The Great Conversion. We’ve been hearing about it distantly in Interview with the Vampire for two seasons. And the phrase was included in the synopsis for The Vampire Lestat. Now, we hear it again as the season begins in earnest. But the Great Conversion is not a storyline from Anne Rice’s books, so there’s not exactly a direct analog we can turn to as we examine this Vampire phenomenon in Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. So, what is The Vampire Lestat‘s the Great Conversion, and what do we know about it from Interview with the Vampire and the current season? Let’s dive in.
The Great Conversion in Interview with the Vampire
In Interview with the Vampire, the Great Conversion was mentioned twice. Once by Louis de Point du Lac in his interview with Daniel Molloy. And once by Talamasca Agent, Raglan James. Here’s what we learn about The Great Conversion in these instances.
Louis Introduces The Great Conversion as a Vampiric Movement
Louis shares the following in Interview with the Vampire season one, episode two, in response to a question from Daniel about whether the vampires in the world have mastered their instincts, “Just the opposite, most of them are slaves to the blood… Exhausted from decades, centuries, of hiding, giddy to increase their numbers.” And then adds that this spurred by the “Pandemic, the unraveling of geopolitical foundations…” And notes, “One of them a brute in Madagscar called it the Great Conversion.”
When Daniel expresses some dubiousness about whether humans would want to be converted, Louis scoffs, “Yes, what on earth would a meth-addicted son of a coal miner in West Virgina want with eternal life? Or the Arab youth whose family were wiped from existenced from a Western drone?”
In all, this makes us feel like the Great Conversion is a vampiric movement to well… convert humanity to vampirism. And well, we feel like if we were vampires, always forced to hide our true nature, we might not be so opposed to it either. And to Louis’ point, wouldn’t eternal life be of interest to many mortals?
But the way Louis describes, the Great Conversion is a loose collection of disgruntled vampires, trying to push vampirism forward. Is the Great Conversion actually a meaningful meaningful movement in the world of Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat? We guess we need a bit more information to know the truth about that.
Raglan James Adds in a Few Details About The Great Conversion
And when one needs information, the Talamasca is a pretty good place to start. In Interview with the Vampire season two, Talamasca agent, Raglan James (who we see lurking in the first episode of The Vampire Lestat) offers us a few more details about the Great Conversion. He reveals in season two, episode three, “We were tracking 900 of them a month ago.. We’re tracking 1,600 now. The Great Conversion. It’s real, it’s happening.”
Okay, a near doubling of Vampires in the matter of a month does seem more serious that just errant grumbles in the night. As we mentioned, The Great Conversion is not a part of Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, or any other of Anne Rice’s books. But in the context of the series, it does feel like the vampires are gathering, amassing numbers in a purposeful way, to the end of… a vampiric world order? The decimation of mortals? It’s hard to say as of yet.
The Great Conversion in the Synopsis for The Vampire Lestat
In the plot description for The Vampire Lestat, we learn, “In the new rock and roll centric season, the Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by ‘muses’ from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population. In addition to Reid, The Vampire Lestat stars Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle and is executive produced by award-winning producer Mark Johnson, creator, writer and showrunner Rolin Jones, Hannah Moscovitch, along with Christopher Rice and the late Anne Rice.”
But what is Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion? We know Lestat is singing songs about being a vampire, more specifically his life as a vampire. Could these songs serve to make mortals interested in vampirism? Or conversely, will they give humans too much knoweldge about the vampire, perhaps enough to make them dangerous? So far, we can’t be sure.
The Great Conversion in The Vampire Lestat
The Great Conversion has only been brought up minimaly in The Vampire Lestat‘s first episodes. In episode one, Lestat listens to the vampire voices discussing his tour. Some of them seem to echo the sentiments of the Great Conversion as they consider his music, calling for vampires to “make more.”
Then in episode two of The Vampire Lestat, Gabriella tells Lestat that she fancies one of the strippers she kissed in an Ohio bar. “Predatory spirit. A good candidate for the Great Conversion.” Seems like the Great Conversion is on someone’s mind… Very curious.
So, What Is the Great Conversion?
Ultimately, The Vampire Lestat‘s Great Conversion appears to be a quickly growing, somehwhat organized movement/effort by vampires to increase their numbers and find more of a footing in this world. Undoubtedly, Daniel Molloy’s book, which flagrently reveals truths (and untruths) about vampires and The Vampire Lestat’s musical tour, will have some impact on whether other vampires wish to join them in the metaphorical sun and how humans come to see vampires, whether as real or extra false.
In The Vampire Lestat book, the Vampire Akasha is awakened by Lestat’s music, with devestating plans for both vampire and human kind. As mentioned, the Great Conversion is not a part of the books’ plot… But perhaps here, something about the mass formation of new vampires will not please the Queen.
We’ll surely learn more about the Great Conversion as The Vampire Lestat continues to air. The Vampire Lestat releases at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+. You can also read The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice today as you wait for the next episode of the series to arrive.
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