caranfindel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
caranfindel) wrote2014-03-27 10:48 am
caranfindel) wrote2014-03-27 10:48 am
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Meta: Thoughts on the rest of S9, and maybe some hobbits
All of a sudden I’ve got a lot of thoughts and theories (and yes, desperate hopes) about the rest of the season.
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indiachick started it, by saying Crowley was Dean’s Gollum. And SPN circled it with a giant highlighter in 9.17 when Crowley referred to the Blade as “The Precious.” And now I’m adding this to my wish list for the rest of the season because it’s so. freaking. perfect. Because if Dean is Frodo, and Crowley is Gollum, and the Blade is the Ring, that means Sam is, well, Sam. Sam is the one who recognizes that Crowley is up to no good, though Dean insists they need his guidance. Sam is the one who sticks by Dean even when Crowley turns Dean against him. Sam is the one who carries Dean when he is overcome by the Blade’s power and can’t function on his own. And at the end, when Dean wins his battle and is ready to lie down and die, Sam is the one who drags him away from the battlefield and forces him to live, nicely mirroring what Dean did to Sam, and hopefully letting them understand each other’s actions and feelings about all of that. (Please, please let this happen. Because if it doesn’t, I’ll have to write it myself.)
The other parallel, of course is Sam/Ruby and Dean/Crowley. They’re already halfway there. If/when we discover Crowley deliberately set Dean up to acquire the Mark and pick up the blade, rather than serendipitously running into Cain himself, the alignment will be complete. The question is, how will Sam react? Will (a) he fill Dean’s role, becoming angry and hurt that his brother ignores his warnings and trusts a demon instead? Or will he (b) have sympathy for Dean, since he’s lived through the same thing, and use his own experience to support and eventually rescue Dean? (I’m hoping for B since it fits in with the Crowley as Gollum plot!)
milly_gal has a horribly creepy and awesome theory about what Crowley is doing to Dean. She spoiler tagged it, but I don’t consider it a spoiler since it’s just her theory, so I’m gonna go ahead and put it out here: that Crowley is turning Dean into his own Knight of Hell, and to do this, he’ll have to get Dean to kill Sam. I love this because (a) come on, seriously, you even have to ask? And (b) again, it fits in with Crowley as Gollum. In fact, it makes it better. Gollum doesn’t want to destroy the Ring, he wants to own it and use it. Crowley doesn’t want the Blade and the Mark destroyed. He wants to own them and use them. But what about Crowley’s state of semi-humanity and his apparent attachment to Sam? Will he be willing to let Dean kill him?
spnmonster had some really interesting and insightful thoughts about the state of Dean’s soul; basically, that it’s being destroyed by the Mark and the Blade. And this meshes nicely with my own theory about soulless Dean. We know that soulless Sam became a ruthless hunter who no longer worried about collateral damage – the important thing was killing the monsters, and everything else was secondary. I think soulless Dean would be the opposite. I think the only reason Dean hunts is because of his soul. Remember in “It’s a Terrible Life,” how Sam was the one who discovered the ghost and was eager to hunt it, and Dean had to be talked into it? How Sam was the one who knew he was living the wrong life, and Dean simply assimilated, like he always does? I think Sam is, for whatever reason, a hunter at heart, and his soul is what makes him the kind, empathetic person who cares about civilians and doesn’t want to use them as bait. And whatever Dean is at his core, it isn’t saving people or hunting things or even watching out for Sam – that’s all in his soul, and if it’s being damaged, that’s why he doesn’t seem to care much about any of that right now.
So! All of that leads me to come up with some scenarios for the rest of the season.
The power of the Mark becomes stronger and stronger, and Dean craves the Blade, and starts doing some really, really bad things. Sam is worried but Dean insists it’s all about killing Abaddon, so Sam just watches and tries to help Dean stay human, which isn’t easy because he’s really gone off the rails. (Cas can’t help because he’s tainted by stealing another angel’s grace – it stops working or something, I don’t know. Or he’s too busy with his boring angel war.) Finally Dean is completely under the Mark’s control and he needs the Blade the way you and I need oxygen, and Crowley dangles the Blade in his face and says “Yeah, you can have it, but... only a Knight of Hell can kill another Knight, and the only way you can become a Knight is by killing your brother. So the only way you can have the Blade is if you kill Sam.” So Dean’s choice is to get his fix AND save the world by killing Abaddon, or somehow overcome his addiction and let Abaddon go, but spare Sam. (Also? Maybe Sam decides to take this decision out of Dean’s hands and offers to let Dean kill him to achieve the goal of killing Abaddon, and at the last minute Crowley’s humanity and attachment to Sam make him stop Dean and save his Moose, and okay, this is getting ridiculous, but still. Huh.) And obviously Dean will not choose to kill Sam but he realizes he can’t overcome his addiction and the dark influence of the Mark either so he decides to turn the knife on himself and Sam saves him and Dean’s all, “Hey, being a helpless tool that’s used to hurt others really sucks, sorry about that” and Sam’s all “Hey, watching someone you love try to die because he thinks it’s going to solve everyone else’s problems really sucks, sorry about that” and they skip happily into the sunset.
OR
Same as above, Dean’s going darker and darker under the influence of the Mark, doing bad things, justifying all of it because it’s going to help him kill Abaddon, and Sam’s desperately searching for Abaddon because none of this bad shit Dean’s doing is going to stop until she’s dead, and Crowley convinces Dean that Sam is up to no good and can’t be trusted and wants to keep Dean away from the Blade, but Sam doesn’t let Dean drive him away, he just hangs in there and searches for Abaddon because that’s the only way to end this and he just will not fucking give up on Dean, because he knows, he's been there and done that and he fucking knows, and finally they do find her and Crowley gives Dean the Blade and he kills her (and maybe then he kills Crowley too). And then Dean looks around and he says “I have done some really appalling things, I don’t think I can live with this, I think I’m gonna just stop right here and let it end,” and Sam is all “Nope, it was the Mark that did those things, not you, and I’m saving your ass just like you saved mine,” and then he carries him away from the battleground but things are falling apart and it looks like they’re going to die anyway and Dean says “Thanks for sticking with me, you’re a good brother and I know you love me and I’m glad you’re here with me, here at the end of all things, Sam," AND THEN THE EAGLES SWOOP DOWN ON MOUNT DOOM AND RESCUE THEM AND MAYBE THE EAGLES HAVE BLUE EYES AND WEAR TRENCH COATS, I DON’T EVEN KNOW ANY MORE.
So. Yeah. If either of my scenarios happens, you won’t hear from me again because I will be dead from happiness. But it will be worth it.
indiachick started it, by saying Crowley was Dean’s Gollum. And SPN circled it with a giant highlighter in 9.17 when Crowley referred to the Blade as “The Precious.” And now I’m adding this to my wish list for the rest of the season because it’s so. freaking. perfect. Because if Dean is Frodo, and Crowley is Gollum, and the Blade is the Ring, that means Sam is, well, Sam. Sam is the one who recognizes that Crowley is up to no good, though Dean insists they need his guidance. Sam is the one who sticks by Dean even when Crowley turns Dean against him. Sam is the one who carries Dean when he is overcome by the Blade’s power and can’t function on his own. And at the end, when Dean wins his battle and is ready to lie down and die, Sam is the one who drags him away from the battlefield and forces him to live, nicely mirroring what Dean did to Sam, and hopefully letting them understand each other’s actions and feelings about all of that. (Please, please let this happen. Because if it doesn’t, I’ll have to write it myself.)The other parallel, of course is Sam/Ruby and Dean/Crowley. They’re already halfway there. If/when we discover Crowley deliberately set Dean up to acquire the Mark and pick up the blade, rather than serendipitously running into Cain himself, the alignment will be complete. The question is, how will Sam react? Will (a) he fill Dean’s role, becoming angry and hurt that his brother ignores his warnings and trusts a demon instead? Or will he (b) have sympathy for Dean, since he’s lived through the same thing, and use his own experience to support and eventually rescue Dean? (I’m hoping for B since it fits in with the Crowley as Gollum plot!)
milly_gal has a horribly creepy and awesome theory about what Crowley is doing to Dean. She spoiler tagged it, but I don’t consider it a spoiler since it’s just her theory, so I’m gonna go ahead and put it out here: that Crowley is turning Dean into his own Knight of Hell, and to do this, he’ll have to get Dean to kill Sam. I love this because (a) come on, seriously, you even have to ask? And (b) again, it fits in with Crowley as Gollum. In fact, it makes it better. Gollum doesn’t want to destroy the Ring, he wants to own it and use it. Crowley doesn’t want the Blade and the Mark destroyed. He wants to own them and use them. But what about Crowley’s state of semi-humanity and his apparent attachment to Sam? Will he be willing to let Dean kill him?spnmonster had some really interesting and insightful thoughts about the state of Dean’s soul; basically, that it’s being destroyed by the Mark and the Blade. And this meshes nicely with my own theory about soulless Dean. We know that soulless Sam became a ruthless hunter who no longer worried about collateral damage – the important thing was killing the monsters, and everything else was secondary. I think soulless Dean would be the opposite. I think the only reason Dean hunts is because of his soul. Remember in “It’s a Terrible Life,” how Sam was the one who discovered the ghost and was eager to hunt it, and Dean had to be talked into it? How Sam was the one who knew he was living the wrong life, and Dean simply assimilated, like he always does? I think Sam is, for whatever reason, a hunter at heart, and his soul is what makes him the kind, empathetic person who cares about civilians and doesn’t want to use them as bait. And whatever Dean is at his core, it isn’t saving people or hunting things or even watching out for Sam – that’s all in his soul, and if it’s being damaged, that’s why he doesn’t seem to care much about any of that right now.So! All of that leads me to come up with some scenarios for the rest of the season.
The power of the Mark becomes stronger and stronger, and Dean craves the Blade, and starts doing some really, really bad things. Sam is worried but Dean insists it’s all about killing Abaddon, so Sam just watches and tries to help Dean stay human, which isn’t easy because he’s really gone off the rails. (Cas can’t help because he’s tainted by stealing another angel’s grace – it stops working or something, I don’t know. Or he’s too busy with his boring angel war.) Finally Dean is completely under the Mark’s control and he needs the Blade the way you and I need oxygen, and Crowley dangles the Blade in his face and says “Yeah, you can have it, but... only a Knight of Hell can kill another Knight, and the only way you can become a Knight is by killing your brother. So the only way you can have the Blade is if you kill Sam.” So Dean’s choice is to get his fix AND save the world by killing Abaddon, or somehow overcome his addiction and let Abaddon go, but spare Sam. (Also? Maybe Sam decides to take this decision out of Dean’s hands and offers to let Dean kill him to achieve the goal of killing Abaddon, and at the last minute Crowley’s humanity and attachment to Sam make him stop Dean and save his Moose, and okay, this is getting ridiculous, but still. Huh.) And obviously Dean will not choose to kill Sam but he realizes he can’t overcome his addiction and the dark influence of the Mark either so he decides to turn the knife on himself and Sam saves him and Dean’s all, “Hey, being a helpless tool that’s used to hurt others really sucks, sorry about that” and Sam’s all “Hey, watching someone you love try to die because he thinks it’s going to solve everyone else’s problems really sucks, sorry about that” and they skip happily into the sunset.
OR
Same as above, Dean’s going darker and darker under the influence of the Mark, doing bad things, justifying all of it because it’s going to help him kill Abaddon, and Sam’s desperately searching for Abaddon because none of this bad shit Dean’s doing is going to stop until she’s dead, and Crowley convinces Dean that Sam is up to no good and can’t be trusted and wants to keep Dean away from the Blade, but Sam doesn’t let Dean drive him away, he just hangs in there and searches for Abaddon because that’s the only way to end this and he just will not fucking give up on Dean, because he knows, he's been there and done that and he fucking knows, and finally they do find her and Crowley gives Dean the Blade and he kills her (and maybe then he kills Crowley too). And then Dean looks around and he says “I have done some really appalling things, I don’t think I can live with this, I think I’m gonna just stop right here and let it end,” and Sam is all “Nope, it was the Mark that did those things, not you, and I’m saving your ass just like you saved mine,” and then he carries him away from the battleground but things are falling apart and it looks like they’re going to die anyway and Dean says “Thanks for sticking with me, you’re a good brother and I know you love me and I’m glad you’re here with me, here at the end of all things, Sam," AND THEN THE EAGLES SWOOP DOWN ON MOUNT DOOM AND RESCUE THEM AND MAYBE THE EAGLES HAVE BLUE EYES AND WEAR TRENCH COATS, I DON’T EVEN KNOW ANY MORE.
So. Yeah. If either of my scenarios happens, you won’t hear from me again because I will be dead from happiness. But it will be worth it.