(This article contains spoilers, and is written under the assumption that the reader has viewed the entire series of Hannibal)
“This is my becoming.”
With that phrase, we reached the moment when Will Graham became fully aware of his own descent into evil. It’s something that’s been building over all three seasons of the show, but in this second half, the Red Dragon arc, we see his complete refusal of Hannibal crumble into acceptance. It’s simultaneously a moment of catharsis and defeat. Will tried to stay away from Hannibal and commit to a family, but it was never in the cards. Bedelia tells him in the finale that he’s found his religion, but in truth Will found it a long time ago. His transformation was almost complete; he just needed to consciously give himself over to his darker impulses.
The theme of transformation has been a major focus in Hannibal for some time, but is even more central in this arc. For one, the story they are adapting about the Red Dragon is explicitly about a man becoming something else altogether. For Francis Dolarhyde, the Dragon gives him power, but it also makes him a slave to its own desires. Despite being a relatively faithful adaptation of the source material, Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, the parallels between Dolarhyde and the TV show’s version of Graham are illuminating. Both are men who are becoming more powerful and dangerous against their conscious wills, and both have people that they love (Will’s family, and Francis’ blind lover Reba) who are bound to fall victim to their darker predilections.
