Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2 Fixes a Divisive Design Retcon from Season 1

Castlevania: Nocturne‘s second season is absolutely electrifying, greatly improving on an already excellent first season by delivering everything the Vampire Messiah storyline had to offer. In addition to its story, Castlevania: Nocturne is also filled with countless nods to the games for eagle-eyed fans. Some of the most interesting references found in Season 2 can be seen in Maria’s character arc.

Maria was significantly aged up for the release of Nocturne, with the showrunners making her 16 years old compared to her first-ever appearance in the franchise, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, where she was only twelve. Instead, her appearance more closely resembles the reimagined design from the PSP compilation game, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. While this is ultimately a positive change to better fit in with Nocturne‘s narrative, giving her more flexibility to participate in the war against the Vampire Messiah and have a better understanding of her magical abilities, some diehard fans were disappointed to see her more classic design be seemingly forgotten.

[RELATED: Castlevania Nocturne Season 2 Explores What Alucard’s Been Up To (And It’s Not Pretty)]

Episode 2 rectifies this, showing a gut-wrenching scene in the Renards’ home where Maria lays out her childhood dresses – which, to the delight of many fans, included her Rondo of Night look. The dress reappeared in Episode 6, showing Maria looking almost exactly like her 90s counterpart in a flashback of her and Richter as children. Given the small references dropped in Castlevania: Nocturne‘s finale that Alucard will stay behind in France and continue to keep in touch with Juste Belmont and Maria, it could pave the way for the iconic dhampir to serve as Maria’s mentor – taking Richter’s place from the original games. While speculative, this narrative change could lead to a possible Symphony of the Night series starring Maria and Alucard.

Castlevania: Nocturne Turned Maria Into a Magical Powerhouse

Castlevania: Nocturne‘s take on Maria Renard may contrast significantly from her role in the games, but her role in the story proves her to be so much more than a traumatized teenage girl. Throughout Season 2 of Nocturne, Maria is forced to try and grieve the loss of her mother while battling a clear-cut case of survivor’s guilt. This manifests in the otherworldly beasts she’s able to summon to fight for her, turning into grotesque manifestations of her mental state for much of the show’s run.

When she finally has an opportunity to confront her father and reunite with her now-vampire mother, Maria is finally able to begin processing her trauma and rebuilding who she is. Of course, after everything she’s been through, there are still some hints dropped throughout Season 2’s climax that she has a long road to travel before she’s finally able to let go of everything she endured.