What is a recap? A miserable little pile of spoilers!
Last we left off on Castlevania, we had our first episode focused on the present day and what had happened since Dracula’s campaign of extermination began, and a look in on our broken, homeless, often drunk, borderline misanthropic “hero” as he took up his first true quest.
Today we’ll dive into the third episode of season one, “Labyrinth.”
1. Cyclops of the Labyrinth
It’s rather quickly apparent why the Elder Speaker’s grandchild has not returned: a stone-eye cyclops, with a gaze that will turn those who come across its beam to stone, is down in the catacombs, ready to face any who would come to find the “Sleeping Soldier.” Its placement down there shows that there are monstrous threats that exist in the world of Castlevania even beyond the machinations of either the Church or Dracula, clearly meaning that such threats will likely remain even if Dracula is disposed of. Furthermore, Trevor’s ability to defeat it and knowledge of its capabilities demonstrates the necessity of hunters like House Belmont, and what had been lost in their absence.
There is at least one oddity in its lair: rather than torches, it is lit with electric light bulbs, an advancement centuries ahead of its time. Normally, such an anachronism would be odd enough, but given Dracula’s use of relatively advanced chemistry sets and anatomy books in the knowledge provided to Lisa, it isn’t exactly out of the question. In fact, Trevor himself notes that such devices were seen by his ancestors and written about as being in Dracula’s castle. But why would technology from that place be under Gresit with the cyclops?
2. Sypha Belnades
The identity of the Elder’s grandchild, or rather granddaughter, is revealed, that of Sypha Belnades, a woman seemingly about Trevor’s age. She had gone down to find the “sleeping warrior” spoken of by the townspeople, but apparently something had gone wrong. Was it all a trap for the Speakers to go down and die to the cyclops? Or was the cyclops left to guard over the legendary figure? Also, if he were down there for centuries, why did the lights still work? It clearly had been used, not abandoned.
As Sypha shows, she does truly love her grandfather, but due to her interactions with Trevor, finds him to be very rude. His comments about wishing Speakers would not dress the “girls” like the “boys” in the Speakers, with the implied sexism and lack of awareness toward the clothing choice’s ability to act as a defense against predation, probably did not help matters, though that at least made a bit of sense from the perspective of different standards about what is proper to say out loud (not that any kind of proper behavior ever seems to really matter to Trevor himself).
3. Belmont and the Bishop
Following Trevor’s attack against the priest who had nearly killed the Elder Speaker which had resulted in the loss of one of the priest’s fingers, word has apparently gotten back to the local bishop, who has demanded his presence. Despite half-hearted protests by the surviving Belmont, he goes along with it and enters the local church, finally meeting the man.
This bishop is the exact same one who had ordered the death of Lisa Ţepeş a year prior, apparently not having been present at the fall of Targoviste. In many ways, he has become, if he was not already, the symbolic embodiment of the themes presented within this first season: dogma, intolerance, dishonesty, mob mentality, and fanatical belief. If there is an awful element of the Church in the season (beyond the Archbishop’s apparent gluttony in the premiere), it can be seen in him or his orders.
The Bishop, who is not named, appears to believe wholeheartedly that he is in no way to blame for what has befallen Wallachia, even though it means lying to himself and his people in the name of dogma, and that killing the Speakers will help those around him in the name of God. What he wants from Trevor is for him to leave the city so as to prevent his excommunicate nature from “corrupting” his work in Gresit, and so he gives him until sundown to leave unharmed. When the Belmont refuses to listen to him repeat the lies told about the House of Belmont’s legacy, the Bishop devolves into ranting mania, demonstrating himself to be a raving madman to such a degree that even Trevor tells the Speakers later that he is “beyond insane.”
Continued belowNotably, while the Bishop claims he can even discuss removing the Belmont family’s excommunication and is told that he does not actually have the authority, he claims that due to the destruction of the other great cities of Wallachia, including Targoviste and others either losing their battles or already having lost, he will “be the Church,” showing the level of his heinous ambition beyond his extremely thin veneer of faux benevolence.
4. Trevor Take a Stand
“I don’t know any of you, but that doesn’t matter, does it? My family, the family you demonized and excommunicated, has fought and died through generations for this country. We do this thing for Wallachia and her people. We don’t have to know you all. We do it anyway. And it’s not the dying that frightens us. It’s never having stood up and fought for you. I am Trevor Belmont, of the House of Belmont, and dying… has never frightened me.”
Seeing that the Speakers refuse to leave, Trevor seems to have finally taken their words to heart. He even paraphrases the Elder’s words from the previous episode (“It’s not dying that frightens us. It’s living without ever having done our best.”) in his speech to the Bishop’s men who come to kill the Speakers. To him, it’s not about getting revenge against the Church or even letting people fall to their own flaws, but rather a desire to protect other people from suffering the same fate as his family did.
In doing so, he seems well aware of the fact that he is essentially fighting against the entire country, but given his family was excommunicated and is falsely accused of witchcraft and dark pacts, it’s hardly a change in behavior beyond escalation of what he already experiences.
5. A Relatively Mediocre Escape
In spite of his heroic stand, Trevor is still just one man up against an entire city. As such, he is left on the run in a very Indiana Jones style escape sequence, running for his life.
However, night has fallen, and so the demonic hordes of Dracula are on their way…
