I think the extraordinary thing that Death shows [Dream] is the complexity of humanity. She asks him to bear witness to people in the last moment of their lives and that something happens when you look closely at something. You begin to understand it. And I think that understanding are the first steps towards love. And I think when [Dream] has that pivotal transition, he thinks to himself “If I can feel this about these people after such a short space of time, how do I feel about a man who I’ve spent 600 years with?” And so he returns to him.
— Tom Sturridge about Dream’s relationship with Death, humanity and Hob Gadling [video]