Warning: SPOILERS for The Sandman Season 1.Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) escaped being captured by Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance) in The Sandman season 1 but why didn't she rescue her brother, Dream (Tom Sturridge), who was imprisoned in her stead? Netflix's The Sandman adapts the first two collected volumes of Neil Gaiman's acclaimed graphic novel masterpiece, Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll's House. At this early stage in the epic Sandman saga, Death only appears in The Sandman episode 6, "The Sound of Her Wings," but there are questions about Death's reaction (or lack thereof) to Dream being held captive for over a century.

The Sandman season 1 begins with Dream caught by Roderick Burgess' incantation. However, it was Death the self-styled Magus wanted, not the lord of dreams. Burgess sought the resurrection of his dead son and immortality from the Reaper. Instead, the Magus was left frustrated and empty-handed when Morpheus refused to comply with his demands. The Sandman's powerful symbols of office were later stolen by Roderick's mistress, Ethel Cripps (Niamh Walsh), leaving the Magus with nothing but an uncooperative prisoner. After a hundred and five years, with Roderick Burgess long since dead, Dream finally escaped and returned to his realm, the Dreaming, which was left shattered by his absence. Morpheus embarked on a quest to retrieve his helmet, ruby, and pouch of dream sand, which lead him to London and Hell, and confrontations with Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie) and a madman named John Dee (David Thewlis). But after his victory, Dream found himself morose that this mission was over, and Death set her little brother right in "The Sound of her Wings."

Related: How Rose Walker Is Related To Dream And The Sandman's Endless

However, when Dream spoke to Death about how he was imprisoned for over a century, she replied, "I know." This begs the further question that Morpheus oddly didn't pursue: Why didn't Death do anything to rescue Dream? After all, it was Death Roderick Burgess actually wanted, which the elder member of the Endless also knew about. When Morpheus returned to the Dreaming after he escaped Burgess' glass cage, he lamented to Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong) that none of his family members in the Endless tried to rescue him. Yet Dream not questioning Death about why she didn't help him is a curious plot hole in The Sandman season 1. Of the Endless, only Death could have rescued Dream: Destiny is changed to his Book of Destiny in his realm, Destruction is gone, Delirium is... Delirium, while Desire (Mason Alexander Park) and Despair (Donna Preston) were revealed to be behind the plot to take Dream off the game board.

Why Death Didn't Save Dream In The Sandman Season 1

Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death in The Sandman

The reason why Death didn't intervene to help Dream when he was captured is never addressed by The Sandman. Perhaps the obvious reason is that Death, like Dream and the rest of the Endless, is bound by her duties and responsibilities to every living being in the universe. Death must always be there to guide the departed to the Sunless Lands, with aspects of her endlessly fulfilling Death's function throughout the universe. It's also possible Death didn't save Dream, even though she knew he was in peril, because she couldn't take the chance of being captured by Roderick Burgess or his son herself. Yet Death also had over a hundred years to act, and it's curious she left Dream alone for so long when she was obviously concerned for him.

Another plausible explanation is that Death, Dream, Desire, and the rest of Endless are bound by esoteric rules of behavior, and, cruel as it may sound, perhaps it simply isn't Death's purview to perform rescue missions, even for her own brother. Death may also have had a grasp of the bigger picture - she admitted that the remaining Endless met while Dream was gone - and it's possible Destiny told her not to interfere because events must play out as they did. Why Death didn't save Dream in The Sandman season 1 is simply one of the grim reaper's many secrets, and it's not always possible for humans to understand the motives and actions of the Endless.

The Sandman Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.