Theories On/Inspired By Supernatural 5.01
Yeah, yeah, late to the game, I know. I've had a long, hard week since I saw the season premier, but I thought it'd be best to get this in for the record before the next episode came out. So here you are, have a taste of my thoughts, sleepy and halfway-edited.
Point the first: I'm pretty damn sure the thing with the airplane was the "Rapture". No, not like the episode name, I mean the thing where God takes the righteous up into the sky (and, we always assumed, into heaven) to protect them from the dangers of the last days. (The whole thing--the irony of the righteous being on an airplane, and Dean hating airplanes, and the little video, and Sam being considered one of the righteous despite the whole black-eyed peas scare--had me grinning all the way up until possessed!Bobby did his "lose my number" thing. Because that? No bueno, Bobby.) This is why Castiel's return, and his conversation with Zachariah, did not surprise me in the slightest, and I actually suspected much of it. Also, word-of-Kripke suggests that God will not be handwaved away like I thought, which I think kind of supports my theory. Good? Bad? Well. I trust in Kripke. :)
Point the second: Sam's speculation about whatever put them on the plane also cleaning him out really rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed like a far-too-obvious poke from the writers--they wanted us to know that, or assume that was true. And maybe it's just that I was suspecting God's involvement anyway, but I was just sitting there saying, Yeah, we get it, God (or somebody) put them up on the plane to save them from nuke!Lucifer and cleaned up poor d!b-addicted Sam. I had suspected that anyway. To have it put forward so clumsily bothered me way out of proportion with reasonable bothered-levels for me, mild-mannered as I am. Sam could just as easily have said, "Yeah, you know--it's weird, but I haven't had the shakes for a while. Not since we showed up on the plane, actually. What's with that?" I could've gone with that. As it was, I felt manipulated. And badly manipulated, at that.
Unless Sam's lying. (Again.)
Then it makes perfect sense. (Except for the part that, coming to this from a psychological standpoint, I don't know if I believe that he could've been lying. With the complete and utter lack of any attempt to defend himself that we got from Sam this episode, it doesn't make sense. So who knows. Maybe it was just clumsy writing. Maybe we really were being manipulated, which of course begs the question--for what purpose?) (All this talk of manipulation, btw, is just because it hit me off and I think it means something. Anyway, I want some fallout for Sam's eyes going black. Appease me, writers!)
Point the third: On that note, what is the deal with Sam, demon blood, and his powers? The other kids never drank demon blood, so far as we know, and they still developed their powers to pretty high levels, just by using them. Which is why the whole "strong to the finish cuz I drinks my demon blood" thing really surprised me. It almost seemed like they were bending the rules. So, does Sam still have those powers? 'Cuz I'd be open to seeing him with some more of those weird headaches. In the early seasons, he was a complete anomaly because of that. He was a joker, a phantom factor. Nobody but the YED could predict what he was gonna do or see (so far as we know, and IIRC). I'd like to see some of that. I'd like to see Sam and his visions throwing some people for a loop again, see what I'm saying?
Point the fourth: That whole Dean-as-Michael's-vessel thing. I'm not buying it. Oh, the symbolism fits, the literary/mythological parallels fit, how else were people able to see it coming from so far back? But I'm not buying that Dean's capable of being a vessel, prophecy or no prophecy. As I see it, the show itself has told us several times that he is not. What I do buy, is that the angels think Dean is supposed to be Michael's vessel. Prophecy's a tricky thing, and even angels, as we have seen, are fallible. The angels never said that the prophecy said the man who broke the first seal was to be the Michael sword, and if that was true I'm sure Zachariah would've said it in the storehouse on 42 Rover Drive. I'm guessing that the prophecy said the righteous man who started the apocalypse would be the only one who could end it, and nothing more. The angels were just pulling that Michael-sword stuff out because they can't think how they'll win this war without Michael, so that must be what the prophecy means, right? Silly angels.
Besides, the fangirl in me is objecting strongly to Dean being anybody's vessel but Cas's.
Point the fifth: We get further and further away from originality here, but I have to take a minute to introduce this argument. There's plenty of indication that the angels' wacko idea of Dean being a vessel might not be so far off, and not just that the angels--who, we'll give them credit, seem to know what's up better than pretty much anyone--think it's true. For the sake of argument, let's assume that "ability to hear an angel's true voice" equals (more or less) "ability to be an angel's vessel", which I strongly suspect to be true. (You may cite Jimmy, to whom Castiel's voice was incredibly painful at first. But I didn't say ability to hear it without pain. I said ability to hear it at all, instead of that sound like a mosquito ringtone gone horribly wrong.) Thus: A) Dean is not a vessel. Castiel tried many times to speak to him, and it never worked. B) Castiel (and thus probably his higher-ups) had thought that Dean was a vessel. Why would they think that? Well, perhaps they had good reason. It seems to be a family trait, or at least a blood trait. What if the Winchesters have it, likely from their mom? In that case, who else may have it? Sam. Another point: It can't just be that it runs in families, if that were the case there's no way they'd be as rare as they are. I suspect that there's a personality factor--faith, perhaps? (And a complete lack of the common sense telling you to not play with fire, but that's neither here nor there. Poor Jimmy.) Perhaps that's the necessary factor for hearing an angel's voice. Certainly if one didn't have faith, they'd be pretty unlikely to consent to life as an "angel condom". So. Of the Winchester brothers, who was the faithful one, the one who believes in angels? Sam. All I'm saying is, he looks like freaking fantastic potential vessel material. I'm not so much interested in what this means for future plots, as how it ties to past plots. That is, the YED. Was he targeting possible vessels?
Point the sixth: This episode made my ears prick up so high they nearly tore from my scalp, because I sense that they may very well be opening up to finally resolve the YED plot. That stupid plot has given me so much mental grief. First off, what's with those crazy yellow eyes? We still haven't seen anyone else with yellow eyes yet. And what was his endgame? 'Cuz it sure as hell (heh) wasn't raising Lucifer, I'd say, though that may have been part of it. That was Lilith and Ruby, and somehow I don't think they were in league. But maybe they were. Was Yellow-Eyes a rogue, doing his own thing, or did he have others working with him? What the hell was Croatoan? What was he really planning for the special children, beyond forming an army with the last one standing as general? I'm still not satisfied that that was all he had in mind for those kids. Why on earth would anyone raise someone, giving them every tool needed to kill them? He practically handed his head to them on a platter. No way he's that stupid. He had something else up his sleeve, I'm sure of it. Was he targeting possible vessels? Why? Is it possible that only vessels have the ability to develop the superpowers he wanted them to have? (That would fulfill many fans hopes in that it would mean Sam's powers are at least partly inborn.) His plans are so shadowy, I almost suspect the bastard planned to die, and planned for his game to play out after his death. But perhaps that's just paranoia. Really well-founded paranoia, perhaps. At this point, it looks more and more likely. The point is, it looks like we're gonna get some answers! I'm excited!
Point the first: I'm pretty damn sure the thing with the airplane was the "Rapture". No, not like the episode name, I mean the thing where God takes the righteous up into the sky (and, we always assumed, into heaven) to protect them from the dangers of the last days. (The whole thing--the irony of the righteous being on an airplane, and Dean hating airplanes, and the little video, and Sam being considered one of the righteous despite the whole black-eyed peas scare--had me grinning all the way up until possessed!Bobby did his "lose my number" thing. Because that? No bueno, Bobby.) This is why Castiel's return, and his conversation with Zachariah, did not surprise me in the slightest, and I actually suspected much of it. Also, word-of-Kripke suggests that God will not be handwaved away like I thought, which I think kind of supports my theory. Good? Bad? Well. I trust in Kripke. :)
Point the second: Sam's speculation about whatever put them on the plane also cleaning him out really rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed like a far-too-obvious poke from the writers--they wanted us to know that, or assume that was true. And maybe it's just that I was suspecting God's involvement anyway, but I was just sitting there saying, Yeah, we get it, God (or somebody) put them up on the plane to save them from nuke!Lucifer and cleaned up poor d!b-addicted Sam. I had suspected that anyway. To have it put forward so clumsily bothered me way out of proportion with reasonable bothered-levels for me, mild-mannered as I am. Sam could just as easily have said, "Yeah, you know--it's weird, but I haven't had the shakes for a while. Not since we showed up on the plane, actually. What's with that?" I could've gone with that. As it was, I felt manipulated. And badly manipulated, at that.
Unless Sam's lying. (Again.)
Then it makes perfect sense. (Except for the part that, coming to this from a psychological standpoint, I don't know if I believe that he could've been lying. With the complete and utter lack of any attempt to defend himself that we got from Sam this episode, it doesn't make sense. So who knows. Maybe it was just clumsy writing. Maybe we really were being manipulated, which of course begs the question--for what purpose?) (All this talk of manipulation, btw, is just because it hit me off and I think it means something. Anyway, I want some fallout for Sam's eyes going black. Appease me, writers!)
Point the third: On that note, what is the deal with Sam, demon blood, and his powers? The other kids never drank demon blood, so far as we know, and they still developed their powers to pretty high levels, just by using them. Which is why the whole "strong to the finish cuz I drinks my demon blood" thing really surprised me. It almost seemed like they were bending the rules. So, does Sam still have those powers? 'Cuz I'd be open to seeing him with some more of those weird headaches. In the early seasons, he was a complete anomaly because of that. He was a joker, a phantom factor. Nobody but the YED could predict what he was gonna do or see (so far as we know, and IIRC). I'd like to see some of that. I'd like to see Sam and his visions throwing some people for a loop again, see what I'm saying?
Point the fourth: That whole Dean-as-Michael's-vessel thing. I'm not buying it. Oh, the symbolism fits, the literary/mythological parallels fit, how else were people able to see it coming from so far back? But I'm not buying that Dean's capable of being a vessel, prophecy or no prophecy. As I see it, the show itself has told us several times that he is not. What I do buy, is that the angels think Dean is supposed to be Michael's vessel. Prophecy's a tricky thing, and even angels, as we have seen, are fallible. The angels never said that the prophecy said the man who broke the first seal was to be the Michael sword, and if that was true I'm sure Zachariah would've said it in the storehouse on 42 Rover Drive. I'm guessing that the prophecy said the righteous man who started the apocalypse would be the only one who could end it, and nothing more. The angels were just pulling that Michael-sword stuff out because they can't think how they'll win this war without Michael, so that must be what the prophecy means, right? Silly angels.
Besides, the fangirl in me is objecting strongly to Dean being anybody's vessel but Cas's.
Point the fifth: We get further and further away from originality here, but I have to take a minute to introduce this argument. There's plenty of indication that the angels' wacko idea of Dean being a vessel might not be so far off, and not just that the angels--who, we'll give them credit, seem to know what's up better than pretty much anyone--think it's true. For the sake of argument, let's assume that "ability to hear an angel's true voice" equals (more or less) "ability to be an angel's vessel", which I strongly suspect to be true. (You may cite Jimmy, to whom Castiel's voice was incredibly painful at first. But I didn't say ability to hear it without pain. I said ability to hear it at all, instead of that sound like a mosquito ringtone gone horribly wrong.) Thus: A) Dean is not a vessel. Castiel tried many times to speak to him, and it never worked. B) Castiel (and thus probably his higher-ups) had thought that Dean was a vessel. Why would they think that? Well, perhaps they had good reason. It seems to be a family trait, or at least a blood trait. What if the Winchesters have it, likely from their mom? In that case, who else may have it? Sam. Another point: It can't just be that it runs in families, if that were the case there's no way they'd be as rare as they are. I suspect that there's a personality factor--faith, perhaps? (And a complete lack of the common sense telling you to not play with fire, but that's neither here nor there. Poor Jimmy.) Perhaps that's the necessary factor for hearing an angel's voice. Certainly if one didn't have faith, they'd be pretty unlikely to consent to life as an "angel condom". So. Of the Winchester brothers, who was the faithful one, the one who believes in angels? Sam. All I'm saying is, he looks like freaking fantastic potential vessel material. I'm not so much interested in what this means for future plots, as how it ties to past plots. That is, the YED. Was he targeting possible vessels?
Point the sixth: This episode made my ears prick up so high they nearly tore from my scalp, because I sense that they may very well be opening up to finally resolve the YED plot. That stupid plot has given me so much mental grief. First off, what's with those crazy yellow eyes? We still haven't seen anyone else with yellow eyes yet. And what was his endgame? 'Cuz it sure as hell (heh) wasn't raising Lucifer, I'd say, though that may have been part of it. That was Lilith and Ruby, and somehow I don't think they were in league. But maybe they were. Was Yellow-Eyes a rogue, doing his own thing, or did he have others working with him? What the hell was Croatoan? What was he really planning for the special children, beyond forming an army with the last one standing as general? I'm still not satisfied that that was all he had in mind for those kids. Why on earth would anyone raise someone, giving them every tool needed to kill them? He practically handed his head to them on a platter. No way he's that stupid. He had something else up his sleeve, I'm sure of it. Was he targeting possible vessels? Why? Is it possible that only vessels have the ability to develop the superpowers he wanted them to have? (That would fulfill many fans hopes in that it would mean Sam's powers are at least partly inborn.) His plans are so shadowy, I almost suspect the bastard planned to die, and planned for his game to play out after his death. But perhaps that's just paranoia. Really well-founded paranoia, perhaps. At this point, it looks more and more likely. The point is, it looks like we're gonna get some answers! I'm excited!