Hazbin Hotel's Creator Unveils Alastor and Rosie's Backstory Serves as a Huge Teaser for Season Three
Devoted viewers of the show at last received a long-awaited origin story in season 2's fourth episode, titled “It's a Deal.” This episode is likely to prompt extensive conversation and raise numerous inquiries about the nature of a certain demonic Overlord who appears far more powerful than any character before realized. The new revelations feature a glimpse into the human life of a fan-favorite character prior to his death and condemnation to the underworld.
A Significant Hint for Future Seasons
The series creator disclosed an inside detail about “It's a Deal” – it serves as a huge hint for season 3. She also offered more insight into the methodology of designing the mortal forms of her demonic cartoon figures.
Spoiler alert for episode 4 of Hazbin Hotel, the show's second season.
In the episode, a flashback reveals that popular personality Alastor the Radio Demon was a serial killer in his mortal days. Knowing full well he was headed to the underworld, he made contact with the afterlife in advance to obtain a powerful role in Hell. The charismatic leader, who leads Hell’s cannibal community, vowed Alastor he would become “the most powerful Condemned Soul in Hell” in return for his eternal spirit.
This prompts an important query: How is Rosie sufficiently strong to elevate Alastor over every other Sinner Demons?
“The agreement between Rosie and Alastor is the initial building block in a much bigger story that involves a great deal, leading into season 3,” the creator explains. “Clearly that is an excellent question: How is she that powerful? The solution might be various factors, but the answer is in season three. I'm very excited for people to see it.”
It is uncertain the duration the audience will have to remain for Hazbin Hotel’s next season. The studios have green-lit seasons 3 and 4, but the creator frequently remarks that animation is a time-consuming endeavor, and subsequent seasons have no release dates yet. Still, she says withholding on specific information is an important part of maintaining the second season's attention in the right places.
“The challenge of any kind of deal with infernal beings, or narratives that have mysteries, is giving the audience just enough information to be like, Something's up here, and then revealing that as we go, and allowing that be gratifying,” she says. “So I am quite eager.”
Mysteries Resolved in Season 3
The showrunner promises that season 3 will address the questions fans have been asking, like why Rosie ordered Alastor to vanish for seven years, which weakened his power in the infernal realm.
“The entire seven-year span, and the deals these humans are doing, and all that — it contributes to a bigger narrative,” she reveals.
In the meantime, the Rosie/Alastor backstory episode offers a further look into what the main characters of Demonic Sinners looked like as humans, following after viewing Sir Pentious’ historical human form in episode 2. She says that significant consideration went into the visual creation of these forms.
“The mortal forms of these personas carry so much weight,” she notes. “They range from appearing really different from their demon form to seeming very similar. With Pentious, the initial design we see, there was some internal discussion internally between going with something that represents the personality, as opposed to selecting something that's very time-period accurate. We opted for creating a design that just seemed like it was him.”
She mentions the primary controversy over Pentious’ human design was his lengthy locks: “We were like, ‘Nobody typically had extended hair like that in Victorian-era London.’ But at the same time, we think the silhouette is extremely crucial, and we also just felt he looked good. We were like, ‘This seems correct.’ 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 people to see more of the appearances of the human versions.”
New episodes of Hazbin Hotel season 2 drop on Wednesdays on Prime Video.