Nocturne , thenew successor seriesto Netflix ’s splendid animated Castlevania adaption , plays with its bequest in some unfeignedly sassy ways — both as a successor show metatextually , and narratively as its heroes voyage being part of a generational supernatural conflict . But one of its greatest moments is a fascinating mirror to one in the original series , and both stem out of a love life for thegames ’ legendary soundtracks .
The sixth episode of Nocturne , “ Guilty Men to Be judge , ” understand new protagonist Richter Belmont ( Edward Bluemel ) literally and figuratively present his place in the linage of the Belmont family when he is brought face to confront with his long - presumed - dead grandpa , Juste Belmont ( Game of Thrones ’ Iain Glen ) . Having just fled from a opposition that brought him up against the vampirewho killed his mother , Olrox ( Westworld ’s Zahn McClarnon ) , Richter and Juste have similar line of latitude in this moment , at their lowest and both likewise haunted by the loss of Julia Belmont . Richter keep an eye on his female parent off correctly in front of him as a child , and Juste witness his daughter maturate more remote until she leave Europe for the Americas , never to see him again .
As both men , one untested and too nervy for his own good and the other old and tired of the legacy he left behind , awkwardly begin to contend with their connecter to both each other and their big place in the Belmont clan — and , through Castlevania ’s Sypha Belnades , their heritage of witching abilities both now struggle to tap into — they find oneself their moment of burgeoning public security disrupted when a group of lamia catch them short . Richter , already bust up with self - doubtfulness having run from Olrox , is quickly stamp down , and Juste , well beyond his days as a vampire hunter , is brought in front of him in chain just to amplify that doubt even further . But when one of the vampire hunters bemock that the allies and loved 1 — Maria , her mother Tera , his new associate Annette — Richter left behind when he ran away are going to be slaughtered , something in the young man snaps , and in a scream of anguish and anger , he is wreathed in divine blue flaming . The magical side of his lineage that he had long struggled to cover since his female parent ’s demise has reawakened .
Screenshot: Netflix
It ’s Richter ’s large heroic moment of the whole time of year — it ’s where he dons his iconic bandana from the games for the first time , it ’s the first metre we truly get to see him unleashed with the flair and exponent of his far - flung descendants Trevor and Sypha for the first time . He becomes an unstoppable military force of martial and witching artistry , incinerating his enemy in a gloomy Hell , blocking setback and staking vampire with ice legerdemain summoned around his clenched fist — Belmont and Belnades in one , a vampire hunting fireball flow with magic mastery . It ’s arguably the most sumptuously animated mo of natural process in all of Nocturne , and it is of line the moment where , for the first prison term in the show , Trevor Morris and Trey Toy ’s soundtrack embraces a triumphant leitmotif from Castlevania ’s gaming story : “ Divine Bloodlines . ”
First appear as the soundtrack for the hatchway stage of Castlevania : Rondo of lineage — first unloosen as Castlevania : Dracula X in the West on the SNES in 1995 — and composed by Akira Sōji , “ Divine Bloodlines ” became Richter ’s de facto theme in the Castlevania franchise , and one of the serial publication ’ most celebrated melody alongside the ilk of “ Vampire Killer ” and “ Bloody snag . ” It ’s the latter that “ Bloodlines”shares the honorof being leverage in Powerhouse ’s animated adaptations with , after it was used at the climax of theshow ’s 2nd seasonto track Trevor , Sypha , and Alucard ’s rape on Dracula ’s rook . But the parallel sound well beyond the fact they ’re both two of the most kickass sequence in their various series that just so occur to use Castlevania TV game music . They are both vital moment in their respective heroes ’ journeys that see them embrace their connections , to their families and loved I , to their histories and their places in it , to overcome consuming betting odds and be mold into the legends they were specify to be .
It ’s fitting , perhaps , that “ Bloodlines ” is invoked as Richter finally tap into the charming side of his mob history through Sypha ’s mighty abilities as a Seeker , duplicate his descendent ’s moment of occur into her own during Castlevania season 2 ’s “ Bloody Tears ” sequence , the first fourth dimension we really saw just how masterful she could be with her spellslinging . It ’s a joining on multiple levels — not just to Sypha , but to Juste , who both in Nocturne and in the plot was noted as a particularly wizardly savant among Belmonts , revolutionise by the Belnades bloodline — to that generational legacy Nocturne produce Florida key to its characters . But it ’s also a parallel to the moments in their journey that Richter , and Trevor and Sypha before him , find themselves on at the sentence this musical lineage was called upon .
Screenshot: Netflix
Up to this point in Nocturne , Richter ’s understanding of the Belmonts ’ story was process with the cheeky dismissal of a immature , headstrong man : he bed he could struggle vampire , he acknowledge he was good at it , and that ’s all that mattered . Largely incognizant of the extent of the supernatural scourge his class had fight for hundred of years , Richter was content to isolate himself and his feelings , compartmentalise the traumatic decease of his mother , and largely remain uncaring about his position as the supposed last descendent of the Belmont Clan . Similarly , Trevor , Sypha , and Alucard had all spent much of Castlevania ’s second time of year wracked with their own doubts and isolation in regards to their legacy — Trevor ’s with the shamed Belmonts , Sypha having result her fellow Seekers behind , and Alucard with having to work with the inheritor of a family that exterminated his variety to slayhis brokenheartedness - stricken Father-God .
It ’s only truly in these moments of cathartic climax — both mark by a connexion to Castlevania ’s wider metatextual history — that Nocturne and Castlevania ’s submarine realize that their enduringness is their bonds with the people closest to them , an embracement of the connection to these grand stock , divine or otherwise , that can make them into the unspoiled versions of themselves . Just as “ Bloody Tears ” orchestrated a moment of Trevor , Sypha , and Alucard coming into their own as a unit of measurement , cut up their way through Dracula ’s hordes after a time of year of disunity , “ Divine Bloodlines ” becomes the hymn that sees Richter realize his own power , not just from his ascendent , but in the sexual love he has for the people in his lifetime .
As the dust settles and the divine gentle flames flicker out in the last moments of “ shamed Men to Be Judged ” , the shredding guitar of Toy and Morris ’ take on “ Divine Bloodlines ” give way to a mournful , choral rendition of the motif , and Richter and Juste contemplate what just unfolded . “ I do n’t know , ” Richter tells his grandfather of how he short found himself wield the charming might of the Belmont and Belnades bloodline so adeptly . “ Because it had to ? I have to last … there are people I love , ” he realise , re - confirm that the strong point he found in recognize this anew . Just as Trevor , Sypha , Alucard had done so before him , Richter finally read that partake his life sentence with others , both through his clan ’s legacy and through the multitude around him , is just as sinewy a strength as any martial peter or the bluster of youthfulness can be . That they all do so in a paralleled connection to , and sexual love of , Castlevania ’s musical history is one of Nocturne ’s smart , and most rewarding , explorations of its place in the serial publication ’ own animated pedigree
Screenshot: Netflix
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