‘Disenchantment’: What to Remember Before Season 2

Disenchantment is coming back, and life in Dreamland is as raunchy and ridiculous as ever. Created by Matt Groening and Josh Weinstein, Disenchantment is basically what you would get if The Simpsons and Futurama went full medieval. And last season, it ended with one heck of a cliffhanger.

The animated comedy follows the life of Bean (voiced by Abbi Jacobson), a hard-drinking and irresponsible princess who still isn’t over the death of her mother. Together with her two equally misanthropic buddies, her own personal demon Luci (voiced by Eric Andre) and the elfin outcast Elfo (voiced by Nat Faxon), Bean slowly learns that there’s more to life than partying. Very, very slowly.

Season 1 ended on a surprisingly dramatic revelation for this very silly series. So what do you need to know before Disenchantment Season 2? Here’s your guide to what happened, and what might happen next.

What’s going on with Princess Bean?

After spending a season wallowing in her own sadness and insecurity, Bean finally got a chance to bring her mom back from the dead. It was everything Bean had wanted for years, but it came at a hefty price: her best friend Elfo. Bean could only use the magic amulet to revive either her mother or her friend, and she ultimately chose the woman who gave birth to her.

At first that seemed like the right call. Queen Dagmar (voiced by Sharon Horgan) was every bit as loving and gracious as Bean hoped. But over time her nefarious secrets started to emerge. Season 1 ended with Dagmar secretly turning the kingdom of Dreamland into stone and blaming it on her husband’s new wife, Queen Oona (voiced by Tress MacNeille). She then convinced her daughter that the kingdom was under attack and persuaded Bean and her demon buddy Luci to go with her to sea. By the end of the show’s first season, Bean has no idea that her mom is absolutely, definitely evil.

How did Princess Bean’s mother, Queen Dagmar, die again?

The story Bean was fed for years was that Dagmar was poisoned by someone nefarious trying to tear their family a part. The culprit was never caught, but there’s a good reason for that, besides general incompetence.

It turns out Dagmar actually poisoned herself. Far from being the regal but helpless ruler Bean remembers, Dagmar was actually a powerful sorceress. Sick of her husband King Zøg (voiced by Billy West) and determined to take Dreamland for her own, Dagmar laced Zøg’s evening wine with a potion that would turn him into stone. But thanks to some convenient interfering from baby Princess Bean, the cups were switched. Dagmar drank her own poison and Zøg spent years pining over a woman who never loved him.

Is Elfo really dead?

That’s a big yep. At the end of Season 1 Bean had to choose between using magical elf blood to bring back her mother or Elfo. She did not choose the vaguely annoying half-elf who wants to get into her pants. But it seems like she is dedicated to getting him back. The Season 2 trailer shows Bean and Luci diving into hell to revive their fallen friend. Will they succeed? Probably.

Anything else I need to remember?

Zøg’s second wife, Queen Oona was wrongly blamed for turning Dreamland into stone. Since Oona has a notoriously vindictive streak and has ties to a rival kingdom, that’s something to keep in mind. Also as great as Bean is, she’s still not directly in line to become the ruler of Dreamland. That honor goes to her younger half brother, the juvenile and stupid Derek (voiced by MacNeille).

Other than that? Matt Berry’s prince character is still a pig, Bean can still kick anyone’s butt, and Luci is still the best. We’ll be double fisting a glass of mead and a pint of beer for Disenchantment‘s return.

Watch Disenchantment on Netflix