‘The Sandman’ season 2, Volume 2, wrapped up on an emotional note. For those who have been following Tom Sturridge’s haunting portrayal of Lord Shaper, the season’s finale may have felt inevitable, but that didn’t make it any less heartbreaking. The beauty of the series lies in its slow, deliberate build of emotions that leaves you with a bittersweet ache.

But, was the emotional investment worth it? Did the series feel adventurous enough? And does its message land as seamlessly as it intended to?

You must understand that ‘The Sandman’ is not your usual fantasy series. There are no flying brooms or spellbooks that glow on cue. It’s magical, yes. But also meaningful. It demands attention every step of the way. Unless you are totally invested in the story, absorbing every detail and symbolic gesture, you might miss the emotional payoff waiting at the end.

The God of Dreams, also known as Lord Shaper or The Sandman or The Dream of the Endless, has spilt his family’s blood. As per the Norse rules, the Furies, also known as the Kindly Ones, will come for him the moment someone asks for his blood in vengeance. It has to happen. It’s written. But, with all his greatness and majesty, will The Sandman be able to move past his destiny? Can he build an army to fight the Furies, or restructure the time in a way that doesn’t make him look like the culprit any more?

Vol 1 of the series, which premiered earlier this year, marked a shift from a craftily adventurous narrative to a heavier emotional arc – one that set Lord Shaper on a path of irreversible transformation. A journey that will alter not his destiny, but the future of his realm. The Dream of the Endless knows what’s coming. At times, he fears it. At times, he endures it, and sometimes, he even welcomes it with open arms.

The idea is clear: nothing in this universe is permanent, and journeys must be taken, irrespective of what lies at their end. Vol 2 offers a mature, thoughtful closure.

This is not a fantasy world for children. In Vol 2, time and destiny collide in complex ways, characters reappear from earlier episodes, and new ones join the narrative – building towards a finale that is both inevitable and surprising. It’s a season of grand emotion and opportunities, hinting that every end is also a beginning.

In a standout twist, we see the return of Boyd Holbroom as The Corinthian. Only this time, he’s changed. He’s more passionate about his duties, more reliable, more emotional and, dare we say – more charming than ever. His chemistry with Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) is electric. Together, they represent so much about second chances, unlikely connections, and the leap of faith it takes to believe in something again. The father-son dynamic that season 2 tries to portray from the beginning, also finds its closure.

While ‘The Sandman’ goes heavy on melodrama – and we don’t mind any of it – it continues to dazzle with its visual imagination. The skies are starrier, the castles more glorious. The costumes, the creatures, the dreams are majestic – a masterclass in visual storytelling and limitless creativity.

What stays with you, though, are not just the images, but the questions about the purpose of your life, the legacy that you are so ardently trying to build, and a question: when you are gone, will your story be worth telling? It is perhaps the most serendipitous expression of what gives your life meaning, and how others perceive it.

If Vol1 furthered the idea of Dream of The Endless being nearly invincible, Vol 2 strips that illusion away. It shows that no story is immune to an ending – whether we like how it turns out or not. ‘The Sandman’ doesn’t care about comforting its viewer, it exists to tell a wholesome story, being unafraid to say that nothing really lasts forever.

Yes, the series shifts its arcs quite abruptly sometimes, and the climax, too, feels slightly stretched, especially when we already know where it’s going. But you never feel cheated. The greatest stories always contain a bit of nuance, sometimes fiction as truth, the ‘what if’ moments, the emotions you have already lived, but also a promise of what could be or could have been. In ‘The Sandman’, you find all of that, and more.

‘The Sandman’ is currently streaming on Netflix.

– Ends