*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Devil May Cry season 2.*
Devil May Cry is back on Netflix and diehard fans might cry too if they’ve devoured the whole of season 2 in one go.
But with only a one year gap between the first two seasons, don’t be surprised if new episodes arrive on streaming sooner rather than later (even if we are currently waiting on news of a renewal).
Renew Devil May Cry they must though, because season 2 ends with a bunch of questions about what’s to come for everyone’s favourite demon hunter.
So how did we get here? Going into the season 2 finale, brothers Dante (Johnny Yong Bosch) and Vergil (Robbie Daymond) have teamed up to defeat a god-like demon named Argosax.
Vergil opened a portal to Makai (hell), and the idea was to throw the monster through it, but then Vergil went through too and Dante followed just before the portal closed behind them.
Here’s how Devil May Cry season 2 ends and sets up a very likely third season.
Devil May Cry season 2 ending explained: How do Dante and Vergil defeat Argosax?
The short answer is – they don’t. Upon arriving in Makai to fight Argosax, King Mundus shows up to fight the demon himself.
“I had hoped for your rebirth,” says Mundus, “so this time, I can ensure nothing of you remains, even in memory”.
It turns out that Mundus took the throne from Argosax back in the day, so these giant demonic god-like beings have longstanding beef with each other.
While they fight it out, Vergil and Dante try to avoid all the carnage and separate the amulet from their father’s sword so they can close the barrier between worlds.
Mundus eventually defeats Argosax, slicing off his head before throwing it at the brothers. Other demons under the rule of Mundus show up then to stop Dante and Vergil from grabbing the sword.
Did Sparda really betray Mundus?
Mundus tries to win Vergil over, explaining that he always wanted the best for him. Killing his mum and training him up to be a killing machine of his own was all “necessary to purge you of sapien weakness”.
That’s when Mundus explains how Sparda, the boy’s demonic father, wasn’t actually the saviour of mankind that everyone has made him out to be. In fact, Mundus was the one who betrayed Sparda, not the other way around as everyone had been led to believe.
It’s then that Mundus reveals how he overthrew Argosax with the help of Sparda who understood that order was needed, not the chaos of old: “Together, we built a Makai that lived up to its legend.”
But when Mundus grew paranoid that there were enemies lurking everywhere, even in his own court, Sparda “turned his sword to me,” realising that Mundus was no longer fit to rule.
The pair “battled across continents of Makai, neither able to gain upper hand until Sparda saw one solution. To contain my ambitions by force”.
Dante isn’t happy with this because it suggests that his father trapped Mundus in Makai for his own sake, not to save the billions of humans who would have died under his rule on Earth. Maybe Daddy isn’t the nice guy we thought he was, eh.
Why does Vergil fight Dante?
When Dante pushes back against Mundus, the demon king doubles down on it all, asking Vergil to come to Earth with him and rule over the humans by his side.
Vergil refuses, so together, he and Dante fight their way to Sparda’s sword, which holds the key to stopping all this.
Upon reaching the sword, Dante quite sensibly suggests that they should just close the barrier now and come back for Mundus later when they’re ready to face him properly. “I can’t risk losing you,” he says to Vergil. “Not when I just got you back.”
His brother doesn’t listen though, choosing to retain the power for himself so he can control Makai without Mundus. That’s not exactly what Dante wanted to hear, so the pair end up fighting.
Flashbacks to sparring in their childhood remind us just how evenly matched the brothers are and how long they have fought as rivals. But then Vergil suddenly stabs Dante with his sword and outright wins.
How do they defeat Mundus?
It’s not all bad news though. Vergil wonders out loud how different his and Dante’s lives might have been had they had slept in different rooms the night they were attacked. You know, the night their mother died. “Would I have your life and you mine?”
With that, Vergil knocks Dante into the sky, hurtling towards the portal up high. He then throws the gem at Dante too, who grabs it out of the air so the portal will close behind him.
Realising what’s happened, Mundus flies up after Dante, but it’s too late. The portal closes, trapping Mundus in Makai while Dante safely makes it home to Earth.
This isn’t the selfless act of bravery you might think it is though.
“Everything you said about humans is right,” Vergil tells Mundus. “I’m grateful you cleansed me of their rot, but unfortunately for you, you killed my mother.”
Yep, it doesn’t look like Vergil will reunite with Mundus anytime soon. But he’s not exactly planning on being one of the good guys either.
“Makai will invade Earth with me as their king,” declares Vergil.
“You are more like your father than you know,” replies Mundus. “Let’s see if you can succeed where he failed.”
Guess we have a new Big Bad on our hands, and it’s none other than Dante’s own brother, Vergil.
What happens to Lady at the end?
Lady (Scout Taylor-Compton) has been missing throughout the finale, but she finally shows up at the end, dealing with the aftermath of the big battle from the previous episode.
In a voiceover aimed at Dante directly, Lady reveals that her mum was murdered in front of her when she was a child too. “I was just an innocent, helpless kid, same as you.”
She couldn’t understand what pulled them together at first, but now she realises why they understood each other as well as they did. But Lady isn’t like Dante because she’s not content to simply ignore the pain that trauma brought. She plans to run towards it, head-on.
“You showed me that it’s not our blood that defines us. It’s our choices. You’re the best of humanity, Dante. My place is with the worst of it.”
We sit with Lady then as she watches a video where a man mutates into the grotesque Jester demon that she fought earlier this season.
“Well, well Mary…” taunts the Jester. “Coming to see dear old dad? Let’s give them a show.”
As Lady heads off to deal with her family issues, the episode ends on Dante struggling with his own, still lying in the street where the portal dropped him.
Remembering his childhood before everything went to shit, Dante says, “Don’t worry, Vergil. It’s gonna be me and you together forever.” But it’s not looking that way, not after that betrayal.
Dante cries and the amulet cracks in two, one piece red and one piece blue. Yep, their connection is severed with the least subtle metaphor imaginable, but it sure does bode well for just how wild season three is going to get.
Devil May Cry is available to stream on Netflix now.
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