Destruction’s Plot Twist in ‘The Sandman’ S2 Explains a Key DCU Mystery

Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” remains a major comic book piece with numerous characters in action, but everything still revolves around the Endless and their connections.

Described as a family, the Endless are anthropomorphic representations of some of the essential aspects of humanity’s life, with each of this family’s members being responsible for a particular part of the existence.

Despite most of the Endless continuing with their duties for centuries now, Destruction stands out as someone who voluntarily abandoned his realm, a plot twist that provided the character with a major development — and another proof of The Sandman’s direct connection to the DC world.

Why Did Destruction Leave His Realm?

In The Sandman’s comic book series and TV show, each member of the Endless family isn’t only responsible for a specific aspect of human life — they’re also the rulers of their own realms.

The last episode of the second season’s part 1 was a bit of a shocker for many of The Sandman’s fans who watched Destruction, one of the Endless also known as The Prodigal, making a crucial decision to leave his realm behind and depart for an isolated island where he could live without any pressure of his role in the society.

The main reason for such a plot twist was Destruction’s realisation that his actions and role as the personification of annihilation have devastating consequences.

Believing that the destruction will continue whether he’s present or not, the character decides to step away and pursue a better path.

Destruction’s Shocking Decision Connects to the DCU Concepts, ‘The Sandman’ Fans Think

Even though it’s always been clear that Neil Gaiman’s comic story takes place within the DC universe and thus gets a major impact from it, some fans feel like the connection is way stronger than most of The Sandman’s viewers might have thought all this time.

In a Reddit thread, one of them suggested Destruction’s arc of redemption might also be an explanation why some massively destructive events in the DCU’s comic books never signal an actual end.

Since The Sandman’s character is convinced the destruction will go on, but won’t destroy the entire planet completely anyway, the theory reflects on this being exactly what the DC stories rely on too.

“It actually explains a lot about the DCU if the domain of Destruction has gone to hell. This setting does seem very close to what you would imagine if the Concept Of Destruction Itself had been fundamentally broken”, Urbenmyth concluded in the show-related thread.

When Will ‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Part 2 Be Released?

The show’s final chapter will be available for streaming on Netflix on July 24.