The Sandman

I'm not gonna hurt you.

You just killed that man.

I just saved your life, again. And I'm trying to save yours.

From whom?

From Morpheus.

Who's Morpheus?

Uh, Jeddy, can you give us a minute?

You're one of the missing Nightmares.

And you are the vortex.

If you know that, then you know Morpheus is watching me.

You think he's watching you so he can protect you?

He's watching you because the minute you fall asleep

and start bringing the walls down between people's dreams,

he's gonna kill you.

But if someone protected you, kept him from killing you,

well, then you'd become the center of the Dreaming.

He'd be powerless and I would be free.

Ah. Good Doctor.

Fifteen minutes till our guest speaker's keynote address.

Uh, how did it go with Philip Sitz?

It went well.

You were missed.

- Did you find the boy? - I did.

We talked.

He saw some grown-up things downstairs that he didn't understand,

but I explained it to him.

He won't be a problem?

Nothing I can't handle.

I'll see you downstairs.

So, I'm gonna go downstairs for an hour.

Will you wait for me?

No. I'm taking Jed. We're going home.

Okay.

Yeah, you can go if you want,

but obviously it's not safe for you to be wandering around the hotel.

And if you leave the hotel, Dream's Raven will find you.

I'll tell you what.

This is your room.

You can have both keys.

I'll come back in an hour.

I'll knock. If you want, you can let me in.

But if not, I'll go away.

Lock the door when I leave, because you never know.

Our guest of honor's presence here tonight is proof,

at least to me,

that dreams do come true.

He is a legend in his own lifetime,

an inspiration to us all,

one of the first and one of the best.

Gentlemen. Ladies.

The Corinthian.

I don't usually speak in public,

but the opportunity to talk to so many people

who share the same passion, the same dream,

well, it was just too good to pass up.

Because you are special people.

Very special people.

We are the American dreamers

driving down the holy road of true knowledge

that's paved with blood and gold.

And across the length and breadth of this fair country,

we are killing people.

We don't do it to make a living,

we don't do it for revenge.

We do not murder for profit.

We kill to kill.

We are entrepreneurs in an expanding field.

But no one sees us except for one weekend a year.

Well, I see you.

I see you for who you truly are.

And I want you to see it, too.

So just do me a favor.

Close your eyes.

And see yourselves as I do.

We are gladiators.

Conquerors.

We are explorers…

…Truth seekers.

We are swashbucklers.

We are hunters.

Soldiers of fortune.

And kings of the night.

Jeddy, we have to go.

You disappoint me, Corinthian.

You and these humans you've inspired and created…

Disappoint me.

I've done my best to be what you made me.

No, you've done your worst,

which was in so many ways what I had hoped.

You were my masterpiece.

A dark mirror made to reflect everything humanity will not confront.

That's what I am.

That's what I've done.

No. Look at you, walking this Earth for over a century

infecting others with your joy of death, but what have you given them?

What have you wrought? Nothing.

Just something else for people to be afraid of. That is all.

So what now?

You send me back into their dreams?

'Cause I won't go willingly.

And knife against a dream?

You don't think dreams can die?

- Let's find out. - Enough.

How?

I've got Rose Walker getting stronger

every second while you get weaker

She's taking your place at the center of the Dreaming.

She's bringing the walls down between the sleepers' minds

and now they're all dreaming the same dream.

A dream that I inspired.

- No. - It's already happening.

There's nothing you can do. She's asleep and dreaming.

Then she's not beyond my reach.

Oh, I think she is.

Now that she knows you're planning to kill her.

Jed, run!

You need to wake up.

Don't listen to him, Rosebud.

You're the one with power now, not him. This is your dream.

It's his dream, for your world.

Then let's make it yours. Whatever you want, Rose. A blank canvas.

Where's Jed?

Jed's fine.

He's upstairs, asleep. He's right next to you.

This dream is yours now. The Dreaming is yours now.

The Dreaming is yours. Is that what he told you?

He told me you were gonna kill me.

Did he tell you why?

When a vortex brings down the walls between dreams,

she creates a single volatile dream

that will collapse in upon itself, and take the waking world with it.

Your world. Everything and everyone will die.

- Don't believe him, Rosie. - It's happened before.

I failed in my duty, an entire universe was lost.

He can't kill you if you kill him first.

Killing me may save your life,

but it won't save the lives of those you love.

- I'm trying to keep you alive here. - I'm trying to keep your world alive.

- You have to choose one of us, Rose. - Enough!

If I'm as powerful as you say I am, then I will find my own way.

In the meantime, the walls go back up.

Because I'm not dreaming anymore.

Thanks to you two, I'm wide awake.

If you think I'm going back to the Dreaming with you...

You're not going back.

I brought you into this world to serve humanity. Not to feed upon it.

Do you know why I do it?

So I can taste what it's like to be human.

And you don't care about humanity.

You only care about yourself and your realm and your rules.

I contain the entire collective unconscious.

Without my rules, it would consume me.

Humanity would be consumed.

Or you might actually feel something.

I am not the problem, Dream.

You're right.

This was my fault. Not yours.

I had so much hope for you.

But I created you poorly then.

So I must uncreate you now.

I am only sorry I won't be here to see Rose Walker do the same to you.

Next time I make you, you will not be so flawed

and petty, little Dream.

And you…

Who call yourselves "collectors,"

until now, you have sustained fantasies

in which you are the victims,

comforting daydreams in which you are always right.

But no more.

The dream is over.

I have taken it away. For this is my judgment upon you,

that you shall know

from this moment on

exactly how craven and selfish

and monstrous you are.

That you shall feel the pain of those you have slaughtered.

Hello, 9-1-1?

I'm calling to confess to a crime.

And the grief of those that mourn them still,

and you shall carry that pain and grief and guilt

with you until the end of time.

You want me to follow her?

No. When she is awake, she is not a threat.

Tonight when she sleeps, I will find her.

And we will end this.

Can I ask a question?

Is Mom still sick, or…

I'm sorry, Jeddy.

She…

She passed away a few months ago.

You have to know though, she never stopped trying to get you back.

Dad just didn't wanna let you go.

So, it's just you and me now?

No. No, actually.

We have a great-grandmother who can't wait to meet you.

And my best friend Lyta, who lives upstairs.

She's calling you.

Hey! Guess who's in the car with me?

I don't want you to panic. I'm at the hospital.

What?