What You Need To Know About Dream's Lover In The Sandman
Note: This article contains spoilers for "The Sandman" comic series and Netflix adaptation.
With the long-gestating adaptation of "The Sandman" now streaming on Netflix, it is only a matter of time before we get confirmation of more explorations into the vast world of the acclaimed comics. After all, it's not like there is any shortage of stories that could be adapted for the screen; while the series primarily adapts the arcs of "Preludes & Nocturnes" and "The Doll's House," there are 12 arcs in total that make up the main series.
Many of these arcs are actually teased in the series, including one particularly heartbreaking one involving one of Dream's (Tom Sturridge) previous lovers. Yes, believe it or not, Dream has had a string of lovers over the thousands of years he's existed, ranging from Greek muses to queens. One of these queens was named Nada (Deborah Oyelade), who ruled over a thriving African city before she was banished to Hell. While appearing briefly in the show, she actually has quite the interesting story with Dream that is sure to come full circle if the show is renewed for more seasons.
Where, then, is the man for me?
In the prologue to "The Doll's House" arc in the original comics titled "Tales in the Sand," the story of Dream's affair with Nada is recounted as a fable. A grandfather and his grandson from an undisclosed African group travel two days to reach a very specific part of the desert. Once they arrive, the older man tells his grandson the tale of a beautiful city ruled over by Queen Nada. While successful as a queen, she wanted to share her power with a king, although she could not seem to find a worthy one.
That is, until a strange man entered the city one day. When Nada looked out her bedroom window, she locked eyes with him as he stared into the sky, instantly falling in love. Despite sending her army to go look for the stranger, he couldn't be found until a weaverbird told the Bird King that it had seen the man. For the bird's honesty, Nada promised that a weaverbird would forever be sacred and would never be harmed.
Mortals do not marry the Endless, my love
After traveling to the Dreamworld thanks to a berry dropped by the bird, the queen found out that the man she was searching for was Kai'ckul, the Dream Lord (played in the Netflix series by Ernest Kingsley Jr.). While this was supposed to be a joyous reveal, her realization that she fell in love with one of the Endless meant certain doom, so she tried to flee the Dreamworld. However, Nada eventually gave in to her love for Kai'ckul, making love with him in a scene that contains some of Gaiman's most romantic writing. Seriously, "and every living thing that could dream, dreamed of love" is top-tier romance.
Unfortunately, this time together comes at a gruesome price. After the two returned to the outskirts of Nada's city, it was struck by a massive fireball, obliterating the city into the desert the elder and his grandson are currently in. Realizing what she had done, Nada threw herself off of the cliff she and Kai'ckul stood on. When she arrived in the realm of Death, she pleaded with Kai'ckul to let her die. The story ends with the elder not finishing the story, but it is fairly obvious that Dream sent his lover to Hell in his anger, considering her appearance in "A Hope in Hell."
Will Nada ever be freed?
The first season of "The Sandman" ends without Nada being freed from her spot in Hell. However, it is important to know that she eventually does leave Lucifer's domain, just not in the way that people might expect.
In the epilogue to the comic arc "Seasons of Mist," Dream feels compelled to right some of his various wrongs throughout the millennia he's lived. One of these loose ends is his relationship with Nada, who appears with the Dreamlord, the latter in his Kai'ckul form. He apologizes to her for condemning her to Hell, to which she acts fairly appropriately; she calls him out for his passivity over leaving her in Hell for 10,000 years, then slapping him. This prompts Dream to give her an actual apology, which Nada accepts, although she tells him that she still does not want to be his queen. Dream's time with Nada ends when he reincarnates her into a newborn baby in Hong Kong, wishing her the best and promising never to forget her.
With this in mind, it's pretty likely that we won't be seeing the last of Nada. While her role in the series was pretty minuscule, the romance she shared with Dream plays a pivotal part in the character's lengthy life, and while it didn't originally have a happy ending, it is a satisfying one when it eventually comes.
The first season of "The Sandman" is streaming on Netflix.