Marvel's 'Helstrom' Season 1: Did the Blood's choice to separate Ana and Daimon do more harm than good?
Spoilers for 'Marvel's Helstrom' Season 1
The separation of the Helstrom siblings is one of the major events that changed the course of their lives forever. While Daimon Helstrom (Tom Austen) was raised by Louise Hastings (June Carryl), Ana Helstrom (Sydney Lemmon) was forced to feel like her family abandoned her, as she was left to fend for herself in the foster system.
While Hastings raised Daimon with a sense of right and wrong, Ana grew up with a sense of fierce but unguided independence. Though both siblings eventually found each other, they had to grow up dealing with their inner darknesses alone — something that ultimately may have pushed them down precisely the path that the Blood wanted them to avoid.
Initially, Louise Hastings claims she only adopted Daimon and not Ana because she was afraid of Ana and believed her to be a corruptive influence on Daimon — she even later claims that Ana has always frightened her, even as a child. However, a flashback reveals that it was the organization known as the Blood who was responsible for separating the siblings at birth. This decision did not work out in the Blood's favor, as both siblings turned against the organization.
In the comics, the Blood are a demonic organization that kept Ghost Riders Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze separated as children, believing that they would be more powerful together. In that sense, the Blood of the TV show acheived their goal. Growing up apart, Daimon and Ana weren't able to realize or understand their powers.
It's only through the course of the show, as they learn what each of them are truly capable of, do they start learning to push their powers instead of locking them away. They become more powerful together, allowing them to fight the demons that haunt them and become a true threat to the Blood.
The Blood's separation of the two became a self-fulfilling prophecy, however, as the organization believed that the two would eventually succumb to their darker influences. Growing up alone, however, without the familial support of each other is exactly the kind of thing that spurred on both siblings' darker impulses. Daimon repressed his feelings, instead of dealing with them, believing that they made him a monster he tried desperately to avoid until he was cornered.
Ana chose to give in to them, using her own brand of justice to kill men she felt deserved it. It's not until both siblings come together that they learn to use their powers in productive ways, to help and heal rather than harm.
Even after being separated for all those years, the Helstroms still find strength in each other — it's that strength that helps their mother Victoria (Elizabeth Marvel) to overcome her own demon, free at last. The Blood's decisions forced the Helstroms into isolation from each other, and while things worked out in the end, years were lost to this decision. Ultimately, through their hatred and prejudice, the Blood made a terrible decision a whole lot worse than it needed to be.
All episodes of 'Marvel's Helstrom' are now available to view on Hulu.