The Ending Of Hazbin Hotel Season 1 Explained
Contains spoilers for "Hazbin Hotel" Season 1
Prime Video's R-rated animated series "Hazbin Hotel" is a blast of razzamatazz fun with zany characters and great songs — plus a big dose of sex, drugs, and violence. It follows Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen), the daughter of Lucifer (Jeremy Jordan) and his love, Lilith, the first woman, who created Hell after Lucifer was cast out of Heaven. Charlie has founded the Hazbin Hotel as a way to deal with Hell's overpopulation problem. The hotel is a halfway house where she'll rehabilitate souls until they're ready to check out of Hell and check into Heaven — or at least, that's what she's hoping.
She's joined in this endeavor by a handful of sinners. There's Charlie's girlfriend, Vaggie (Stephanie Beatriz), who wants Charlie to succeed for Charlie as much as for anyone else; Angel Dust (Blake Roman), Hell's most famous porn star, who's taken up residence at the Hotel, though he doesn't seem that committed to rehab; Husk (Keith David), the cat-person bartender, who hears everyone's stories and is not impressed; Niffty (Kimiko Glenn), the adorable, one-eyed housekeeper who likes to stab things; and Alastor (Amir Talai), the powerful radio demon who wants to help get the Hazbin Hotel up and running — but not for redeeming purposes. Just for, you know, funsies.
This ragtag crew is the first line of defense between Hell and Heaven's far more brutal annual Extermination where Adam (Alex Brightman) — yes, that Adam — and a bunch of angels kill demons. This is the world of "Hazbin Hotel," and it is glorious. Here's what happens at the end of Season 1.
What you need to remember about the plot of Hazbin Hotel
Season 1 of the series starts shortly after the last Extermination with Charlie being asked by Lucifer to go to a meeting with Heaven in his place. Charlie gladly goes, eager to tell Heaven about her idea for the Hazbin Hotel. But in the meeting with Adam, she's ignored and told the next Extermination will take place in six months instead of a year. The news is devastating, but most of the show's characters have better things to worry about.
For example, the Vees — the trio of Vox (Christian Borle), Valentino (Joel Perez), and Velvette (Lilli Cooper), television-related demons who hate radio — find out that Alastor is back after seven years for some unknown reason. The flat screen-faced Vox, in particular, is incensed and enlists Sir Pentious (Alex Brightman), a snake person and inventor, to pose as a hotel guest and spy on him so he can destroy Alastor's territory. Of course, Sir Pentious is found out in less than a day. While both Vox and some of the people at the hotel want to kill the intruder, Charlie ends up forgiving Sir Pentious and asking him to stay.
More importantly for the Hotel and all of Hell, it turns out Carmilla Carmine (Daphne Rubin-Vega), one of Hell's overlords, killed an exorcist angel during the last Extermination. While she wants to keep it quiet, the news is overheard by one of Sir Pentious' Egg Bois (Blake Roman), animated eggs who act as his minions, and the Egg Boi relays the news to Alastor.
The Extermination
The Extermination is still the driving force for Season 1, despite what others have been doing, and Charlie is preoccupied with it, so she begs Lucifer to arrange her another meeting with Heaven. He does, and she's excited to make her case again — but to Adam's higher-ups, who just might listen. She goes with Vaggie in tow and meets the seraphim, Sera (Patina Miller), the leader; and Emily (Shoba Narayan), a younger and more optimistic seraphim. While Charlie is out, Vaggie is confronted by Adam who knows Vaggie is a former exorcist angel who was attacked by his second-in-command, Lute (Jessica Vosk), and left for dead in a previous Extermination. Adam threatens Vaggie with exposure to get her to be on his side if he needs her but she disagrees.
During a trial to decide whether souls in Hell can be redeemed and ascend to Heaven, the angels admit that even they don't know why souls enter Heaven. Meanwhile, Adam reveals the Exterminations to everyone, which Sera had told him to keep between them — and Emily is surprised and angry with Sera. Adam sends Charlie and Vaggie back to Hell after telling Charlie who Vaggie really is, and that, when he comes for the next Extermination in a month, he'll target the Hotel first. Charlie is devastated by both pieces of news.
What happened at the end of Hazbin Hotel Season 1?
At the end of Season 1, Alastor tells Charlie the news about Carmilla Carmine's ability to kill exorcists. Charlie tells Vaggie to go to Carmilla to get her help, while Charlie — who's hurt by Vaggie's deception — and Alastor seek out the help of the sinners in Cannibal Town. Both accomplish their goals: Charlie recruits all of Cannibal Town and Vaggie learns how to fight with the weapons of Heaven, the only thing that can kill angels. Back at the Hotel, Vaggie and Charlie make up and enter the building to find everyone getting ready for the battle.
The day comes and it's all-out war. Alastor confronts Adam and almost wins, but then Adam turns the tables on him, and Alastor barely escapes. Sir Pentious attempts to take out Adam but is vanquished. Vaggie crushes Lute under rubble and lets her live, but Lute tears off her arm and escapes to continue her attacks. Meanwhile, Charlie confronts Adam only to see Lucifer arrive to help his daughter. While Lucifer easily overpowers Adam, he lets him go at Charlie's behest, only for Niffty to stab him to death. With the death of Adam, Lute and the other exorcists retreat.
In Hell, Charlie and her friends rebuild the Hotel. Meanwhile, Sir Pentious arrives in Heaven as an angel and Lute goes to see Lilith, who she says must go down to Hell and talk to Charlie if she wishes to stay in Heaven.
What the ending of Hazbin Hotel Season 1 could mean for Season 2
While the ending of Season 1 seems like good news for Charlie and her pals, that could be temporary. First, Lute, Adam's second-in-command, is mad as hell after what happened during the Extermination and won't take this lying down. Her first line of attack is to send Lilith, whom Charlie hasn't seen in seven years, down to Hell to convince Charlie that the Exterminations should go on. This could make for one of the most interesting stories of "Hazbin Hotel" Season 2.
While Charlie always relied on her mother over her father, it turns out her mother is the one who abandoned her. While that's bad enough, Lilith also has people in Heaven to appease, therefore, Lilith won't be trustworthy when she comes back. This could be a problem considering Charlie trusts everyone. Lilith can easily worm her way into Charlie's life and sabotage her Hotel and Charlie won't expect it because she's her mother. As a result, Lilith could be an insidious force in the next season.
Also, there's the matter of Sir Pentious, who's now in Heaven. While the seraphim Emily is thrilled to see him, Sir Pentious is flabbergasted and his friends in Hell have no idea. But his acceptance into Heaven could be big news for proving the value of the Hazbin Hotel, and when the folks in Hell find out, it could get many other sinners to try the Hotel. Not to mention, Sir Pentious in Heaven could be a powerful force for convincing more angels that Charlie's Hotel is better than Heaven's Exterminations.
Who's Alastor's deal with and what's it about?
One of the most interesting storylines in "Hazbin Hotel" Season 1 is about Alastor. While it's only mentioned twice throughout the season, it turns out Alastor has made a deal for his soul with some unknown entity. That could be why he was gone for seven years, or it could be why he's back now. It's hard to say, but we're sure the person who holds his deal fits in some place essential.
The question is who that person could be. It seems the only one who knows about Alastor's deal is Husk, and Alastor holds a contract for Husk's soul, so he has him sworn to secrecy. While the other overlords might be responsible, when Alastor meets with them, none of them seem to know about his pact, so it's probably someone else. It's also hard to know what the agreement could have been for and what he had to do for it. For instance, if Alastor made a deal to come back from some indescribable place after seven years, could the person he made the deal with be responsible for getting him involved in the Hotel in return?
It could be that Alastor's deal is with Lilith and her ability to get the arrangement with Alastor is what got her into Heaven. After all, both Lilith and Alastor had been gone for seven years and only Alastor came back. It's all very mysterious, but Season 2 may provide some answers.
What is Vox's plan to take over Alastor's territory?
During Season 1, Vox has been crystal clear about his hatred of Alastor and his desire to take whatever Alastor has ... and then some. In fact, Vox has a plan to take over the entirety of Hell. Of course, the Vees are overlords and could take over territory if they wanted to, but they're going up against a lot of other overlords, including Alastor, who wouldn't be too happy with Vox and the other Vees. However, with Vox's magical television technology, it could be done. We've seen his TV scramble sinners' brains, making them compliant. So his plan could be to use his technology to get most of the sinners in Hell to rise up and fight for him until he owns all of it.
He has a special vendetta against Alastor though, and therefore could be especially hard on the Hazbin Hotel. Perhaps he'll harness his forces to destroy it. With Charlie and her friends there, however, Vox and his sinners could face a run for their money. After all, Charlie and her gang have confronted people who wanted to destroy them before and won; specifically the angels from Heaven in the Extermination. But Vox just might have the element of surprise on his side to ensure he wins.
Why can demons and angels die in Hazbin Hotel?
"Hazbin Hotel" takes place in Heaven and Hell, which we've all learned about from the Bible, the Koran, or pop culture. While "Hazbin Hotel" makes up a majority of its story, Lucifer and Lilith are figures in Jewish and Christian biblical stories. On the other hand, a majority of the story is totally made up, including the angels' and demons' ability to die. But that opens up the question of how anyone in Heaven and Hell can die in the show. After all, Heaven and Hell are the places you go after you die, so to die in Heaven or Hell would mean you'd have a second death, and according to the lore of "Hazbin Hotel," this one would be permanent.
From the show, we've learned that only an angel's blade can kill an angel. However, it seems that it's far easier to kill demons — just cause enough damage and a demon will be destroyed. But it's hard to understand why demons and angels can be killed at all. It could be a convenient way to understand the brutality of Heaven. After all, Exterminating sinners is harsh even if it's the most expedient way to control the population of Hell. In the end, it could be the easiest way to inject stakes into the show. After all, if any of the characters could die, it's far more scary than if they stay alive no matter what.
What about God in Hazbin Hotel?
We haven't heard much from God in "Hazbin Hotel" and no one's mentioned Him in Season 1. But one of the things we know about Heaven from biblical stories is that God is responsible for who gets in. So could God be part of the story of "Hazbin Hotel"? It doesn't really seem like he's much of a consideration in the show. When it comes to Heaven, so far we've met Saint Peter, the Seraphim, Adam and the exorcists, and the people of Heaven. And when Charlie tells the story of Lucifer and Lilith in the first episode, she says that Heaven is ruled by angels, not God. So it's possible God will never be a part of ”'Hazbin Hotel" because God doesn't exist in this universe.
However, God is a pretty big deal in most religious stories so it's possible the show is just saving Him for a big reveal. Maybe he outsourced most of the inter-workings of Heaven to the angels and when the chips are down He'll finally make His entrance. While there is currently no indication he'll be a part of the show, it's still unlikely we can count Him out entirely.
What creator Vivienne Medrano said about the ending and Season 2
Vivienne Medrano is the creator behind "Hazbin Hotel." She's also the director, sometimes-writer, and producer of the show. As a result, her fingerprints are all over it, and she has some especially noteworthy things to say about it. Of the finale, she told Screen Rant she's especially excited for fans to see Sir Pentious' demise: "It is a genuine build-up and it's so fun ... I think that moment I'm really excited to see people react to because ... they're going to see that moment and freak out and not realize until the end [that Pentious is in Heaven]."
Medrano also had some thrilling things to say about the second season. For instance, "the Lilith narrative is — hands down — my most excited — like I'm so excited to get into that story, but it is also the big mystery of the show. So it needs some time ... that's the first big reveal."
Also, she had this to say about Vox and the Vees: "I think it's made pretty clear in the ending episode that the Vees are going to be a bigger part of Season 2. So I'm very excited because Season 2, yes, definitely centers around the Vees and Vox specifically. And it's going to get into much more of his relationship with Alastor, how it got there, and how, with Vox being the threat, how that affects Alastor and the other characters in the hotel."
Is Season 2 coming?
Prime Video initially ordered "Hazbin Hotel" for two seasons, so it's been known that Season 2 was coming ever since the show was first announced in September 2023. So the question isn't so much if it will continue but when. After all, there was quite a delay between when the pilot came out on YouTube in 2019 and when the first season hit Prime Video in January 2024. So when could we get "Hazbin Hotel" Season 2?
Well, good news on that front. Vivienne Medrano, the creator of "Hazbin Hotel," said, "Definitely not as long. I'm a big advocate for letting things take the time they need. And production, I literally actually don't know the projected release date or aim or anything like that, but roughly Season 1 took about one-and-a-half, two years. So I think it's probably similar, just because we are in the early stages. However, that's not nearly as long of a wait, and that's kind of a normal wait for animation."
So there you have it. Not only is Season 2 coming but it shouldn't take quite as long as the period from the pilot's release to the series' release. Still, one-and-a-half to two years is a while, so let's hope for the shorter end of that spread.