Castlevania season 3, episode 4 recap: I Have a Scheme

In episode 304 of Netflix series Castlevania, Sumi and Taka tell us about Cho. Also, we get a glimpse of Sala’s philosophy, which leaves much to be desired.

Previously on Castlevania, Trevor (Richard Armitage) and Sypha (Alejandra Reynoso) become investigators, and Isaac (Adetokumboh M’Cormack) has his ideas challenged by The Captain (Lance Reddick). Also, Hector (Theo James) was still a prisoner of Carmilla (Jaime Murray). Episode 304 gets back to Alucard (James Callis) and his unexpected vampire hunter guests, Taka (Toru Uchikado) and Sumi (Rila Fukushima). It would be awkward, though, considering Alucard is a vampire himself.

Still, Alucard has already been alone for a while, and his boredom is apparent. In fact, Alucard is embarrassed when they notice his doll stand-ins of Trevor and Sypha. Sumi tells the story of Cho, who is described as ancient and arrogant. In addition to enslaving humans, Cho fought vampire hunters for show. However, they used her fighting presentations to map out any detectable weaknesses they could find. Then, when the time was right, Sumi and Taka apparently killed every oppressive vampire in her court and are still hunting for Cho.
now they’re on the hunt

Carmilla’s scheme and Hector for fire?

Two members of Carmilla’s vampire sisterhood, Morana (Yasmine Al Massri) and Striga (Ivana Milicevic) come up with vague details about the plan to control 800 miles. Basically, they plan to create watchtowers and concentration camps to keep the human population in check. They are also excited about an imperial army controlled by the sisterhood. Meanwhile, Hector is visited again by Lenore (Jessica Brown Findlay), who offers him an apple. She promises it hasn’t been poisoned.

The two discuss the differences between Dracula (Graham McTavish) and Carmilla, and Lenore attempts to poke holes in Dracula’s genocidal plan of exterminating humans. She also promises that Hector will be paid for hid work as a forge master.

As another sign of good faith, she promises to even get some shoes for him. Considering their recent spat, it’s almost refreshing to see them getting along…or, rather, it would be if they weren’t plotting the enslavement of the human species as a vampire blood bank.

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The mark of Hell

Castlevania then gets back to Trevor and Sypha who meet again with the mysterious Saint Germain (Bill Nighy) in Lindenfeld. As the other two continue snooping, Germain meets Sala (Navid Negahban), the Dracula loyalist monk. Frankly, the church he runs is disgusting, complete with a human waste bucket. It could be likened to an “anti-church,” actually, in that Jesus is hanging upside down on the cross.

Sala then says things like “Lucifer means ‘light-bringer’,” and explains how Hell isn’t so bad. In fact, he argues that God created Hell, that Lucifer is part of his plan, and that Dracula’s night creatures also corresponded to God’s wisdom.

Germain notes how Sala’s armband symbol is the “mark of Hell.” Independently, Sypha questions a scarred monk about his armband. He is not to keen on being investigated, telling her and Trevor to leave the priory alone. Trevor tells Sypha that he doesn’t trust priests with knives — sort of a callback to season 1.

Isaac’s growing army of night creatures

Isaac leaves The Captain behind, at least for the moment. However, he gets pestered by a sergeant who adamantly refuses Isaac’s entry to Genoa. Isaac even promises that his creatures will not attack them unless provoked. However, as one might expect, they get provoked. As some inhabitants of Genoa are slain, Isaac instantly transformed them into night creatures with his magic blade.

It’s an interesting scene, and one wonders what this means for Castlevania. Will Isaac come to clash with Carmilla, or will he seek to establish something else and be largely outside of her control and interference? Also, what about The Captain? There were signs that Isaac saw the wisdom in his words, or was at least being influenced by his judgment.

What are your thoughts on Castlevania? Let us know in the comments!