'Marvel's Helstrom' Season 1: Which sibling is truly the darker one? Daimon and Ana deal with it in their own way
Spoilers for 'Marvel's Helstrom' Season 1
Though they both share the same unique, demonic heritage and share a number of the same abilities, Daimon Helstrom (Tom Austen) and his sister Ana Helstrom (Sydney Lemmon) lived their lives along completely separate paths. One taken in by a nun and given all the love in the world, the other raised in the foster system seemingly abandoned by her family with no one but a mysterious and largely absent Caretaker (Robert Wisdom) to take care of her. Both have had their brushes with the darkness, but as things heat up when Mother (Elizabeth Marvel) enacts her plan, one question worth asking is: which sibling is darker?
At first glance, it would appear that Ana is the clear winner here. She embraces her darker side, both wildness and hedonism. She's got a side job tracking down those she deems worthy of death for their horrific crimes, and she acts as judge, jury and executioner, using her Hell-given powers to drain the life out of them with none the wiser but Chris Yen (Alain Uy). It's she who would rather kill her mother than to let the demon inside win - but when push comes to shove, it turns out that the responsible do-gooder Daimon might be hiding the more dangerous monster inside him.
After leaving Portland when Mother escapse, Ana is furious in a way that concerns her closest friend - she's looking to kill someone, and she wants to do it fast. Ignoring all protocols, Ana is clearly not after justice - she just wants to kill. This rage monster, as she calls it, makes her sloppy, leading her to almost being caught by Yen's lover, Derrick Jackson (Hamza Fouad). She almost kills him to cover her tracks - but the key word there is almost. Though she's already begun to kill him, she finds she can't go through with it - nor can she, in later episodes, manage to actually kill her mother in a permanent way despite claiming that it was the best way to do things.
Daimon, however, preaches the good fight, and his problem is that he's largely avoided the darkness inside him. True to his Christian upbringing, instead of dealing with his feelings and trauma, he's repressed it - allowing the darkness inside him to fester and grow stronger. It's something that he's been able to control most of his life, but when he's truly pushed by member of the Blood, he's unable to stop himself from killing them. Ana's experience with her darker side allows her to pull back, but Daimon's repressed feelings come out stronger than ever.
Daimon has spent so long othering his monstrous side, that when he crosses that line a part of him feels like all his lost - that by killing, he's lost himself to the monster inside him and there's no way back. Fortunately, those around him are able to turn him back towards the light, but that unchecked darkness still resides in him. For the moment, however, he is made stronger by his family ties - and they can hopefully see him through his demons before they can rise again.
All episodes of 'Marvel's Helstrom' are now available to stream on Hulu.
