#especially for how they chose to conclude the series by distilling trevor to his bare essentials

[chaoticke-rambles]

I find this especially interesting in the wider context of Trevor's life, which has prepared him for this in a way that neither Alucard nor Sypha have been. Alucard has barely known life beyond his parents, and what's happened to him is absolutely traumatizing, but he didn't grow up expecting this to be his life; it isn't a keystone of his identity. Sypha, for her part, is a dreamer. There's nothing wrong with that, but growing up with the Speakers, she's probably had the most healthy upbringing. She believes in what she does, but she, too, hasn't been confronted with it in the same way Trevor has.

Trevor's life has been plagued by tragedy. His family home was burned with his family in it, and even before that, he was being raised for this. He knows exactly how horrible this life can be in gruesome detail, and he still does it. He's hit rock bottom and had to pick himself back up. There's a resilience in his character that I think really feeds into the above moment with Death, because Trevor has stared Death in the face, had it dogging at his heels for most of his life. He is prepared for this fight in a way Sypha and Alucard aren't because he's spent his whole life fighting a hopeless fight.

What sticks out to me is the moment at the end of season 3 at the end of everything with Lindenfeld and Trevor tells Sypha they've spent the last few months living her life, and now they're living his. Everything in Trevor's life has told him this is a fight he will not win. There will always be more vampires, more night creatures, more corrupt officials. All he can ever do is hope to hold them back, but he still fights. And so, when it comes down to it, when confronted with an enemy that that no one can expect to win against, that no one else is even willing to try to oppose, there he is.

Trevor Belmont knows how to keep going when a conflict seems unwinnable, and when anyone else would back down, he stands up. He keeps going.

He fights.

The end of season 4 of Castlevania, is really interesting to me because of how Trevor Belmont reacts to Death. Sypha is awed by terror, she's too overwhelmed by Death to try anything, and Alucard (poor guy) is newly traumatized and also overwhelmed by Death, but Trevor looks at Death and says "No." He says, "I know what this is. I can stop this." He says, "This is still something I can fight." When any other person would back down, you can see him settle into his bones and stand his ground. Peel back everything else, and this is who Trevor Belmont is: someone who fights what no one else would dare attempt.

When most would give up, he gets to work.