The Great Work
Episode 7 of Castlevania Season 4 begins with Varney and Ratko scheming together, discovering the location of Zamfir’s underground court. However, the two fall out as Ratko likens his comrade to a petty criminal. By comparison, Ratko justifies his killing as an act of war. A war that he’s dead-set on winning. Meanwhile, Belmont and Sypha run out of patience and demand to be seen the underground court for themselves. Zamfir succumbs to their wishes, leading the pair down the stairs. Once there, Belmont finds an antique blade outside and wonders curiously just why it’s been left there. Well, it turns out the royals in charge are actually dead, and have been for quite some time. Zamfir hasn’t laid them to rest and claims they’re involved in the “royal sleep.” Zamfir is waiting for them to take back control but she’s been blinded by her own hope. The people are dying, starving and neglected. Given how much suffering she and the others have endured, it’s clear she’s suffering from deep-rooted depression. And in the midst of all this, Ratko punches a hole through the wall and prepares to attack. Elsewhere, Saint Germain wanders around Dracula’s castle as he prepares for the next stage of his plan. Outside, Alucard notices a group of kids watching him from below. Smiling, he dives off the top and levitates in midair just above them, “boo!” He says quietly, as the kids laugh. Greta sees all this unfold and thanks him for his kindness. Alucard is nothing like his Father and this season has done a great job capturing that truth. Right now though, a larger threat is growing. Dark forces gather and as night descends, they march for the castle.
The Episode Review
With Carmilla’s threat quelled for now, Castlevania changes tact slightly to focus more on the other subplots and incidents around the world. Madness has been a consistent motif across the season and here it’s projected through the misguided hope of Zamfir, who believes that someone is still coming to save them. The harsh reality however, is that no one is coming. That much is especially true for Alucard too, whose collected up all the villagers into Dracula’s castle. Unbeknownst to him however, the dark forces are preparing to march on them. This sets up an intriguing fight to come, with the ending leaving things wide open for where this may go next.
