As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
The Comics
Preludes and Nocturnes
- Lucien stayed at the ruined Castle of the Dreaming even when the Library disappeared because he was so loyal to Dream.
- "The Sound of Her Wings":
- Dream has a Heroic BSoD after dealing with John Dee and getting his items back. Feeling directionless, he whiles the time away feeding breadcrumbs to pigeons. Then his big sister Death appears, to ask how he's doing. She rips the bread out of his hands and tosses it at him out of her Anger Born of Worry. As she says, he ought to have sent distress calls, because she was worried sick about him, not to mention that his captors didn't follow the rules, so someone could have rescued him. Dream sincerely apologizes to Death for worrying her.
- Dream wants to talk with Death about the fact that she was the real target, and how lucky it was that the Burgesses had a poor grasp on magic. While Death brushing him off seems to be callous as she goes about her duties, it's actually her way of reassuring him about the near-miss. Capturing Dream was bad, as we saw, and had dire consequences with the Sleeping Sickness. But they didn't get Death. That's the important thing.
- Death is gentle with everyone that she has to reap. She allows a dying Jewish man to recite his prayers, compliments a comedian's routine, and caresses a baby that succumbed to SIDS.
The Doll's House
- Rose Walker and Gilbert's relationship. His Establishing Character Moment is he saves her from muggers after politely suggesting she "wants to keep her purse and her body". Then they go on a road trip to find her brother Jed, and he attempts to comfort her when the police find signs that Jed was abused by his relatives, who are now dead. Then, when they encounter the Corinthian at the "cereal" convention, Gilbert gives Rose Morpheus's name to recite in case of emergency, while he goes off to rescue Jed. If not for his actions, Rose would have died earlier, and on learning she is the Vortex, Gilbert turns himself in to Dream and offers to die in her place. When that fails, he apologizes to her and says she can stay in his realm, Fiddler's Green, after she dies. Rose afterward refuses to believe that he was just one of Dream's creations because then it would mean human lives are meaningless, and Gilbert wasn't meaningless.
- The issue "Men of Good Fortune": Dream is walking around with Death in 1389, and he meets a guy named Hob who says he's not going to die. Death and Dream share a brief smile, and Dream tells the guy he'll meet him again on this spot in a hundred years time. They do, and they keep meeting every hundred years. At their fifth meeting, Hob says he now has a theory about the real reason Dream gave him immortality: he feels that Dream has no friends, and is so lonely that Hob is the closest thing he has to one. Dream is insulted and leaves in a huff, while Hob yells after him that if he comes back in 100 years it'll be because they're friends, and for no other reason. Cut to a hundred years later. Hob is sitting down at a table and he looks up, and Dream is there.Hob: I... I wasn't sure you'd be coming.Dream: Really? I have always heard it was impolite to keep one's friends waiting.
- Even better: thanks to the introductory story arc, we know that Dream was in rather material danger of being physically incapable of making the appointment. One has to wonder how much he worried about the possibility of not making the centennial meeting while locked up in "the fishbowl". And despite having other concerns on escaping in the nick of time for the meeting, he made sure to make time to come anyway.
- Dream saying he cannot find it in his heart to punish Fiddler's Green, aka Gilbert, for his disobedience near the end of the arc. While it would have been a major Kick the Dog moment if he had done so (considering Fiddler's Green did nobody any harm through his actions and was a really nice guy), this is before a lot of Dream's Character Development, when viciously punishing an otherwise innocent person for slighting him would have been totally in-character (and comes soon after an ambiguous moment wherein he horribly punishes two other rogue dreams, and whether it was for any part they played in the torment of a child or simply because they "wantonly defied" his law during his absence, or he's being pragmatic about the latter leading to the former, is all left highly open to interpretation). While he had shown moments of affection before (mainly to Death and Hob Gadling), this is the first time he shows mercy and forgiveness.
- Jed Walker, after years of being separated from his mother Miranda and older sister Rose (with a good portion of that time spent with abusive relatives), is finally reunited with them by the end.
Dream Country
- "Calliope"
- Calliope and Dream had a bad breakup, owing to how cruelly he treated Orpheus. Then, he kicked Calliope out of the Dreaming when she showed interest in reconciling. She only sends a distress call to him out of desperation, since the Three Furies tell her that "Oneiros" is the only one that can break her bondage. Dream breaks free of the Burgesses' cage, gets his powers back, and starts to restore order. Then, he gets her distress signal. He comes.
- Their reunion is also bittersweet. Calliope at least has clothes and some dignity. She asks for his help. Dream shows that she didn't even have to ask; he would have done it regardless because he knows what it's like to be held captive against your will, subject to the whims of foolish humans.
- Considering that Richard Madoc raped his ex and used her, Dream's initial response to him is quite tame. He appears in Richard's home and politely asks him to release Calliope. Dream only brings out the big guns when Richard refuses, justifying that he needs Calliope for the ideas.
- Calliope regains her freedom, her status, and her standard Greek robes. She admits her time has passed in this world, but plans to enjoy it regardless. Calliope thanks Dream for freeing her, noting that he's much kinder now, and asks if they can rekindle their relationship. He gently turns her down, and she admits that it's probably for the best. Her only request is that he frees Richard Madoc from the curse of excessive ideas, saying that he's been punished enough. It shows how merciful Calliope is.
- "The Dream of a Thousand Cats":
- How Dream comforts the cat mother prophet whose kittens were drowned. He reveals that the souls of her kittens are in the Dreaming, safe and sound, and tells her that the world was not always this way. His dream to her gives her a new purpose, and hope that things could be different.
- Pretty much everything that Death does in "Facade" is this (not as strange as it sounds). For example, when she goes to comfort the suicidal Urania Blackwell, the following exchange ensues:Rainie: You've come for me? Blessed, merciful Death. You've come to make it all stop.Death: No, I haven't come for you, Rainie. [...] Like I said, I was passing, and I heard you crying, and, well, the door was open...
Season of Mists
- Both Desire and Death, the former more rudely and the latter more kindly, convince Dream that what he did to Nada was cruel. They point out that she had the right to turn him down because the rules about mortals and gods intermingling are in place for a reason. Dream is forced to admit that they were right, and prepares to go to Hell, literally, to rescue Nada.
- At the end, Lucifer has retired as ruler of Hell and is watching a sunset on the west coast of Australia. After a conversation with a dying old man who's also come to watch the sunset, Lucifer glances skyward to address God:"All right. I admit it. He's got a point. The sunsets are bloody marvelous, you old bastard. Satisfied?"
- Dream forgiving Nada and letting her go via her being reincarnated. More importantly, Nada forgiving Dream despite his condemning her to ten thousand years in Hell for defying him and bruising his pride.
A Game of You
- When Foxglove first finds out that Hazel is pregnant (it obviously isn't hers):Foxglove: What kind of relationship did we have, for Chrissakes? You're dumb, you know that? Dumb and selfish and, and deceitful, and secretive, and — and — and — dumb. (pause) Oh... shit. (pause) Do you know how much a baby's going to cost us? For a start we have to buy one of those dumb books full of names...Hazel: Fox? Fox, I do love you.Foxglove: Damn straight you do. Jerk.
- At the end, Barbie crosses out the deadname "Alvin" on Wanda's gravestone and writes "Wanda" above it. The few pages leading up to that moment count as well.
- Also, the very end, when Wanda (in her true form) and Death wave goodbye to Barbie in a dream.
- Earlier, Nuala admits she disobeyed Dream and warned Barbie about what was coming. Dream first curtly accepts it and walks away, then comes back and tells her she did the right thing.
Fables and Reflections
- Dream asks Johanna Constantine to fetch Orpheus's head from France. In the middle of the French Revolution. In return, he'll grant her a favor. Johanna and Orpheus find themselves as odd bedfellows, teaming up to escape Robespierre, who wants to destroy the head despite not believing that it's real. She hides the head in the catacombs, covers her ears when the revolutionaries investigate, and shouts for him to sing. Robespierre finds out the hard way that some of the worst myths are true, including that Orpheus could make harpies cry and Cerberus yield to him. Johanna then takes Orpheus to an island paradise, where caretakers will watch over him for all his immortality, per Dream's instructions. Orpheus recounts that his father abandoned him on a beach after he lost his body; he wonders if Dream has changed. Johanna doesn't know. She wishes him well, though.
- The stand-alone issue "Three Septembers and a January" is Based on a True Story: the tale of Joshua Norton, Emperor of the United States. In Sandman's version, Norton is at his lowest point, a poverty-stricken man on the point of suicide. He belongs to Despair now, and she challenges Dream to give Norton the will to live out his natural days without falling victim to Despair, Desire, or Delirium. Dream has to be goaded into "playing your game," but he wins effortlessly. Joshua Norton is inspired by a dream that stays with him the rest of his life.Despair: I hoped that you would come back to me, Joshua. But no. I would seem to have failed. You're a pitiful madman, a Tom O'Bedlam, dying in the gutter, in the rain. But you never despaired.Death: I've met a lot of kings, and emperors and heads of state in my time, Joshua. I've met them all. And you know something? I think I liked you best. [...] [That's] a great hat. Can I try it on?Joshua Norton was buried on Sunday, the 10th of January 1880. 10,000 people filed past the body, as it lay in state; and his funeral cortege was over two miles long.
- It should be noted that the last line is absolutely true,
and the figure of 10,000 is conservative. - Earlier in that story, the mutual respect between Norton and the Chinese gardener who serves as his "Lord Chamberlain", and Norton writing a decree for Mark Twain naming him official story-teller for the United States after hearing his friend talk about his frustrations with a story he's trying to write.
- It should be noted that the last line is absolutely true,
- The stand-alone The Parliament of Rooks features Abel telling a Disneyfied recount of how he and his brother ended up in the Dreaming, presented in a Super-Deformed art style. The tale shows how much he cares for Cain, even though he keeps murdering him.
- Something else that's worth mentioning is that Abel does not stutter at all when he's telling his story. It's nice to see him confident for once.
- Also: Baby Death and Baby Morpheus. D'aaawww...
- The entire issue really, since it's inhabitants of the Dreaming telling stories to a dreaming Daniel Hall.
- In the one-shot "Fear of Falling", collected in some printings of Fables and Reflections, Dream talking to Todd, a playwright paralyzed by fear as his latest play draws closer to the opening night, dating back to when he was falling in a dream as a child, felt certain that he would die for real if he died in the dream, and then woke up but lay there paralyzed for the night. In his present dream, Morpheus offers him some cryptic advice about Taking a Third Option, and then knocks him off a great height again. As a terrified Todd starts to fall, and prepares to wake himself up again, he remembers what Morpheus said. The next morning, he arrives at the theater his play is being held, with a new sense of confidence due to his experience in the dream, and explains why.Todd: Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall you fly.
Brief Lives
- Dream is shown to be good with children, as he has a polite conversation with a young girl named Chloe on the plane he and Delirium take to travel to the United States.
- After upsetting her, Dream apologizes to Delirium, when he's hardly ever apologized to anyone in his entire existence. She asks him if he likes her, to which he replies: "Yes, I suppose I must do, Delirium. You entertain me. And it distresses me to see you troubled."
- Death kissing Dream on the cheek, giving him comfort and a confidence boost after his most recent romance ended harshly.
- Delirium wants to visit Orpheus and say hello, even wanting to show him her dog. While the dog stays outside, Dream grants her request.
- Dream's breakdown when he realizes he has to go to Orpheus to find his brother, and the fact that despite his stubbornness, he DOES go, even though he knows it'll probably result in his son's death. Also from that segment, we have Delirium being sane to allow Dream a moment, and Destruction giving Delirium his dog.
The Kindly Ones
- One of the things Dream is shown doing during a busy week is entertaining and helping some siblings who are looking for their mother. He even gives them ice cream and exotic fruit for a snack. It's a very brief scene, but it once again shows how well Dream gets along with children.
- Matthew refusing to leave Dream's side when he goes to confront the Kindly Ones, and telling him how good it's been working for him.
- Death and Dream's exchange right before Dream dies to save his world. Death scolds him for what he's about to do, and he recalls their conversation in "The Sound of Her Wings" (her first appearance in the series), when she capped off a scold by throwing a loaf of bread at him, and reveals he's brought a loaf of bread in case she felt the need to do it again. Seeing their simple, sweet sibling relationship in this situation is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
The Wake
- At the end of The Wake, the Endless (sans Daniel-Dream and Destruction) are sitting around a table discussing the new Dream in anticipation of meeting him. Despair recalls how scared she was when she took her mantle, and professes that she will try to be kind. Destiny notes that they all will. Desire protests, saying that they ought to see how he shapes up first, but, well, Destiny has already spoken.
- Daniel!Dream ultimately forgiving Alexander Burgess and allowing him to return to the waking world.
- Likewise, his forgiveness of Lyta and giving her his protection since she was not sane during all of her actions in the previous story arc. It shows that Daniel!Dream intends to be nicer than Morpheus was, and it helps that Lyta later becomes The Atoner.
- Matthew's conversation with the new Dream, in which he decides what to do:Daniel: Have you decided what you want?
Matthew: I don't want to be your raven. I was his raven. It wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be the same.
Daniel: As you will.
Matthew: But, Jeez. You're just a kid. Well kinda. You're gonna need someone around to offer advice, bail you out when you're in trouble, all that. And ravens... well, we don't grow on trees.
Daniel: And what brought about this change of heart?
Matthew: You mean, is it because you told me you save my life? No. I had to make a speech about the boss, at the shindig... and while I was talking, I think I figured a few things out for myself... Funeral's over. Time to get on with our lives. Time to grow up. - Daniel-Dream frees Richard Madoc of his Writer's Block, feeling the time for his sentence has long passed. Madoc was institutionalized for writing his excess of ideas on the walls in his blood, permanently damaging his hands. He's still in a sanitarium, but starts writing again, for himself.
- Hob Gadling, forced to attend a Renaissance Fair where his new girlfriend is working, is going through a depressive funk because he knows from his dreams that his best friend is dead. As he mopes about, he comes across remembrances of his past lives, haunting him and making his mood worse. Death comes to visit him, and she lets him know the "game" she was playing with Dream to let Hob live as long as he wants is over, and he's free to accept her Gift if he chooses. Tempted by the idea that dying in a make-believe modern version of the time he was born in would be a funny way to go, Hob realizes he still wants to live, something Death is willing to let happen due to Dream's friendship with him. The comic ends with Hob celebrating by making love to his girlfriend in the rain and remembering a recent dream he had of Morpheus and Destruction walking together with him on the beach, foretelling a future meeting.
- Hob's girlfriend, an African-American woman, complains about how she never gets to play the role of Queen because the organizers think there were no black queens of England. Not only does Hob say he thinks she would be perfect for the role of Queen, but he counters the argument by pointing out Catherine of Aragon who was Spanish, which while not African (though he points out that she very well may have been since Spain had a sizeable African population at the time) was what would have been considered "black" at the time.History Lesson
- Moreover on Destruction, him briefly breaking his strictly mantained self-exile to meet Daniel-Dream, give him some advice and assure him he will do well. And, when he says goodbye, he predicts that, with all probability, they will see each other again.
Other
- In Endless Nights, after Delirium gets lost in her realm and Dream arranges a team to get her out, the family decide someone should watch her. Destruction then takes her under his wing for at least a while, as you see them camping in the next story. He broke his centuries-long self-imposed exile because his baby sister needed him.
- Death Talks About Life, an eight-page public awareness pamphlet about AIDS, presented by Death Herself (with some reluctant assistance from John Constantine and a banana).
- Death: The Time of Your Life:
- When Foxglove confesses to cheating on Hazel and no longer returning Hazel's constant faith and trust. This gives us the following exchange:
Hazel: Well, you always thought I was the stupid one. And I always thought I was the stupid one too. And then you say something like that.Foxglove: I said I didn't think I loved you...Hazel: I know. And you followed me into death because I needed you. What do you think love is?- Boris aka Endymion offers up his life in Alvie's place rather than let Foxglove die. He says that he was hired to protect her as a bodyguard, and it's "bollocks" when Death says that Foxglove already agreed to the sacrifice.
