The Animated Series' Creator Reveals Rosie and Alastor's Backstory Serves as a Huge Teaser for Season Three
Dedicated fans of the show finally got a long-awaited backstory in the second season's fourth episode, titled “It's a Deal.” This installment is likely to prompt extensive conversation and raise numerous inquiries about the nature of a certain demonic Overlord who seems far more powerful than any character previously understood. These fresh disclosures feature a look into the human life of a beloved character before his death and condemnation to Hell.
A Significant Hint for Future Seasons
The series creator shared a secret about the episode – it serves as a huge hint for season 3. She also provided further details into the process of designing the human versions of her demonic cartoon figures.
Warning: Spoilers for the fourth episode of Hazbin Hotel, season 2.
In the episode, a flashback discloses that popular character Alastor the Radio Demon was a mass murderer in his mortal days. Knowing full well he was headed to the underworld, he established communication with the realm beyond beforehand to secure a strong position there. The charismatic leader, who leads Hell’s cannibal community, vowed Alastor he would become “the most powerful Condemned Soul in Hell” in return for his soul.
This raises the question: How is this character sufficiently strong to raise Alastor over all other Demonic Sinners?
“The agreement between Rosie and Alastor is the first stepping stone in a larger narrative that involves so much, moving into the third season,” the showrunner explains. “Obviously that is an excellent question: How is she so strong? The solution could be many things, but the answer is in season three. I'm very excited for people to witness it.”
It is uncertain the duration the audience will have to wait for Hazbin Hotel’s next season. The production companies have green-lit seasons 3 and 4, but the showrunner frequently notes that animation is a time-consuming endeavor, and later seasons are undated. Nevertheless, she states holding off on those details is a crucial aspect of keeping the second season's focus where it belongs.
“The challenge of any agreement with infernal beings, or stories that have mysteries, is providing the audience just enough information to be like, Something's up here, and then unveiling that as we go, and letting that be satisfying,” she comments. “So I am quite eager.”
Questions Answered in The Next Season
The showrunner assures that season 3 will tackle the queries followers have been posing, such as why the cannibal leader ordered Alastor to disappear for a seven-year period, which diminished his power in Hell.
“The whole seven years, and the deals these humans are making, and all that — it contributes to a larger story,” she says.
Meanwhile, the Rosie/Alastor backstory episode provides another glimpse into how the core cast of Demonic Sinners looked like as mortals, the second after viewing Sir Pentious’ Victorian-era human form in the second episode. The creator explains that significant consideration went into the visual creation of these forms.
“The human versions of these personas hold so much weight,” she notes. “They vary from looking really different from their infernal version to seeming very similar. With the first character, the first one we see, there was some internal discussion internally between going with a design that symbolizes the personality, versus selecting something that's historically correct. We leaned toward making a design that just seemed like it was him.”
She mentions the biggest debate over Pentious’ human design was his long hair: “We were like, ‘No one typically had long hair like that in Victorian-era London.’ But at the same time, we think the outline is extremely crucial, and we also just felt he appeared attractive. We were like, ‘This just feels right.’ We sort of provided the rationale that he lived in seclusion, so he just let his hair grow out. So there is always a solution. As we design the human versions of these characters […] it's such a fun thing to explore and figure out. I am looking forward for people to view additional of what the human forms look like.”
Fresh installments of Hazbin Hotel the second season are released on Wednesdays on the streaming service.
