AMC’s Interview With the Vampire series adaptation infuses the series with a bunch of Easter eggs about the larger supernatural world that Anne Rice created in her books. For example, in the season finale, while Lestat is talking about the delights of Greece, he mentions “Those Who Must Be Kept.” He freezes up after saying it for a moment, but for Vampire Chronicles fans, we know who he is speaking about.
Spoilers for the future of the Vampire Chronicles lie ahead.
“Those Who Must Be Kept” is the collective name of Akasha and Enkil, the forebears of the vampire race. They were the rulers of Kemet and forced their people to stop practicing cannibalism, making them unpopular among nobles. Akasha became fascinated with the supernatural and forced two witches (Maharet and Mekare) to court, arresting them for performing ritualistic cannibalism. One of them summoned a mighty spirit named Amel. He slowly drove Akasha and her husband mad in retaliation for her abuse of the witches.
Then, in an assassination attempt, a group of nobles stabbed Enkil and Akasha multiple times. As Akasha’s soul left her body, Amel took it and intertwined it with his own. The process transformed Akasha into the first vampire as their new interwoven souls reentered her body. Finally, Akasha made her husband, Enkil, the second vampire and first fledgling—a classic vampire romance.
After realizing they had new powers, Akasha brought the witches back to get the wiki explainer about what the hell they were. Maharet explained that as more vampires were made, the bloodlust they felt would fade over time. Akasha forced some of her court to become vampires and found it did help. Eventually, other vampires trapped Akasha and Enkil in a statue-like stasis so that their blood could be used to make new vampires and to keep them alive. Due to them being the originals, if they died or were injured, it would impact every vampire alive.
Lestat will interact with these two, but especially Akasha, in the future, as his music becomes one of the things that makes her actually want to awaken from her state. These characters are a huge part of a major storyline in Queen of the Damned, which was adapted into a very bad movie once upon a time. I am excited at the possibility of seeing both Akasha and the older vampire societies as the series progresses. The Easter eggs are fun, but I want the whole omelette.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
