The following contains spoilers for The Sandman Season 1, now streaming on Netflix.

The Endless are by their very nature abstract characters that can be difficult to understand at times. Fans have asked many questions over the years that don't seem to have any clear answers. The duties of Dream and Death are discussed and explored, but what are the duties of the other siblings? Given the influence the Endless have, does free will exist in The Sandman's universe? Truly, the Endless are as mysterious as they are powerful.

One of the other burning questions about the events of The Sandman series that seems to go unaddressed is why the other Endless didn't come to Dream's aid when he was imprisoned by Roderick Burgess. It's clear that Dream's absence was noticed, and the problems caused by his absence were severe enough to effect the Waking World as well as The Dreaming. So what was it that stopped the other Endless from helping Dream?

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The Sandman Dream Death The Sound of Her Wings Netflix

Death's seeming indifference to Dream's capture makes the least sense of all of Dream's siblings. The show and the comics depict them having a close relationship, and the two seem to care about each other as well as get along. It seems like Death would be the most motivated of all the Endless to free him, as it was her that Roderick Burgess was trying to imprison in the first place. She openly admits that she knew Dream had been imprisoned, and she was aware that the trap had been meant for her. Death even points out that Dream could have come to her for help to retrieve his vestments, indicating that she was willing to intervene on his behalf.

The reasons for Desire and Despair's lack of action are more obvious and revealed by the end of the season: Desire was the one who orchestrated Dream's capture in the first place, as well as the elaborate plot to get him to spill family blood by fathering a child with Unity Kincaid. While Desire's motivations are unclear, in discussions with Despair they make a comment about Dream acting too high and mighty for their liking. Despair, Desire's twin, would be all too willing to go along with any plans her twin sibling cooked up.

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Sandman — The Endless

Neil Gaiman addressed the question of the other Endless refusing to get involved directly in The Sandman Companion, a collection of behind-the-scenes information and interviews with various creators that contributed to the comics. According to Gaiman: "The reason the Endless didn't free him isn't because they weren't aware of the situation, but because they aren't a superteam; rushing to the rescue isn't what they're about. The Endless stick to hoeing their own farms." The Endless may be powerful, but they exist in service to the universe and the living things within it. They are bound to their roles, and even they have rules they must follow.

Gaiman offered another explanation in The Sandman Companion for none of the other Endless being willing to rescue Dream: his pride. Gaiman reasoned that they all knew Dream well enough to predict that he wouldn't have been grateful for their aid. If anything, Dream would have been angry with them. This is backed up by Dream's reluctance to accept any help retrieving his tools. Dream spends the entire first season struggling with his own pride. He's too proud to even speak to captors, stubbornly staying silent for almost a century and never once trying to reason with them. If anything, Dream was held captive by his own pride.

Season 1 of The Sandman is available to stream on Netflix.