I don't know if anyone's ever asked this, but I've read and reread the Sandman FAQ's and I haven't found the same question. Anyway:

In "Sleep of the Just", Roderick Burgess dies. In "The Sound of Her Wings", Dream tells Death that the Order had planned to capture her and not him - to which she replied, "Yeah, I know."

Why then didn't Death rescue Dream? She must have known Burgess was keeping her brother prisoner since it was her job to meet everyone who died, right? Plus, she said she knew of the plot to capture her.

What are your thoughts on this?

Death didn't save Dream from . . . well, her, so why would she save him from a simple kidnapping?

Doesn't she scold in 'Sound of Her Wings' for not asking for help? I always know she didn't know he was trapped. she might have been aware of magical forces trying to capture her, but that doesn't mean she knew the outcome. And Dream was gone for only 70 years or so, what's 70 years or so for an Eternal, who's been there since the Beginning and will be tere for the End? And what's a minor details in your brother's life -such as being captured- when you're Death?

My interpretation is that she knew people were planning to capture Dream, and allowed it to happen, in an attempt to help him grow up a bit. At several points in the Sandman series, Death chides Dream for his immature behavior.

Also, cloverheart is correct, what is 70 years in the lifespan of an immortal?

The only problem with that is, no one was trying to kidnap Dream. If memory serves, they were going after Death and got Dream by mistake.

That is a good point, Burgess' crew was trying to control Death. Perhaps she knew an attempt would be made to capture one of the Endless and Dream would be most vulnerable.

Neil does state that, prior to his capture, Dream was returning from something that was very draining for him.

Thank you everyone for your answers.

Don't quote me on this, I've only read the first volume once (except for the last issue, which i've read about a dozen times), but I got the distinct impression that the ritual they used was extremely powerful. Heck, it had to be to capture and successfully imprison Dream, so I don't know that Death could have freed him. I don't think this was ever stated in so many words, but that's the impression I got.

quote:

Originally posted by The_Raven:
Don't quote me on this,

*looks at poster name*
*looks at content of this line*

Heh.

quote:

I've only read the first volume once (except for the last issue, which i've read about a dozen times), but I got the distinct impression that the ritual they used was extremely powerful. Heck, it had to be to capture and successfully imprison Dream, so I don't know that Death could have freed him. I don't think this was ever stated in so many words, but that's the impression I got.

Dream refers to the ritual as "ha'penny hedge magic," so I don't think it was so much powerful as effective. All that was required to break it was someone crossing the line of his cell, which Death could've accomplished easily.

And, I insist, Death says 'You could have asked for help, you know' and he says 'I know' (or something like that). They wouldn't say that if it was impossible for Death to help him.

But could he have really been able to ask for help if he wanted? The cell held his material form but the circle trapped him incorporeally, which means that he couldn't teleport himself out of there. Now if he couldn't do that, maybe an attempt to telepathically call Death was impossible. The analogy I'm thinking of is like trying to use a cellphone in a place where the signal is blocked or too weak.

um, does she actually mean rescuing him, or was she talking about helping him after he escaped (bearing in mind that he was weak and needed to get his tools back)? I've always thought it was odd that he asked the kindly ones for help first.

Not very odd, really. At least not for me. I rarely ever ask my family for help unless I think it's really necessary.

I think you're right, given the way the Endless generally behave towards each other. I'm still wondering if Death meant she could have helped with regaining the pouch, the helm and the ruby, rather than that she could have helped Dream to escape? After all, if Death meets everyone who dies, then she may have know the whereabouts of some of these things anyway, given that at least two of them were involved in killing people.

I always regarded Death's offer to help was in reference to Morpheus getting his tools of power and kingdom back in order.

Death knew that Morpheus was trapped simply based on the fact that she was there when Roderick Burgess died. However, she couldn't have helped him because of the rules involved with the spell and the circle. Throughout the series the Endless mention certain rules that they are bound by. The rule of the spell was simply that Morpheus was trapped until the circle was broken.

The spell that Roderick used was indeed very weak. However, Morpheus was returning from an untold mission that had drained him of most his power. Thus, Morpheus was easily trapped by a spell that normally he could have avoided.

i reckon morpheus is right...it was he'penny magic but rules are rules. if death didn't have to follow the rules she could do anything, like stop the furies or something!

Morpheus was extremely drained from an untold mission. So that's the only reason he was able to be captured by Roderick. Morpheus was always a stickler for the rules and it was probably against his own code to try and interfere with Death's job by asking her to break the circle.

The Kindly Ones also shows us this by Morpheus not physically breaking a similar circle, but by trying to cause it to accidentally be broken.

I also understood Death's offer to help to be referring to regaining his power and rebuilding his kingdom.

Perhaps there are rules for the endless. That they cannot interfere in the business of the other endless without permission.