Jurek Walter never leaves his cell in Nocturne, yet children keep vanishing and families keep running. Jonah Lynn has insisted from the start that someone on the outside is doing the work, and Episode 3, “Eyes on the Inside,” finally gives that someone a name, a mask and a symbol.
After the Episode 3 ending, with its anonymous call and a masked figure unlocking a door on a captive girl, the biggest question of the season is who the Sandman really is. The show hasn’t answered it yet, but it has dropped plenty of clues. So, let’s investigate together.
SPOILER WARNING!!!
Who Is the Sandman in Nocturne?
Apple TV hasn’t revealed the Sandman’s identity yet. The name was revealed by Michael Frost, who was held for three years alongside his sister Felicia. When Jonah shows Michael the symbol carved into the trees in Episode 3, the boy whispers one word: Sandman.
Michael has also confirmed he only heard the Sandman’s voice, but never saw his face because the figure always wore a mask and kept the siblings in the dark. That matches the masked figure in the Episode 3 ending, suggesting directly that the Sandman maybe Jurek’s accomplice.
The anonymous caller who threatened the task force disguised their voice, and while the episode 3 doesn’t confirm if it’s the same person, I think it’s likely they are connected.
Related: Nocturne Release Schedule: When Does Episode 4 Drop on Apple TV+?
What Clues Has Nocturne Given About the Sandman?
Michael’s descriptions are the creepiest evidence so far. He says his mother always told him the Sandman came in the night, which is why you fell asleep.
When Jonah asks whether his captor put him to sleep, Michael describes what he heard in the room.
“It came in the room. His fingers were made of glass. You could hear them clacking,” he says.
The show never explains what makes that clacking sound. It does give a strong lead on how victims are put under, since Nathan found an empty bottle of sevoflurane next to the mattress in Episode 1. The same anisthetic was in Michael’s blood and in every one of Jurek’s victims, which points to the Sandman using it too.
The symbol is the other big clue. Jonah finds it carved into trees near the Gifford house, and it also marks the burial sites of earlier victims. Saga has seen essentially the same symbol inside Riverside, which links the hospital and the outside world.
Related: Nocturne’s Mystery Symbol Explained: What Is Carved Into the Trees and Saga’s Cell?
Is Jurek Walter Controlling the Sandman?
Jurek has an alibi, which is why Jonah believes he is directing the kidnappings through an accomplice. Everything inside Riverside supports that. Jurek asked Karl to deliver a secret message to his lawyer, then faked a choking fit to slip a note into his coworker’s pocket to protect him by removing doubts over him when police suspected him sending messages outside.
But Episode 3 showed him preparing something bigger. He kept stockpiling a battery, wires and petroleum jelly scraped into a plastic Jell-O cup, and it looks like he has a plan. Saga went undercover to find out who passes his messages, and the Sandman is the person at the other end of them.
However, a separate thread involves Michael’s mention of a woman he calls Becca, who protected him and Felicia. Jonah connected that name to Rebecca, Saga’s missing mother, but the show has shown no link between Becca and the Sandman yet.
With Felicia confirmed alive and Sally Gifford’s family still missing, the Sandman is the one person who holds the answers. Nocturne Episode 4, “The Courier,” arrives Friday, November 13 on Apple TV.
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