One of the best surprises from “The Sandman” season 1 was learning Gilbert’s real identity, but there were numerous hints leading up to it. The beloved DC Comics graphic novel series by Neil Gaiman is finally brought to life in Netflix’s “The Sandman.” Tom Sturridge plays Morpheus, also known as Dream of the Endless, Kirby Howell-Baptiste plays Death, Jenna Coleman plays Johanna Constantine, Gwendoline Christie plays Lucifer Morningstar, and Boyd Holbrook plays The Corinthian in the adaptation of the first two Sandman collected volumes, Preludes and Nocturnes, and The Doll’s House. Additionally, Stephen Fry joins the cast as Gilbert, Rose Walker’s devoted friend (Vanesu Samunyai).
Season 1 of “The Sandman” begins with Morpheus being captured and imprisoned by the British warlock Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance), which sparks a crisis of epic proportions. Burgess, the self-styled Magus, wanted to capture Death, but instead, he imprisoned Dream for more than a century, resulting in a widespread sleeping disorder that affected millions of people. When Morpheus was eventually able to flee, he saw that the Dreaming had been devastated and that many dreams and nightmares had left the domain of sleep. After Dream of the Endless corrected the Dreaming, Gault (Andi Osho), The Corinthian, and Fiddler’s Green were three important Arcana that did not return. Gilbert defended his friend and identified himself as the lost Fiddler’s Green when Rose Walker was revealed to be the current-era version of the Dream Vortex that Dream must destroy to rescue both the Dreaming and the waking world.
A location within the Dreaming, Fiddler’s Green is a lush, green expanse of trees, rivers, and meadows. There is no reason to believe Fiddler’s Green is hiding out on Earth as Gilbert, but plenty of hints made Fiddler’s Green’s identity evident to those paying attention and motivated to figure it out. The first clue in “The Sandman“ season 1 is the unmistakable fact that Gilbert always appears wearing green; his 19th-century-inspired attire and frock coat are shades of verdant. Gilbert is the only one Rose doesn’t enter when she first has access to her housemates’ dreams thanks to her abilities as the Dream Vortex; this is probably because Gilbert is a dream himself and doesn’t require sleep. Gilbert reveals the Gilbert persona is a fiction developed from the books Fiddler’s Green’s reads when Rose remarks that he “sounds English” while they are traveling to Georgia to look for Rose’s younger brother Jed (Eddie Karanja). Gilbert and The Corinthian finally run with each other at the Cereal Convention, which prompts Fiddler’s Green to head back to the Dreaming and make amends to his Lord Morpheus for leaving.
How Fiddler’s Green Changed His Name to Gilbert and Left The Dreaming
Fiddler’s Green departed the Dreaming out of interest in people, unlike The Corinthian, who had a sinister plan to exploit people’s baser instincts and gave rise to a legion of killers modeled after the nightmare. The inhabitants of the Dreaming were left without their lord and master due to Dream’s captivity, and they were unaware of the possibility of Morpheus’s return. Fiddler’s Green left the Dreaming for the waking world to assume human form and experience what it is like to be a human. To rent the attic space in Hal’s (John Cameron Mitchell) boarding house in Cape Kennedy, Florida, Fiddler’s Green assumed the identity of Gilbert. Fiddler’s Green, who was a dream himself, was probably forced to do it because Rose Walker was the Dream Vortex, and he was pulled to her.
After “The Sandman” season 1, Fiddler’s Green returned to the Dreaming and transformed once more into a lush woodland. Because Fiddler’s Green’s sacrifice for Rose Walker moved Morpheus to spare Gault from punishment and grant her wish to transform the nightmare into a dream, Dream of the Endless was unable to punish Fiddler’s Green for departing. Although his role as Fiddler’s Green/Gilbert in “The Sandman” season 1 isn’t very significant, Stephen Fry’s casting as Rose Walker’s real buddy from the Dreaming was masterful. He gave the errant dream warmth, humor, and humanity.