As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
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Chapter 1: Sleep of the Just
- Although getting an "in" with him was definitely part of it, Ethel defending Alex from his father's rude party guests certainly counts. She also continues to be kind to him, even after he gets her what she wants. Considering how his father treats him, it's highly implied that she is one of the few people to ever show him genuine kindness during his younger years.
- Despite his horrible home life, Alex finds new love with Paul. The two eventually grow old together.
- It may be tiny, but the first time Dream gives even the barest hint of emotion is a small smile at Jessamy when she attempts to rescue him.
- Dream beaming from ear to ear and taking Lucienne's hand after she finds him nearly passed out and back in the Dreaming.
Chapter 2: Imperfect Hosts
- When Dream is dismayed that many of his subjects thought he had abandoned them, Lucienne tells him that she didn't think that was the case; she knew he would return.
- She also notes that some of the missing subjects actually left to search for him.
- Cain and Abel are awed and delighted to see that the Dreamlord has returned, immediately inviting him and Lucienne to their homes for refreshments.
- Counts as a tearjerker too: When Dream realizes he needs to absorb something he has created to regain a portion of his power, he's sorrowful to learn that the only option is Gregory, a gargoyle who has become family to Cain and Abel. Dream respects Gregory's autonomy, asking him to help instead of demanding him to sacrifice himself. Sympathizing with their grief, Dream steps back so the brothers may say goodbye before respectfully kneeling before Gregory and assuring him that he is an honorable soul who will be greatly missed.
- Cain loves Gregory so much that he expresses his disapproval by back-talking the Dreamlord, persisting even when he is rebuked twice, all to ensure Gregory's safety. He even offers himself and his brother to be sacrificed instead.
- During his journey to collect offerings for the Three who are One, Dream takes the time to gift Cain and Abel a gargoyle egg as an apology for absorbing Gregory.
Chapter 3: Dream a Little Dream of Me
- Morpheus kneeling to Matthew in the rain when he finally allows the latter to be his raven. In the comics, he normally only does this for children to get down on their level, which makes it even sweeter.
- Morpheus giving one last pleasant dream of being with Johanna to a dying Rachel after getting his pouch of sand back.
- Later in the season, we learn that people who die in their sleep can become permanent residents of The Dreaming. If this sort of thing counts for that, then it's possible that Rachel is "alive" (in a manner of speaking) and will be able to visit Johanna whenever the latter is asleep.
- As thanks for helping him reclaim his sand, and perhaps as an apology for what happened to Rachel, Morpheus promises that Johanna's nightmares won't bother her ever again.
Chapter 4: A Hope In Hell
- Despite being the one to condemn Nada to Hell, Dream still admits to loving her and looks a bit remorseful for her situation. As he leaves, Nada declares she will never give up hope of one day being set free.
- Matthew refusing to leave Dream behind in Hell, even when ordered to repeatedly. He hasn't known the Dream King for long, and their relationship started on rocky ground, but even so, he's not abandoning his boss. He even speaks against Lucifer Morningstar, albeit in very polite terms."We came here for the helm, and we're not leaving without it."
- Later on in the same episode, Matthew's pep talk gives Dream the inspiration for his last, winning move against Lucifer."Hey, boss! Listen to me! You know what can survive the Anti-Life? You! Dreams don't fucking die! Not if you believe in them! And I believe that Dream of the Endless would never leave his raven here alone, in Hell, with Lucifer!"
- During his "game" with Lucifer, Dream starts shifting into life-nurturing things, such as a world, a universe, and finally hope. There's something comforting in knowing that despite how it seems so much of the time, hoping for a better tomorrow is not false reassurance that only makes the harsh reality hit harder. On the contrary, hope can be the most powerful force in all of creation.
- In a change from the comics, John Dee spares Rosemary and even gives her his Amulet of Protection.
Chapter 5: 24/ 7
- Bette is initially polite and kind towards John, making small talk when she doesn't have to and happily attending to him.
- Bette wants Judy to have a less volatile relationship than the one that Judy currently has with Donna, hence wanting to pair her up with Mark. This is a notable contrast to her comic counterpart, who was attempting to invoke Cure Your Gays on Judy.
Chapter 6: The Sound of Her Wings
- Death spends most of episode six trying to connect with Dream, giving him her version of a pep talk and spending most of the day with him. This appears to be a pattern with them, as the flashback sequence shows her encouraging him to befriend Hob Gadling.
- Her affection for him is returned, as their conversations are probably the closest Dream gets to being openly affectionate in the show. One of the few times Dream actually smiles is when he's talking with Death.
- Death gives the old man enough time to recite the Shema Yisrael
, the prayer that devout Jews hope to pray at their moment of death. Dream sees a picture of the man with other musicians, which seems to warm even his heart. - The fact that Death is very gentle with every soul she has to take. Despite hearing the pleas billions of times, maybe trillions of times, she never gets angry. Never demands they hurry it up. She just very calmly explains that it's time for them to go, gives them enough time to compose themselves if necessary, and then guides them.
- In a(n admittedly very dark) way, even Death taking the baby qualifies. Though its life was over far too soon to the point where even Death seems eager to leave, the baby in question knew nothing but love and comfort.
- When Dream and Death overhear Hob calling death "stupid", Dream immediately looks towards Death, clearly willing to jump to her defense, if need be. Instead, she smiles amusedly and shakes her head, letting him know it doesn't insult her.
- Hob seems to have been brought to his lowest point by the miseries of immortality, only to refuse the suggestion to finally die, insisting that he's still got so much to live for... and Dream, who has been taking a very dim view of humanity at best, actually seems genuinely impressed by his spirit.
- When Johanna Constantine's ancestor confronts Hob and Dream, Hob immediately takes out her guards. Dream incapacitates Constantine with his sand, and then tells Hob he didn't need any protection. Hob agrees, but jokingly notes he would have hated to have no one to drink with in the next century. Before they part ways again, Dream tells Hob to be careful, because even if he can't die, he can still be hurt and captured.
- Dream showing up at the new bar to meet with Hob, acknowledging their friendship in defiance of his prior insistence a century earlier that they weren't.Hob: (smiling) You're late.
Dream: (also smiling) It seems I owe you an apology. I've always heard it impolite to keep one's friends waiting.
- Dream revealing that "Lushing Lou" has a real name and a real (exceedingly tragic) past to Hob, who only knew her as a joke and the butt of several cruel nicknames. It's a reminder that everyone has a story, and people are far more complex than they may show on the surface. This then leads to a bit of bonding between Hob and Dream; unfortunately, the moment is broken when Hob oversteps his boundaries and causes Dream to leave.
- Just the fact that even after Dream failed to show for their centurial meeting, Hob took up vigil at the nearest pub, painting a sign to direct the Dreamlord. He must have worked out of the pub for nearly 30 years, hoping his friend would return. After an argument in 1889 and being stood up in 1989, Hob Gadling never gave up. It's also heavily implied that he purchased the pub specifically so that it would still be there, in one form or another, when Morpheus finally showed up.
Chapter 7: The Doll's House
- Chantal and Zelda are so close that even though Zelda doesn't speak a word, Chantal knows exactly what she wants to say.
- In the dream, Chantal dreams of reading an important book with the "greatest sentence" which is to be interred into the library of congress. Said book has a large Z emblazoned on it.
- Later on when Chantal is trapped in a looped phrase in a state of panic, it is Zelda's dream self who breaks her out of the loop, showing that their supportive relationship is mutual or that perhaps their relationship dynamic is subverted from our initial assumptions. It is actually Chantal who cannot function without Zelda's hidden words.
- Desire is a bit of a Jerkass, but is very gentle and affectionate with Despair. Part of their talk about their schemes seems to be more about making Despair smile than it is about Dream.
- Mason Alexander Park has even talked about playing Desire and offered up an interesting, and very adorable, take on Desire's motivations:
"In both the comics and the television series, Desire and Despair are, strangely enough, the closest of any of Desire's relationships. It used to be that Dream and Desire were thick as thieves. Desire was Dream's favorite sibling until they had a falling out that we won't discuss. But now, these grudges have led to where we are when the show picks up. And Despair is one of the only Endless that has died. Now we're on another Despair. It's not the original Despair. And it's really, really, really difficult for an Endless to die. The understanding of that was something we really worked with in this show when it came to their relationship.
"So, a lot of the scheming and a lot of the games that Desire is playing in this show are in the same way as when you are deeply afraid of losing someone who may be in a really depressive state, or maybe really hard to reach. A lot of times, the thing that you try to do is give them reasons to stick around and give them things to do. A lot of these games that the twins are playing with Dream is Desire's way of including their sister in life and including their sister in the family, as much as they possibly can, in order to keep her alive and keep her around. There is something really beautiful and grounding about the fact that a lot of the nefarious things that Desire does to Dream exist because of this relationship with their other sibling." - Hal showing off his drag performance, with Rose and the others heartily enjoying it.
- Rose immediately hits it off with everyone in the B&B and they all take to her just as quickly, making her as welcome as possible.
Chapter 8: Playing House
- Gault takes the form of Jed's mother to provide him some comfort in his dream world.
- Gault may have moved to try and bring comfort to Jed after learning of his abuse, as she was originally a nightmare before she locked herself and Jed’s dreamscape away.
- Despite Dream sentencing Gault to the darkness, Lucienne openly voices how unfair this punishment was, as Gault only desired to no longer be something that inspired fear.
- Everyone in the B&B offers to help Rose put up the posters she made to help find her little brother.
Chapter 9: Collectors
- Rose and Jed hugging each other upon reuniting.
- Dream's near-apology to Lucienne for his conduct in their previous conversation:Dream: When we last spoke, I did not mean to imply that your efforts beyond the library are without value. I merely wished to relieve you of responsibilities with which, had I been here, you would never have been burdened.
Chapter 10: Lost Hearts
- In a move both heartwarming and heartbreaking, Unity takes the dream vortex powers from Rose and allows Dream to kill her instead to save her great-granddaughter and the rest of the world.
- Hal decides he wants to move back to New York and would have to sell the house to do so. Chantal offers to buy the house from him.
- Rose, Jed, and Lyta all living together in the apartment, clearly showing they've all become family, while Hal and Carl are clearly very close to them and have also started dating.
- Lucienne showing Dream Rose's soon-to-be-created book. While she jokes he may not like the depiction of the king, she very much enjoyed it.
- Dream looks and sounds genuinely pleased to hear about the book, smiling as he asks Lucienne what she thought of it.
- Dream remakes Gault into a dream, acknowledging how things change and how he has come to change as well.
- A soon-to-be-created dream entity in that scene resembles Gregory, implying that Dream might bring him back to life.
Chapter 11: A Dream of A Thousand Cats/Calliope
- The tabby kitten telling the Siamese cat prophet that she believes her story about how a thousand souls dreaming the same thing at the same time can change reality.
- Dream comes to rescue Calliope despite their awful separation—a separation that only came about after Dream's treatment of their son, pre- and post-mortem. When she asks if he still hates or blames her for Orpheus's death, he immediately tells her he doesn't.Calliope: You came.
- Calliope wonders about Dream's motives and why he decided to help her.Calliope: Why are you helping me? Because I was once yours?
Dream: Because he hurt you. - Dream asks Calliope for permission to help her, rather than just riding in like a white knight. At every stage, he asks her what she wants him to do and does it, regardless of his own anger about the matter at hand. He refuses to take further power away from her by making the ending of her suffering about his heroism.
- Calliope wonders about Dream's motives and why he decided to help her.
- Calliope brings up Dream's imprisonment, which leads him to immediately say that she had suffered more than he did in her circumstances. Calliope then decides they shouldn't speak of who suffered more, since it would compound on one another. Though they had a horrible split, the two still care for each other.
- As they part once again, Calliope and Dream leave with fond farewells, wishing each other good fortunes.
- Despite her horrific treatment at the hands of Frye and Maddoc, Calliope wishes no harm to humanity. She says she will make it her goal to inspire humanity to want better and to change the laws that bound her so that no other entity will ever suffer the way she did. She even implores Dream to spare Maddoc.
- Calliope's smile as she steps out of Madoc's house. After decades of imprisonment, she has her freedom at last.
