The Sandman's Calliope ending explained, including that tragic twist (2024)

The Sandman 'Calliope' spoilers follow.

After Netflix accidentally leaked some bonus footage from The Sandman too early, this PR nightmare has now become a dream come true for fans worldwide who have been greeted with a surprise extra episode in their accounts.

As if that weren't dreamy enough, the episode in question is actually a double bill that adapts two of the most popular Sandman stories from the comics.

First up is 'A Dream of A Thousand Cats', which follows the story of some feisty felines who plot to overthrow mankind with the help of Dream himself in cat form. This animated short features some seriously impressive voice talent, including Good Omens stars David Tennant and ​​Michael Sheen, as well as Killing Eve's Sandra Oh and X-Men's James McAvoy.

Part two, titled 'Calliope', isn't exactly a snooze-fest when it comes to talent either thanks to the involvement of Doctor Who's Arthur Darvill and Sir Derek Jacobi, as well as Tom Sturridge who returns to play Morpheus himself.

This surprise appearance from the King of Dreams isn't just a throwaway cameo. In fact, Sturridge's role here sheds some crucial new light on who Morpheus is, and even helps explain some of the choices he made back in the main bulk of season one.

So who is Calliope, and perhaps even more intriguingly, who is this "son" that she and Morpheus speak of?

Who is Calliope, Dream's ex-wife?

The second part of this extra episode begins in August 2018 where we meet Richard Madoc, an author whose well of inspiration has truly run dry. Desperate to appease his agent and publisher alike, Rich ends up seeking the help of an older, more successful author named Erasmus Fry who lets him in on a little secret.

Many years ago, Jacobi's character happened upon Calliope, one of the Greek muses from ancient mythology. By burning her writing, Erasmus bonded Calliope to him forever, thereby keeping her captive so she could inspire his own work through magical means.

When Erasmus hands control over to Richard, Calliope is quick to remind him that she is "not a possession to be used and traded." With just one sentence, Madoc could easily free this daughter of Zeus and let her escape after all these years of torment and abuse.

But Richard, being a selfish man, decides to keep her as well, just like Erasmus did. And so Calliope turns to The Fates for help, desperate for her freedom. Unfortunately, they're even more useless than they were back in episode two when Morpheus asked them for the whereabouts of his tools.

Saying that, they do point out that "The Endless never fade," and there's one in particular who could prove quite useful to her cause...

It turns out that Morpheus and Calliope were close at one point, so close in fact that "she did bear his cub," as one of the Fates puts it. But the boy, named Orpheus, was "torn apart for his sacrilege." More on that later.

Calliope isn't really feeling this plan at first. "Dream will never help me... I would not accept his help." But when she learns that he was also held captive just recently, the youngest muse realises that Morpheus is now her only hope.

Upon seeing that the sleeping sickness has been lifted, Calliope calls out to her "former husband" for help, and Morpheus is quick to answer the call. After bonding over their mutual bondage, Sandman uses his gifts to curse Richard with "ideas in abundance" in a bid to free Calliope.

Eventually, Madoc is so overwhelmed with thoughts that he starts writing them out on the walls using his own blood. It's a great way to save electricity given the rising cost of living, but it's not so good for his health, so Richard does what he should have done all along and frees Calliope.

With her freedom won, the youngest Muse and her former lover reunite again to figure out where they're at with each other.

"In the old days, you would have left me here to rot without turning a hair..." says Calliope. "Do you still hate me for leaving you? For blaming you for what happened?"

“No," replies Morpheus. "I have learned much in recent times and... No matter. I do not hate you."

After Richard is released from his endless thoughts, at Calliope's request, no less, she asks Dream if she may visit him in the dream realm "so we can finally talk about our son and grieve him properly."

Morpheus struggles to answer Calliope, unable to bear the loss of his son, even now. But who is Orpheus, the child they had together, and how did he die? The answers to this lie in what might be the darkest chapter of Dream's history.

Who is Dream's son, Orpheus?

The way 'Calliope' plays out onscreen is almost identical to how this story unfolds in the comics, save for a few, less gruesome details. So, because of that, it seems safe to assume that much of the backstory that's being touched on here will eventually play out in the show as well.

It's certainly hinted at when the Fates mention Orpheus was "torn apart for his sacrilege." But what do they mean by that, exactly?

Neil Gaiman's comics first introduce Orpheus as a disembodied head in the 'Fables and Reflections' run. There, we learn that Orpheus rejected Dream, his father, because he refused to help save his bride Eurydice, who had just died from a snake bite. And why would he? Death is Dream's sister, after all, and he wouldn't want to disturb the natural order of things.

Without his father's help, Orpheus ventures into hell to retrieve his wife anyway. And just like in the Greek myths, his plan failed because he looked back at her before they left, breaking a key condition that was placed on this deal by Hades.

Stricken with grief, Orpheus chooses to live out the rest of his life alone. So when he encounters the bacchanal, the mad female worshippers of Dionysus, he refuses to join their rituals. In retaliation, they tear him apart, leaving only his severed head intact. And even then, Orpheus can never feel the sweet release of death because of the deals he made previously, which means he will now live on forever as a head and nothing more.

In classic Morpheus fashion, the King of Dreams eventually decides to do something about this, many, many centuries later. So in 1789, he approaches Lady Johanna Constantine — yep, that one — to retrieve the head of his son. Dream himself isn't able to interfere directly, so she's forced to fulfil this quest without him.

Eventually, Constantine succeeds, and with that, Orpheus is taken to an island named Naxos where Dream tasks an order of priests with looking after his son.

Interestingly enough, Naxos also happens to the final resting place of Lady Johanna Constantine, and Destruction, the so-called "Prodigal", also hid close by until Dream and Delirium eventually found him.

Orpheus remains on the island, protected by priests, until Dream visits him for the first time in centuries during the 'Brief Lives' arc. Emo Morpheus doesn't really want to, but he needs his son's help to find Destruction. Orpheus agrees, but on the condition that Dream kills him properly for good.

At the end, Morpheus does the deed and is then met by Despair and Delirium upon his exit from the temple. Where blood drops from his hands onto the ground, new flowers grow.

If The Sandman show continues long enough, it's entirely possible that we'll see this story play out in future seasons. But even if we never reach the tale of Orpheus in full, allusions to him in 'Calliope' are still vital to Dream's development as a character.

Much is made of the fact that he seems unfeeling, or at least, he did before he reconnected with humanity following his capture. But Morpheus was deeply connected to the waking world long before this too. If anything, he felt too much. It's because of these feelings that he fell in love with Calliope, and it's because of their love that he gained a son, only to lose him again.

When Calliope asks to visit Dream in his realm to talk about their son "and grieve him properly," Morpheus knows doing so will open him up again to the guilt and pain that he's been trying to suppress ever since he lost Orpheus.

That's why Calliope doesn't push Dream on this, knowing that he will need to figure out his own path first when it comes to their son.

It's no wonder that Morpheus finds it so hard to feel and express himself in this first season of the show. There's an unbearable amount of personal tragedy in his past that few could dream of, and that the show only begins to scratch the surface of.

The Sandman is now available to stream on Netflix.