The Magician and The Basement
Episode 7 of Castlevania begins with Alucard leading the twins to the depths of the castle where he talks to them about the anatomy of a vampire and teaches them everything they’ll need to stop the undead. Meanwhile, the Judge berates a young boy for running through his town before suggesting he head off and pick apples. Saint Germain returns to the church again and starts sifting through the books. He finds one in particular that rings alarm bells as it involves bringing people back from Hell. Given this book was written hundreds of years ago and has pages recently torn out and missing, it certainly doesn’t bode well for what Sala is up to. However, the monk waves away his concerns. Isaac meanwhile finds out that the empty town ahead of him was run by a magician who enslaved everyone. Given she’s still standing, Isaac sees through this facade as the woman reveals herself to be a lady called Miranda, subsequently showing off her own magic which was enough to ward the magician off. She mentions how she isn’t as strong as she used to be and as they get talking, Isaac informs her he was betrayed. It turns out the magician has a Transmission Mirror that could be of interest to him. Only, in order to use it he’ll need to destroy the entire town and turn the townsfolk into his undead army. She pleads with him to do just that and ominously tells him there are worse things out there than betrayal as he rides away. Belmont catches the monks in the act of scratching symbols on the wall outside and immediately finds himself in a two-on-one fight with them as they attack him. Belmont overpowers them though and takes one of them inside the Judge’s quarters where he tries to get him to reveal what the symbol means. When he refuses, Sypha and Belmont speak to the Judge instead and inform him that Sala is planning something for the town. Saint Germain heads down the stairs in the church and sees ominous glowing in the distance. As he continues, he finds the original creature from all those years ago pinned up to a crucifix. The Monks are clearly worshipping this monster and as Saint Germain comes face to face with it, the episode ends. With the secret of the priory finally revealed and all the pieces slotting into place for a dramatic run of episodes to follow, Castlevania starts to pick up the pace after a few slow-paced segments. There’s plenty of story still to come though but whether Netflix’s anime can pull off a climactic and satisfying conclusion to this season remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure though – this story is far from over.
