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Hazbin Hotel S2 E2 "Storyteller"

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Hazbin Hotel Recap Index
Pre-Series: Pilot | "ADDICT" | Dirty Healings | A Day in the After Life
Season 1: Act 1: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | Act 2: 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Season 2: 1 | 2

Hazbin Hotel S2 E2 "Storyteller" Recap
"Now, tell your story."

"Okay. We—I—have to decide what action will be taken regarding how much of a threat Hell could be now. They know what they can do to us, and many of them will be wanting to take out their pain on us. Lute was correct in that; they have numbers and no reason not to rise up against us, but—I just—I don't want more—I need time to think of what should be done."
Sera

Heaven's foundations are shaken by Pentious' redemption, as the first redeemed Winner struggles to adapt to the new life he's been forced into. At the same time, Lute begins to plot her revenge against Charlie and the hotel, regardless of Sera's decision to prevent further bloodshed.


Tropes:

  • Anachronic Order: The episode ends with Emily going to tell Charlie about Pentious' redemption; Emily portaling to Hell was shown in the previous episode.
  • Anger Montage: During her Villain Song "Gravity", Lute ends up taking her anger and frustration on Adam's office, completely trashing it. And considering the sorry state of the office in the beginning, it implies that this isn't the first time she has done this.
  • Aside Glance: When calling Abel a "major pussy", Hallucination Adam briefly turns to the camera and clarifies to the audience that he's not referring to "the good kind" of pussy.
  • Believing Their Own Lies: This appears to be a huge flaw of Lute's, as she angrily claims that Pentious was a terrible person who deserved Hell and somehow tricked the system, unaware that he was vaporized by Adam himself as he tried to rescue his friends, thus atoning for his sins. She also believes that he was the one to kill Adam, and blames the Morningstar family for it, never mind that Charlie would have rather spared Adam, and it was Nifty who was the one to finish him off, making her retribution and revenge misplaced. Her hallucination of Adam similarly reinforces Lute's own idealized view of him, one who happily admits to not liking his son Abel and goading her to revenge (admittedly, Lute seems to be largely correct about all this; Adam was hardly a nuanced person), which puts Lute down a very dark path, destined to harm Charlie and Vaggie.
  • Berserk Button: While anger is Lute's de-facto emotion for the entire episode, she noticeably becomes very, very enraged looking when Emily states that Charlie was in fact right all along about redemption and warns Emily not to say that again.
  • Big "WHAT?!": Lute's reaction to finding out that Abel is the new head of the Exorcists, not her.
  • Bungled Suicide: For Black Comedy, Pentious finds Emily's attempts to cheer him up so grating and obnoxious (this combined with the depression he feels being separated from his friends), he puts a gun to his head to try and put himself out of his own misery (or even re-damn himself to Hell). This being Heaven, the gun is full of confetti instead of bullets.
  • Been There, Shaped History: It's revealed that Sir Pentious witnessed a woman being murdered by a client of his, a murderer who is implied to be Jack the Ripper. Sir Pentious knew he could have brought the man to justice and that he even knew who he was. But, whether for fear or apathy, never said anything, leading the killer’s spree to continue and his identity was never revealed to the public.
  • Brick Joke: And a massive one. Back in "Overture", at the beginning of their meeting, Adam asked Charlie to refer to him as "Dickmaster". In this context, it looked like one of the numerous jerk moves Adam used to annoy Charlie, and it already was the punchline of a joke. However, according to his office plaque in this episode, "Dickmaster" really was one of Adam's titles or nicknames.
  • Bystander Syndrome: Pentious reveals at his trial that he was an inventor in Victorian London who witnessed a woman being murdered by a Serial Killer (who's implied to be Jack the Ripper). Despite knowing who the killer was, Pentious did not alert the authorities even as the killer went on to claim five more victims. Whether through apathy or fear, he took it to his grave with great guilt and ended up in Hell.
  • Call-Back:
    • Back in "Welcome to Heaven", when Charlie said she was headed to a petting zoo, Vaggie told her to hug a koala. When Emily is trying to make Sir Pentious feel better, she brings up a koala as an option for cuddling, among others.
    • The Speaker of God's words to Sir Pentious when she states that the latter is redeemed mirror the requirements Adam pulled out of his ass for being redeemed in "Welcome to Heaven", indicating that unlike Adam, the Speaker does know (at least in this instance) what a Sinner needs to do to be redeemed.
  • Cassandra Truth: Sir Pentious is ironically just as baffled as Sera and the rest of the Angels as to how he ended up in Heaven (let alone how he's even still alive after Adam nuked him and his airship). Nobody believes him (save for Emily, whose belief that Sir Pentious has been redeemed is subsequently vindicated by the Speaker of God's arrival).
  • Cerebus Call-Back:
    • In "Masquerade", Husk offhandedly reveals that Pentious watches the other Hotel members in their sleep. This is revealed here to be a behavior from when he was still alive as a hermit inventor who watched people from his window to pretend that he had a social life.
    • In "Scrambled Eggs", Pentious confesses that he can't live without his Egg Boiz, becomes depressed when Vaggie insists on getting rid of them, and is overjoyed when she ultimately returns them. Learning that the Egg Boiz didn't join him in Heaven is almost as depressing to him as the fact that he's unable to return to his friends, leaving him completely alone in Heaven.
  • Courtroom Episode: The first part of the episode serves as one, as Sir Pentious has been taken into custody following his arrival in Sera's office. Heaven is trying to determine how a demon got in and what to do about him. Emily and the Speaker of God have to effectively serve as his divine advocates and the ensuing trial ultimately ends with Sir Pentious "cleared" of the charges, so to speak, and reluctantly welcomed into Heaven.
  • Didn't Think This Through: This episode reveals and explores another flaw of Charlie’s project: the redeemed Sinners can’t get back into Hell, at least for now. The point was to get Sinners into Heaven, sure, but Charlie also never considered the Sinners might be leaving people they care about behind. In this case, Sir Pentious formed close bonds with the Hotel group (and those friendships were why he was willing to sacrifice himself in the first place), and finds himself lonely since he can't get back to them. Admittedly, Pentious is the first case and the status quo is likely to change, so it's understandable that Charlie hadn't adequately planned for her redemption idea actually working.
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: More like talk back. The Speaker of God is, thus far, the highest ranking being in all of the Hellaverse whom even Sera must answer to. Despite this, Lute basically calls her judgement on Sir Pentious completely wrong and angrily states they should attack Hell instead. Sera quickly intervenes before Lute can say anything further to disrespect the Speaker.
  • Divine Intervention: The fact that they're all in Heaven aside, Pentious's trial seems to be going poorly until the Speaker of God shows up and explains how he came to be redeemed, silencing pretty much all dissent save for Lute.
  • Don't Explain the Joke: Abel notes the pun in Sir Pentious's name to St. Peter, who clearly got the joke long before he did.
  • Dramatically Missing the Point: Lute is unmoved by Sir Pentious's backstory, calling him a spineless coward for not preventing innocent women from being murdered by a serial killer and claims he shouldn't be allowed into Heaven for attempting a murder of his own by attacking Adam... who was in fact also murdering people, who Pentious was defending. Lute utterly fails to see any correlation between the murderer in Sir Pentious's story and Adam himself.
  • Driving Question: Continuing from the ending of season 1, why is Lilith in Heaven? What were the exact terms of the deal she cut with Adam? And why is she deliberately ignoring any and all of Charlie and Lucifer's attempts to contact her? Sera is aware of her presence and is furious that Lute would attempt to use her against Charlie, which suggests Lilith being there has a larger purpose than simply ducking out on her family for selfish reasons.
  • Dual-Meaning Chorus: The titular lyrics of "Like You" are intended by Emily at face value to be uplifting by pointing out how Pentious is so unique among Winners, but because they're deliberately phrased as "No one here is like you" it also sounds like she's unintentionally reinforcing the idea that Pentious is completely estranged from all the other Sinners who know and like him.
  • Epic Fail: Pentious builds a drill in an attempt to burrow out of Heaven, only for it to fall apart without so much as scratching the floor.
  • Even Evil Can Be Loved
    • While Sera is more antagonistic than evil and Emily still called her out for enabling the exterminations, she still loves Sera and even comforts her amidst Pentious' trial.
    • Abel is genuinely saddened by the passing of his dad, despite it being repeatedly pointed out that Adam didn’t like him.
    • While Adam was a murderous, vulgar, narcissistic ass to almost everyone that knew him, it's clear throughout the episode that Lute is absolutely wracked with grief over his death.
    • During "Gravity", Lute outright compares her love for Adam to Charlie and Vaggie's love, saying he was "the only soul who's ever completed her" with tears in her eyes.
  • Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Emily is willing to forgive Sera but glares at Lute with a look that implies even she doesn’t like her. Given the former is willing to see reason and the latter has only gotten worse, it's hard to blame her.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Due to her Black-and-White Insanity and overall mental instability caused by grief, Lute refuses to accept that Pentious redeemed himself by trying to protect his friends and Cherri, even after Speaker of God personally confirms this and welcomes him in Heaven.
  • Eye-Covering Surprise: Played for Laughs when Emily covers Sir Pentious's eyes as she's leading him to his new apartment, only for him to point out he's covered in eyes and can still see just fine.
  • Five-Second Foreshadowing: When the episode flashes back to when Sir Pentious was alive, the date and location is London 1888, immediately cluing in viewers who are knowledgable about a certain someone operating at that time...
  • Fluffy Cloud Heaven: Deconstructed. In "Like You", Emily, Abel and Peter end up describing Heaven in terms of how it basically appeals to their own sensibilities (everything is happy and cute), but to a reclusive inventor who is now isolated from everyone he loves like Pentious, their words of encouragement sound incredibly tone-deaf since he can't enjoy these things on their own.
    Emily, Peter and Abel: Scented candles, marshmallow ponies, discotheques!
    Pentious: Do you have enriched uranium?
    Emily, Peter and Abel: No! But we've got a unicorn polo stadium!
  • Freak Out: Lute has a crying breakdown in an alley after being forced by Sera to call off Lilith from stopping Charlie with her redemption plans, hyperventilating and screaming while using her metallic arm to punch the building so hard it leaves an indent. Immediately afterwards, her hallucinatory vision of Adam appears to confirm how far she's mentally fallen.
  • Freudian Excuse: Played Straight and Inverted. It's revealed that when he was alive, Sir Pentious was an introverted inventor from London, who, despite living alone and never coming out of his home to socialize with other people (he straight up called himself a "hermit"), loved to watch people outside of his window and living their lives like a viewer. When he saw a Serial Killer (a powerful client of his) kill a woman, he lacked the courage to say anything, even as the man went on to kill five more women. He carried the guilt of his inaction until he died and his soul ended up in Hell, where he became eviler due to the conviction that Sinners were "lost causes" that couldn't change for the better, until the day he met Charlie and decided to give the hotel's plan to redeem demons a shot. After being surrounded by people he could call friends and in a healthy, positive environment for six months, he sacrificed himself to protect them in the last episode of Season 1, partly because he wanted to atone for his inaction back when he was alive.
  • Funny Background Event: During "Like You", as Abel, Peter and Emily are singing, Sir Pentious in the background stealing random objects, which eventually segues into him building his makeshift drill.
  • Get Out!: Abel makes the mistake of interrupting Lute's feverish brooding when he goes to Adam's office to claim one of his father's guitars, which causes her to snap at him.
    Abel: Hey, Miss Lute! Can I call you that? Sorry to, uh, interrupt your, uh freaky in-the-dark time! I was hoping to maybe get one of my dad's old guitars, y'know? To remember him by?
    Lute: Get out.
    Abel: Sorry?
    Lute: GET OUUUUUUUT! [takes a swing at him with the guitar]
  • Gilded Cage: The more time that Pentious spends in Heaven, despite its literally infinite amenities and friendly atmosphere, he gradually realizes that the only thing he really wants is to see his friends in Hell again, which is impossible as he isn't allowed to leave Heaven due his new status as a Winner, in addition to the chaos his arrival has caused. The subtext of "Like You" leans into this, as while it's meant to be an uplifting Pep-Talk Song the lyrics end up reinforcing the idea that Pentious is completely alone and isolated from everyone he loves while also being an outsider in Heaven due to being the first redeemed soul.
    Emily, Peter, and Abel: You'll soon know us too well, since you can't go back to Hell!
    So wave your lonely days bye, you big, weird, lonely snake guy!
    Beagles, sprinkles, friendship! Guinea pigs, churros, pangolins!
    Everyone will like you, 'cause no one here is like you!
  • Given Name Reveal: Sir Pentious' real name is revealed to have been Pendleton, though he tells the Speaker of God that he chooses to go by Sir Pentious still.
  • Glurge Addict: Emily, Peter, and Abel are all this, as they get excited over the cutesy and saccharine aspects of Heaven during "Like You." Though the song is meant to cheer up Pentious, it does the opposite.
    Emily, Peter, and Abel: Beagles, sprinkles, friendship! Guinea pigs, churros, pangolins!
  • Hallucinations: After Lute has her attempts at revenge against Hell dashed by Sera, she begins hallucinating Adam, egging her on to act on her own.
  • Hauled Before a Senate Subcommittee: The episode opens with Pentious chained up before the grand Council of Angels and ordered to explain how he managed to attain Heaven, with everyone immediately suspicious of him before the Speaker of God is able to get him to reveal his past on Earth and how his Heroic Sacrifice in "The Show Must go On" was him amending the very mistake that lead him into Hell.
  • Headbutt of Love: The Speaker of God does this with Pentious as she thanks him for explaining how he was redeemed, soothing and comforting him as he breaks down in tears over a mixture of guilt from not stopping the serial killer while alive and angry determination at finally making up for it by sacrificing himself to protect his friends from Adam.
  • Heel Realization: Sera cries Tears of Remorse as she realizes she’s been enabling the exterminations for all these years when every soul she condemned could have been saved instead, and desires to have no further blood on her hands.
  • Hell of a Heaven: Sir Pentious struggles to find enjoyment in Heaven knowing he's separated from those he built up a relationship with back in Hell. Moreover, he starts the episode under interrogation while in chains, meaning he could have potentially been detained for up to a whole month as implied by Charlie in the previous episode. Not exactly a good first impression.
  • His Story Repeats Itself: Back when he was Pendleton, Sir Pentious watched from the sidelines as someone (implied to be Jack the Ripper) murdered five women. In Hell, Sir Pentious watched Adam about to murder the Hazbin Hotel staff (and especially Cherri Bomb), and made sure to risk his neck so this tragedy didn't happen again. Moreover, the woman who was murdered by Jack the Ripper had blond hair and a red outfit, matching Cherri Bomb's description.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard:
    • Lute’s extremism and psychotic hatred of Sinners were a boon and asset under Adam’s tenure as Exorcist leader; it’s why he selected her as his lieutenant and enjoyed her company. But those very qualities now end up being part of what tanks Lute’s confirmation as Adam’s permanent successor in favor of Abel. While nepotism is admittedly a factor, Sera also explicitly wants someone who’s more objective and level-headed for the current crisis – all qualities Lute has most certainly not demonstrated any time recently.
    • It also becomes clear during the trial and its aftermath that Lute's become too accustomed to her and Adam automatically getting their way on the Exterminations. They were able to bully Sera repeatedly because she felt it was the only path forward (and that control and influence is probably another reason why they kept the Exterminations secret from Heaven at large). But with Adam dead and the secret now out, the old status quo has been completely upended. When Lute falls back on those same tactics again, they don't work this time, because Sera's now found her spine. And when Lute then tries it on the rest of Angelic leadership — up to, and including the literal Speaker of God herself — it does no favors to her credibility and reputation.
  • Holding Hands: Upon seeing how stressed and upset Sera is in the court scene, Emily takes her hand to calm her down.
  • Immediate Self-Contradiction:
    • Emily conjures up facsimiles of the Egg Boiz to make Pentious feel better after she sees him trying to make a mechanical version. He immediately says he loves them. Then they start repeating "Eggy!" incessantly, and he downgrades that to "tolerate".
    • Lute says that Pentious killed Adam when it was the other way around, then soon says it was ''attempting" a murder when the Speaker plays a hologram of Adam striking Pentious down.
  • Innocently Insensitive
    • Emily enthusiastically reminds Sera that Sir Pentious was redeemed and didn’t force his way in, not knowing how much guilt and pressure it's making her feel over how if he could be redeemed, then that means that at least some of the victims of the Exorcists could have been redeemed as well.
    • Emily decides to try and lift Pentious' spirits by singing a song...which makes him horribly depressed because the song makes sure to mention a lot that he's alone and can't leave Heaven.
    • After a meeting with St. Peter and Abel, their parting comments that all of Heaven will follow whatever decision Sera makes in regards to Hell leaves her visibly haunted and burdened.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Lute's reasoning fluctuates between this and Revenge Before Reason. She tries to discredit Sir Pentious by saying that he was under the command of Luicifer, via proxy through Charlie. She then claims that Charlie was the one who called for redemption and somehow only found it by killing Adam, making sound as if all this is some kind of elaborate scheme by Charlie to undermine Heaven. Charlie's only goal was to help the Sinners reach Heaven to spare them more suffering and literally partition Heaven to help her, only to be refused several times. Adam and Lute, who didn't believe redemption was real at the time, then went the extra mile of trying to destroy the Hotel to squash the idea of redeeming Sinners outright.
  • Internal Deconstruction: The latter half of the episode deconstructs the series' main premise of redeeming Sinners by asking how a person who's made the very same emotional connections in Hell necessary in redeeming themselves would react to suddenly being separated from those connections. Pentious finds that despite being in literal Heaven, the fact that Emily is the only person who he can consider a friend leaves him feeling lonely and morose, especially since he's still unsure of the safety status of those left in Hell.
  • I Reject Your Reality: This is basically Lute's attitude during Sir Pentious' trial, and initially Sera's as well. They refuse to believe Sir Pentious was redeemed and reason instead that he somehow forced his way into Heaven. Even when Emily points out to Sera that they literally saw him ascend right in front of them, she can't accept it. Only when the Speaker of God confirms that Pentious is now a cleansed soul does Sera admit redemption is real. Lute, on the other hand, still refuses to listen due to her rage over Pentious having attempted to kill Adam. (Then again, it's pretty dubious if Lute would accept the truth about redemption in any context.)
  • I Take Offense to That Last One: Lute complains "some slimy fucker tricks fate into allowing him here," referring to Pentious. Pentious pouts, "I'm not that slimy."
  • Kick the Dog: While Abel didn't have a good relationship with his father, he at least wanted one of his guitars to remember him by now that he's gone. Lute responds by yelling at him to Get Out! of Adam's old office, which she just thrashed, and smashes the guitar she was holding out of spite.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Lute disrespects Sir Pentious, Abel, Saint Peter, and even The Speaker of God herself while ranting about how Hell is planning to get revenge on Heaven after Adam's death. Sera finally loses her temper and puts her in her place, revealing that despite her being Adam's second-in-command, leadership has passed to Abel because they feel he'll be a more even-headed leader. Lute has no choice but to call off Lilith before she can even act and is left wallowing in her own misery.
  • Late to the Punchline: Abel didn't realize Sir Pentious' name was a pun on "serpent" until Pentious just said it out loud.
  • Legacy Character: In a sense, with Adam's son Abel becoming the new head of the Exorcists, succeeding his father, and even wearing a mask near-identical to his.
  • Lockdown: At the end of the episode, Sera decides to seal Heaven off from the other realms for fear Hell may find a way to retaliate against them, now that they know angels can be killed. Emily barely gets out in time to tell Charlie about Pentious being in Heaven.
    Sera: Attention, citizens of Heaven. Winners, angels, and all who reside. Due to some recent concerns over Hell's rising tensions, it has been decided for everyone's safety that Heaven will be closed off from any other realms. Incoming souls will be put through security protocols, but nobody gets in or out without expressed permission. This is for the good of Heaven, and will protect us all. Thank you.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: The events of this episode make it clear retroactively that Emily didn't give Charlie the full picture when she teleported into Hell at the end of "New Pentious". Granted, Emily only had a limited window before Sera sealed off Heaven; Charlie got the essentials she absolutely needed to know. But this also means that while Charlie now knows Sir Pentious was redeemed and is still alive, she still doesn't know how. Charlie remains unaware of the exact mechanics of redemption and what the Hotel's workshops need to focus on specifically moving forward (facing one's greatest personal sin and demonstrating genuine growth).
  • Lower-Deck Episode: While "Welcome to Heaven" established Heaven, it still revolved around Charlie and Vaggie's conflicts with Sera and Adam as the antagonist. This episode plays much more thoroughly from the Sympathetic P.O.V. of Heaven's civilians and their responses to Sir Pentious' redemption, particularly Sera's and Lute's.
  • Mirror Character: Pentious' backstory has some reflections on Sera and her actions. While Pentious did not harm anyone directly, he felt tremendous guilt for allowing a serial killer to roam free when he could have stopped him and earns redemption by choosing to take action to stop Adam. Sera allowed Adam to continue Exterminations completely unhindered and refused to stop him. Now seeing that redemption is real, Sera is wrecked with guilt and makes vehemently clear to Lute that the Exorcists will not be committing the same atrocities again, but also still remains indecisive on taking action on how to deal with Hell.
  • Misplaced Retribution: Zigzagged with Lute. She understandably wants revenge on Charlie and the Hotel group for Adam’s death during the siege last Season. However, neither Charlie or Vaggie actually struck the killing blow; if anything, Charlie wanted to spare Adam and convinced Lucifer himself to stand down. It was Nifty who shanked Adam in the back — but Lute is completely ignoring that. Lute’s blaming Charlie and Charlie alone (though it’s also clear that blame’s an offshoot of her established psychotic obsession with Vaggie). Admittedly, Charlie was also the one who organized the Hotel's defense, armed Nifty, and ordered her to stab any Angel she saw; so Charlie is indirectly responsible for Adam's death, but even regarding how Adam picked the fight, it's clear that Lute's growing insanity means that she is twisting the facts to justify her vengeance.
  • Moral Myopia: Tautological Templar that she is, Lute is disgusted at the very idea that Sir Pentious can "win a ticket to Heaven" after letting murders happen and then attempting to commit one himself. Lute's very job is murdering Sinners indiscriminately for what she believes is for the good of Heaven, and she left at least one of her own for dead in Hell for contradicting these views.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: After accepting that redemption truly is possible, Sera is horrified by her own actions, as now she's left to wonder how many sinners that ended up being slaughtered could've been redeemed. Worse yet, Hell now knows that Angels can be killed, and they'd now have a justified reason to rise up against Heaven should they ever learn that the Exterminations were done in error, just like Sera feared.
  • My Greatest Second Chance: Pentious explains that his sacrifice attempting to kill Adam was him choosing to protect someone else at the cost of his own life. In life, he witnessed and knew the identity of a serial killer (Jack the Ripper, implicitly), who went on to kill five more times and escape judgment due to his silence, the guilt of which condemned him to Hell. Seeing the chance to do better in defense of Cherri Bomb (not to mention his other friends), he took it and redeemed his past sin.
    Sir Pentious: This time... I would do something.
  • Never My Fault: Sera takes full responsibility for her actions, but unfortunately, Lute refuses to, utterly convinced her barbarism was and is still justified and pinning the blame on Charlie, Lucifer, and Hell for Adam's death when it was the Exorcists who struck first.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: One of the trailers announcing Season 2 implied a war would break out between Heaven and Hell, notably using a shot of Sera walking between Exorcists slaughtering Sinners in Hell. This particular shot is taken from the "Sera's Confession" song, where it represents either a prior Extermination before Season 1 or is a metaphor for Sera's responsibility in the entire Extermination Day system.
  • Nepotism: Abel is made Commander of the Exorcists in the wake of Adam's death, rather than Lute, who was his second-in-command. This is explicitly noted to be partially because he's Adam's son, but Emily adds that they believed Abel would handle the situation more "fairly" than Lute. That being said, Abel is still unqualified for the role, being a non-confrontational person at heart. Lute's unhinged behavior in the courtroom didn't do her any favors, either.
  • No Romantic Resolution: While "The Show Must Go On" implied that Lute was in love with Adam, this episode all but confirms it, and that she never had a chance to tell him. Whether or not he already knew, or even reciprocated her feelings if he did, is left up to the viewer, but the hallucinatory Adam basically tells Lute that the answer and any possible chance of romance both died with him.
  • Not Me This Time: Invoked by St. Peter when Sera demands to know if he let Sir Pentious into Heaven. As Heaven's gatekeeper, St. Peter is understandably unhappy about this apparent security breach and how it reflects upon him, but swears he didn't. But he clearly can't figure out how Pentious did it either and is just as baffled.
  • Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: Heaven's Council is largely either angry at Sera for the exterminations and how she covered them up, panicking over Adam's death, or enquiring how Sir Pentious made his way into Heaven. Until the Speaker arrives, Emily is the Only Sane Woman.
  • Ominous Latin Chanting: Lute’s Villain Song, “Gravity”, has an ominous-sounding background chorus chanting Latin words in some parts, specifically “Sanctus Dominus”, “Ignis”, and “Gravitas”.
  • One Size Fits All: Sir Pentious's halo instantaneously changes position depending on whether or not he has his hat on.
  • Only Sane Woman: Before the Speaker appears, Emily is the only member of the council unambiguously on Sir Pentious's side and advocating talking to Charlie; the others largely either focus on Sera hiding the exterminations from them, panicking over Adam's death, or, in Lute's case, calling for bloody vengeance against all of Hell. However, she proves to be Only Sane by Comparison for the rest of the episode, as her oblivious hyper enthuasiasm over Charlie's redemption plan working don't help at all in soothing Sir Pentious or Sera's woes.
  • Origins Episode: Sir Pentious' trial serves as one, finally expanding upon his pre-established Victorian background and exploring what specifically he did to get damned to Hell originally.
  • Out of Focus: Since this episode is running parallel with "New Pentious", Charlie and the rest of the Hotel group are all absent. The focus is instead on Sir Pentious, picking up his and Heaven's storylines following the failed Extermination Day.
  • Out of the Frying Pan: This is how the beginning of the episode looks like from Sir Pentious' perspective. At the end of Season One, he was in Hell trying to defend himself and his friends from Angels who were trying to kill them all (and did when Adam nuked his airship). The good news is, he somehow survived... only he's now landed in Heaven and is surrounded by even more Angels who all still want to kill him. Not much of an upgrade, really.
  • Passed-Over Promotion: Lute assumed that she would automatically become the new commander of the Exorcists after Adam's death, but when referring to herself as such when talking to the Speaker she is floored to hear that Abel is the commander instead, partially because he's Adam's son and partially because they felt he could be more objective about the situation. She gets pissed, since she was Adam's "right hand" and Abel was The Un-Favourite to Adam.
  • Precision F-Strike: After having not sworn for the entire first season, even giving Charlie a disapproving look upon hearing her swear, Sera lets out an exasperated "Fuck" upon being forced to decide how Heaven should respond to Adam's death and Pentious' redemption.
  • Properly Paranoid: After seeing Lute's conduct during and after Sir Pentious' trial, Sera realizes the Exorcist lieutenant's going to be a problem (and it vindicates Abel's selection rather than confirming Lute as Adam's permanent successor). The breaking point is learning Lute went to Lilith (something she had no legal authority to do). Sera makes it explicitly clear that leadership has made its decision and if Lute pulls another runaround like that, it'll be considered an act of treason. However, Lute's subsequent scenes and "Gravity" make it clear Sera's not being paranoid enough; Lute hates Charlie and Vaggie more than she fears Sera's threats.
  • Queer Colors: Played for black comedy — the streamers that pop out of Pentious' gun when he tries to kill himself are blue, purple and pink, like the bisexual flag, which likely serves as a nod to Pentious himself being bi.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Though also posing as the Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering, the disputes from the Heavenly Court are mostly valid ones, as they calmly chide Sera for lying about the Exterminations, as well as her agency over souls who get into Heaven. Their first response to seeing a sinner in their realm is to also inquire whether he indeed redeemed himself or not, compared to Sera and Lute's immediate assumption that he somehow cheated the system or forced his way in.
  • Reformed, but Not Tamed: Downplayed. Pentious has had a full Heel–Face Turn, but he really does not like the saccharine environment of Heaven that much and mostly wants to see his old friends. He spends most of "Like You" stealing supplies and scheming to escape; they even work it into the song!
  • The Reveal: The exact mechanics of redemption are finally revealed and explored. It is possible, but it can't just be a token effort at being a better person. The Sinner must confront their greatest sin in life and atone by performing an act of contrition that completely absolves them of what caused their damnation. In Sir Pentious' case, it wasn't his Heroic Sacrifice on its own that did it. By facing down Adam to protect Cherri Bomb and the others, Sir Pentious was confronting his greatest sin — Bystander Syndrome in the face of evil slaughtering innocents — and refused to let history repeat itself. Sir Pentious faced his personal damnation, made the right choice this time, and that's what did it.
  • Revenge Ballad: Lute's duet with her hallucination of Adam, "Gravity", is about getting revenge on Charlie for Adam's death.
  • Revenge Myopia: Lute wants revenge on Charlie and anyone associated with her and the hotel for murdering Adam... in self defense from him trying to wipe the hotel out in the first place, an act that Lute herself completely sided with given her already long-brimming hatred for Vaggie. Sera had in fact already warned them what a petty act of spite this was in the last court hearing. She's so obsessed that she doesn't even mention Niffty, Adam's actual killer.
  • Reverse the Polarity: Pentious has a line in "Like You" where he declares his intent to return to Hell using his technological acumen by "gradat[ing] the voltage", "calibrat[ing] this lens", "Quantiz[ing] the frequency" and "up-driv[ing] the peak speed" on a Drill Tank he constructed.
  • Rule of Symbolism: During "Gravity":
    • In one shot, Lute stabs and tears through canvas while her other forearm rests on its surface. The perspective — with the knife-wielding hand in between the camera and her other arm — evokes the imagery of her cutting herself, alluding to the self-destructiveness of her rage.
    • Watch as Lute stabs and tears through a canvas painting, which is shown from its perspective, which eerily looks like she's killing somebody, with a wound-shaped tear, an early sign of her getting Ax-Crazy, determined to avenge Adam's death, starting with Charlie and Vaggie.
    • Observe the scene where hallucination Adam floats like a ghost on a shiv that Lute jabbed into the wall, and you'll see that when he floats through it, he finds himself exactly where he had been stabbed by Nifty, serving as a Call-Back.
  • Sanity Slippage: Lute, unable to cope with her grief at Adam's death, starts having hallucinations of him, which egg her on to take her revenge on the Morningstar family and their friends. The hallucination even acknowledges what it is, but that doesn't stop it from driving Lute further into revenge all the same.
  • Saying Too Much: While trying to make her last-ditch appeal to Sera, Lute becomes too caught up in her ranting and let's slip she's spoken to Lilith (something she didn't have the legal authority to do). When Lute admits she ordered Lilith to return to Hell to deal with her daughter, the last threads of Sera's patience with the Exorcist lieutenant snap.
  • See You in Hell: As Sir Pentious powers up his drill, he screams, "I'm coming, Cherri! I'll see you in Hell!" In this case, he means it quite literally.
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Sera condoned the exterminations out of fear of a potential uprising from Hell. In doing so, she gave them the means and motivation to actually do it, and now is confronted by the very real possibility that her mistake could bring war to Heaven.
  • Self-Serving Memory: During Sir Pentious' trial, Lute tells the court that Pentious killed Adam, ignoring the fact that she saw how Adam had killed him first, and it was Niffty who did him in after he was beaten to near-death by Lucifer, all in retaliation for Adam targeting Charlie and everyone in the Hotel out of pettiness. It doesn't help that Lute is too blinded by rage and revenge to think clearly.
  • Ship Tease: Abel visibly blushes when Emily defends him from Lute's vicious tirade.
  • Simultaneous Arcs: This episode takes place at the same time as the previous one, with Heaven's leadership deciding how to react to the aftermath of the war and Emily leaving at the end to give Charlie the Infodump we saw before. We also see Lilith decline the call Charlie tried to make to her.
  • Spanner in the Works: The ascendancy of Sir Pentious unwittingly torpedoes all of Lute's initial plans to return to Hell and revenge herself upon Charlie. In the aftermath of the siege, Heaven is reeling from Adam's death. Lute is fearmongering, trying to rally the senior leadership to strike Hell now before another uprising happens. Under different circumstances, and despite the scandal of the now-revealed Exterminations, she probably would have succeeded. But the apparent redemption of a demon, and the seeming vindication of Lucifer's daughter, is now the leadership’s focus. The complexity of this new situation also denies Lute a permanent confirmation as Adam's successor, as her extremism is deemed unsuitable for the current crisis.
  • Spiritual Antithesis:
    • "Like You" is effectively the anti-"Loser, Baby". Both songs deal with a depressed main character being given assurances that they’re not alone in their current situation; the difference lies in the subtext. With Husk and Angel Dust, the underlying message was “Things look bad, but you’re not alone.” Husk knew exactly what Angel Dust needed to hear. But with Emily and Sir Pentious, the underlying message is “Things look great, but you’re alone.” Emily completely misunderstood what Sir Pentious needed to hear, though she at least takes the hint that she's on the wrong track after seeing his reaction to it.
    • "Gravity" can also be seen as a dark reversal of "Out For Love". For Vaggie, Carmilla encouraged her to focus on her love for Charlie as a motivation without sullingly it with things like anger and vengeance, wheras Lute is giving herself entirely into her vengeance over Adam's death. Also, while Vaggie's love for Charlie is shown as a source of positive growth for her character, Lute's "love" for Adam is purely toxic in nature and results in her rejecting any change in herself.
  • Suicide as Comedy: As it dawns on him just how alone he is in Heaven, Pentious tries to shoot himself in the head with a pistol, only for it to shoot out harmless confetti and for him to curl up in the fetal position.
  • Tears of Remorse: Sera sheds these upon realizing Sir Pentious truly was redeemed.
  • That Man Is Dead: When the Speaker of God refers to Pentious by his old name of "Pendleton", he politely declines that name, proudly declaring that he goes by Sir Pentious now.
  • There Are No Therapists: The best Emily can think of to do for Sir Pentious' clear despair over being functionally cut off from every positive emotional contact he has had in life or death is to love bomb him with substitute minions she conjures, and painting the wall of his new room with images of his friends. Lute's loss-fueled rage does not even receive that much effort at addressing, despite her position as second-in-command of a still active Exorcist Army under an ill-suited replacement for Adam.
  • Title Drop: Upon being asked by Speaker of God to reveal his past, Sir Pentious admits that he's not a "storyteller".
  • Token Evil Teammate: While everyone else, even Sera, realizes just how vile the exterminations were and seeks to make peace, Lute is the sole exception.
  • Troubled Fetal Position: After he fails to escape Heaven conventionally and even attempted suicide proves pointless, Sir Pentious curls up in a ball and cries. Emily realizes then that perhaps her upbeat song did not have the intended effect.
  • The Un-Reveal: While the murderer that Pentious saw is heavily implied to be Jack the Ripper, it's never mentioned what the man's name was despite him being a client of Pentious, and we never see his face.
  • Villain Has a Point: While Lute's argument that Hell will seek vengeance on Heaven comes from a place of blind rage, she's not technically wrong. The Sinners absolutely want to fight back now that they know they can (albeit not in any sort of organized fashion), and the Vees in particular are conspiring to take over Heaven. Sera even admits that she's right and plans to protect Heaven by putting it on lockdown and sealing it from Hell.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Lute is already in a bad mood to start with, but as the trial of Pentious tilts in his favor, all her appeals to Heaven's leadership fall on deaf ears, and learning that Abel was promoted to the leader of the Exorcists and not her, causes a significant strain on her sanity, culminating in her Villain Song where she tears up Adam's office in a rage.
  • Villain Song: Lute’s song, "Gravity", where she expresses her desire for revenge against Charlie.
  • Wham Line: Sera and Lute's interaction following Sir Pentious' trial — specifically when Lilith comes up. This exchange confirms that it wasn't just Adam or Lute who knew of Lilith's presence in Heaven; senior leadership like Sera knew too. This confirmation furthers the mystery of why Lilith returned to Heaven, what kind of deal she cut with Adam, and why Heaven has tolerated her presence despite her role in Lucifer's downfall and corrupting humanity.
  • Wham Shot: Lilith is once again seen on the beach where Lute spoke to her in "The Show Must Go On", silently drinking some tea as she gets a text from Lute saying she's "off the hook for now". Then she gets Charlie's call during "New Pentious"... and promptly declines it, with her phone's screen showing that she's ignored a total of 38 calls from her daughter and literal hundreds from Lucifer.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Downplayed. It's not pointed out in the episode itself, but similarly to Eve's whereabouts, Abel's presence does raise an obvious question: if he's here, then where's Cain? Is Adam's firstborn elsewhere in Heaven off-screen, or is he down below in Hell for the sin of committing the first murder? Is it neither?

 
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Getting the Message

"New Pentious" and "Storyteller" takes place at the same time. Charlie makes a call which we see Lilith actively decline and Emily portals in at the end to update Charlie on heaven going into lockdown and Sir Pentious having ascended, synching the endings.

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5 (15 votes)

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Main / SimultaneousArcs

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