The Season of Mists is a fascinating story about how Dreamer received the keys to Hell from Lucifer and was subjected to countless threats from deities who dreamed of getting the freed realm. The Creator decided to put Hell back under the responsibility of angels Duma and Remiel, who were not happy about such a prospect. But they had to respect this resolution since the Creator argued that Hell is a shadow of Heaven. This paper aims to discuss the nature of Dreamer’s decision to pass the key to Hell to the angels.
Power of Heroes and Threats to Its Existence
The hierarchy of authorities in the comics is arranged in the following order – Creator, angels, Endless, demons, fairies, other pantheons, mortals. Therefore, one cannot say that Dreamer’s decision was his judgment, but rather the Creator’s choice. Morpheus was greatly relieved to get rid of the key, and with a good reason. In Chapter 4, the author showed that all the dead souls expelled from Hell began to wander the earth and caused at least one innocent boy’s death. This state of affairs could not suit Dreamer if he were aware of what was happening.
Azazel and demons also needed a place to stay since they could pose a threat to lost souls in the outskirts of the universe. Dreamer could not consider placing Hell under their control, even in the light of Azazels’ threats to devour his beloved Nadu. Therefore, despite the anger of Remiel towards the Creator, the latter made a decision that satisfied everyone. The angels were not ready to challenge Creator’s decision, which deprived them of residence in the Silver Tower. The very existence of the angels had the purpose of serving Creator, and distressed, they made only a half-hearted attempt to improve the situation in Hell. Dreamer could take responsibility to help the angels by destroying the demons and creating a comfortable realm for dead souls. Indeed, in his own words, he was stronger than demons, as were Duma and Remiel. However, like Lucifer, Duma, and Remiel, Dreamer cared only about his problems. Perhaps, he needed another good advice from his sister, Death.
Creator’s statement that he needs Hell since it reflects Heaven sounded very unconvincing. Nevertheless, Dreamer embraced the opportunity to close the issue with a key since multiple threats from applicants were clearly getting on his nerves. On the other hand, although separately, the deities and demons did not pose a danger to Dreamer, together, they could harm him and his kingdom. Besides, after Lucifer drove everyone out of Hell, nightmares and horrors entered the dream world, as evidenced by the dreams of poor Charles from the boarding school. Dreamer managed to outwit Azazel, showing extreme courage and ingenuity. But it is still unknown how the relations of Dreamer with other deities would have developed if the Creator had not intervened.
Creator’s Will in the Story
The story contains no hints or references to the Creator’s plan or the Creator’s will. In the prologue, there is a conversation of Endless Destiny and three gray ladies, likely to be Greek goddesses. Destiny is warned that something meaningful will happen. But the Greek deities are not a product of Creator’s will. Therefore, subsequent events can hardly be considered part of the Creator’s plan.
On the contrary, the spontaneous decision of Dreamer to descend into Hell freed Lucifer from his annoying role, which he considered part of the Creator’s plan. Besides, in the prologue, Destiny clarified that the story participants make their own choices. It is also indirectly evidenced by Lucifer when he says he is tired of mortals accusing him of their sins. As for the decision concerning the Hell possession, it appears to be quite natural. In general, only those who serve Creator were labeling everything that happens as the Creator’s plan.
By and large, Duma and Remiel do not change anything in Hell. Therefore, Dreamer might not have returned the key to Creator since the angels obviously would not fight for it. If Dreamer were more focused on the common good, he would consider Creator as a participant in the “tender” on general terms since any outcome would not be worse than the actual one, at least for the mortals. However, Endless, angels and Creator could have an abundance of problems if a key was taken by, let us say, the inhabitant of a cardboard box or by Thor.
Thus, the story remains somewhat confusing since, despite a specific hierarchy, multiple forces have unknown powers and intentions. The Law of Hospitality does a lot to help Dreamer deal with confusion as well as the law of respect to property rights. On the one hand, it can be concluded that the story ends happily for everyone. On the other hand, the reader can expect more compassion for mortals from Endless or angels.