In “The Sandman,” Dream (Tom Sturridge) refers to Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie) as the “Lightbringer” for a number of significant reasons, one of which is to revere the Devil. Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House, the first two collected volumes of Neil Gaiman’s cherished DC Comics series, are adapted for “The Sandman” season 1. One of the dramatic high points of the first batch of Sandman episodes is Morpheus’ encounter with Lucifer in Hell, which also foreshadows a lot of what will happen in the future between Dream of the Endless and the fallen angel.
Dream and Matthew the Raven (Patton Oswalt) enter Hell in “The Sandman“ episode 4, “A Hope in Hell,” in search of Morpheus’ misplaced helmet. Ethel Cripps (Joely Richardson) gave Dream’s terrifying headpiece to the demon Choronzon (Munya Chawawa) for an amulet of protection. In response to Choronzon’s refusal to give up Dream’s helmet, the demon challenged the dream king to a game of The Oldest Game, with the risk that if he lost, Morpheus would spend all of eternity as a slave in Hell. Then, in The Oldest Game, Choronzon chose Lucifer Morningstar as his champion to take on the Sandman. Dream of the Endless, on the other hand, outsmarted the Devil and got his helmet back. In response, Lucifer suffered public humiliation in front of the gathered countless demons from Hell. This enraged Lucifer, who vowed retaliation against the lord of the Dreaming.
Episode 4 of “The Sandman” features Dream calling Lucifer the “Lightbringer” numerous times. The word “Lucifer,” which means “bearer of light,” is the major factor. Since he was the first and most attractive of God’s angels, Lucifer was given the name “Lightbringer” rather than Samael’s angelic name. After Samael rebelled against God and was sent into Hell with his followers 10 billion years ago, Lucifer preserved these names (while abandoning Samael) and continued to call Samael “the Lightbringer, the Morning Star” among the Angelic Host. Since Dream is known by many names, including Morpheus, Oneiros, Lord Shaper, and, of course, the Sandman, the master of dreams is appropriately respectful of the Devil’s name when he refers to him as the “Lightbringer.”
Why Lucifer Morningstar Fears “The Sandman”
Dream also refers to Lucifer with caution because he legitimately fears the Devil. The lord of dreams is no match for Lucifer Morningstar, as the Sandman informed Matthew. Even more potent than God, the Devil may exist in the universe. Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance) had kept Morpheus imprisoned on Earth for a century and had stolen his emblems of office made him even more cautious in “A Hope in Hell.” Dream came to the realization that he had invested too much of his strength and essence in the Sandman’s instruments, such as his ruby-encrusted dreamstone and pouch of dream sand. Morpheus intended to avoid a direct encounter with Lucifer since he knew he would be no match for the latter. Even worse, Dream was an unauthorized intruder into Hell, and without his official seals, the Sandman was incredibly open to attack, which Lucifer, of course, was aware of.
Dream utilized every trick in his arsenal to evade Lucifer’s wrath, including politely addressing the Devil as “Lightbringer” whenever possible. Unfortunately, Choronzon forced Morpheus to play The Oldest Game against Lucifer face to face, and Dream had to prevail to free himself from an eternity of servitude in Hell. The Oldest Game was played by Choronzon and Dream in “The Sandman” comics, but Lucifer became Dream’s opponent in the Netflix adaptation, raising the stakes. The Devil’s humiliation was only made worse by publically losing to “The Sandman”; as a result, Lucifer Morningstar vowed retaliation against the dream master.