Long Live the King

In which paths fork, loyalties blur, and Lyta drops the ball.

Ep 10 leans further into existential tension. Direction by Jamie Childs embraces restraint. The Garden of Forking Ways sequence is visually poetic, mirroring the metaphysical weight of the script without over-explaining it. Dialogue is sparing but precise, the pacing contemplative without dragging.

Tom Sturridge is reliably mesmerising as Dream, but this isn't the untouchable lord of earlier episodes. Here, there's a visible fragility: a man burdened by what he must do, rather than defined by what he can. It's a shift in energy that makes the stillness of this episode unexpectedly powerful.

Lyta Hall (Razane Jammal), however, is at the centre of things and could have brought more emotional texture. Given the personal stakes involved, her performance feels curiously muted... held back where it needed to cut deep. It's a missed opportunity in an otherwise tightly acted piece.

The gears are now turning toward a powerful finale. I will probably wait for Ep 12 to be released first, and watch the last two together.