The Animated Series' Creator Reveals Rosie and Alastor's Origin Tale Serves as a Huge Season 3 Tease
Devoted viewers of the show finally got a much-anticipated backstory in the second season's fourth episode, called “It's a Deal.” This installment is likely to prompt a lot of discussion and pose numerous inquiries about the nature of a certain demonic Overlord who appears significantly stronger than any character before realized. The new revelations include a glimpse into the human life of a beloved character before his demise and sentence to the underworld.
A Significant Hint for Upcoming Installments
The show's creator disclosed an inside detail about the episode – it acts as a major tease for season 3. Additionally, she provided more insight into the process of creating the human versions of her demonic cartoon figures.
Spoiler alert for the fourth episode of Hazbin Hotel, the show's second season.
In “It’s a Deal”, a look back discloses that popular character Alastor, the Radio Demon was a mass murderer in his human life. Knowing full well he was headed to the underworld, he made contact with the afterlife in advance to obtain a powerful role there. Rosie, the charismatic leader the cannibal faction in Hell, promised Alastor he would become “the most powerful Condemned Soul in Hell” in exchange for his eternal spirit.
This prompts the question: How is Rosie sufficiently strong to raise Alastor over all other Sinner Demons?
“The agreement between Rosie and Alastor is the initial building block in a much bigger story that encompasses a great deal, moving into season 3,” the showrunner states. “Obviously that is a perfect question: How is she that powerful? The answer might be various factors, but the revelation is in season 3. I'm very excited for fans to witness it.”
It is uncertain how long viewers will have to wait for Hazbin Hotel’s third season. The studios have green-lit the third and fourth seasons, but the showrunner often remarks that animated production is a time-consuming endeavor, and later seasons have no release dates yet. Still, she says holding off on specific information is a crucial aspect of maintaining the second season's focus in the right places.
“The challenge of any agreement with infernal beings, or narratives that have mysteries, is providing the audience just enough information to be like, Something's up here, and then unveiling that gradually, and allowing that be satisfying,” she comments. “So I am quite eager.”
Mysteries Resolved in The Next Season
The showrunner assures that the upcoming season will address the questions followers have been asking, such as why Rosie ordered Alastor to disappear for a seven-year period, which weakened his power in the infernal realm.
“The entire seven-year span, and the deals these individuals are making, and all that — it's feeding into a bigger narrative,” she reveals.
Meanwhile, the Rosie/Alastor backstory episode offers a further look into what the main characters of Sinner Demons looked like as humans, the second after viewing Sir Pentious’ historical mortal appearance in episode 2. She says that a lot of thought went into these character designs.
“The human versions of these personas carry so much weight,” she notes. “They vary from appearing quite distinct from their demon form to looking very similar. With the first character, the initial design we see, there was some internal discussion internally between choosing a design that symbolizes the character, versus selecting an option that's historically correct. We opted for creating a design that just seemed like it was him.”
She says the biggest debate over the mortal look of Pentious was his lengthy locks: “We were like, ‘Nobody really had extended hair like that in that historical period.’ But simultaneously, we believe the silhouette is so important, and we also just felt he appeared attractive. We were like, ‘This just feels right.’ We kind 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 create the mortal forms of these personas […] it's such a fun thing to explore and determine. I am looking forward for people to view additional of the appearances of the human versions.”
New episodes of Hazbin Hotel the second season drop on Wednesdays on the streaming service.
