Greetings and welcome to yet another amazing video.
We are back to investigate yet another crucial character from The Sandman universe created by Neil Gaiman.
Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman has been popular since it debuted in early August and has been trending on Netflix. The protagonist of the tale is Dream, a timeless being who is also one of seven siblings and the Lord of Dreams.
The first season opens with the arrival of Dream’s older sister Death, who is followed by the appearances of his younger twin siblings Desire and Despair.
When Dream explains to Desire that people can influence the “Endless” and urges Despair, Desire, and Delirium to keep that in mind, he also mentions two other siblings, Destiny and Delirium.
The oldest Endless, Destiny, lives in a confusing garden world with a book linked to his wrist that records both past and present happenings.
The newest of the group, Delirium, has a realm made out of a constantly shifting assortment of colors and formless shapes.
In this video, our attention will be on the first.
Destiny’s First Appearance
Destiny, like Lucien, Cain, and other characters from the Sandman, first appeared as the host of a DC horror comic from the 1970s called Weird Mystery Tales. Unsurprisingly, his family was not mentioned, even when a more typical Death did appear. In his early appearances, he served more as an introducer than a narrator because most of his adventures were really described by Dr. E. Leopold Maas, a fictional paranormal investigator created by Jack Kirby.
Destiny first appeared in several of the plots in issue #10, though. By issue #15, Eve had taken over the narrative and inserted herself from the outset. Previously hosted by all four characters, Secrets of Haunted House was now hosted by Destiny. Such a mindset was regularly displayed on the hosts’ letter pages as well, where responses were also written in character. He was regarded as the most boring storyteller by the other hosts.
Cain, Abel, and Eve handed him a sampler with the message, “If you’re so brilliant, why don’t you have your own book?” for his birthday. Despite the fact that he couldn’t read it due to his blindness, it was said that he was the child of “Mrs. Emma Destiny,” albeit this was in a letters column, so it may have been a joke. Abel took over as presenter of the show when Destiny left following issue #39 of the series. (House of Secrets got cancelled, and it was rumoured that the House had been destroyed.)
Destiny also encountered Superman in Superman #352, preventing the Kryptonian superhero from assisting people in order to break a growing destiny of Metropolis being dependent on him, and met the New Teen Titans on multiple occasions, all of which were written by Wolfman.
When sentient life forms with destinies first arose in the cosmos, Destiny was born. Destiny, the first child of Night and Time, often prefers to watch creation take place rather than participate.
One exception to this was Despair, the first Endless to pass away 100,000 years ago. Following her murder, Destiny and the other Endless traveled to the Necropolis (a city devoted to caring for any corpses assigned to them) to bury her body. The Necropolitans chuckled when they were asked for the Book of Rituals and the fragments of Despair, since they had long since lost interest in their work and were unaware of the city’s deal with the Endless. Destiny responded with an out-of-character display of passion and revoked the city’s charter, saying, “This is no longer a city. It is over. It is ended.”
The first Necropolis was entirely demolished by a strong wind that came down; not a single stone was left on top of another. Litharge replaced it.
Destiny Backstory Explored
Destiny appears as a man wearing a hooded cloak that might be brown, grey, or even purple. The tallest of the Endless, he has a dusty, nocturnal library scent and doesn’t leave any tracks or throw any shadows. In Season of Mist, it is said that while some people think he is blind, others (with more excellent justification) think he has gone well beyond blindness.
Issue #7 of The Sandman reveals Destiny to be the oldest Endless. The Garden of Forking Ways is Destiny’s domain, and he frequently travels its confusing paths. In the galleries of the other Endless, his book—known as the Book of Destiny rather than the Cosmic Log—serves as his insignia.
The Book of Destiny is attached to his right wrist by a chain. The book contains all that has ever been, is, and will ever be in Overture. Nothing outside of the book exists; in a sense, the book is the cosmos. Even Destiny appears in the novel, albeit infrequently. The book is claimed to be bulky and covered in leather from an imaginary animal. Destiny is faced with nothing but darkness and his book.
Destiny meets Michael the archangel, Elaine Belloc, and Lucifer Morningstar in Lucifer. Destiny informed them that by reading aloud from the book, it became a part of its own narrative (which is dangerous). But he warned them that they were about to reach a turning point, at which the book plot would diverge.
The book reflects a philosophy of predestination. Everything that would happen had to happen when the book was first penned at the beginning of time. This isn’t always the case, as we’ve seen in the new Brave and the Bold series, when the book changes.
The book is said to have been written by Yahweh. The book’s writing alters when Yahweh abandons his creation, hinting that Elaine Belloc, Yahweh’s granddaughter, has now assumed Yahweh’s role.
He is the least developed and utilized of all the Endless in the series. Although he was initially shown in the series in an image at the conclusion of the first collection, Season of Mists, the fourth collection contains his first proper appearance. He appears to oversee the Endless family’s business quietly; it is he who convenes the family gathering that starts Season of Mists.
Although Destiny makes a small cameo in Issue 7 (Preludes & Nocturnes), we see him in one frame reading the Book of Destiny in his realm while Dream tussles with John Dee to retrieve his Ruby. The first time Destiny showed reluctance. Destiny halted before turning the page in his book to watch the events unfold as John Dee assaulted Dream with his ruby.
Destiny makes his presence felt in Issue # 21 to Issue # 28 (Season of Mists). The Three appeared to Destiny in his garden in Season of Mists. The ladies insisted that a sequence of events would have their beginning in The Garden of Forking Ways despite their assurances that nothing begins there. He stated in his book that he must schedule another family gathering after they left. Desire made fun of Dream during the meeting for damning Nada, a past lover, to hell. Dream released Nada from hell before leaving, because Death acknowledged that Dream had been unjust. Destiny proclaimed the meeting to be concluded as soon as Dream left.
Then Destiny appears in Issue 41 to 49 (Brief Lives). Dream and Delirium sought Destiny’s counsel while looking for Destruction in Brief Lives. Destiny instructed Dream to return home and “stop this folly” in yet another incident involving his oddly emotional behaviour.
He explained his actions by claiming that he was both Morpheus’ brother and everything that had to occur. He assured Morpheus that he would surrender his duties and only provide the information he didn’t want to know, but needed to. Destiny first told Dream that he would see Thessaly one more time (in a fashion that neither would find acceptable), and then he said to him that the only other option for Dream to get the solution he was looking for was through Orpheus.
Dream’s feelings were overwhelming as he was forced to see his son. Despite the discomfort it caused him, Delirium managed to regain her composure at this moment to ensure the continuation of her mission with Dream. She approached Destiny and pointed out to him that there were things outside his book and his garden, such as why she ceased being Delight, that he should be aware of. Destiny’s withdrawal from the argument supported Delirium’s assertions.
Now that was Destiny in the Modern Age. Let’s see what he did in Ancient Times!
Destruction summoned a family conference somewhere around the beginning of the 17th century CE and informed the other Endless that he would be leaving his duties and his domain. The gathering was summoned by Destruction, but Destiny hosted it in his realm (which seems to be customary). Destiny remembered the incident from Brief Lives when the wind seized his book’s pages and caused them to flip to the page where the family reunion was recorded. Destiny reacted to the news like he usually does: quietly and unsurprised.
After one of Dream’s aspects perished in flames in 1915, Dream set out on a quest to discover and right a cosmic injustice brought on by the improper treatment of a previous vortex. In Overture, Dream’s mother, Night, threw him into a black hole amid the events of the voyage. A dream ship showed up in Destiny’s world when they were trapped in the black hole.
The ship entering his realm brought three things that had never happened before:
Destiny was taken aback.
An illusory object appeared in his garden.
He saw something that was not generally in his book.
Destiny was so enraged by the three happenings that he coercively pulled Dream from the black hole and into The Garden of Forking Ways to retrieve the ship.
The fourth issue of The Books of Magic, “Book IV: The Road to Nowhere,” has a brief cameo by Destiny. In it, Timothy Hunter is taken to the end of time by Mr. E to kill him. They are not supposed to be there, so Destiny meets them. Death shows up because he needs to pass away. Destiny says, “I believed the end would never arrive and that I would never get to the last page of The Book of Destiny,” as he passes away.
If we have to talk about his personality, most of the time, destiny is more of a spectator of reality (through the pages of his book). He occasionally takes a more active role in the narration of his work. When this occurs, it usually means that the book calls for his participation to prepare the ground for a subsequent sequence of events. Even when Destiny does react emotionally, it may be because that’s how the book instructs him to.
Destiny seldom exhibits strong emotions; instead, he is typically depicted as stern and indifferent. Destiny is just concerned with his objective and becomes upset when encountering something fictitious. In some situations (like in Brief Lives), Destiny lets his own preferences influence his actions and withholds information from his siblings. The only two instances in which Destiny is depicted as having intense emotion are in Overture (when he summons Dream) and World’s End (during Petrefax’s narrative).
Exploring the Series – Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold
Alisa Kwitney’s Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold, a three-issue miniseries, also features Destiny. The son of Byzantine Empress Theodora is represented there, being transformed by fate into a Horseman of the End Times carrying the plague. The Horseman spreads the bubonic plague over several periods of human civilisation, while looking for a lady he can love and spare. The Horseman first appears in the 21st century when he gives the terrified victims of the most recent scourge a sneak preview of Destiny’s book.
2009 saw the extinction of the world’s population due to the emergence of an antibiotic-resistant variant of the bubonic plague. Ruth Knight is the leader of one group of survivors that receives a visit from an unknown person who claims to have a page from the Book of Destiny that contains a future prediction. He uses historical accounts from the Byzantine Empire during the Plague of Justinian (issue one), a princess at the start of the Black Death (issue two), and an Englishwoman during the Great Plague of London to demonstrate the authenticity of his claims (issue three). Each of the stories includes Destiny himself. The stranger then asserts that the page foretells the spread of the present disease and provides Ruth with information about her own future.
In Issue 1, a plague has spread over the planet, and a visitor arrives in town claiming to have found a page torn from the Book of Destiny. He then starts reading the story of the Justinian Plague out loud to the still-alive townspeople. Since there is nothing else to amuse them in this depressing world, they are much amused by this.
In the second issue, we learn more about Ruth, the farmer’s wife and the owner of the plague-surviving horse Paladin. The next chapter of Destiny’s book is read by Ryder, the stranger who returns to the town. This time, we are taken to medieval England, where King Edward is trying to recreate the magic of Camelot by forming his own band of knights. He is also trying to prevent war by marrying his youngest daughter to a future ally who is unstable and might kill her. A guy who is prepared to sacrifice himself for the young daughter becomes friends with her as the Black Plague starts to hunt everyone still alive all around them.
In the last comic book, the mysterious John Ryder reads the third and final story from his prophetic book, including a page taken from Destiny’s old book of knowledge. This last tale describes the plight of a young woman who lived in a tiny English town during the Great Plague in the 17th century. However, when ancient prophecies come true and Ryder is forced to decide between love and destiny, the past and present collide in unexpected ways. In some ways, this is a complicated metaphor concerning free will against determinism and how John Ryder has done nothing except carry on with what is predestined to happen, regardless of his desire to change things.
As a diegetic and non-diegetic narrator, destiny appears in all three of these issues. The ending is ambiguous, as Destiny exclaims there is a page missing from his book, so even he doesn’t know how this ends! I wouldn’t want to spoil anything for you guys with more details; you might want to check these three issues out.
What Makes Destiny So Powerful?
Destiny is both the ruler and personification of all destiny and freedom. The planned path of events, as well as the lack of need and restriction on choice, are all under the control of destiny. He possessed god-like abilities and complete control over his domain, a garden holding all potential destinies of the present, past, and future. He is also ageless, so that makes him virtually immortal! Despite his blindness, Destiny could see the minor details across the universe, including the patterns created by living creatures on their journeys through life. He can also modify his look and attire. He is quite capable of using magic as a dangerous source of power!
Destiny, like the rest of the Endless, was constrained by a complicated set of laws and norms, despite his tremendous abilities, like:
He must not shed the blood of family members, or he would lose his protection as the incarnation of Destiny from the other Endless.
He must not fall in love with a mortal, or the mortal will perish.
He is also weak against The Challengers. The Challengers of the Unknown are a group of professional adventurers, who often avoid death while on missions of discovery and exploration.
In most cases, the Endless get more powerful as they age. The only exception is Destiny. The most potent Endless is Death, followed by Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Delirium, and Destiny.
He is physically blind, yet he has the ability to comprehend everything that has happened, is occurring, and will happen. You’d think that with all that information, he’d be all-powerful.
But, possibly to keep him in check, he chooses not to or is prohibited from utilising that knowledge to change the path of events. As a result, his power is nearly worthless.
Marvelous Verdict
Destiny is the Endless’ oldest… Even though they’re all absurdly ancient, it doesn’t seem like it should matter much. But it does; Destiny clearly exudes the elder brother attitude. He is the most solemn of the siblings. He mostly appears as an observer and a narrator.
It’ll be interesting to see who plays the stoic elder brother on the screen. I mean, he does possess the ability to be a breakout character, and it will be fascinating to see his chemistry and equations with the other siblings. Maybe we will see him in the next season? I mean, if there is a next season! Sorry, I just had to hurt you guys a bit.
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TRIVIA
He’s the only Endless sibling who wasn’t originally developed for The Sandman; he was developed by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wrightson for 1972’s Weird Mystery Tales and was subsequently adopted by Neil Gaiman.