The Gremlin is definitely back, and he’s causing havoc (and beheading some of our favorite vampires)… but did he ever really leave? And what exactly is he up to?

Thus far on The Vampire Lestat, Armand may not have been physically on screen that much, but his presence has been all over every episode. And what little we have seen of him, it’s been clear that his motives are not entirely genuine, and that he has a plan.

The thing you have to understand about Armand is that his lies and manipulation are never simply because he’s a mustache-twirling villain, but because above all things, he’s a survivor. He’s spent 500 years moving from unimaginable horror to unimaginable horror (brothels, believing his Maker Marius was dead when Marius had actually abandoned him to a Parisian coven that tortured and brainwashed him, spending more than a century in repertoire theatre..), and the only person he’s been able to depend on in his very long life has been himself. So when trouble arrives, Armand is always eyeing the escape hatch and trying to figure out how he’s going to make it out alive.

And right now, from Armand’s perspective, Lestat is threatening far more than just vampire secrecy.

Lestat’s concerts are inspiring vampires around the world to come out of hiding, reveal themselves, and keep turning humans in what Armand believes is the Great Conversion. If he’s right, eventually there won’t be enough humans left to sustain the vampire population. Everybody dies, humans and vampires alike.

So… has Armand been quietly trying to stop all of this since the beginning of the season? Let’s look at the signs:

1. Armand Didn’t End Up At Alex’s AA Meeting By Accident

Immediately when we first saw Armand in the present timeline, it was obvious that he was planning something. Alex, Lestat’s guitarist, had temporarily left the band to get sober, and while at an AA meeting, Armand was there too. There was never a chance that was a coincidence.

Since then, Alex has struck up an unlikely friendship with Armand. He strongly hinted that Armand had become his sponsor (though they’re apparently “not really using that word”), and that the two were speaking every other night.

Alex went on to describe Armand, though not by name, as a God who had been “erasing” all of the bad things he was carrying around. Maybe he just meant emotionally, but given Armand’s history with rewriting both Louis and Daniel Molloy’s memories, it seems likely he’s been doing the same to Alex all season.

And given we saw last week that Alex had fallen off the wagon, even before Armand, you know, killed his brother (but we’ll get to that), it feels obvious that Armand’s goal was not to help Alex stay sober.

It was to use him for his proximity to Lestat.

2. Armand’s Bodyguards

Did you catch the two men who were with Armand in episode four’s concert? Throughout the concert, two men were mysteriously hovering near Armand, and it was very obvious they were not there because they think “Long Face” is a banger song (though they’re wrong on that count).

Not only did they follow him out of the concert during “Big Boss”, but when Daniel followed after Armand to seek out answers about Dubai (and got a love confession in return), Armand waved his hand, and the two men turned to the right immediately. Almost as if they’d been given an order.

Armand wasn’t operating alone. Whether these men were vampires or humans; followers, bodyguards, members of the reborn Children of Darkness, or something else entirely, they appeared to be with him.

#tvlspoilers i liked armand sensing daniel coming and sending his two bodyguards away and then i was like why the fuck does he have an entourage pic.twitter.com/xymw3bV41m

— armandtism creature (@armandtism) June 28, 2026

3. Armand Is Trying To Stop The Great Conversion

Armand hasn’t exactly been subtle about what he wants.

He told Lestat to stop making music because it was riling up the vampire population of the world and leading to the Great Conversion. He told Daniel that Lestat was “going to get us all killed.”

He keeps coming back to the same point: vampires are becoming far too visible. From Armand’s perspective, Lestat isn’t just making an album or putting on concerts. He’s creating a movement. More vampires embracing Lestat means they are becoming more confident, and more humans are being turned. More vampires means fewer humans left to feed on. Eventually, the entire system will collapse. Everybody dies, humans and vampires alike.

Whether Armand is actually right almost doesn’t matter. The important thing is that he believes he’s right. And that’s what makes Armand so dangerous. If he genuinely thinks he’s trying to save vampirekind and humankind alike, then almost anything becomes justifiable.

4. “Armand Told The Truth”

Back in the premiere, the Fang Gang referred to themselves as the Children of Darkness reborn, resurrecting the name of the Paris coven Armand led for centuries. Like that original coven, they believe in the Great Laws and that vampires belong in the shadows. More interestingly, their mantra appears to be “Armand Told the Truth.”

About what? That’s still anyone’s guess.

But it’s obvious they view Armand as more than just another vampire. He’s someone worth following. Whether Armand is actively leading this new Children of Darkness or simply allowing them to worship him remains unclear, but actor Assad Zaman recently offered an interesting glimpse into where Armand’s head is this season.

Speaking to Vulture, Zaman said, “The collective who worship and love him, he just goes with it, because if one person won’t protect him, then, well, all of these people might. Does the king really give a shit about the front line of their army?… We see him reverting into his Children of Darkness days. That sacred thing he’s promoting in episode four, about living in the shadows again, we’ll see whether he’s truly sincere, whether it’s another coping mechanism, or if there’s something else brewing underneath that.”

That last line feels particularly telling. I have a feeling that while Armand may be part of the Children of Darkness at the moment, his ultimate goals are much bigger.

5. Larry’s Death

While it’s been clear that Armand has a greater plan to stop the Great Conversion, last week felt like the first major move he’s made this season.

After Larry quit the band, Armand found him sitting alone at a train station. He told Larry he looked tired and should “rest,” his go-to line for convincing someone that death would be a gentler alternative. Seconds later, Larry walked directly in front of an oncoming train.

Whatever game Armand has been playing all season entered a new phase.

The most interesting part of this scene to me is that Armand parroted Alex’s earlier words to Larry, that Larry was a “terrible goalie, but a total shredder with an axe.” Was he simply reading Larry’s thoughts to get those words? Or was whatever he was doing with Alex giving him even more insight into what was happening in the band than we realized? Is it possible he had even been taking over Alex’s body occasionally to speak through him? We already know he’s capable of it, as we saw with Daniel’s interview subject in New York.

The bigger question, though, is why kill Larry? This week, Lestat basically confirmed the answer himself when he said, “Larry’s then mysterious suicide wove itself into our bond, and the vampire Alex became the muted center of our haunted reunion.”

Alex doesn’t know that Armand killed Larry, and he’s likely blaming Lestat, who constantly berated Larry, and is the reason Alex likely believes Larry “killed himself”.

It was Armand getting Alex to turn against Lestat.

6. The Expose

Tonight, Armand likely turned a lot more people against Lestat than just Alex. Daniel and Armand released an expose online, exposing the fact that Lestat is not really “dead”, and that he has been, in Daniel’s words, “taking a moment to bone his mom”.

That unleashed a visceral reaction for Lestat, as his deepest, darkest secret and shame was laid bare to the world — including the one person I think he most hoped would never find out, Louis. Lestat was literally stumbling around, vomiting blood, in his immediate despair.

So why expose this? I think it serves several purposes:

1. Armand needs to knock Lestat off the pedestal his music has put him on. Lestat has become something of a prophet to the vampires embracing the Great Conversion, and exposing his deepest shame reminds them that their would-be leader is every bit as damaged and fallible as the rest of them. If Armand can tarnish the image, maybe he can weaken the movement Lestat has inspired.
2. But I also think Armand genuinely wanted, and needed, Daniel on his side. And what better way to draw Daniel in than to give him a story? The exposé gave Daniel something to investigate and reveal, while putting him and Armand on the same side, working toward a common goal. Armand didn’t just tell Daniel what he wanted to accomplish; he gave Daniel a role in accomplishing it.

Given the next time we see the two of them, they’re helping chop off Lestat and Louis’ heads, it seems safe to say it worked.

(Side note: Do we think they made Alex hold the camera? Because I definitely do.)

7. Off With Their Heads

Armand finally made his biggest move yet: cutting off both Lestat and Louis’ heads, with the help of Daniel Molloy (and Alex).

I don’t think there’s any way Armand is actually trying to kill either of them. Earlier this season, Dr. Fareed told Daniel that an average vampire could survive roughly two hours without their head, while a vampire of Lestat’s pedigree could last four to five times that long. There is absolutely no chance Daniel Molloy, two-time Pulitzer winner, heard an oddly specific fact about vampire decapitation and then forgot it several episodes later.

So murder isn’t the goal here, but containment.

Whether he’s right or not, it feels like Armand believes literally incapacitating Lestat is the only way to get him to listen, to hear that the Great Conversion is going to get them all killed. As for Louis, well, I think Armand also likely knew that he would have come running to save Lestat — and given what a skilled vampire assassin he’s been of late, that likely wasn’t a risk Armand was going to take.

It’s a very Armand-logic solution to a problem: if the people you need to speak to likely won’t sit down and listen to you (not that he, uh, tried very hard), simply remove their heads so they have no other option!

And getting both Daniel and Alex on his side, to help him in this act? Well, I think it’s all mostly been part of his plan as well.

So what exactly is Armand going to tell Lestat next week in the finale to sway him?

We’ll have to wait to find out, but one thing is very clear: The Gremlin has been here the whole time, and he’s plotting something.

…One Thing I Do Think Armand Is Being Honest About

For all of Armand’s plotting this season, there’s one thing I actually do think is genuine: His feelings for Daniel Molloy.

Do I think Armand told Daniel the whole truth in the park? Absolutely not. In fact, I think we’re still missing huge chunks of their history together. To me, Armand’s confessions in both the park and after the concert feel less like the whole story and more like the portion he’s willing to share to prove his love in that moment. Do I also think that Armand also has reason to want Daniel on his side, instead of Lestat’s, for this ultimate showdown? Absolutely! He and Daniel are clearly working together now.

But that’s different from saying I think the love itself is fake. Actor Assad Zaman himself even said earlier this season on The Vampire Lestat: After Dark, “The little truth here, I think, is that it is the admission that the love that was distracting him in season two was for Molloy and not for Louis.”

I think that’s exactly what’s happening here. Armand loves Daniel. I also don’t think it hurts that getting Daniel on his side serves Armand’s larger goals. Those two things can both be true.

But the love itself? I think that’s real. And I think that’s the one variable Armand, the eternal planner and survivor, can never fully account for. His love for Daniel Molloy refuses to follow any plan.