond his function, which he had until his quest for his tools was over.

But death reminds him that:

Now, as a story and a concept, Death being introduced and being a very calming presence is not only an unpredictable and yet perfectly fitting development for the sandman's journey moving forwards.

In a sense Dream took the fall that should have been death's and spent a hundred years in captivity, unintentionally but he did do it.

Given the above and given the fact that they are quite close to one another, it must have hurt Dream quite a lot that at least she did not show up when he needed help.

At first it appears that Dream is truly alone, and that makes us feel bad for him, especially when we see another one of his siblings secretly plotting behind his back, but here we start seeing at least a glimpse of the truth, Dream has abandonment issues, he has trouble asking for help, and as a result his siblings like Death often have to go out of their way to do a sibling intervention.

After all, they all have their duties and Death especially, Normally speaking Death can't directly interfere in Dreams matters unless he calls her through the Gallery simply because she has enough on her plate anyways, and abandoning her responsibilities without a formal call will make her answerable to powers beyond herself and yet, she somehow works it into her schedule to come help dream.

If he had just asked.

In a sense, the being Death defines a love for life, "Death is what gives life meaning" But while Death being a good older sister and a calming presence is meant to actually motivate the readers and Dream to move on with their life, because they really have nothing to fear, If I were Neil Gaiman(Thank god I am not, have you seen the accusations against that man), I would worry that this depiction actually goes a little further than necessary and makes Death look like a desirable option.

And I do not need to say why that can be problematic.

Not only is it actually the opposite message to the one that was intended, it can have some serious real world consequences.

Life is Terrible, Death is great.

Dream actually brings it up himself as he asks Death why Mortals have such a strange attitude towards her gift.

And it seems Neil himself saw this problem or rather planned for it to come up because the very next moment we see Dream meet with his one of his longest standing friends, and who is guess what, a mortal man named Hob Gadling.

But obviously Dream will not voluntarily approach a mere mortal when he won't even approach his sweet older sister for help even when the alternative is killing Gregory.

You will be missed...

So obviously Death has to set up an elaborate obviously pre planned situation where she introduces Dream to Hob right after he calls her stupid.

Okay lets be fair he doesn't call Death the person stupid, he calls the concept stupid.

People die because everyone does, and he is correct in a way.

It is quite painful to live forever, almost unbearable, but almost isn't a certainty, some people just are so alive that even Death feels compelled to give them a shot.

Of course that happens only when her Idiot brother is around.

For the reason behind Death granting Hob's wish of never wanting to Die is because of a Wager between Dream and Death.

Obviously the only reason Dream will ever approach a mortal to befriend them is because he wants to prove that it's utterly useless.

And boy does he do exactly the opposite of that.

The point of this episode is to hammer in the main reason as to why mortal life is actually worth living, in spite of all the seeming shortcomings, in spite of death.

I mean if Death herself loves life, what excuse do we have?

And the one missing puzzle piece that will take this entire picture from Death is preferable to life to even Death actually loves life is called Hob Gaddling.

Hob Gaddling is the definition of a Glass half full kinda guy, in fact he is the kind of guy who will look at an entirely empty glass and say that the last few drops are still worth enjoying.

According to his deal with Dream they are to meet every hundred years on the same day over drinks and discuss what happened the past hundred years.

And the show covers seven meetings between the two of them from 1389 to present day which makes me think present day is in 2089 but maybe it isn't, but we will get to that.

The first meeting after the one where he is told of his Immortality is mostly Hob coming to terms with his new found immortality and kind of just feeling things out, after all he was just a regular mortal man just some time ago.

And the one thing that shines across about him during this meeting is his proclivity to appreciate every little thing and improvement that happens to life, while Dream gives him an exasperated expression.

The very next meeting leads to a very predictable increase in Hob's quality of life, with all the extra knowledge he is able to get a lot of social capital, which includes having the queen sleep over at his house at a time, and this social capital leads to him becoming extremely rich and gaining a knighthood.

One look at the obvious Noble sitting at the huge table and Dream immediately looses interest because if you remember, his interest is only limited to seeing if Hob finally wants death.

And obviously he won't.

Still, dream takes the time to listen to Hob's story of what happened in the past hundred years.

Hob has gained a wife, has a son, and expecting another, and obviously is at the peak of his quality of life.

However since dream is least interested he is immediately distracted by Will Shaxberd, who dreams of becoming a great poet and playwright, dream makes a deal with this man to write great stories, and eventually becomes the one and only William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare will become more important later but we will get to that.

Since this was the first time Hob got to use his immortality in a Positive way to benefit himself the obvious conclusion is he gets over confident and lets it get the better of him.

And that is exactly what happens, his son dies at twenty in a tavern brawl where as his wife dies in childbirth, he grows depressed and overconfident, and ends up staying at the same place for longer than he should, raising suspicion and eventually almost being burnt as a witch.

He lost his wealth, his status, he lost it all, he couldn't eat for long periods of time and still he couldn't die...

One would think that if Hob were ever to seek death then this would be it, but surprisingly he still chooses not to, somehow...

And that I believe is the main reason for Hob being here, he is here to represent an eternal love for life, a love that exemplifies the character of death.

And I strongly believe that this is the reason Death let Hob live and let Dream make the deal with him.

He knew that in order for him to understand mortal life he needed to experience it, and she knew he wasn't gonna do that on his own like she does for one day every hundred years, so the best way was to give him second hand experience, especially through the eyes of a person who loves life as much as her.

But moving on, there isn't much to say about the next two meetings other than the first one introduces Lady Johanna Constantine an ancestor to Johanna Constantine of the present day(and played by the same actress.).

She comes to the inn based on a drawing made by someone for their previous meeting...

The Devil and the Wandering Jew meet here every hundred years in this inn.

Now apart from this Dream weighs in on Hob's choice of job as he is currently a slaver, and granted he himself spent quite a major section of his life having absolutely no choice in what he does, he should understand that while his life is his to choose, the same choice shouldn't be taken from someone else.

The final meeting before the one in the 1900s is one where Hob finally after 400 years actually learns something about Dream, he does through another person called Lushing Lou, or Louise Baldwin

This introduction is what leads to Hob asking how Dream knows everyone and he brings up how Lady Johanna took up a task for him.

"People are always better than they appear, Not me though..." Says hob

Dream suspects that he has changed but Hob flips it back saying that it is actually Dream who has changed, and the main reason he keeps coming after al these years, is because he is lonely, and wants Hob's friendship.

Dream being Dream is offended by this suggestion.

And storms away.

A hundred years go by and Dream is in captivity, forced to miss the appointment, Hob obviously thinks that it is because of their last conversation, but it isn't that of course.

Death encourages Dream to go meet Hob, even though it is late, now at first I thought this was another hundred years later at 2089, but really it looks like its only a little later, The older Inn has been dismantled and Hob using his money made a new one, keeping the hope of them meeting alive.

But while the recovery after the recovery is over, every single thing that came out of this incident isn't done yet.