Loki escapes a millennium of helpless captivity. Even the minor players here are caught in a state of flux: A whole issue is devoted to Charles Rowland dying and abandoning his unsatisfying old life. The Norse gods want to cheat Ragnarok and escape their paradigm the Japanese gods are incorporating new idols and reshaping themselves the demons want the independence they’ve never had. Lucifer abandons his eons-old rulership of hell to try something new. Morpheus is recovering from his captivity, facing up to the challenges of his newly empathetic state, and learning to let go of his overwhelming pride. Everyone here is in a state of profound identity shift. This book as a whole is about old mythologies, and their attempts to re-create or rescue themselves.

Ultimately, however, at God’s behest, he gives the key to the angels Remiel and Duma, who are ordered to take Lucifer’s place and maintain hell as a balance against heaven. It seems clear that no matter whom Dream gives the key, he will be making powerful enemies. Sure enough, representatives of a variety of pantheons and myths-from Faerie to the Norse gods to hell’s displaced demons-arrive in the Dreaming to demand the key for themselves. But when he arrives, Lucifer has sent all of hell’s denizens packing-Nada included-and he hands Morpheus the key to hell, in hopes that possessing it will destroy him. Dream decides to visit hell and free Nada, risking the wrath of Lucifer, whom he provoked and humiliated in book #1. (The seventh sibling, whose name has not yet been revealed, is referred to as “the prodigal,” and it’s implied that he abandoned his duties long ago.) Desire baits Dream by bringing up Nada, the lover he condemned to hell for spurning him rather than supporting Dream, Death confirms that he acted badly. Season Of Mists plot summary: When the Fates visit Destiny to prophecy about a major coming event, he gathers six of the seven Endless for a meeting: himself, Dream, Death, Desire, Despair, and Delirium.

The sandman vol 4 season of mists