The Animated Series' Showrunner Reveals Alastor and Rosie's Origin Tale Is a Major Season 3 Tease
Dedicated viewers of the show at last got a long-awaited origin story in the second season's fourth episode, called “It's a Deal.” This episode will probably spark a lot of discussion and raise many questions about the nature of one particular demon Overlord who appears far more powerful than anyone previously understood. The new revelations feature a glimpse into the human life of a beloved character prior to his death and sentence to Hell.
A Major Tease for Upcoming Installments
The series creator shared an inside detail about the episode – it serves as a major tease for the third season. Additionally, she provided more insight into the methodology of creating the human versions of her demonic animated characters.
Spoiler alert for episode 4 of Hazbin Hotel, the show's second season.
In the episode, a flashback reveals that fan-favorite personality Alastor the Radio Demon was a serial killer in his human life. Knowing full well he was destined for Hell, he established communication with the realm beyond beforehand to secure a strong position there. Rosie, the charismatic leader Hell’s cannibal community, vowed Alastor he would become “the strongest Condemned Soul in Hell” in return for his eternal spirit.
This prompts the question: In what way is Rosie sufficiently strong to elevate Alastor above all other Sinner Demons?
“The Rosie and Alastor deal is the first stepping stone in a much bigger story that involves a great deal, leading into the third season,” the showrunner explains. “Obviously that is a perfect question: How is she so strong? The answer might be many things, but the answer is in season three. I'm very excited for people to see it.”
There’s no telling how long the audience will have to wait for Hazbin Hotel’s third season. The studios have green-lit the third and fourth seasons, but the creator often notes that animation is a slow, lengthy process, and later seasons are undated. Still, she says withholding on those details is an important part of keeping the second season's attention where it belongs.
“The challenge of any kind of deal with infernal beings, or narratives that have enigmas, is giving people sufficient clues to be like, Something's up here, and then unveiling that as we go, and allowing that be satisfying,” she comments. “So I am quite eager.”
Mysteries Resolved in The Next Season
The creator promises that season 3 will tackle the questions fans have been posing, such as why Rosie commanded Alastor to disappear for a seven-year period, which diminished his power in the infernal realm.
“The whole seven years, and the pacts these individuals are making, and everything — it's feeding into a larger story,” she says.
In the meantime, the origin story episode provides another glimpse into what the core cast of Sinner Demons looked like as mortals, following after viewing another character's historical mortal appearance in the second episode. The creator explains that significant consideration went into these character designs.
“The human versions of these personas carry so much weight,” she notes. “They range from looking really different from their demon form to seeming very similar. With Pentious, the first one we see, there was some internal discussion within the team between going with something that represents the character, as opposed to going with an option that's very time-period accurate. We opted for making something that just felt like it was him.”
She mentions the primary controversy over the mortal look of Pentious was his long hair: “We were like, ‘Nobody typically had long hair like that in Victorian-era London.’ But at the same time, we believe the outline is extremely crucial, and we also just thought he looked good. We were like, ‘This just feels right.’ We sort of gave the excuse that he lived in seclusion, so he just let his hair grow out. So there's always a way. As we create the mortal forms of these characters […] it's such a fun thing to explore and figure out. I am looking forward for fans to see more of the appearances of the human versions.”
New episodes of Hazbin Hotel the second season drop on midweek on the streaming service.
