It is really common for popular media franchises to employ a final boss red herring in the narrative—scenarios where the one presented as the prime antagonist is utilized only to distract the viewers from the real big bad. In the Castlevania game series itself, characters like Shaft and Olrox have been presented as final boss red herrings, while Dracula was the true threat all along. Netflix’s acclaimed Castlevania animated series spin-off, Castlevania: Nocturne, used a similar strategy through its first season by presenting Countess Erzsebet Bathory as the main villain of the series, while in the second season, her underling, Drolta Tzuentes, turned out to be the one orchestrating every vile scheme from the shadows. Ultimately, Tzuentes was revealed as the final adversary whom Alucard and his team of vampire hunters needed to defeat to bring an end to the nightmarish horrors plaguing France.
Spoilers Ahead
Tzuentes’ Misguided Purpose
As shown in several flashback sequences in the second season of Castlevania: Nocturne, Drolta Tzuentes was the mastermind behind Erzsebet’s rise to power, her becoming the vessel of goddess Sekhmet as the master vampire nearly submerged the world in darkness by initiating the eternal night. In the game series, Drolta was presented as a witch who resurrected and served her master, Elizabeth Bartley, so it was natural to assume that she was a minor lackey who got eliminated in a memorable sequence in the first season’s finale with Alucard’s epic return. But things are much different in the animated series, as an exploration of Drolta’s past showcases her to be the major force behind all the dreaded machinations.
Eons ago, during the first millennium, Drolta was the high priestess of Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, and her devotion to the deity of war and healing was only matched by her anxiety of not being able to stand up to the task of protecting the devotees. Drolta’s worst fears manifested as on one occasion, a group of grave robbers/bandits stole Sekhmet’s mummy from her tomb/temple and mercilessly slaughtered every priestess and devotee present there. Drolta turned out to be the only survivor of the massacre, and considering her weakness to be a sin, in her desperation she pleaded for divine guidance. At that moment, Drolta encountered a vampire, feeding itself on one of the murdered devotees, and despite nearly having herself killed, she was able to take down the monstrosity. Given her situation, Drolta was clutching at straws—which is why she was quick to consider this scenario to be a sign from the goddess to become stronger than she has ever been. Drolta drank the blood of the slain vampire and was reborn as a creature of the night. As a human, Drolta was unable to protect the people who depended on her and failed to safeguard her faith—but in her new form, she was able to stand her ground against the vile, cruel men who preyed upon the weak. Going a step further, Drolta decided to honor this reawakening by bringing Sekhmet back to the mortal plane to begin the eternal night, and in order to do so she needed a human vessel who could harbor the two souls of the goddess—Ba and Ka.
Drolta reshaped the religious order of Sekhmet, as their new objective was to find a suitable vessel for the goddess, and through the next few centuries, Drolta and her followers continued testing new subjects by injecting them with Sekhmet’s blood—to no avail. In her mind, Drolta’s mission was a righteous one, as she had misinterpreted her interaction with the nosferatu as a divine calling to strengthen their order. If anything, it was a sign to stand against the oppressive dark forces of the world, but the high priestess was not in the right state of mind at that point in time to recognize the error in her ways.
Using Erzsebet As A Vessel And Second Rebirth
During the sixteenth century, Drolta came across the ‘Most Evil Woman’ to exist, Hungarian Countess Erzsebet Bathory, imprisoned by the aristocrats of the royal court for murdering numerous teenagers and for several other heinous, despicable acts. In her solitary confinement, Bathory was awaiting her death when Drolta’s proposition to assume the role of a goddess came as a ray of hope for her. Also, the charismatic, mass-murdering countess had a certain megalomaniacal, narcissistic personality, which was fuelled by Drolta’s promise of her attaining the power of Sekhmet. Erzsebet proved herself to be worthy of such power when she was able to become Sekhmet’s vessel by drinking her preserved blood, following which her reign of terror began. Drolta was the loyal servant, always by her side, spreading her dark gospel, and bringing new victims—and Erzsebet truly believed that she has assumed complete control over everything. Whereas it was Drolta who called the shots, operating from the shadows. Drolta’s vile actions doomed Sekhmet’s soul in the underworld as it greatly disrupted the cosmic balance, and the goddess was subjected to being tormented by the devourer of souls, Ammit.
After Drolta was slain by Alucard, as shown in the final moments of the first season, Erzsebet made it her priority to bring her back to life—and forced Abbot Emmanuel to use his hellish transformation machine to do so. Aside from the sense of companionship, Erzsebet was aware that without Drolta by her side, she herself possibly couldn’t have achieved the higher purpose of uniting Sekhmet’s soul to become the complete form of the goddess’ vessel. Drolta was once again reborn, this time as a vampire-Night Creature hybrid, and she was able to obtain Sekhmet’s heart—devouring it, Erzsebet truly became an incarnation of Sekhmet’s destructive, dark side. However, Drolta was possibly unaware of the existence of the third soul of the goddess, who was able to thwart the dominance of Erzsebet by channeling her control through Annette. Finding a weakened Erzsebet to be unfit to become the vessel, Drolta took it upon herself to lead the charge—and as a final attempt to serve her higher purpose, she seized the power from the countess to become Sekhmet’s vessel herself. However, she was stopped in her tracks by Sekhmet’s Aakh, who ultimately showed Drolta how misguided her attempt really was.
In the second season’s finale, after facing the combined might of Alucard, Olrox, and Richter, Drolta was killed by Richter Belmont, and it is unlikely that she will come back from the dead this time around. However, there is always a chance to explore the character’s past if a prequel spin-off is planned by the makers, which can focus on the intriguing concept of assimilating Egyptian mythology with legends of the undead.