The Untold Truth Of The Endless

"The Sandman" is, at heart, a family drama, centered around the Endless. Like all families, the Endless have their ups and downs. They snipe, reconcile, attack, and ignore each other, like all siblings do now and again. However, they are also godlike embodiments of certain universal constants. Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium have offices to uphold and cosmic purposes in the order of all things to serve. But they just can't have a nice family dinner together without getting into an epically nasty argument.

While Dream is the protagonist of "The Sandman," he's not a hero. He is, in fact, as petty and vengeful as his most quarrelsome siblings, Desire and Despair. Destruction vacated his position centuries ago. Destiny stays aloof. Delirium is eternally off in her own little world. And Death — mature, easygoing Death — sighs over it all. This complex web of relationships sets all manner of events in motion, which the legendary series explores with unforgettable poignance and style. But how, readers might be wondering, did the Endless come to be? What rules govern their unfathomable powers? How have their bonds shifted, strengthened, and broken over the eons? With the advent of Netflix's "Sandman" TV series, there's never been a better time to answer these questions. This is the untold truth of the Endless.

From her very first appearance in 1989's "The Sandman" #8, Death bucks all expectations. Instead of a terrifying skeleton wielding a scythe, she's an upbeat young woman with a taste for goth fashion. She scolds mopey Dream for not seeking her help when he was imprisoned, and for brooding when he should be happy to be free. Here, readers see how deeply she loves her brother, and how much she values fun.

Though Death is silly and friendly, she's also a professional who performs her eternal job with kindness and compassion. She's so empathetic, in fact, that she's the only member of the Endless who manages to get along with all her siblings — though she has no time for the kind of games Desire and Despair try to lure Dream into. However, every now and then, Death's curiosity leads her to make playfully interesting decisions, like when she makes Hob Gadling, a 14th century peasant, immortal.  

Death occasionally appears in the DC universe. In 2010's "Action Comics" #894, she checks in on a nearly-dead Lex Luthor. Elsewhere, Captain Atom encounters her in Purgatory along with the Fourth World embodiment of death, the Black Racer. Though no one's exactly happy to see her, she's an undeniably friendly face at the end of the road.

Readers are slowly introduced to every member of the Endless over the course of "The Sandman." Desire and Despair are key background characters in the "Doll's House" storyline, while Destiny and Delirium gain more spotlight during a family gathering towards the beginning of "Season of Mists." Here, a reference is made to a missing family member who left his office. Vague clues to his identity are dropped from time to time until he's fully introduced in a flashback in 1991's "Sandman Special" #1. This prodigal member of the Endless is Destruction.

Though he's often depicted wearing military regalia, Destruction isn't a war god — he's an agent of change. Sadly, change is indeed often brought about by war and the widespread death it causes. In the late 17th century, Destruction announced he had decided to quit his office. He saw the dawning of the Age of Reason, and understood it would lead to the devastation of the 20th century and the advent of nuclear warfare. Moreover, Destruction doesn't have to hold his office for destruction to occur — things fall apart all on their own. Why stick around to shepherd the misery of the modern age, then? His siblings find this objectionable, but he stays firm. 

In the years since his departure, Destruction has attempted to act contrary to his nature, pursuing poetry, painting, and other acts of creation. He has no talent for any of it.

We all want things, whether they're comfortable homes to call our own, romantic love, or personal fulfillment. When we can't have them, despair sets in. This is why moribund, terrifying Despair is Desire's twin. Despair is nearly always in cahoots with Desire: Together, they play wicked games meant to provoke and upset. But Despair isn't entirely without feelings. She openly laments Destruction's absence, and recalls that he could defuse family arguments with melancholy fondness. Moreover, when Dream dies, she speaks with genuine love at his funeral.

Despair's most memorable aspect, however, is her home. Every member of the Endless has their own realm, which reflects their nature. Dream has the Dreaming, which contains his dazzling castle. Desire lives in a huge, triumphant, flesh-and-blood statue of themselves called the Threshold. Destiny has his infinite garden. Depair's realm is one of the most visually arresting: It's an endless void filled with scores of windows. In the real world, every one of these windows is a mirror, which the despondent look into in the depths of their hopelessness. Gray-skinned Despair watches all of them, as patient as she is morose. This powerful metaphor for misery lingers long after the final page is turned.

In 2013's "The Sandman: Overture," Dream is faced with the consequences of a decision he made long ago. When he was young and inexperienced, he spared a dream vortex, who inherently broke down the barriers between people's dreams. He was eventually forced to destroy her world, but his lethal delay leads to a star's madness, which threatens to spread and eventually cause the end of all things. Thus, Dream concocts a plan to fix his mistake. It involves visiting his parents.

The Endless don't refer to each other as siblings out of ceremony — they actually are the children of two primordial forces. Their father is Time, the force that sets everything into motion. When Dream visits Time, his father is skeptical: Every time his children come to him, they want something. The only child Time isn't angry with is Destiny, who never bothers him. It was Time who gave the eldest of the Endless his Book of Souls.

Later, Dream visits his mother, Night. Night is the primordial void who existed before all things. Night offers to let Dream stay in her realm forever, shielding him from the end of the universe. But he refuses this offer, much to his mother's chagrin. Thus, Dream's scheme to get his parents back together in order to fix the universe fails — but at least "Sandman" fans finally got to meet the beings who spawned the fractious brood that is the Endless.

Neil Gaiman was once asked to describe the story of "The Sandman" in 25 words or less. He responded, "The Lord of Dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision." Though this leaves a lot out, it's pretty accurate. The experience of being imprisoned in the first arc forces Dream to slowly become more human over the course of the series. Eventually, Dream comes to understand that changing in this way prevents him from properly executing his office. In other words, he can't change, and respects his position and power too deeply to walk away, as Destruction has. Thus, he chooses death.

This plan is far more deeply rooted in the story than even the most diehard "Sandman" fans might realize. Early on, Dream lays claim to Daniel Hall, a mortal child born in his realm who will become his replacement. Puck and Loki eventually kidnap Daniel, as Dream might have suspected, given their cruel natures. Dream later agrees to help Delirium find Destruction, knowing he will have to kill his son Orpheus to do so. Spilling family blood incurs the wrath of the Furies, which results in Dream's death. Dream might be acting subconsciously, with intent, or something in between as he puts these events in motion. Death considers all these options before she takes her brother into the afterlife. But what is clear is that he cannot continue on, and that Daniel's humanity makes him an ideal successor.