Castlevania: Nocturne ending explained: Netflix spin-off recapped

Finally we got to explore the rollercoaster ride of Richter Belmont's quest to prevent the end of the world at the hands of Erzsebet Báthory and Drolta Tzuentes, two chillingly evil vampire warriors that have given Simon's encounter with Dracula in the original series a real run for its money.

There's a lot packed into the final episode of Castlevania: Nocturne, 'Devourer of Light', setting up a potential season 2 with a big introduction in the episode's closing moments that is sure to drive fans wild with speculation as to how Nocturne could continue.

Castlevania Nocturne ending explained: What happens to Erzsebet and Drolta?

As teased by the show's synopsis, the mysterious 'Vampire Messiah' is none other than Erzsebet Báthory, based on the real-life Hungarian noblewoman and murderer of a similar name. There is also a character that resembles Erzsebet in Castlevania: Bloodlines, but ultimately Erzsebet is a whole new creation for Nocturne.

Erzsebet seems set on following through with her promise to 'eat the sun', drinking the blood of none other than Sekhmet the Egyptian Goddess of war and medicine, but more notably, none other than the daughter of Ra, god of light, the sun, power. You name it, he ruled over it.

This allows her to become the aforementioned 'Devourer of Light' understandably putting Richter, Tera, Mizrak and Annette on the back-foot when it comes to defeating her. From there, she begins to wreck havoc on the town with her right-hand woman Drolta leading a nightmarish army of vampires and night creatures through the town, hunting down the quartet of heroes.

Does Maria Renard die?

By this time, we now know that Abbot Emmanuel, Maria's father, has formed an uneasy alliance with the vampires and is creating the night creatures through his Forgemaster Machine. Maria being probably the kindest and most optimistic character in Nocturne, tries one last time to reach out to him and pull him back to the good side - and he, of course, realizes he can use her to gain favor with his evil vampire boss, instead.

It's a complicated entanglement of sin, religion and morality - to Abbot, it seems that he can't have gone so far only to have gained nothing from it, and thus is pushed to the utter limits of humanity.

The gang arrive in order to rescue Maria and destroy the Forgemaker Machine once and for all, and although they're successful in preventing Maria's sacrifice as Abbot has a moment of clarity, Drolta soon arrives to put a spanner in the works. It's an incredible scene with every member of the team engaging in some kind of fray, whether that's Richter and Maria tag-teaming Drolta or Annette fending off the Night Creatures. It looks like success may actually be on the cards for them - until Erzsebet walks into the abbey.

Does Alucard appear in Castlevania: Nocturne?

With Erzsebet's now god-like appearance, everyone is easily tossed aside and left to watch as they assume the new-found Devourer of Light is there to finish what Abbot began and kill Maria.

However, Erzsebet has a much more sinister plan in store - she doesn't want to kill Maria, but in fact, wants to turn her into a vampire herself to add to her growing empire. Nobody has even an inch of power to stop this from happening, so Tera makes the ultimate sacrifice, offering herself up in place of Maria in order to give her daughter at least a chance of making it out of this nightmare alive. It's their only move, and Erzsebet is more than happy to take Tera instead as Abbot also loves her too, making her another worthy sacrifice.

As Tera is transformed by Erzsebet, Richter, Maria and Annette barely make their escape - only to get immediately jumped by Drolta and her gang of vampiric goons. We already know Richter can't take her on alone, and the trio are exhausted from what transpired in the abbey so his fate seems all but certain. That is, until a huge, silver sword slides straight through Drolta's chest, with the wielder revealed to be a slender, pale man.

Some fans will have recognized him immediately, but if you didn't, he simply tells the trio, "I am Alucard." Annette and Maria are essentially frozen to the spot, and even Richter is clearly in shock, having doubted Alucard's existence as a possibility. And it's on Alucard's return that Castlevania: Nocturne season 1 draws to a close, leaving us to wonder what possibly happens next.

Castlevania: Nocturne is available to watch on Netflix now. You can sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Find something to watch tonight with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our Fantasy hub for more news and features.

Like this? You might want to try Outlander. Available now on Lionsgate+.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.