The final season of Castlevania arrived on 13 May 2021 (a day after my birthday!!) and it's safe to say the series redeemed itself from season 3.
Spoilers warning and please excuse a rather garbled post.
Trevor and Sypha are continuously fighting creatures in different towns on their travels before landing into Targoviste which is where it all began for season 1 and Dracula destroying the town after Lisa had been burnt to death.
Alucard comes out of his hiding after receiving a letter requesting his help to save people from a nearby town. The Styria vampire sisters are still plotting domination with Morana and Striga on the field while Lenore remains to keep an eye on Hector as he attempts to create new night creatures for Carmilla.
I half expected Hector to have been still utterly traumatised and defeated after the season 3 finale but a month or so after that happened, he's very focused on his current work since those events. It turns out he's actually working with other people to bring back Dracula to life. Isaac is in another city rebuilding it from scratch using the night creatures he created but also preparing himself for a fight against the vampires and Hector who was partly responsible for Dracula's demise.
In addition to following to what had happened in season 3, there are extra scenes which fills in the gaps for some characters. Saint Germain for example - we get a glimpse of his past and how he met the mysterious woman who he is trying to find desperately. But he too is in the plan to bring Dracula back, with the help of other vampires. That was something I did not expect to see from him. I enjoyed his friendship with Trevor and Sypha nonetheless.
Season 4 starts to get a lot more interesting when everyone meets for battle and eventually comes together. Isaac doesn't want to kill Hector in the end since his mindset had changed and instead turns his fight to Carmilla. That battle was fierce. Carmilla did not back down at all and how she ended her life was pretty darn brave. Those moments between Hector and Isaac were memorable and showed they had grown as characters (him cutting off his own finger to free himself from the binding ring was painful). Isaac telling Hector to let Dracula rest after much contemplating over time. He is one of the more fascinating characters to me in this series as we watch him progress and it's laughable Carmilla said he was the least interesting person from Dracula's castle. I think it's safe to say every single character is a crazy individual in their own right.
Alucard bringing the refugees to Dracula's castle for refuge which ended up being the final battleground of the series also reunited him with his old friends Trevor and Sypha. My OT3 heart was extremely happy to see them fight together. We learn in a major twist through episode 9 that one of the vampires who was Dracula's aid from the early days named Varney is actually Death and Death had easily manipulated Saint Germain to do the dirty work to bring back Dracula and Lisa so they would be fused in a Rebis. Thankfully Saint Germain comes back to his senses to help Trevor destroy the Rebis with holy water and a cross-shaped blade.
The final fight ends up being Trevor VS Death. I honestly felt so numb after seeing how that fight ended. It was fantastic and epic of course but sadness started to creep in...at least until I watched episode 10. It had been two weeks since Trevor's fight and everyone assumed he had died but it turns out he was transported to safety thanks to Saint Germain.
Another further twist to end the series was seeing Dracula and Lisa brought back to life and disguising themselves as a normal couple in another city and they plan to move elsewhere to build a new life. Of course they could not visit Alucard soon. It would take time. Alongside their happy ending, I thought the finale in general was satisfactory for everyone.
Alucard and Greta would be leaders to the new village outside the castle with the help of Trevor and a pregnant Sypha. Hector and Isaac moved on to a new chapter in their lives separately. Hector wanted to keep Lenore close but she being a vampire did not want to be a prisoner and found peace by allowing herself to disintegrate under the sun. I did feel season 4 pushed her back and she could have done more. She showed her intelligence, manipulation and strength in season 3 for sure. Her sisters thought she was too useless which she wasn't as it showed with her seducing Hector.
Trailer for season 4 can be seen below. It's been a worthwhile ride and I will miss the bickering from my favourite heroic trio and the endless profanity, especially Richard Armitage.