If Dracula really wanted to keep the Belmonts out, he’d build a ball-kicking trap.
While the previous episode of Castlevania set the stage, Necropolis sets the players. Er, player; Trevor, specifically.
And it picks up back in the tavern. Trevor decides that waiting for Shovel-dude to stop yammering about the great houses is a waste of time, because he wants his ale before the buzz goes away. Unfortunately for him, he’s wearing a shirt with his house’s sigil monogrammed on it. Which Shovel-dude recognizes, kicking off a hell of a bar fight. The animation for the action is really quite fluid and impressive, as well. And Trevor would’ve really appreciated it if they didn’t keep kicking him in the dick.
The whole fight is something of a microcosm for the episode. Trevor has been, and is, enduring a long humiliation conga line until he shapes up and flies right. Bad shit’s not going to stop happening to him until he becomes the hero he’s meant to be. As evidenced by the fact that he has to climb up a sewer pipe to get into Gresit just to get some breakfast.
And the marketplace has the best stories… and goat meat. Hopefully not the same goat. Namely, there’s some sealed warrior that is supposedly in the catacombs, awaiting his time to awaken and protect the city. There are also the Speakers, who are trying to help the city as best they can. Then there’s the Church, which is predictably doing nothing actually helpful in the slightest, though there are definitely people that think they are. Honestly, I’m only mildly disappointed they didn’t toss in the Graveyard Duck. Coulda been a thing, all I’m saying.
But the call knows where you live meander hungover. As he’s walking through the alleys away from the marketplace, he happens across two “Priests” hassling an old Speaker. And despite his best efforts, his conscience and family history won’t let him just walk away. This winds up being yet another opportunity for the animation to shine; these are the sorts of things that are far more visceral because they’re not in a live action medium. If you think back on all the action films you’ve seen, you know it’s true. Trevor whipping a finger off one and an eyeball out of the other is something you could do with practical or CG effects, but it plays better in full on animation than either of the others.
The speakers are opposed to violence, but the old man thanks him anyway. He also invites him back to where the other speakers are staying while in town. This offers an opportunity to flesh out the Belmont relations with the Speakers, and their fight against the night as a whole. Trevor’s pretty much the last of the family in the country; their ancestral home was burned, they were excommunicated and exiled, when they weren’t outright killed. And Trevor’s father once managed to bring a Speaker to violence by asking to put their history and legends to page.
The only reason the Speakers are still in Gresit is twofold; they came to help people, partially by awakening the sealed warrior (they knew of the legend). They’re also still there because the old man’s grandchild went looking for the warrior in the catacombs and hasn’t come back. They don’t leave their dead, so Trevor offers them a deal; he’ll find the grandchild, so long as they promise to get out of Gresit as soon as he comes back. Mostly, this is because he’s still fond of the Speakers, and wants the best for their well being. It’s made vaguely obvious he wouldn’t do it otherwise, especially for anyone supportive of the Church.
Castlevania still manages to impress because it’s visuals are as good as the characterization. I’m actually trying to pace myself on it, because the first season is only four episodes long. But it’s already been renewed for an 8 episode second season. So I guess we’ll expect it sometime in 2020 or so. I guess.
4/5
About Author
