Hazbin Hotel's Creator Reveals Rosie and Alastor's Backstory Serves as a Huge Season 3 Tease
Devoted fans of the series finally got a much-anticipated backstory in season 2's episode 4, called “It's a Deal.” This episode is likely to prompt extensive conversation and raise many questions about the essence of a certain demonic Overlord who seems far more powerful than anyone previously understood. These fresh disclosures include a glimpse into the human life of a fan-favorite character before his demise and condemnation to Hell.
A Significant Hint for Future Seasons
The series creator disclosed a secret about the episode – it serves as a huge hint for season 3. Additionally, she provided more insight into the process of creating the human versions of her infernal cartoon figures.
Warning: Spoilers for episode 4 of Hazbin Hotel, season 2.
In “It’s a Deal”, a flashback discloses that fan-favorite character Alastor the Radio Demon was a mass murderer in his human life. Being aware he was destined for Hell, he established communication with the afterlife in advance to obtain a strong position there. Rosie, the charismatic leader the cannibal faction in Hell, vowed Alastor he would become “the most powerful Sinner in Hell” in return for his eternal spirit.
This prompts an important query: In what way is this character powerful enough to elevate Alastor over every other Demonic Sinners?
“The agreement between Rosie and Alastor is the initial building block in a much bigger story that encompasses a great deal, leading into the third season,” the showrunner explains. “Clearly that is a perfect question: How is she that powerful? The solution could be various factors, but the revelation is in season three. I am thrilled for fans to witness it.”
It is uncertain the duration the audience will have to remain for Hazbin Hotel’s third season. The studios have green-lit the third and fourth seasons, but the showrunner frequently remarks that animation is a slow, lengthy process, and subsequent seasons are undated. Still, she says withholding on specific information is a crucial aspect of keeping season 2’s focus in the right places.
“The difficulty of any kind of deal with infernal beings, or stories that have mysteries, is giving the audience sufficient clues to be like, Something's up here, and then unveiling that as we go, and letting that be gratifying,” she says. “So I am quite eager.”
Mysteries Resolved in Season 3
The showrunner assures that season 3 will address the questions followers have been posing, such as why Rosie commanded Alastor to vanish for seven years, which diminished his influence in the infernal realm.
“The entire seven-year span, and the pacts these individuals are making, and everything — it contributes to a larger story,” she reveals.
In the meantime, the origin story episode offers another glimpse into what the main characters of Sinner Demons appeared as as humans, the second after seeing Sir Pentious’ Victorian-era human form in the second episode. The creator 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 range from appearing really different from their demon form to seeming very similar. With the first character, the initial design we see, there was some internal discussion within the team between going with a design that represents the personality, versus selecting an option that's very time-period accurate. We leaned toward creating something that just seemed like it was him.”
She says the primary controversy over Pentious’ human design was his lengthy locks: “We were like, ‘Nobody really had extended hair of that style in Victorian-era London.’ But simultaneously, we think the silhouette is extremely crucial, and we also just felt he looked good. We were like, ‘This seems correct.’ We sort of gave the excuse that he's a hermit, so he just let his hair grow out. So there's always a way. As we design the human versions of these personas […] it is a very enjoyable process to explore and figure out. I'm excited for fans to see more of what the human forms look like.”
Fresh installments of Hazbin Hotel season 2 are released on Wednesdays on the streaming service.
