The Animated Series' Showrunner Unveils Alastor and Rosie's Origin Tale Is a Major Teaser for Season Three
Dedicated fans of the show at last got a much-anticipated origin story in season 2's fourth episode, titled “It's a Deal.” This installment will probably spark a lot of discussion and raise numerous questions about the essence of one particular demon Overlord who seems significantly stronger than anyone before understood. The new revelations feature a glimpse into the mortal existence of a beloved character prior to his demise and condemnation to the underworld.
A Significant Hint for Future Seasons
The show's creator disclosed 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 designing the mortal forms of her demonic animated characters.
Warning: Spoilers for episode 4 of Hazbin Hotel, the show's second season.
In the episode, a flashback discloses that popular personality Alastor the Radio Demon was a mass murderer in his mortal days. Being aware he was headed to the underworld, he established communication with the afterlife in advance to obtain a strong position there. Rosie, who leads Hell’s cannibal community, vowed Alastor he would become “the strongest Condemned Soul in Hell” in return for his eternal spirit.
This prompts the question: How is Rosie powerful enough to raise Alastor over all other Demonic Sinners?
“The agreement between Rosie and Alastor is the first stepping stone in a larger narrative that involves so much, moving into season 3,” the showrunner explains. “Obviously that is an excellent question: How is she that powerful? The solution might be various factors, but the answer is in season 3. I'm very excited for fans to witness it.”
There’s no telling how long viewers will have to wait for Hazbin Hotel’s next season. The studios have green-lit the third and fourth seasons, but the showrunner frequently remarks that animated production is a slow, lengthy process, and subsequent seasons are undated. Nevertheless, she says withholding on those details is a crucial aspect of keeping the second season's attention in the right places.
“The difficulty of any agreement with demons, or narratives that have mysteries, is giving the audience just enough information to be like, Something's up here, and then unveiling that gradually, and letting that be gratifying,” she says. “So I am quite eager.”
Mysteries Resolved in The Next Season
The showrunner assures that the upcoming season will tackle the questions fans have been asking, such as why the cannibal leader commanded Alastor to vanish for a seven-year period, which weakened his influence in Hell.
“The entire seven-year span, and the deals these individuals are doing, and all that — it's feeding into a larger story,” she reveals.
In the meantime, the Rosie/Alastor backstory episode provides a further look into what the core cast of Sinner Demons looked like as humans, the second after viewing another character's Victorian-era mortal appearance in the second episode. She explains that a lot of thought went into the visual creation of these forms.
“The mortal forms of these personas hold great significance,” she notes. “They range from looking quite distinct from their demon form to looking almost identical. With Pentious, the initial design we see, there was some internal discussion within the team between choosing something that symbolizes the personality, as opposed to selecting an option that's historically correct. We leaned toward creating something that just seemed like it was him.”
She mentions the biggest debate over the mortal look of Pentious was his lengthy locks: “We were like, ‘No one typically had long hair of that style in Victorian-era London.’ But at the same time, we believe the silhouette is extremely crucial, and we also just felt he appeared attractive. We were like, ‘This seems correct.’ We sort of provided the rationale that he lived in seclusion, so he just let his hair grow out. So there is always a solution. As we design the mortal forms of these personas […] it's such a fun thing to explore and figure out. I am looking forward for people to view additional of the appearances of the human versions.”
New episodes of Hazbin Hotel season 2 drop on midweek on Prime Video.
