This article contains spoilers for Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2.

If you count the two shows as one, Netflix's Castlevania franchise has been on the air for six seasons and eight years, with the second season of Castlevania: Nocturne marking the latest entry in the style video game adaptation by Powerhouse Animation. And yet, in all that time, the shows have left the critically-acclaimed and most beloved Castlevania game intact. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night completely reinvented the property when it hit the original PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1997. proper adaptation of that legendary game ... assuming the show gets renewed by Netflix.

Writing of X in October 2024, series director Samuel Dietz confirmed that the series was "going on hiatus until release and we find out if we're getting a renewal," adding, "if you want to see more Castlevania-quality shows, support S2 when it comes out!" The renewal in the modern era of streaming is always a bad proposition, especially on Netflix.That said, "Castlevania" has been far more successful than most in threading the needle. Its longevity is a true anomaly these days, and if Netflix sees fit to continue the story, Nocturne's third season could be a new high.

The end of Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2 wraps up many of the major storylines started in Season 1, including the terrifying reign of Erzebeth Báthory (Franka Potente), the Sekmet saga, and the will-they-won't-they dynamic between the Richters Belmont (Edward Blumel) and Annette (Tuzo Mbedu). At the same time, certain threads are deliberately left hanging, and they all point to Symphony of the Night.

The first Castlevania show is an adaptation of Castlevania 3 from the original Nintendo Entertainment System, with some additional plot elements borrowed from the PlayStation 2 game Curse of Darkness. Both games are prequels to the first two games in the franchise. Nocturne, on the other hand, takes a bit more liberty when it comes to its source material. Richter Belmont first entered gaming in 1993's Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, in which he battles a resurrected Dracula to save his love, Annette. However, bringing villains back to life time and time again is a riskier proposition on TV than in video games, so Nocturne wisely decided to create a new villain for Richter to face on the show.

Symphony of the Night takes place five years after Rondo. In that game, Richter disappears and Dracula's castle returns, prompting Alucard (James Callis in the Netflix series) to enter it and investigate. He confronts the mind-controlled Richter before battling his father Dracula again. Maria Renard (Pixie Davis on the Netflix show) also stands out.

The biggest barrier to Nocturne doing a Symphony of the Night story in Season 3 will be Dracula's return to the fold, in part because his Netflix voice Graham McTavish is pretty busy these days. Richter has a different villain to defeat in the first two seasons of Nocturne, but his character still arrives at the same basic place where we find him at the beginning of Symphony of the Night.

Several key pieces are set for "Castlevania: Nocturne' to finally tackle 'Symphony of the Night'. At the end of season 2, Richter and Annette get together, as they do in the games, and Richter leaves for some other part of the world, which may be the main material for his disappearance in the games. Meanwhile, Alucard decides to stay with Maria and Juste Belmont (Ian Glenn) in Paris, at least for now. It keeps him close to the action, as he is the main character of "Symphony".

The biggest unsolved thread in season two is the mysterious apparition looming in the background - a figure Olrox (Zan McLarnon) calls both "Old Coyote" and "Mephistopheles." Although not yet confirmed, it is possible that this character is Death (Malcolm McDowell) from Season 4 of Castlevania, an ancient being whose physical form was destroyed by Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage). Death plays a key role in "Symphony of the Night," and his possible presence in "Nocturne" season two might give us a glimpse of how the show might bring back some of those storylines.

Obviously, much of the plot of "Symphony" will have to be tweaked for the animated series. First of all, the actual action of a Castlevania game isn't enough to fill a season because it's mostly action. Richter's love for Annette may become what pushes him to a vulnerable place, or perhaps Maria has gotten in over her head back in France, triggering a desperate play.

It's hard to imagine Castlevania: Symphony of the Night without Dracula. That's the biggest gap Nocturne needs to fill to bring the game to life. But while his return at the beginning of Nocturne may have been too much, enough time has passed for the story to work now. Dracula hasn't been a primary character in the franchise for four seasons, and it's been hundreds of years in-universe since he was last thought to be alive.

The bigger question is how the show can make him a villain again if he was to return. While Dracula movies they usually make the big bad, by the time he dies in "Castlevania" he's really more of a tragic figure. The final scene of the original Castlevania series reveals that Death's attempt to bring Dracula and his wife Lisa (Emily Swallow) back from the dead has been successful, but not quite in the way he planned. The two return to Earth in their normal bodies and decide to live a peaceful life together, allowing Alucard to believe they are truly dead so he can move on. It is unclear if this resurrected Lisa still has mortal life, but Dracula would presumably still be alive during the events of Nocturne. Still, it's hard to imagine him enjoying the carnage on Earth again once he's reunited with his wife.

Regardless, we feel like we're on edge. If its predecessor is any indication, Nocturne won't run more than four seasons. You're not casting Richter Belmont as the new protagonist, and you're not planning to adapt Symphony of the Night, so the time is ripe.

The first two seasons of Castlevania: Nocturne are now streaming on Netflix.