Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ expands the universe by introducing a new set of characters who might seem harmless in the beginning, but end up changing the course of Dream’s life by the end of the season. The characters in question are Puck and Loki, both of whom are introduced in Part 1 of Season 2. While Loki appears as a guest in the Dreaming, when Dream is yet to determine who to give the key of Hell to, Puck appears in a flashback sequence where he attends the first performance of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ which Morpheus has the Bard write for the Faeries. At the time, both the characters seem to be on different paths, but their similar nature leads them to each other. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Puck and Loki’s Matching Chaos Makes Them a Perfect Couple
Being two of the most mischievous and chaotic characters in ‘The Sandman’ universe, it makes sense that Puck and Loki find each other eventually. At that point, Loki is out of Odin’s prison because Dream decided to give him a pass in return for a future favour. Meanwhile, Puck has left the Faerie world behind since watching Shakespeare’s play and has been walking the human world, indulging in mischief. When they meet, their like minds lead them to do some pretty outrageous things. For starters, they take over the role of the Pope and his trusted cardinal and make some radical changes in the Vatican, like allowing women the right to the priesthood.
This is also when Dream finds them, though, unlike the rest of the world, he is not fooled by their appearances. While he is caught a little off guard to see them together, he is not entirely surprised, because they are kind of made for each other. Because both of them are known to sow trouble, tell lies, and create disorder, they elevate each other’s game by supporting each other in their mayhem while also challenging one another to come up with even more ridiculous schemes.
Puck later confesses that he ended up liking Loki because he finally met someone who was just like him and also challenged him in a way no one else had before. While Loki doesn’t make any similar declarations, the fact that he indulges in the things that Puck likes, even if Loki himself doesn’t, makes it clear that he does care about him, after all. This becomes clearer when the duo abducts Daniel, and Puck takes a liking to the baby. While Loki isn’t particularly fond of kids himself, he sees that his lover feels love for the baby. Later, when he hears Puck’s true feelings about him, he is strangely moved, though in typical Loki fashion, he doesn’t bother to spill his own feelings on the matter.
Loki’s Lies Prove Too Much for Puck
While Puck may be an agent of chaos, he still has a line that he prefers not to cross. When he meets Loki and they engage in stirring trouble for others, he doesn’t mind it as long as it doesn’t actually hurt anyone. Most of the time, their actions are nothing more than pranks, and their victims aren’t in any actual danger, as Puck makes sure that they are not conscious for any of it. However, when it comes to Daniel, he becomes a little wary of Loki’s plans for the baby. He knows that the boy was eventually going to be separated from his mother because of Morpheus’ plans to turn him into his successor. So, to make trouble for the Dream King, who is already headed towards his death, Puck advises Loki to kidnap Daniel at a time that is highly inconvenient to the Endless.
At first, the baby is supposed to be just another part of the plan to get back at Morpheus. But then, Puck gets attached to Daniel, and he starts to wonder whether Loki’s will lead the child to lose his life. While he likes Loki, he also knows his true nature, so when the time comes, he runs away with the baby, intent on returning him to his mother and undoing all the trouble that he and Loki meant to cause. But then, Loki shows up and assures him that he will not harm the child. He promises Puck that the baby will be king when he is done with the plan, and the Faerie believes him.
What Puck fails to realise is that Loki is clever with the choice of words. Puck worried that Loki would kill the child by throwing him into the fire. What he didn’t know was that this was always Loki’s plan, though it didn’t necessarily mean that Daniel was going to die. When they go back to their hotel room, Loki uses Puck’s fairy dust to render him unconscious and then goes forward with his plan to burn the baby. When Puck wakes up, he is horrified to see the charred remains of Daniel, but out of it comes a new Daniel, whose mortal parts have been taken by the fire, and what remains now is pure immortal.
Loki confesses that it was never his intention to kill the baby, and had he told Puck about it, the latter would never have agreed to let him go forward with his plan. Still, Puck is hurt by Loki’s deception. And then, when he walks away, Loki doesn’t come after him either. Puck spends some time at the bar, giving Loki the window to come around and try to talk to him. But Loki convinces himself that Puck will return by himself and makes no effort whatsoever to patch things up. This becomes the final nail in the coffin of their manic and slightly unhinged relationship. While Puck goes back to the Faerie world, Loki is found by Johanna Constantine and the Corinthian, who take away Daniel. With Odin and Thor in tow, Loki is dragged back to his prison, where he shall remain until the next occasion arises for him to plan an escape.
Read More: Do Corinthian and Johanna Constantine End Up Together in The Sandman?
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