Hazbin Hotel's Showrunner Reveals Alastor and Rosie's Backstory Serves as a Huge Teaser for Season Three
Devoted viewers of the series at last received a much-anticipated origin story in season 2's fourth episode, titled “It's a Deal.” This installment is likely to prompt a lot of discussion and pose many questions about the essence of a certain demonic Overlord who seems far more powerful than anyone before realized. These fresh disclosures feature a glimpse into the mortal existence of a fan-favorite character before his demise and sentence to the underworld.
A Major Tease for Future Seasons
The series creator shared a secret about “It's a Deal” – it serves as a huge hint for the third season. Additionally, she offered more insight into the methodology of designing the mortal forms of her demonic animated characters.
Spoiler alert for episode 4 of Hazbin Hotel, the show's second season.
In “It’s a Deal”, a flashback discloses that popular character Alastor the Radio Demon was a serial killer in his mortal days. Knowing full well he was destined for Hell, he made contact with the afterlife beforehand to obtain a strong position there. Rosie, the charismatic leader Hell’s cannibal community, promised Alastor he would become “the strongest Condemned Soul in Hell” in exchange for his eternal spirit.
This prompts the question: In what way is Rosie powerful enough to elevate Alastor above every other Demonic Sinners?
“The Rosie and Alastor deal is the first stepping stone in a much bigger story that encompasses so much, moving into season 3,” the creator states. “Obviously that is an excellent question: How is she so strong? The answer could be various factors, but the revelation is in season 3. I am thrilled for people to witness it.”
It is uncertain the duration the audience will have to wait for Hazbin Hotel’s next season. The studios have approved the third and fourth seasons, but the creator frequently remarks that animated production is a slow, lengthy process, and subsequent seasons are undated. Still, she says holding off on those details is an important part of keeping season 2’s focus in the right places.
“The difficulty of any agreement with demons, or narratives that have mysteries, is giving people just enough information to be like, Something's up here, and then revealing that gradually, and letting that be satisfying,” she comments. “So I'm very excited.”
Mysteries Resolved in The Next Season
The creator assures that season 3 will address the queries fans have been asking, such as why Rosie ordered Alastor to vanish for a seven-year period, which weakened his power in Hell.
“The whole seven years, and the pacts these individuals are making, and everything — it contributes to a larger story,” she reveals.
In the meantime, the Rosie/Alastor backstory episode provides a further look into what the main characters of Demonic Sinners appeared as as mortals, following after seeing Sir Pentious’ historical mortal appearance in episode 2. The creator explains that significant consideration was put into these character designs.
“The mortal forms of the characters carry so much weight,” she says. “They range from looking quite distinct from their demon form to seeming very similar. With the first character, the initial design we see, there was some internal discussion internally between going with something that symbolizes the character, as opposed to going with an option that's very time-period accurate. We leaned toward making something that just felt like it was him.”
She mentions the primary controversy over Pentious’ human design was his long hair: “We were like, ‘No one typically had extended hair like that in Victorian-era London.’ But at the same time, we think the silhouette is so important, and we also just felt he appeared attractive. We were like, ‘This just feels right.’ 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 create the mortal forms of these characters […] it is a very enjoyable process to explore and figure out. I am looking forward for fans to view additional of what the human forms look like.”
New episodes of Hazbin Hotel season 2 are released on midweek on Prime Video.