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sloppyneedybmxboy · 6 months ago

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fav supernatural episodes

3x03 rabbits foot bella episode 3x08 supernatural christmas super wincest so sweet so sad 3x10 dream a little dream of me, bobby i just love you 3x11 mystery spot, like groundhog day with dean dying a lot SO ANGST between sam and dean 3x12 jus in bello, super tense dude they're in a demon siege goood ep 3x13 ghostfacers, so so funny so spoofy

(*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

4x01 dean comes back from hell whole thing shot like gay porn i love it 4x03 and 02 not my fav episodes ever but incredibly gay destiel scenes at night 4x06 anxious dean 4x07 awesome ep. castiel meets sammie. DESTIEL scenes like the bench scene ZOMG 4x09 just a great ep loads of drama. anna !

4x10 good for drama. anna kisses dean and cas is like :o 4x15 uhh the reapers have been kindapped. castiel and also alistair and pamela. its a fun time (sort of ) 4x16 ON THE HEAD OF A PIN. my favest episode so far, so much drama. dean angst! torturing alistair! bloody cas. cas at deans bedside . i was getting too close to the humans in my charge etc etc 4x18 chuck, good ep ft dean praying to cas for first time

4x20 tense. not the best ep ever but ft jimmy novak aka cas' vessel and funny just for the complete lack of sexual tension between dean and jimmy without cas inside him and dean's confusion

4x21 oop. sam getting demon blood detoxed. angst and greatly enjoyable

4x22 best epppp so good so good. so fun always good to rewatch. much destiel

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

5x02 "i rebelled i did it all for you" destiel speech um also awesome ep war comes to small town etc rufus ellen involved very ethel cain 5x03 dean and cas go on a case together for the first time! very gay¬! 5x04 endverse cas and dean, apocalypse, gayness 5x06 good ep with the kid antichrsit it just pisses me offf 5x07 old dean, so funny, bobby angst, loves it 5x08 changing channels! it truly has it all. gabriel, cas, funny sam dean stuff, dr sexy …. 5x10 cas and jo and ellen and dean and bobby and stuff aaaa my heart. they tracked lucifer down. sexy cas scenes 5x11 a true fever dream of an episode … the boys admit themselves to a mental asylum … I don't know if this deserves to be on this list but it was kinda funny idk. minus points for no cas. 5x13 worth it only for the cas!whump scenes hurtcas ! he sends them back in time to fix things with john and mary 5x14 MY BLOODY VALENTINE! consumehimnatural destiel my beloved 5x16 worth it for the cas losing his faith in his father/god plotline. angst cas 5x17 DRUNK BITCH CAS ep.! always good fun to watch him be mean to sam. dean's like WHAAAA? one of my fav eps 5x18 "last time someone looked at my like that, I got laid" DESTIEL ALLEYWAY FIGHT SCENE, angst!dean, so many good scenes !!! one of my fav eps 5x20 wonderful crowley ep, really funny antagonistic & good gay times 5x21 cas in hospital! cas saves the day! not the best plot wise but plenty of fun and crowley involved too so all the boys :D

(☆▽☆)

6x01 NOT the best episode at ALL but really fun to watch in terms of dean gender studies. dean living normcore life with ben and lisa 6x03 CAS IS ON ONE! "we do have a more profound bond" very funny iconic destiel lines, balthazar included

6x04 BOBBY POV EP! YAY! supa funny silly lighthearted I loves it 6x05 Twilight/vampire. I am hesitant to put this one on the list but it is homoerotic vampires dean gender studies moments so I think it has to be here. minus points for soulless sam and samuel cos they sukk 6x06 ICONIC destiel whiskey pouring scene.Rest of the ep is fairly skippable. I sometimes slow this scene down to x0.25 and watch it because there's so much being said nonverbally thru their body language and eyes so watch careffffully. much to unpack, ripe for analysis. sad!Cas

6x09 dean fight the fairies episode. so much fun 6x10 meg! crowley! cas! the boys! they're all fighting. supa funny cas/crowley bits and cas sexual awakening 6x15 HOLA MISHAMIGOS! meta ep. so funny so silly so light

6x18 this ep truly has it all ONE OF MY FAV OF ALL TIME dean gender silly dress up cowboy, b plot is gay cas and bobby getting angel fisted umm 6x19-22 obvs THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING ARC !!!

7x01 GODSTIEL ARC 7x02 godstiel arc continued. for first 10 mins or something 7x06 -7x12 ok so these are by far not my fav episodes but. there's something to say for them. I thought season 7 was gonna be balls without cas but there's something quite Classic Supernatural going on in these eps which is comforting and/or dean gender studies and/or dean pining for cas which makes them good actually. ft frank & some garth . ALSO bobby being a dad and bobby death sequence eps 9/10 7x17 CAS RETURNS! Emmanual!Cas awesome destiel scenes like the trenchcoat bit ….. 7x18 party on garth. truly an incredible episode. garth-centric 7x20 CHARLIE CHARLIE CHARLIE! 1st charlie ep leviathian heist style plot quite fun and silly 7x21 crazy cas! off his rocker cas! cas and dean play a boardgame! cas is so charmingly aloof and offhand! "when castiel first laid hands on you in hell he was LOST!!!" ft. kevin tran 7x23 weird boy bestfriends behaviour … also "i'd rather have you, cursed or not" destiel scenes ft. the Iconic castiel crowley meg dean love triangle

8x01 unbelievably gay purgatory flashback episode. deranged dean. big gay benny! very queer coded. really fun !!! one of my favs ft kevin 8x02 "too much heart was always castiel's problem" OK? ft kevin tran and his MUM. also pining recently returned from purgatory dean. overall fun ep 8x05 dean x benny ep so Very gay ….. some purg flashback and destiel parallels …. 8x06 garth therapises the Boys! it's always a good time when it's a garth ep ok

#supernatural

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shallowseeker · 1 year ago

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Cas, the Angel Tablet, and learning to know and trust his own heart, part 1

His weakness is revealed! The angel tablet as a symbol of Cas's understanding of his own heart.

Part 1 (You are here)

Part 2

Part 3

== What is the angel tablet? ==

Image by Bkshadows

The angel tablet is one of Heaven's most powerful weapons, and sometimes its physicality serves as just that: a weapon.

Other times, it's a curious motif of the secrets of angels, and their angelic romantic love. As one of three known Words of God, it:

"pertains to the nature of Angels as well as granting unimaginable power to Angels who have a connection with it."

///

== Angels + Love + Disconnection ==

Throughout the series, angels regularly showcase volatile (and sometimes petty) emotions. They grieve each other; they Fall. They shriek. They tremble. We see this in Anna, Uriel, Hester, Lucifer, Anael and many others.

But due to years of brutal beatdown and brainwashing, they're disconnected from their own hearts. They cannot recognize their own feelings. Even when they are displaying Big Emotions or even longing, they repeat the company line:

Image by MisterRandom2

DEAN: You're some heartless sons of bitches, you know that? CASTIEL: As a matter of fact, we are. And? 4x10: Heaven and Hell

ANNA: Perfect... Like a marble statue. Cold... no choice... only obedience. 4x10: Heaven and Hell

///

== The illegal union with humanity ==

Image by Mikael

In SPN, angels often connect to their own hearts through their (illegal) living among their human-blended families. In 12x10: Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets, we see that angel-human progeny are outlawed by the oldest laws in Heaven.

///

In season 8, this illegality surrounds Dean and Cas, and this idea of human-angel unity is littered with motifs such as Cupid bows, and Nephilim hearts. It hammers home the image of forbidden romantic love between angels and humans.

Ther clinging to one another is what allowed Dean and Cas to break Chuck's story: "You're not supposed to be here." This union is what allowed them to see and kill the Leviathan, a feat that is supposed to be the domain of God only.

Free will--rebellion--is a team effort. Sam and Dean could not have done it without Cas, and he could not have done it without them. They learned courage from each other, and they borrowed courage from each other, too.

These elements of rebellion swirl in season 8 and have tragic counterparts in season 15.

Jane the Nephilim (Jack), a love-mark "Cupid's bow" on Cupid's palm (Dean & handprint, symbolic of human love & families), and Castiel's Fallen Angel grace (Cas & The Empty). All elements of angelic-human forbidden love are sacrificed in season 8...as they are in season 15.

A stereotypical arrangement of human-angel motifs goes something like this: The hybrids are killed in front of their parents, to punish them, by witnessing the death of their beloved ones. The fallen angels are then judged by God and cast into dark places. The human lovers linger, as demons to be executed and silenced. It's eerily reminiscent of season 15.

Some believe the fallen angels who sired the Nephilim were cast into Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6) (Greek Enoch 20:2), a place of "total darkness."

Floods are the preferred method of torture for the blended, "Nephilim" families: Jack was born on Washaway beach, his birth cabin littered with paintings of the violent sea, and his mother Kelly seemed to recede into the ocean.

As the series progresses, Cas and Dean move from being killed via explosions, Hell hounds, purifying fires, and purifying Purgatory elements...to being overtaken by turbulent waters and summarily executed, as traitors are, with stabs to the back.

Castiel was overtaken by a cosmic sea of black, and Dean was drowned relentlessly by Michael. There is certainly a Flood motif for them in a way there is not for Sam.

///

God wants them to keep to their domains; Heaven and Earth are not to merge.

He tells the angels to keep their Dominion over the humans, as shepherds tend to their sheep. He tells the humans, "submit and obey," and then, if you do, maybe someday, I'll elevate you above the angels. You can be equal to me, if only you grovel and take a knee, of course.

(I promise, I promise.)

///

== Crime and punishment ==

It's interesting then, that the "Angel Tablet"/Metatron spell was punitive towards angels, causing them to Fall and be cast out. As above, it included sacrificing a Nephilim, stealing a Cupid's love bow (the symbolic taking of a human lover), and sacrificing the grace of a fallen angel.

If Castiel's heart is a blended family, Metatron, like God, cruelly works behind the scenes to clock and punish it. This resulting spell that Metatron devised burns up the wings of the Primary Angels in Heaven, killing many in the process.

Although Metatron aimed his Revenge at the Primary Angels, there's a good chance that this punishment originally existed to be aimed at the human-angel blended families. It seems to predate Lucifer's casting out. Indeed, Apocryphal texts like Enoch 10 shows a sadistic delight in the punitive action of having the Sinful parents watch the deaths of their children:

and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgment and of their consummation, till the judgment that is forever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss

(One thing's for sure, it's certainly Metatron's Revenge of the Nerd.)

If indeed the spell can be assembled from the tablet (it's unclear if if was even in there), that Lucifer hid it inside a crypt suggests he couldn't read it, was protecting someone, or may have been on the side of the Nephilim and their Fathers. All are fascinating possibilities.

///

== Is the tablet Castiel's heart? ==

In part. It's other things, too.

Like all motifs in SPN, it morphs in and out of being a stand-in for many different things. In episode 8x17 Goodbye Stranger, it stands in for Castiel's career loyalty...and his heart. At flashpoints, it's Dean's heart, too, because their hearts say the same thing.

Samandriel says of Castiel, "Too much heat was always his problem," so I think much of Castiel's dangerous / insurrectionist power lies in his angelic courage to keep trying to Love, even when Heaven tries to wash it clean.

This disrupts Chuck's Story.

Sure, it makes Cas weaker in some ways, and he'll struggle with that, but it makes him so much stronger, too. More tenacious, more resilient.

I like to think that Chuck slowly starts to become more in competition with Cas, especially as Dean falls more and more in love with him.

"Too stubborn!" Chuck shrieks in 15x17 Unity.

///

== Location, location, location ==

Where do we find Castiel's heart in 8x17 Goodbye Stranger? Meg reveals its location, (just as she knows where Castiel's affections truly lie).

Image from TheWinchesterFamilyBusiness.com

A CRYPT, A BASEMENT, A WAREHOUSE, AN ORCHARD, A FLOOD

It's in a crypt (typically a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or mausoleum). It's located beneath an orchard that was washed away by a hundred-year flood, a call forward to the looming unity of Dean and Cas. Again, we see echoes of Nephilim themes, like the cleansing Flood. Like the orchard, Cas's heart went missing.

WENDY RICE: Well, she-- she didn't, but she did mention an -- an old orchard that had gone missing... This -- this town was wiped from the earth by one of the river's 100-year floods. ... I've been working to re-create a map for years as part of my research, and this -- this is the old Jakubiak orchard there. [she points to a section of the map.] I found out yesterday it's where Downey meets Bond Street. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

The orchard was washed clean, just as Castiel is brainwashed over and over again, losing sight of his own heart. The old site is now covered by a warehouse. There's an intersection of roads: Downey and Bond, like a profound bond. Cas doesn't so much Learn Humanity as he Revives his Own Dean Heart, one that he had all along.

Remember, it is a warehouse where 8x17 cold-opens, where Naomi forces Cas to act out killing Dean. (And ultimately, Dean will die in a warehouse via Metatron's Heavenly war, in season 9.)

INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT DEAN comes around the corner in a darkened warehouse, gun drawn. He brings his gun up but it's struck down. He is struck down. CASTIEL appears over him. DEAN: No, Cas. No! [DEAN raises his hand towards CASTIEL, but CASTIEL breaks his wrist, we hear the bone snap. DEAN groans in pain.] ... NAOMI: No hesitation. Quick. Brutal. [NAOMI and CASTIEL stare down at DEAN.] Everything's back in order. [NAOMI smiles at CASTIEL.] Finally. [We see a close-up of CASTIEL, his face expressionless.] You're ready. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

This warehouse is like Dean himself, and how his love currently manifests, overflowing with a surplus of affection...for Cas. Later, they come to a warehouse to retrieve the tablet.

EXT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE, ALLEY - NIGHT MEG: So, this is it. Basement? DEAN: All right, Cas and I will head in and get our Indiana Jones on. Sam, you stay outside with Meg. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

Once inside, they reach a wall, and Castiel cracks it, letting Dean inside where his heart resides.

CASTIEL: I don't know. Wait. [They're walking through a darkened corridor when CASTIEL stops, feels the cement wall.] There's a draft. There's something behind there. Stand back. [Hand against the wall, energy flows through his hand, the wall cracks.] 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

8x17: GOODBYE STRANGER

So, we have old orchard motif (Cas's love without Heaven's interference; Dean is himself a new "valley")

Flood (Divine punishment)

A broken wrist (Punishment, for continuing to reach for each other despite all the barriers keeping them apart)

Warehouse (Dean loves Cas; it's where the love is stored, like the kitchen; Heaven wants to keep it impersonal and distant)

then a journey DOWN a basement

through a wall, and into a crypt, where Cas's stone-cold, dead heart awaits.

There's also a nod to Indiana Jones, which brings to mind 4x22: Lucifer Rising, a cherished callback to one of the first moments that Cas captivated Dean, and one of the first times they messed up Chuck's story. "We're making it up as we go."

Here in the crypt is where Dean will share his secret truth and shatter the stone barricade around Cas's heart, setting it free.

(It flies away.)

15x18: DESPAIR

This is a mate scene to 15x18: Despair, which features a library motif (Cas breaks the narrative, just as his grace was hidden in a book and blew out the pages of the story)

Death (Mortalpunishment)

A heart attack (punishment for Dean's love)

Bunker (Cas protects Dean, his love is stored in his tenacious, sometimes misguided protection)

then a journey DOWN to the archive room

where Cas erects a "barricade" to protect Dean, with warding

but they are pushed back into a dungeon, where Dean's heart is entrapped (Devil's trap)

The shackles are a nod to Dean's time in Hell, one of the first moments that Dean met Cas.

Here in the dungeon, Cas will share his secret truth and throw Dean out of the entrapment. Cas sets it free.

Dean wears his heart on his sleeve.

(It's bleeding.)

///

== Castiel's unknowable heart ==

When they find the tablet, Naomi tells Cas to leave and to tell the Winchester that the crypt is Empty, just like Heaven tells its angels that they're heartless.

Naomi doesn't want Dean to touch it. Cas rationalizes that Dean can and should open it, and it's a logical move, too, since it's warded against angels. Angels, after all, are cursed by God not to connect to their own hearts.

In the crypt, everything is covered with dust, spider webs. Close-up of CASTIEL's face. CASTIEL (breathes): I found it. ... CASTIEL: Dean... [POV switches back to the crypt. CASTIEL points towards an item on a shelf against the wall.] That's it. [DEAN shines his flashlight on a carved, wooden chest.] DEAN: How do you know? CASTIEL: It's the only thing in here warded against angels. [DEAN picks up the heavy object and places it on the table in front of CASTIEL. DEAN picks up a small dagger, and pries open the lid. He reaches in and lifts out a rather large block of stone.] DEAN: Winner, winner, chicken dinner. CASTIEL: Good. Hand it to me, and I'll take it to heaven. DEAN: No, we will take it to Kevin so he can translate. [DEAN holds the block of stone using both hands.] 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

Cas wants to hand his stone-cold heart to Heaven to use as a weapon. Heaven doesn't want angel hearts to belong to angels. They must belong to heaven. But Dean wants to understand it, like he wants to understand and translate Cas.

///

== Castiel will hurt Dean ==

Image by Winchester-GIFs

Cas angels up. Thunder and lightning. A storm.

CASTIEL: I won't hurt Dean. NAOMI: Yes. You will. You are. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

It's a tragic callback to Castiel's season 7 PTSD!ridden lamentation, that he (or Heaven) is going to hurt Dean and he doesn't want to:

CASTIEL: I can't help. You understand? I can't. I destroyed... everything, and I will destroy everything again. Can we please just leave it at that? 7x23: Survival of the Fittest

Castiel's heart is brutal, angelic, and pragmatic. Angels are destroyers. Angels hurt humans, and humans hurt angels. Castiel's heart will hurt Dean. If they give their hearts to each other, if they ally with one another, it's as he said in 4x22: "We'll all be hunted down and killed."

And he's not human. In season 6, Cas started his drawn-out repetition of this: "I'm not human." And he keeps right on emphasizing this, despairing, in season 8, "I don't think it will work for me. I'm not human."

I'm not like you. I'll hurt you. (I'll destroy everything.)

If Dean thinks he's poison, a blunt instrument, then Cas is war personified, a sharpened blade. He'll break what he touches, and even when he breaks, he'll be sharp like glass. Certainly not something you can hold onto.

("War is what Michael does." It's what angels do.)

///

== Be honest with me (I love you) ==

Dean pleads with a suddenly dangerous-looking Cas:

INT. BASEMENT, CRYPT - NIGHT DEAN: Just tell me how you got out of Purgatory. Be honest with me -- for the first time since you've been back -- [DEAN nods towards the stone he's still holding] and this is yours. [CASTIEL's blade drops into his hand.]" 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

Be honest with me and this is yours.

Now the tablet is symbolic of Dean's love, too, taunting the possibility that, "Be honest with me, and (my heart) is yours."

///

This is the crux of what Dean has been dealing with since season 6. He finally understands his own oversized reactions and defensive barbs. Season 7 brought a crash of unrelenting grief, followed by a slow understanding.

The Turducken revealed that a large part of Dean's issues in that season were about "Cas and the black goo." It hit Dean so hard. It caused Dean to "go through the motions," to "not be the same Dean," to be like "one of the dead hunters walking." Feeling for Cas is different for Dean, and Dean's trying to figure out why:

DEAN: Honestly, I-I-I don't know if he is dead. I just know that this... whole thing couldn't be messier. You know, I used to be able to just shake this stuff off. You know, whatever it was. It might take me some time, but... I always could. What Cas did... I just can't – I don't know why. EMMANUEL/CASTIEL: Well, it doesn't matter why. DEAN: Of course it matters. 7x17: The Born-Again Identity

Of course it matters. it's Dean's feelings! It's Dean trying to sort out why everything with Cas feels so Big. Why Cas matters so much. Why Dean kept the coat. Why he missed him so much. Dean was puzzling it over and trying to figure it out all this time.

///

== The coat + Take it. Please. ==

Dean's deeper feelings start to become apparent in the coat scene. Dean tenderly folds the coat, cradles it to his chest, and drags it from car to car. He mouths along the words to "All Out of Love (I'm so lost without you)."

Then, he meets Cas again, and he returns it, a symbol of their longing and their mutual caring (they care about the same things):

DEAN: Wait. DEAN opens the trunk of the car and takes out CASTIEL’s trenchcoat. Somber, he holds it out to CASTIEL. 7x17: The Born-Again Identity

///

The meaning is even more potent in the scripted version of the scene:

He goes to the car trunk. Digs... Comes up with Cas's folded, stained COAT. DEAN: Dumb to keep. I know. I saw you-- dissolve or whatever. But, just in case. 'Cause I never stopped wanting to fix it either. So we got something in common. (re: the coat) Just-- take it. Please. 7x17: The Born-Again Identity

This "just take it, please," line is just so desperate. It sounds dangerously close to "giving away your heart." Please.

Take it. Please. Be honest with me and this is yours.

It's freely given. It's not Destiny or Fate. It's the Rebellion of Free Will.

///

== Dean defends himself against the onslaught ==

Though Castiel's "heart" is encased in stone, it is this stone that is protecting Dean from Cas-as-Heaven's war hammer. (This tablet was not present to protect Naomi's Dean-doppelgangers.)

Dean is protecting himself from the blows, and yet...he keeps trying to reach for Cas.

He puts a (reciprocal) hand on Cas's shoulder, a callback to Castiel's handprint/influence/connection to Dean. It is simply a bond. The love isn't cosmic Fate. It's simply two people, reaching for each other. Their hands often reach for the left shoulder, for the direct line to the other's heart.

CASTIEL attacks, DEAN blocks the blow with the stone.] Cas! [Flashes of light, thunder rumbles.] ... [CASTIEL strikes again, DEAN again uses the stone to block the blow. Thunder rumbles.] ... DEAN: Cas! [DEAN puts his hand on CASTIEL's shoulder. CASTIEL backhands DEAN who is thrown into a wall and falls to the floor.] 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

The storm is the sound of Castiel's heart, rebelling. Thunderous. It's not dead. It's not dead. (It's not as Dean thought in 4x22: "You soulless son of a bitch. You're already dead. We're done." Cas's heart is alive.)

CASTIEL is attacking DEAN. DEAN throws a punch, CASTIEL grabs his forearm and breaks it. We hear the bone snap, DEAN drops the stone, it shatters, revealing the tablet that was encased within. Lightning flashes. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

Cas hurts Dean, and as Dean is forced to let go, the stone casing protecting the Angel Tablet (Castiel's heart) shatters.

CASTIEL is beating DEAN. DEAN's face is bruised and bloodied. DEAN: You want it? [CASTIEL looks dispassionately at the now exposed tablet.] Take it! But you're gonna have to kill me first. Come on, you coward. Do it. Do it! [CASTIEL continues to beat DEAN.] 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

Dean is talking to Heaven here, to Naomi. He's saying to her, you have to kill ME in order to kill this connection between me and Cas as we are right now. After all, Dean wouldn't leave him in Purgatory. He's goading Heaven that he won't let go. Dean knows his own heart now.

He keeps reaching for Cas, even though Cas let go of his hand and has in fact broke the wrist of the very hand that had clung to him so tightly in Purgatory.

DEAN: Ohh! [DEAN, seriously beaten and bloody, now has one eye swollen shut.] Cas. Cas. [Weakly, reaching towards CASTIEL.] I know you're in there. [CASTIEL raises his angel blade, ready to strike.] I know you can hear me. Cas... [DEAN's voice breaks, pleading.] It's me. [CASTIEL stands there, blade at the ready, light glints off the blade.] We're family. We need you. I need you. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

///

The script emphasizes Dean, barely hanging on:

From above: CRYPT - NIGHT. Dean is barely hanging on now. Beaten. Swollen. Bloody. DEAN: I know you're in there. I know you are. I forgive, you Cas... (then) ....I love you. Cas looks at Dean. As if hearing him for the first time. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

This situation is no longer as simple as pleading for honesty and equal partnership:

Be honest with me, and this is yours.

It has become more desperate, unconditional, raw:

I forgive you. I love you regardless. (I need you anyway. Even if you're broken. We're family. We'll be broken together. "Do I look like good luck to you?" I'm broken, too.)

///

== The connection to Heaven breaks! ==

Cas rears back, stunned. In the script, it's written, "as if hearing him for the first time." He drops the blade. After all he's been through, the arrogance of being a petty God, the disparaging of human family as ants and pets, the partial penance of Purgatory, and now the unholy analgesic of Heaven's mission, Cas's heart is finally open.

Cas feels...something. It's loud. Thunder and lightning. It's alive.

He lets go of Dean, reaches down to grasp the tablet, and it flashes a bright light that blinds Naomi and hides him from her gaze. I think of how Cas's out-of-bounds nature hides him from demigods, like Noah the gorgon (season 14), and how Chuck cannot seem to predict him.

Castiel's love is a Wild Card.

CASTIEL is holding the angel tablet, standing over DEAN. DEAN: Cas? [Breathing heavily, he's horribly beaten. ] Cas? [CASTIEL reaches his hand towards DEAN. He wails, in a panic, thinking Cas is about to smite him:] No. Cas. Cas! [CASTIEL places his hand on the side of DEAN's head, DEAN gasps, and is suddenly healed.] CAS: I'm so sorry, Dean. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

///

== What broke the connection? (I love you) ==

DEAN (wonderingly): Well, w-what broke the connection? CASTIEL: I don't know. DEAN looks HORRIFIED:

Image by @xofemeraldstars

Dean's not stupid.

He knows what he just said to Cas, and he knows what he himself meant. Dean's figured himself out. In asking, "What broke the connection," he's fishing. It's as good as asking, "What about your feelings." He's been wanting to know Castiel's unknowable heart, and Cas hits him with this light rejection. Is Cas lying to him again, or does he really not- ? Dean thinks he must've misunderstood. Badly.

But the thing is, Cas isn't playing. The tablet, like his heart, is free, but like the tablet, but Castiel can't fully "read" it yet. He's got too much heart, and plenty of emotions, but after billions of years of military servitude, he can't recognize his own feelings or parse them.

(Of course, Dean doesn't know that.)

CAS: I just know that I have to protect this tablet now. DEAN: From Naomi? CASTIEL: Yes. And from you. DEAN: From me? What are you talking about? [CASTIEL and the tablet are suddenly gone, the sound rumbles through the crypt.] Cas? Cas! Damn it. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

///

== Cas flees ==

Fresh off yet another bout of Heavenly brainwashing and torture, Cas needs to flee and figure out how to handle his own heart.

It's no wonder he's spun out. The last few years:

In season 4, he was murdered by Raphael after billions of years of military servitude.

This Raphael-wound led to bitterness and shame, and Cas shouldered a war all by himself in season 6.

(He didn't even trust his comrades to know his Purgatory-eating plans, and he didn't trust them enough to share the burden of that power, either).

In season 7, he became a megalomaniac and family annihilator.

In season 8, he turned to self-punishment/penance/suicide.

He pledged to suffer as penance, and he did not reach for Dean any sort of happiness.

He did not allow himself to go home.

But even so, Heaven still wouldn't let him rest, and they retrieved him for more work.

After all that, he's been hit with this barrage of emotion, and he doesn't understand it or how he feels about it. So, he protects. Withdraws. Flees.

He needs more time to sort himself out.

///

==Dean is hurt in that prickly, embarrassed sort of way==

Dean is mega-hurt.

Because on his part, it was, in essence, a love confession. Naomi's later dialogue is written with this "love confession" in mind:

NAOMI: "I only wish he felt the same way."

And in 8x18 Freaks and Geeks, when Sam asks if Dean is okay, it's Dean who brings up his feelings. "Cas dinged you up pretty good. Are you okay?" Dean bristles -> "What, like my feelings?"

So, not only does Cas not love him, but he doesn't even trust him. Dean clung to him so hard, and Cas let him go again. (The timing is so tragically wrong, as usual.)

SAM: So... what happened? I mean, Cas touched the tablet, and it reset him to his factory settings or something? DEAN: I don't know. And I don't care. All I know is that he is off the reservation with a-a heavenly WMD. Listen, man, I can't take any more lies -- from anyone. 8x17: Goodbye Stranger

The song is revealing, really:

♪ tried to see your point of view ♪ ♪ hope your dreams will all come true ♪

♪ will we ever meet again? ♪ ♪ Feel no sorrow, feel no shame ♪ ♪ come tomorrow, feel no pain ♪ ♪ sweet devotion ♪ it's not for me ♪ ♪ just give me motion ♪ ♪ and set me free ♪

I flash-forward to Hannah in season 10, to that instinctive recoil from human emotions:

HANNAH: But t-those are human things. (10x01 Black) ... HANNAH: These f-feelings, they aren't for me, for us. (10x07 Girls, Girls, Girls)

I wonder.

///

(Text Attributions// Supernatural scripts here via @spnscripthunt. Transcripts are located here via SPNWiki. Visit their Tumblr to donate.)

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deanstudies101 · 5 months ago

Text

4x10, Heaven and Hell

[mid-season finale]

Critical theory: Doubt, disobedience. Fathers. Secrets and confessions pt. 2 [Dean]. The handprint <3 Perfectly normal reactions.

Discussion point/question(s): What do we think about the heaven/hell positioning of Sam and Dean?

Key quotes: Dean, “How I feel… This… inside me… I wish I couldn’t feel anything, Sammy. I wish I couldn’t feel a damn thing.”

Further reading:

Perfectly normal reaction to seeing your buddy kiss a girl (@bloodydeanwinchester)

Discussion:

[I love the one perfect tear as much as the next man, but. Damn I love to see Dean sobbing.]

John is God confirmed.

Dean wants to be an angel—Anna says angels can’t feel anything. She wants to be human, to feel. He wishes he couldn’t feel anything.

Dean/Anna, the handprint, destiel. Iga, “This is just a loaf of bread.” Me, “Buddy, this is nothing. We’re just preheating the oven.”*

[I looked up when Cas was supposed to leave.] [They gave a lot of Anna’s stuff to Cas. Dean and Anna just fucked on screen. So.] So obviously Dean and Anna would’ve had significant romance. And they took her out of the show and replaced her with Cas. And then… Well. [I think certain plotlines, ie. the finale, would’ve been less impactful if it had been Anna. We’ll discuss.] Did Jensen have a say in this character switch, was it partially because of their chemistry?

[We’ve discussed that demons are camp. I mentioned in the episode that angels are homophobic.] It’s giving disney villain. Was flamboyant demons an acting or writing choice? Was homophobic angels a response to this? Iga, always imagined demons as very emotional, very chaotic (Vampire Diaries vampires, bpd), and angels as stoic, not giving a shit about humans etc. And this… is kinda that? [I’m talking about Paradise Lost, of course. Lucifer is emotional, emotionally driven, persuasive etc. He convinced a whole chunk of the host of heaven to fall.] They have to be like that for it to make sense!

We’re seeing how humans become demons. They get tortured until they break and start to torture, and we can assume that leads them to becoming demons… so what happened with Lucifer? Did he fall, become human, and then go through this process? Or did he go straight to hell, and go insane because he was alone? [I just read them Paradise Lost Book 1 242-263 aka my favourite bit.]

Ruby is a real one. She literally put herself through torture for that plan. They love the alliance, the relationship between her and Dean. A lot of feelings

Ruby understands Dean in a way that Sam doesn't. They exchange looks that Sam doesn’t get. He doesn’t feel the need to put up the protective wall, to protect her. He doesn’t need to parent her. And she sees him. And maybe Dean sees her in a way Sam doesn’t, they’ve both had the hell experience, and maybe he respects the fact that she would’ve been in hell much longer than he was. Iga, “Sam doesn’t see Dean and never will, because Dean is his mummy.” And this isn’t an attack on Sam, he’s religious and has a lot of guilt about himself and him and Ruby, and now he knows the angels kinda sucks maybe he’s looking for something to fight for. He sees demons as evil—he trusts her and doesn’t consciously see her as evil—but he does see demons this way, so he has a lot of shame.

Re: the sex scene. Dean is intimate and soft and… always on the bottom.

Julio, maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, but if Sam is the antichrist, Dean is the new Jesus. He’s destined to go to heaven. He masks it in his dedication to his job, but he is sad at the state of the world, and mourns what is going on. Ying to Sam’s yang, which makes him the new Jesus, which is why he has to be kept alive, because that is his purpose. Kai’s addition, Jesus doesn’t have a good time on earth. He suffers. He dies on a cross because God told him to. Deancore. Julio again, Dean has all the elements to be Jesus.

Anna, even as a two-year old human, was terrified of God. She was convinced he would kill her—and eventually the angel’s orders were to kill her. The demons love Lucifer, they’re excited for him to rise, they worship him in a “chill Christian kinda way.” That’s embarrassing for the angels actually. How is God the good guy? He’s not. He’s a dick. Even outside of the ~they just obey, they follow orders, kill humans, kill their own kind. This child was so scared of her father. [I would like to add, though. A lot of demons didn’t believe Lucifer really existed, he was ~just a story told in demon Sunday school. Whereas the angels truly believe all their orders are coming from God. Does that change things? Is it not easier to love something whose presence you don’t feel as much?] If you know someone better, you see their flaws more. If Lucifer is just an ideal in their minds, they can project on him. However, it seems like Lilith knows Lucifer in some way? And she’s terrifying. So. Not a good reflection on Lucifer.

Re: heaven/hell positioning. Kind of on the nose. Can’t infer much from it literally, Sam having demon blood, Dean saved from hell, Dena is Sam’s guardian, he fucked an angel. Julio, “angels have an affinity for Dean.” Demons have plans for Sam, angels have plans for Dean. But, before the angels and demons got this involved, Sam was the pious one, Dean was the ‘sinful’ one. So a nice reverse.

[Cas is autistic. He just stands there like (does the Kubrick stare)] Julio, I feel like he’s not really looking in the eyes though. [The thing is, often when he’s talking to people he’s like. Looking around. But with Dean it’s. Full on intense eye contact. Obsessed.]

Mid-season finale—finale predictions. Iga, Angels will be in the finale. Something about Dean’s time in hell, losing touch with his humanity, he doesn’t want to feel anything, he was transitioning into a demon. Kai, Big clash between heaven and hell. Lucifer is gonna get out, and now God is back too. Lucifer and God have some kind of face off. Julio, Sam and Dean need some time apart, they’re going in different directions. Kai, ohh, maybe Sam and Dean fight each other. Iga, Sam, or someone, comes up with a plan to make both sides fight each other again. Maybe Dean has to choose between his brother and someone else to save. Kai, Dean 1v1 Lucifer. Iga, Ruby gets in a predicament, and they have to sacrifice something to save her. Kai, maybe Dean has to die again… following the Jesus route. Iga, no, it’s Sam’s turn, he’s demon Jesus, and he gets reborn slightly more demon. But we’ve already done ‘came back wrong’.

Star student: Julio, antichrist/Jesus analysis. Also commented mid-episode that maybe Sam’s powers come from drinking Ruby’s blood. This was ignored by everyone. Good job king. [Iga is annoyed by this because apaprently she knew but didn't say it because it felt too obvious.]

Notes: Visiting student Julio.

*the trail of breadcrumbs is just entire loaves of bread / "the bread we made on supernatural" post (@tiktaalic), which I reference almost daily with lines such as "there's no such thing as bread" and "wouldn't it be crazy if bread was real" etc. etc. a very common tag on my main

#supernatural #4x10 #spn 4x10 #heaven and hell #class notes

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gift-to-literature · 1 year ago

Text

1. Pilot : 1x1

2. Wendigo : 1x2

3. Dead in the Water : 1x3

4. Phantom Traveler : 1x4

5. Bloody Mary : 1x5

6. Skin : 1x6

7. Hook Man : 1x7

8. Bugs : 1x8

9. Home : 1x9

10. Asylum : 1x10

11. Scarecrow : 1x11

12. Faith : 1x12

13. Route 666 : 1x13

14. Nightmare : 1x14

15. The Benders : 1x15

16. Shadow : 1x16

17. Hell House : 1x17

18. Something Wicked : 1x18

19. Provenance : 1x19

20. Dead Man's Blood : 1x20

21. Salvation : 1x21

22. Devil's Trap : 1x22

23. In My Time of Dying : 2x1

24. Everybody Loves a Clown : 2x2

25. Bloodlust : 2x3

26. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things : 2x4

27. Simon Said : 2x5

28. No Exit : 2x6

29. The Usual Suspects : 2x7

30. Crossroad Blues : 2x8

31. Croatoan : 2x9

32. Hunted : 2x10

33. Playthings : 2x11

34. Nightshifter : 2x12

35. Houses of the Holy : 2x13

36. Born Under a Bad Sign : 2x14

37. Tall Tales : 2x15

38. Roadkill : 2x16

39. Heart : 2x17

40. Hollywood Babylon : 2x18

41. Folsom Prison Blues : 2x19

42. What Is and What Should Never Be : 2x20

43. All Hell Breaks Loose: Part 1 : 2x21

44. All Hell Breaks Loose: Part 2 : 2x22

45. The Magnificent Seven : 3x1

46. The Kids Are Alright : 3x2

47. Bad Day at Black Rock : 3x3

48. Sin City : 3x4

49. Bedtime Stories : 3x5

50. Red Sky at Morning : 3x6

51. Fresh Blood : 3x7

52. A Very Supernatural Christmas : 3x8

53. Malleus Maleficarum : 3x9

54. Dream a Little Dream of Me : 3x10

55. Mystery Spot : 3x11

56. Jus in Bello : 3x12

57. Ghostfacers! : 3x13

58. Long Distance Call : 3x14

59. Time Is on My Side : 3x15

60. No Rest for the Wicked : 3x16

61. Lazarus Rising : 4x1

62. Are You There, God? It's Me Dean Winchester : 4x2

63. In the Beginning : 4x3

64. Metamorphosis : 4x4

65. Monster Movie : 4x5

66. Yellow Fever : 4x6

67. It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester : 4x7

68. Whisful Thinking : 4x8

69. I Know What You Did Last Summer : 4x9

70. Heaven and Hell : 4x10

71. Family Remains : 4x11

72. Criss Angel Is a Douch Bag : 4x12

73. After School Special : 4x13

74. Sex and Violence : 4x14

75. Death Takes a Holiday : 4x15

76. On the Head of a Pin : 4x16

77. It's a Terrible Life : 4x17

78. The Monster at the End of This Book : 4x18

79. Jump the Shark : 4x19

80. The Rapture : 4x20

81. When the Levee Breaks : 4x21

82. Lucifer Rising : 4x22

83. Sympathy for the Devil : 5x1

84. Good God, Y'All : 5x2

85. Free to Be You and Me : 5x3

86. The End : 5x4

87. Fallen Idols : 5x5

88. I Believe the Children Are Our Future : 5x6

89. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester : 5x7

90. Changing Channels : 5x8

91. The Real Ghostbusters : 5x9

92. Abandon All Hope : 5x10

93. Sam, Interrupted : 5x11

94. Swap Meat : 5x12

95. The Song Remains the Same : 5x13

96. My Bloody Valentine : 5x14

97. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid : 5x15

98. Dark Side of the Moon : 5x16

99. 99 Problems : 5x17

100. Point of No Return : 5x18

101. Hammer of the Gods : 5x19

102. The Devil You Know : 5x20

103. Two Minutes to Midnight : 5x21

104. Swan Song : 5x22

105. Exile on Main St. : 6x1

106. Two and a Half Man : 6x2

107. The Third Man : 6x3

108. Weekend at Bobby's : 6x4

109. Live Free or Twi-hard : 6x5

110. You Can't Handle the Truth : 6x6

111. Family Matters : 6x7

112. All Dogs Go to Heaven : 6x8

113. Clap Your Hands If You Believe : 6x9

114. Caged Heat : 6x10

115. Appointment in Samarra : 6x11

116. Like a Virgin : 6x12

117. Unforgiven : 6x13

118. Mannequin 3: The Reckoning : 6x14

119. The French Mistake : 6x15

120. ... And Then There Were None : 6x16

121. My Heart Will Go On : 6x17

122. Frontierland : 6x18

123. Mommy Dearest : 6x19

124. The Man Who Whould Be King : 6x20

125. Let It Bleed : 6x21

126. The Man Who Knew Too Much : 6x22

127. Meet the New Boss : 6x23

128. Hello, Cruel World : 7x1

129. The Girl Next Door : 7x2

130. Defending Your Life : 7x3

131. Shut Up, Dr. Phil : 7x4

132. Slash Fiction : 7x5

133. The Mentalists : 7x6

134. Season Seven, Time for a Wedding! : 7x7

135. Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel : 7x8

136. How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters : 7x9

137. Death's Door : 7x10

138. Adventures in Babysitting : 7x11

139. Time After Time : 7x12

140. The Slice Girls : 7x13

141. Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie : 7x14

142. Repo Man : 7x15

143. Out with the Old : 7x16

144. The Born-Again Identity : 7x17

145. Party On, Garth : 7x18

146. Of Grave Importance : 7x19

147. The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo : 7x20

148. Reading Is Fundamental : 7x21

149. There Will Be Blood : 7x22

150. Survival of the Fittest : 7x23

151. We Need to Talk About Kevin : 8x1

152. What's Up, Tiger Mommy? : 8x2

153. Heartache : 8x3

154. Bitten : 8x4

155. Blood Brother : 8x5

156. Southern Comfort : 8x6

157. A Little Slice of Kevin : 8x7

158. Hunteri Heroici : 8x8

159. Citizen Fang : 8x9

160. Torn and Frayed : 8x10

161. LARP and the Real Girl : 8x11

162. As Time Goes By : 8x12

163. Everybody Hates Hitler : 8x13

164. Trial and Error : 8x14

165. Man's Best Friend with Benefits : 8x15

166. Remember the Titans : 8x16

167. Goodbye Stranger : 8x17

168. Freaks and Geeks : 8x18

169. Taxi Driver : 8x19

170. Pac-Man Fever : 8x20

171. The Great Escapist : 8x21

172. Clip Show : 8x22

173. Sacrifice : 8x23

174. I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here : 9x1

175. Devil May Care : 9x2

176. I'm No Angel : 9x3

177. Slumber Party : 9x4

178. Dog Dean Afternoon : 9x5

179. Heaven Can't Wait : 9x6

180. Bad Boys : 9x7

181. Rock and a Hard Place : 9x8

182. Holy Terror : 9x9

183. Road Trip : 9x10

184. First Born : 9x11

185. Sharp Teeth : 9x12

186. The Purge : 9x13

187. Captives : 9x14

188. #thinman : 9x15

189. Blade Runners : 9x16

190. Mother's Little Helper : 9x17

191. Meta Fiction : 9x18

192. Alex Annie Alexis Ann : 9x19

193. Bloodlines : 9x20

194. King of the Damned : 9x21

195. Stairway to Heaven : 9x22

196. Do You Believe in Miracles : 9x23

197. Black : 10x1

198. Reichenbach : 10x2

199. Soul Survivor : 10x3

200. Fan Fiction : 10x4

201. Paper Moon : 10x5

202. Ask Jeeves : 10x6

203. Girls, Girls, Girls : 10x7

204. Hibbing 911 : 10x8

205. The Things We Left Behind : 10x9

206. The Hunter Games : 10x10

207. There's No Place Like Home : 10x11

208. About a Boy : 10x12

209. Halt & Catch Fire : 10x13

210. The Executioner's Song : 10x14

211. The Thing They Carried : 10x15

212. Paint It Black : 10x16

213. Inside Man : 10x17

214. Book of the Damned : 10x18

215. The Werther Project : 10x19

216. Angel Heart : 10x20

217. Dark Dynasty : 10x21

218. The Prisoner : 10x22

219. Brother's Keeper : 10x23

220. Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire : 11x1

221. Form and Void : 11x2

222. The Bad Seed : 11x3

223. Baby : 11x4

224. Thin Lizzie : 11x5

225. Our Little World : 11x6

226. Plush : 11x7

227. Just My Imagination : 11x8

228. O Brother, Where Art Thou? : 11x9

229. The Devil in the Details : 11x10

230. Into the Mystic : 11x11

231. Don't You Forget About Me : 11x12

232. Love Hurts : 11x13

233. The Vessel : 11x14

234. Beyond the Mat : 11x15

235. Safe House : 11x16

236. Red Meat : 11x17

237. Hell's Angel : 11x18

238. The Chitters : 11x19

239. Don't Call Me Shurley : 11x20

240. All in the Family : 11x21

241. We Happy Few : 11x22

242. Alpha and Omega : 11x23

243. Keep Calm and Carry On : 12x1

244. Mamma Mia : 12x2

245. The Foundry : 12x3

246. American Nightmare : 12x4

247. The One You've Been Waiting For : 12x5

248. Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox : 12x6

249. Rock Never Dies : 12x7

250. LOTUS : 12x8

251. First Blood : 12x9

252. Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets : 12x10

253. Regarding Dean : 12x11

254. Stuck in the Middle (With You) : 12x12

255. Family Feud : 12x13

256. The Raid : 12x14

257. Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell : 12x15

258. Ladies Drink Free : 12x16

259. The British Invasion : 12x17

260. The Memory Remains : 12x18

261. The Future : 12x19

262. Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes : 12x20

263. There's Something About Mary : 12x21

264. Who We Are : 12x22

265. All Along the Watchtower : 12x23

266. Lost and Found : 13x1

267. The Rising Son : 13x2

268. Patience : 13x3

269. The Big Empty : 13x4

270. Advanced Thanatology : 13x5

271. Tombstone : 13x6

272. War of the Worlds : 13x7

273. The Scorpion and the Frog : 13x8

274. The Bad Place : 13x9

275. Wayward Sisters : 13x10

276. Breakdown : 13x11

277. Various & Sundry Villains : 13x12

278. Devil's Bargain : 13x13

279. Good Intentions : 13x14

280. A Most Holy Man : 13x15

281. ScoobyNatural : 13x16

282. The Thing : 13x17

283. Bring 'em Back Alive : 13x18

284. Funeralia : 13x19

285. Unfinished Business : 13x20

286. Beat the Devil : 13x21

287. Exodus : 13x22

288. Let the Good Times Roll : 13x23

289. Stranger in a Strange Land : 14x1

290. Gods and Monsters : 14x2

291. The Scar : 14x3

292. Nightmare Logic : 14x4

293. Optimism : 14x5

294. Unhuman Nature : 14x6

295. Byzantium : 14x7

296. The Spear : 14x8

297. Nihilism : 14x9

298. Damaged Goods : 14x10

299. Prophet and Loss : 14x11

300. Lebanon : 14x12

301. Mint Condition : 14x13

302. Ouroboros : 14x14

303. Peace of Mind : 14x15

304. Don't Go in the Woods : 14x16

305. Game Night : 14x17

306. Absence : 14x18

307. Jack in the Box : 14x19

308. Moriah : 14x20

309. Back and to the Future : 15x1

310. Raising Hell : 15x2

311. The Rupture : 15x3

312. Atomic Monsters : 15x4

313. Proverbs 17:3 : 15x5

314. Golden Time : 15x6

315. Last Call : 15x7

316. Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven : 15x8

317. The Trap : 15x9

318. The Heroes' Journey : 15x10

319. The Gamblers : 15x11

320. Galaxy Brain : 15x12

321. Destiny's Child : 15x13

322. Last Holiday : 15x14

323. Gimme Shelter : 15x15

324. Drag Me Away (From You) : 15x16

325. Unity : 15x17

326. Despair : 15x18

327. Inherit the Earth : 15x19

328. Carry On : 15x20

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whateverthedragonswant · 2 years ago

Text

So when I talk about Dean becoming one of the main protagonists as the show evolved, here's what I mean:

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Dean: "Is it true? Did I break the first seal? Did I start all this?"

Cas: "Yes. When we discovered Lilith's plan for you, we laid siege to Hell. And we fought our way to get to you. Before you--"

Dean: "Jump started the Apocalypse."

Cas: "We were too late."

Dean: "Why didn't you just leave me there then?"

Cas: "It's not blame that falls on you, Dean. It's fate. The Righteous Man who begins it is the only one that can finish it. You have to stop it."

Dean: "Lucifer? The Apocalypse? What does that mean?"

In this episode (4x16), Alistair reveals to Dean what Lilith's plan for him actually was. They wanted him to break the first of 66 seals in order to start the ball rolling for Lucifer's freedom and the ensuing Apocalypse.

In 4x01 (before Dean or the audience know exactly why Dean is resurrected other than Cas' vague "because God commanded it" and about the work that Heaven has for Dean to do), it's revealed that Cas pulled Dean out of Hell and put his soul back into his body.

From there, we meet Anna (in 4x09) who is hearing Angel Radio about how the Apocalypse is happening and the world is coming to an end. We see her intro to the boys later in the episode:

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Anna (to Dean): "The angels talk about you. You were in Hell but Castiel pulled you out and some of them think you can help save us."

Anna (to Sam): "And some of them don't like you at all."

Anna (to both): "They talk about you all the time lately."

Then we see this:

While Ruby was introduced the previous season and has been part of Sam's arc for a while, it's no coincidence that she's now involved with Anna and that part of the story line. Heaven vs Hell, the Apocalypse is coming, and it all plays into that main season arc.

In the very same episode, it's revealed that Sam and Ruby had sex at a time that Dean was still in Hell. In the story so far, Ruby basically pushed Sam to move forward after Dean's death, which of course as we now know, gave her an opportunity to get inside his head. But the point is Heaven saved Dean (through Castiel), and Hell saved Sam (through Ruby) to get them to where they are in the present.

Sure enough, we find out that Anna is a fallen angel and that's why she's so in tune with Angel Radio, and she is sought out by both Heaven and Hell (one person -> both factions seeking her out). It's no coincidence that Anna describes ripping out her grace to fall to Earth as "hacking it out" or like "cutting out your kidney like a butter knife". No coincidence that Heaven wants to punish her for disobedience and Hell wants to just get their hands on her to interrogate her (and Alistair is the one sent to retrieve her). Cas: "She is far from innocent." No coincidence that Anna is the one to talk to Dean about his experience in Hell before Sam or anyone else. No coincidence that Anna states that getting her grace back is the solution she's come up with (think to 4x16 when Dean is told he has to stop the Apocalypse since he started it aka he has to make things right/stop Sam from going full Hell Vader - this paralleling is also confirmed by Dean and Anna's dialogue in 4x10 outside of the Impala). Because Dean is the Righteous Man who broke the first seal, and he did that by shedding blood aka torturing/cutting into another soul in Hell. They're both paralleled.

So it is absolutely no coincidence that we see In the next episode (4x10), Dean and Anna have sex. Not only does this parallel to Sam and Ruby, but also because Dean and Anna are paralleled themselves. Dean: "Yeah, well, we've all done things we've gotta pay for."

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The exact moment Ruby is being tortured by Alistair and Sam is wondering where she is, Castiel (with Uriel in tow) comes for Anna.

And in this scene, Cas takes over Anna's story line once she is gets her grace back, and remains as the Angel on Dean's shoulder while Ruby remains as the rep for Hell on Sam's shoulder.

Then we fast forward to the season finale and what happens?:

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Sam breaks the final seal by killing Lilith and this enables Lucifer to be freed which really kicks off the Apocalypse for real. All at Ruby's urging and her setting him up. It's also no mistake that Dean and Sam kill Ruby together but Dean is the one to wield the knife.

Sam: "Ruby, what's going on?"

Ruby: "You did it. I mean, it was a little touch and go there for a while but you did it."

Sam: "What? What--What did I do?"

Ruby: "You opened the door and now he's free at last. He's free at last."

Sam: "No, no, no. No, Lilith--I stopped her, I killed her."

Ruby: "And it is written that the First Demon shall be the Last Seal. And you bust her open. And guess who's coming to dinner."

Dean breaks the First Seal -> Sam breaks the Last Seal

Dean breaks it by shedding blood in Hell -> Sam breaks it by killing Lilith

Dean starts the seal breaking -> Sam finishes the seal breaking

Dean starts it -> Dean finishes it by going to the battlefield & "saving" Earth from the Apocalypse

Sam starts it -> Sam finishes it by throwing himself (& Lucifer) into the cage & saving Earth from the Apocalypse

The First Blood Shed By the Righteous Man in Hell -> The First Demon's Blood Being the Key to the Door

And sure enough, the parallels even go right down to the physical with:

While Ruby doesn't brand Sam so to speak, it's no coincidence that it's her blood that he feeds on to help strengthen his powers. And it's also no coincidence that this happens in the Dean/Anna sex scene:

Right down to the setups:

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Sam is working on sending demons back to Hell/sending them downwards

Dean climbs out of his grave/rising

And not only do these physical setups look similar (in circle formation) but also goes with that whole below & rising theme:

And not only does Dean rise (aka "raised from perdition") from the grave and Hell respectively, the very guy that the first seal was broken for (through Dean's actions/Alistair's prodding & torture) also "rises" in the episode "Lucifer Rising". And this is able to be done because Sam kills Lilith (through Sam's actions/Ruby's prodding) and her blood forms this pattern on the floor which then magically opens the cage in Hell and lets Lucifer out, allowing him to rise.

P A R A L L E L S

So not only does Dean share parallels with Sam (the main protagonist) and Anna (which doubles down on his own journey/story & the faction/side he represents) but also who will become the main villain in season 5, thus making it essential to the story line we see play out in that season and the show as a whole. The battle with Lucifer and Michael cannot play out without both brothers. Even when Adam is used as a substitute, Dean still shows up for the battle, still has an impact and helps affect the heroic decision Sam makes, and also does what he was told to do in season 4. He and Sam both stopped the Apocalypse.

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And that's why this is so important; it shows you how Kripke eventually evolved the series to have TWO main protagonists: the brothers. There's a reason that Lucifer finally has enough and starts beating the hell out of Dean. There's a reason that what gets through to Sam is the green army man he sees in the backseat of the Impala. There's a reason BOTH brothers are shown in the flashback. Why we are shown BOTH of them carving their names into the car. Why we are then shown flashbacks of them in season 1 and onwards. Why in all of those flashbacks, we do not see one scene of John or Bobby or Jessica or anyone else (not that I could see at that speed anyways lol). Why the very ending flashback is of Dean hugging Sam. Because Kripke was leaving the show and telling you, this is the most important relationship of the show: the brothers, because that's what the series is about. Regardless of the MOTW format or the angels added in. Sam was the main protagonist for the first two seasons, I'd even go so far as to say for season 3 even, but season 4 is where it all changed. To have the parallels that they do just starting in that season alone, on the same level, where it's very yin and yang (think Amara saying that she and Chuck are yin and yang for example, if one tries to exist without the other it chaos), and to be without one brother, the story would not work well moving forward. Kripke did this all himself. He made this decision. And he even told you that:

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Chuck: "So what's it all add up to? Hard to say but me I'd say this was a test, for Sam and Dean. And I think they did alright. Up against good, evil, angels, devils, destiny, and God himself. They made their own choice. They chose family. And, well, isn't that kind of the whole point?" (he not only mentions both of them but he also discusses the dichotomy of both story lines not only for the show but the characters themselves & in this montage when he says 'good', we see Sam and Dean together, when he says 'bad' we see Dean against Azazel, when he says 'angels' we see Sam with Meg, when he says 'devils' we see Dean killing Zacariah. It's. All. RIGHT. THERE.)

Beginning of the monologue scene

They even hinted at in season 4 with something as casual as this in the story line:

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The book poster features both brothers. Dean's Hell story line is mentioned (which this lady gushes about) and then she talks about Sam's story line in regards to Madison/Jessica. And then she talks about Dean again and one of his own story lines ("Home"). The point being, both brothers are included here in a very central way for this book series. "Well, I don't want any smartass article making fun of my boys." Both brothers answer her questions: Dean (the Impala, his fave song); Sam (his birthday, his LSAT score). When Sam is asked his birthday, Dean offers up his birthday. When Sam is asked his LSAT score (aka school where he was in the beginning of the series), Dean is then asked what his favorite song is (he was hunting/driving aka where he was in the beginning of the series).

And this is the very same episode the boys meet Chuck aka The Prophet aka God aka the writer of their story (not realizing who he actually is at this point in time).

It's literally laid out before you in all devices television shows (and movies) employ to help tell the story. Which includes dialogue choices, actors' performances, music cues, set decs and props, costuming, lighting, script events (for television shows), even framing and the shots the director acquires and the editors then utilize.

And back to Swan Song quickly:

Sam makes the heroic sacrifice to jump into the pit to put Lucifer back into the cage (once again, traveling downward and into Hell) & Dean keeps his promise to Sam to go live his life (once again, staying above ground and while he's not going upward, it's quite the turnaround from 4x01 and Lucifer is no longer rising and neither is Dean).

And while some people might say, 'oh those are just story parallels for the season, it doesn't mean anything.' 'Look, Sam sacrificed himself, he's the hero' (yes, he's one of the heroes of the story). 'Sam's still the main guy or final girl or whatever'...nope. Because Dean also made the hero's choice to show up at that battle and stay for his brother. Just like Sam told him "It's going to be okay, Dean, I've got him" seeing Dean bloody and hurt (they chose each other obviously). Because these parallels continue until the end of Kripke's run with Swan Song, and continue on until the later seasons, even right into 15x20.

Dean 2.0 to Sam: "Dad, it's okay. You can go now."

Sam to Dean in the same episode (and his dad in a way): "Dean, it's okay. You can go now."

They both died. In a very paralleled way as well. They literally echoed both scenes together, right down to the dialogue, the hand touches, the dynamics (father and son), and even had "Dean" giving Sam permission as the latter did for OG Dean. Regardless of how their deaths happened or why it happened or when it happened or what they did in between the time they reuinte, the point is by the end of the series, both had died and were in Heaven together. Because they were both the main protagonists.

And regardless of COVID and bts stuff, is it any wonder that they chose a bridge and certain wardrobe choices that purposely call back to the pilot? They're not just cool little Easter eggs. Both brothers are there, looking in the same direction, with Baby aka their home not too far from them and if you look at both actor's positioning, they purposely are almost the same height (by Jared leaning down slightly to match Jensen) for these shots.

The series started out with Sam as the main protagonist. And while that didn't change, the story evolved (by Kripke himself) in order to include another main protagonist, another hero. When you compare Han Solo's story to Dean's for example, that Office Pam meme cannot apply; they are not the same picture. And Dean cannot even be called a supporting protagonist because the story does not support that claim nor does the very definition of what a supporting protagonist is and the examples of where we usually see them within the story. And while writers can choose to tell the story through other characters (for example, ensemble shows use rotating protagonists all the time, i.e. 9-1-1) they don't always have the central story line when compared to the protagonist. Dean had his own central story line that started with season 4 and continued on until the end. It didn't take away from Sam's or put him on the back burner - it was all tied into Sam's own central story line in a way where they both had their own arcs, continued to parallel and complement each other, and tied back into the main story arcs. Almost as if you're looking at a piece of paper with two separate lines drawn on it, sometimes intersecting, but still making it to the end of the page aka the finish line. If you go back and rewatch and truly delve into it all, it's all right there.

tl;dr: Dean is absolutely a main protagonist. This started in season 4 (I know Dean had his demon deal arc in season 3, but I personally don't think he became front and center in the central story line until 4) and Kripke made the decision to do it.

Dean (and some Jensen) haters will tell you that Dean never mattered to the story. That Dean was a sidekick at best, someone who was obsessed with his little brother, someone that Jensen always tried to get to be the main character ahead of Sam or some other such nonsense. They'll tell you that it was always about Sam, that the later seasons don't count, that people only care about Dean because he's played by an attractive actor, etc. They'll also attempt to gas light and manipulate you and argue bully you into a corner by belittling you and telling you that you never watched the real show. That you only watched it for a ship, or an actor, or because you fantasize about Dean or whatever else they can come up with on the fly while attacking. They'll even tell you that you don't understand basic story telling while they do and you're stupid to think otherwise. But the truth is, the story of Supernatural expanded and that began during the creator's/original showrunner's own run. At some point, the decision was made to make it about both brothers and that is reflected in the story line itself. In order to survive, the story needed to expand and evolve as time went on (which is the case with any story if it plans to continue being told). Dabb knew that, Carver knew that, Sera knew that, Kripke himself knew that. That is part of how story telling works.

Ultimately, like Chuck Eric said himself "the fans are always going to bitch." And no matter how loud and how hard the haters bitch (whether it's about hating Dean or having some competitive haze over the characters or the actors, like the whole #1 on the call sheet claim which yeah Sam was the main guy for the first few seasons, it makes sense that he was cast #1, duh, it doesn't diminish Dean's importance in the story, hello), it doesn't change facts of what we saw on our screens: Dean is absolutely essential to the story, just as much as Sam is. And not only did every single showrunner double down on it, that's literally how the show ended as well (that these same people claim to love this finale episode btw). In fact, we got two different endings of them: 15x19's drive off into the sunset so to speak where they're both still standing & 15x20's deaths and their ending up in Heaven. Dabb kept it uniform for both in that their endings were shared, alive or dead. They are the two brothers this show was about. The series (and story) would not have worked if one of the brothers disappeared permanently or if it was only about one for all 15 seasons.

Dean was not the sidekick. Dean was not a secondary character. He was not a supporting protagonist.

He is one of the main protagonists. Same as Sam.

#dean is the other main protagonist #the story itself shows you that #learn it love it live it #dean haters go home you're drunk #dean winchester #spn #spnposts #deanposts #metaposts #dean winchester meta #the parallels are paralleling #spn parallels

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