Everything to Remember Before Aníkúlápó Season 2

The scales of life and death remain unbalanced as the dust settles on another piercing season of political betrayal and spiritual warfare. What began as a simple tale of a traveller and a queen has spiralled into a cross-realm crisis that threatens the very foundation of the Oyo Kingdom.

Kunle Afolayan has combined Yoruba mythology, moral consequence, and political intrigue into a story that has continued to make an impression on viewers. As the empire braces for the next chapter of this unfolding saga, here’s a clear, sectioned recap of what has happened so far.

In the 2022 film, Saro’s rise begins with Arolake. Through her connection to the mythical Akala bird, Saro gains the power to resurrect the dead, earning the name Aníkúlápó: the one who carries death in his pocket.

But power quickly feeds his ego. Saro dismisses Arolake’s role in his survival, marries other women, and treats resurrection as a spectacle rather than a responsibility. When his power finally fails in the king’s court, the gods respond swiftly. Saro is killed, paying the price for arrogance and betrayal.

Rise of the Spectre opens with Saro at the gates of heaven, only to be turned away. The afterlife reveals a debt he cannot escape: by resurrecting 20 souls, he disrupted the balance between life and death.

His punishment is grim. Saro is sent back to earth as a ghost, tasked with finding and reclaiming the lives of the very people he once saved. He becomes a reluctant harbinger of death, moving from village to village, undoing his past actions one soul at a time.

As Saro completes part of his task, three spirits attach themselves to him. These ghosts cannot move on until his mission is complete, and they haunt him constantly.

Their presence adds an uneasy mix of fear and humour, but more importantly, they represent the weight of Saro’s choices. Every attempt to escape responsibility only deepens his burden.

True to character, Saro looks for loopholes. Through a deal with the spirits, he regains a limited human existence: three years of life in exchange for guiding them to the afterlife.

He settles in Ilu Aje, befriends Kekere, and starts a palm wine business. But even this quiet life is unstable. Rivalry with Karounwi and the lingering presence of the ghosts remind Saro that borrowed life always comes at a cost.

While Saro wanders between worlds, Arolake rebuilds her life. Lost in a forest, she encounters mystical forces that gift her a magical pouch producing endless wealth.

Reinventing herself as Asake, a powerful merchant, she returns to the Oyo Empire. Once rejected as a “barren” queen, she now buys influence through wealth, carefully navigating her way back into the king’s favour.

The series widens its focus to politics. Oyo is destabilised by the curse of Akala, and blame spreads through the palace.

Bashorun Ogunjimi, the empire’s military leader, emerges as the central antagonist. Ambitious and resentful of the king, he schemes to seize power, pushing for his son to marry the king’s daughter and secretly hunting Saro’s abilities for himself.

The Ifa priests demand a sacrifice to cleanse the land, and Arolake’s name resurfaces, tying personal history to political survival.

Everything converges in the final episodes. Bashorun captures Saro and steals the mystical link that allows him to manipulate life and death.

But greed proves fatal. Bashorun dies in battle while holding Saro’s burden, inheriting the ghosts and the debt he never understood. The curse shifts, not disappears.

The season ends without a neat closure. Saro appears to Arolake in a dream-like state, apologising for his past. He is neither fully alive nor fully dead.

Oyo survives, but uneasily. Power has changed hands, debts remain unpaid, and the line between the spiritual and political worlds is thinner than ever. 

As the series moves into its second season, the story is no longer just about Saro’s punishment. It is about the ripple effect of stolen power, unresolved guilt, and ambitions that refuse to die. With foreign lands now entering the picture, spiritual debts still unpaid, and old wounds between Saro and Arolake far from healed, season 2 promises higher stakes and darker consequences. 

Explore: Kunle Afolayan’s ‘Anikulapo’ S2 Is Almost Here (Trailer)