The Animated Series' Creator Unveils Alastor and Rosie's Backstory Serves as a Huge Teaser for Season Three
Dedicated viewers of the show finally got a much-anticipated origin story in the second season's fourth episode, titled “It's a Deal.” This installment is likely to prompt a lot of discussion and pose numerous inquiries about the nature of one particular demon Overlord who seems far more powerful than anyone previously realized. The new revelations include a glimpse into the mortal existence of a fan-favorite character prior to his demise and condemnation to Hell.
A Major Tease for Upcoming Installments
The series creator disclosed a secret about the episode – it acts as a major tease for season 3. Additionally, she offered further details into the methodology of creating the human versions of her demonic cartoon figures.
Spoiler alert for episode 4 of Hazbin Hotel, the show's second season.
In “It’s a Deal”, a flashback discloses that popular personality Alastor the Radio Demon was a mass murderer in his mortal days. Knowing full well he was destined for Hell, he established communication with the afterlife in advance to secure a strong position in Hell. Rosie, who leads Hell’s cannibal community, vowed Alastor he would become “the strongest Condemned Soul in Hell” in exchange for his soul.
This prompts the question: How is this character sufficiently strong to raise Alastor over all other Sinner Demons?
“The Rosie and Alastor deal is the initial building block in a larger narrative that involves a great deal, leading into season 3,” the creator states. “Clearly that is an excellent question: How is she so strong? The answer could be many things, but the revelation is in season three. I'm very excited for people to see it.”
There’s no telling the duration viewers will have to remain for Hazbin Hotel’s third season. The studios have green-lit seasons 3 and 4, but the creator frequently notes that animation is a slow, lengthy process, and subsequent seasons have no release dates yet. Still, she says withholding on those details is a crucial aspect of keeping the second season's attention in the right places.
“The challenge of any agreement with demons, or narratives that have mysteries, is providing the audience sufficient clues to be like, Something's up here, and then revealing that gradually, and letting that be satisfying,” she comments. “So I'm very excited.”
Questions Answered in Season 3
The creator assures that season 3 will tackle the queries fans have been asking, such as why Rosie commanded Alastor to disappear for seven years, which weakened his influence in Hell.
“The whole seven years, and the deals these individuals are doing, and all that — it contributes to a larger story,” she says.
Meanwhile, the Rosie/Alastor backstory episode provides a further look into how the core cast of Sinner Demons appeared as as humans, the second after viewing another character's historical mortal appearance in the second episode. She says that a lot of thought was put into the visual creation of these forms.
“The mortal forms of the characters hold so much weight,” she notes. “They vary from appearing quite distinct from their demon form to looking almost identical. With Pentious, the initial design we see, there was some internal discussion internally between going with something that symbolizes the character, versus going with an option that's very time-period accurate. We leaned toward making a design that just felt like it was him.”
She mentions the biggest debate over Pentious’ human design was his lengthy locks: “We were like, ‘Nobody really had long hair of that style in that historical period.’ But at the same time, we believe the silhouette is so important, and we also just felt he appeared attractive. We were like, ‘This seems correct.’ 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 design the human versions of these characters […] it is a very enjoyable process to investigate and determine. I'm excited for people to view additional of what the human forms look like.”
New episodes of Hazbin Hotel season 2 are released on midweek on the streaming service.
