Warning: SPOILERS for The Sandman Season 1
The true identity of Gilbert (Stephen Fry) is one of The Sandman season 1's most pleasant surprises but there were many clues setting up the reveal. Netflix's The Sandman finally brings Neil Gaiman's beloved DC Comics graphic novel saga to life. Adapting the first two Sandman collected volumes, Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll's House, The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge as Morpheus AKA Dream of the Endless, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar, and Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian. Stephen Fry also joins the cast as Gilbert, the stalwart friend of Rose Walker (Vanesu Samunyai).
The capture and imprisonment of Morpheus by the British warlock Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance) instigate a crisis of far-reaching proportions in The Sandman season 1. Burgess, the self-styled Magus, intended to apprehend Death but he held Dream prisoner for over a hundred years, which caused a global sleeping sickness that afflicted millions of people. When Morpheus finally escaped, he found his realm, the Dreaming, damaged in his absence, and many dreams and nightmares abandoned the world of sleep. Three major Arcana did not return after Dream of the Endless set the Dreaming to rights: Gault (Andi Osho), The Corinthian, and Fiddler's Green. When Rose Walker was revealed as the Dream Vortex of this era who Dream has to destroy to save both the Dreaming and the waking world, Gilbert came to his friend's defense and revealed himself as the missing Fiddler's Green.
Fiddler's Green is a place within the Dreaming, a lush, green field of trees, rivers, and glades. There's no reason to suspect Fiddler's Green was hiding out on Earth in human form as Gilbert but there were many clues that made it obvious to those paying attention and inclined to solve Fiddler's Green's identity. The simple fact that Gilbert always appears wearing green; his 19th-century-inspired clothing and frock coat are all colored verdant is the first clue in The Sandman season 1. When Rose's powers as the Dream Vortex allow her to begin entering her housemates' dreams, Gilbert is the only one whose dreams Rose doesn't visit - likely because Gilbert, a dream himself, doesn't need to sleep. When they are en route to Georgia to find Rose's little brother Jed (Eddie Karanja), Rose tells Gilbert that he "sounds English," and he curiously replies, "Thank you," indicating the Gilbert persona is a construct borne from the books Fiddler's Green's reads. Finally, at the Cereal Convention, Gilbert and The Corinthian recognize each other, which spurs Fiddler's Green to return to the Dreaming and apologize to his Lord Morpheus for leaving.
Why Fiddler's Green Left The Dreaming & Became Gilbert
Unlike The Corinthian, who had an evil agenda to feed on humans' darkest impulses and inspired a legion of serial killers in the nightmare's image, Fiddler's Green left the Dreaming out of curiosity about humanity. Dream's imprisonment left the denizens of the Dreaming without their lord and master, and they had no knowledge of if and when Morpheus would return. Fiddler's Green abandoned the Dreaming for the waking world so he could take human form and experience living as a person. Fiddler's Green took the form of Gilbert and rented the attic room in Hal's (John Cameron Mitchell) boarding house in Cape Kennedy, Florida. However, as a dream himself, Fiddler's Green was likely compelled to do so because Rose Walker was the Dream Vortex and he was being drawn to her.
Fiddler's Green returned to the Dreaming and became a verdant forest again at the end of The Sandman season 1. Dream of the Endless couldn't find it in his heart to punish Fiddler's Green for leaving, and Green's own sacrifice for Rose Walker inspired Morpheus to spare Gault from her punishment and grant her wish to remake the nightmare as a dream. While Fiddler's Green/Gilbert is a relatively minor role in The Sandman season 1, Stephen Fry was brilliant casting who imbued the wayward dream with warmth, wit, and humanity as Rose Walker's true friend from the Dreaming.
The Sandman Season 1 is streaming on Netflix.