The Animated Series' Creator Unveils Rosie and Alastor's Origin Tale Is a Major Season 3 Tease
Dedicated fans of the show finally received a long-awaited origin story in season 2's episode 4, called “It's a Deal.” This installment is likely to prompt extensive conversation and pose many inquiries about the nature of a certain demonic Overlord who seems significantly stronger than anyone before understood. The new revelations include a glimpse into the human life of a beloved character prior to his death and condemnation to the underworld.
A Major Tease for Future Seasons
The series creator shared a secret about “It's a Deal” – it acts as a major tease for season 3. She also offered further details into the process of creating the human versions of her infernal cartoon figures.
Warning: Spoilers for the fourth episode of Hazbin Hotel, the show's second season.
In “It’s a Deal”, a look back reveals that fan-favorite personality Alastor the Radio Demon was a serial killer in his human life. Being aware he was destined for Hell, he made contact with the realm beyond beforehand to secure a powerful role in Hell. Rosie, who leads the cannibal faction in Hell, vowed Alastor he would become “the strongest Condemned Soul in Hell” in return for his soul.
This prompts the question: In what way is this character sufficiently strong to elevate Alastor above every other Sinner Demons?
“The agreement between Rosie and Alastor is the first stepping stone in a much bigger story that involves a great deal, moving into the third season,” the creator states. “Clearly that is a perfect question: How is she so strong? The answer might be various factors, but the revelation is in season three. I am thrilled for fans to see it.”
There’s no telling the duration viewers will have to wait for Hazbin Hotel’s next season. The studios have green-lit the third and fourth seasons, but the showrunner often notes that animated production is a slow, lengthy process, and subsequent seasons have no release dates yet. Still, she says holding off on specific information is an important part of keeping the second season's focus where it belongs.
“The difficulty of any kind of deal with demons, or stories that have mysteries, is giving people sufficient clues to be like, Something's up here, and then revealing that as we go, and allowing that be gratifying,” she comments. “So I am quite eager.”
Questions Answered in Season 3
The creator promises that season 3 will address the queries followers have been posing, like why the cannibal leader commanded Alastor to disappear for seven years, which weakened his influence in Hell.
“The whole seven years, and the pacts these humans are doing, and everything — it contributes to a larger story,” she reveals.
Meanwhile, the Rosie/Alastor backstory episode offers a further look into what the core cast of Demonic Sinners appeared as as mortals, the second after viewing Sir Pentious’ historical mortal appearance in episode 2. She says that a lot of thought was put into these character designs.
“The human versions of these personas carry so much weight,” she says. “They vary from looking really different from their infernal version to looking very similar. With the first character, the first one we see, there was a little bit of a debate within the team between choosing something that symbolizes the personality, as opposed to going with something that's historically correct. We opted for creating something that just seemed like it was him.”
She mentions the biggest debate over Pentious’ human design was his long hair: “We were like, ‘Nobody typically had long hair like that in that historical period.’ But at the same time, we think the silhouette is extremely crucial, and we also just thought he looked good. We were like, ‘This just feels right.’ We kind of gave the excuse that he's a hermit, so he just allowed his hair to lengthen. So there is always a solution. As we create the mortal forms of these personas […] it's such a fun thing to explore and figure out. I'm excited for fans to view additional of what the human forms look like.”
New episodes of Hazbin Hotel season 2 drop on Wednesdays on the streaming service.
