This column contains spoilers for Prime Video’s Hazbin Hotel Season 1, and does not relate to additional Vivienne Medrano works, including previous iterations of the characters.
If it’s not evident by the fact that it currently makes up 50% of the topics of my column this year, I am obsessed with Hazbin Hotel. I explained a big part of that obsession in my first Hazbin Streaming Wars entry, but the Season 1 finale left me with an absolute need to discuss Alastor further. The Radio Demon was basically built from the ground up to tick all of my obsessive boxes specifically. Old gods vs. new gods vibes in his feud with the V’s? Check. Shrouded in multiple layers of mystery? Check. Absolute evil forced to do good? Check. I’m gonna stop, but do know that I could do this all day.
All of the biggest questions and revelations coming out of the last two episodes are surrounding the Radio Demon, so let’s dive in.
A Smile’s a Powerful Tool, My Dear
“An enjoyable bunch to be around. I admit, one could grow accustomed.”
A huge part of the intrigue surrounding Alastor is that you simply do not know whose side this demon is on. The easy explanation is that he’s on his own side, swaying wherever the wind takes him, but his very character makes the simple answer void. Dude calls himself the Radio Demon; if this were about being on his own side he would have shacked up with Vox and his contemporary media goons the moment he was asked.
And all demons want power, right? Right. But the answer’s more nuanced here, too. Alastor is interested in power just as much as the other overlords, but not at the expense of violating his own code. A code that, at this moment, we know very little about! Whatever it is, it’s rooted in the idea that Vox and the rest of the V’s can go to hell along with the rest of the TV, porn, and social media worshippers! Er… deeper in hell? You know what I mean.
So here’s this demon. He doesn’t have control of his soul — more on that later — but his service to Charlie seems to go deeper than that. Alastor and Niffty share a moment before the final battle where they’re smiling over their complicated little found family and commiserating over the fact that they really do enjoy their company. Also, when he helps the Hazbins, his deals are never for souls (Husk was well before). And finally, the comic A Day in the Life follows the Radio Demon on an average day which ultimately culminates in Alastor literally saving a lamb (demon).
The only real indication of his monstrosity is his complicated relationship with Husk, a situation that the bartender fully acknowledges he got himself into. So I would like to echo Angel’s question to Mimsy from earlier in the series: What the hell is Alastor’s deal?!
Charlie Owes Alastor a Favor
“She’s filled with potential that I could guide. Stick with her, you'll be on the winning side.”
Speaking of deals, though of a different kind: Charlie owes Alastor a favor in exchange for the intel on how to kill angels. The Radio Demon could have offered this freely, of course, but he saw an opportunity to get guaranteed support from Charlie, the second most powerful creature in hell. The deal comes with a caveat: she will not hurt anyone for him. He agrees to this without pause, just like he made a deal with Vaggie in the premiere for something as simple as never forcing him to engage with television again.
[Extremely Benoit Blanc voice] His motives make no damn sense! They compel me, though.
There’s an argument to be made that Alastor’s not so much interested in being all-powerful so much as he’s interested in being singularly powerful. This means he’s not interested in banding together with people who can help so much as he is interested in being the most powerful being in hell. But even that argument falls to pieces when you consider how many allies Alastor has. Is he instead interested in forming an army through pleasantries?! I want answers!
Who Owns Alastor’s Soul?
So, like… It’s gotta be Lillith, right?
Charlie might be the second most powerful entity in hell, but plenty of the other Overlords see her kindness and take advantage of it. Alastor doesn’t seem to be the ‘take advantage’ type unless there’s a soul involved, but he’s torn people to shreds for a quarter of the snark the Princess of Hell gives him when she gets frustrated enough. He’s also made it clear that he’s completely unbothered by Lucifer, so his behavior isn’t driven by fear. At least not of two-thirds of the Morningstars.
When the Radio Demon disappeared seven years ago, was it Lillith who rescued him in his time of need in exchange for his soul? An unbreakable command from the Queen of Hell certainly goes a long way to explain at least some of Alastor’s behavior.
Does His ‘Alastor Altruist’ Speech Give Us Any Answers?
“Great Alastor altruist died for his friends.
Sorry to disappoint this is not where this ends.
I’m hungry for freedom like never before.
The constraints of my deal surely have a backdoor.
Once I figure out how to unclip my wings, guess who will be pulling all the strings.”
The guy’s definitely Going Through It™ when he delivers this line in the final song, but he also very clearly states that the purveyors and residents of the Hazbin Hotel are his friends. He wasn’t just making stuff up in his conversation with Niffty before the battle, either. He’s made fun of Charlie’s goal to save all the sinners in hell plenty of times before, but is it possible he’s warming to the idea in spite of himself?
His part in the song doesn’t technically need to set up anything nefarious, at least so far as Charlie and her friends are concerned. He did not, in fact, die while protecting his friends. And who isn’t hungry for freedom after a near-death experience, especially when you’re one of the baddest demons in hell?
But what strings does he want to pull? Whose?! Everyone’s?! I can’t believe the first season of this show was only eight episodes, and that it’s already over. It’s been a long time since something has hooked me this hard so fast. I need to know what this evil-ass altruist is up to next immediately!
