Diksha Sundriyal
One after another shocking twists and turns abound in the second half of Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ Season 2. The season opens in the aftermath of Orpheus’ death at the hands of his father, Morpheus, who must now prepare to pay the price for spilling family blood. He knows that the Kindly Ones are going to come for him any day now, which is why he must prepare his successor to take up the mantle at the right time. For this, he turns to Loki, who owes Morpheus a favour from the time when the Dream King allowed him to go free rather than telling Odin about his trickery. This turns out to be a huge mistake on his part because Loki is the god of chaos, and by his nature, he is meant to stir up trouble, which is what he does with Daniel as well. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Loki Did Dream’s Bidding, in an Inconvenient Time and Manner
As Morpheus prepares to die, his entire focus is on saving the Dreaming, which can happen only when there is a Dream to rule it. By now, he knows that Daniel, who was conceived in the Dreaming, is his true successor. However, he also knows that Lyta will not willingly give up her son. Moreover, Morpheus’ sudden departure might also put a target on Daniel’s back, as Morpheus’ enemies might want to take advantage of his death to destroy his Dreaming. For this, it needs to be ensured that Daniel is in the Dreaming before Morpheus walks towards his death. Because Loki owes him a favor, he thinks about giving this task to him, believing that Loki is cunning and strong enough to keep the boy out of danger.
What Morpheus doesn’t think about is the fact that Loki doesn’t like to be bound to anyone. He doesn’t like the fact that he owes Morpheus something, and becomes angrier when the Dream Lord assigns him the task concerning Daniel. To quell his frustration, Puck tells him to do what Morpheus asked of him, but at a time that is most convenient to the Endless. So, when Loki abducts Daniel, he is killing two birds with one stone. First, he is doing exactly what Dream wants him to, which means that he is unburdening himself with the favour he owes to Dream.
However, because Dream didn’t explicitly mention the timing of his arrival, he takes liberty in the matter, all thanks to Puck’s advice, and kidnaps Daniel immediately, which does not match with Dream’s timeline at all. However, he doesn’t just stop there. He knows that Daniel is meant to take over as Dream’s successor, which means that at this point, the baby is half-mortal and half-immortal. He knows that once Dream gets the boy the Dreaming, he will help him strip away his mortal part. But as always, Loki has something more chaotic in mind, which is why he puts baby Daniel through trial by fire.
Loki Never Planned to Kill Daniel
While Puck worries that Loki wants to kill the child, the Norse god points out that this trick has been used before. He references Demeter, the Greek goddess, who did, or at least tried to do, the same thing with Demophoon, the son of Metaneira and Celeus. When he was a baby, she disguised herself as an old lady to become his nurse. At night, she would put him in the hearth to be burnt by the fire, but what she was doing was burning away his mortal essence so that only his god-essence remains, and he becomes an immortal. Because this was a days long process, she couldn’t achieve it in a single night. A few nights later, Metaneira saw her putting her baby in flames, and when she interrupted, Demeter showed her true form and revealed that since the process had been stopped, Demophoon cannot become an immortal now.
In one version of the story, a similar thing was attempted by Achilles’ mother, Thetis. She, too, tried to burn away his mortal parts to turn him into an immortal, but her process was interrupted by her husband, Peleus, which led to the events relating to the infamous Achilles’ heel. Another close example of such a thing can be found in a version of Hercules’ story. When the demigod was poisoned by the robe that his wife gave him, not knowing what it would do, he made a pyre for himself and walked into the fire, knowing that this act would cut out his mortal essence, and what remains of him would then be immortal.
Considering all these references, it is fair to say that Loki knew what he was doing. Of course, there could have been other ways to achieve this goal, and Dream most likely would have found another route, which was less painful for the child. Loki, however, had no obligations or feelings towards the child to make things comfortable for him. So, he found the most straightforward way possible. This also allowed him to rile up Lyta by showing her the picture of her son’s charred body, which spurred her into a rage of revenge, eventually leading to Morpheus’ death. So, he fast-tracked not only Morpheus’ death but also Daniel’s ascension as the next Dream of the Endless.
Read More: The Sandman Season 2 Part 2 Post Credits Scene: What Does the Poem Mean, Explained
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