This is the final part of a three-part series looking at the season 6 story of Castiel. Part 1 - It's About the Souls, Part 2 - Cas ... Winchester?
After the season 6 finale ended, I was left with shock, a sinking disappointment, and a nagging question – was Cas really wrong?
The fact that I couldn’t easily answer that question was a little disturbing. He was clearly meant to be wrong. He had killed his angel best friend, was spouting the paranoid ramblings of dictators, had crashed Sam’s wall, and had crowned himself God. So why did I still feel like he was on the right side of all of this? And what does this say about me?
I’m not going to address the last question, but I wanted to take a closer look at what Cas has done and at my initial gut reaction that Cas was on the right side of all of this. I wrote the previous two articles as an exploration of Cas’s story arc with the goal of trying to figure out what the writers’ story might mean. With those articles, I worked under the assumption that Cas was wrong. While I have my own doubts that Cas is the one who currently needs redemption, I’m not delusional enough to think that Cas is going to emerge from all of this vindicated. This last story is a little different from my others in that it’s about my own feelings about the right and wrong of what happened, rather than trying to interpret what someone else might be trying to say.
“You and Crowley have been going after Purgatory together?”
Let’s start at the biggest part – the big plan – the attempt to open a door to Purgatory. Was it a bad plan? Was the risk of monsters from Purgatory worse than the threat posed by letting Lucifer and Michael on the loose again? We don’t know yet. There was never a rational onscreen discussion looking at the risks and weighing the pros and cons of both options. Instead an attempt at discussion was dismissed with “I'm not gonna logic you.” So was Cas’s plan as poorly thought out as Dean, Sam, and Bobby assumed? They didn’t want Cas working with Crowley, but as we saw in the final episode, Cas’s plan didn’t include Crowley getting the souls. This all hasn’t played out yet, but so far we haven’t seen any monsters leaking out into the world. It’s possible Cas had a plan for that part as well.
Cas under the influence of the souls declared himself God, but was that really because he couldn’t handle the souls, or because he lost his will to try? When he lost his friends, Cas changed. He became isolated and angry, his pride got the better of him, and he decided he was going to hold onto the power a bit longer. Would this still have happened had Dean backed him? We don’t know. A couple of the things that really bugged me watching the end of last season was that Dean, Sam, and Bobby seemed to have lost all fear of the Apocalypse, and they wouldn’t even listen to Cas’s plan. In season 5, they were prepared to stop the Apocalypse at all costs. So what changed?
“There’s a bigger picture, Dean.”
Supernatural hasn’t been the first piece of fiction to touch upon the question of whether the bigger picture or the human element should win out. In Star Trek II, Spock argued that the good of the many outweigh the good of the one as he sacrificed his own life, but Kirk in the next movie explained to Spock that the crew risked their safety to rescue him because the good of the one outweighs the good of the many. The quick answer to this debate seems to be that it’s always more noble to act on behalf of the greater good. But often in fictional examples, the cost of sacrificing the few is something that is morally reprehensible or causes deep personal pain. In those cases “being human” wins out, and the heroes opt to save the few.
In season 6, we see both Cas and soulless Sam making decisions based on what they believe is for the good of the many. With Sam, he kills the bartender in “The Man Who Knew Too Much” rather than let the demon escape and kill more people. He uses the sheriff as bait in “Unforgiven;” again, for the purpose of killing the monster. In this case, sacrificing the sheriff just causes more monsters to be created, but Sam’s error was due to carelessness by not making sure the monsters had died rather than making the wrong call on whether to sacrifice the sheriff. Cas uses “the bigger picture” as a rational for most of the questionable things he does over the course of the season, including torture, his deal with Crowley, lying to Sam and Dean, and launching a civil war. These decisions cause conflict with Dean, who calls Sam “Terminator 3” and accuses Cas of being a “dick.”
But is Dean and souled Sam’s way – making the merciful and more human decision – really better? Sam and Dean have faced similar decisions many times over the series, and most times their mercy has come back to bite them.
In the final episodes of season one, Sam won’t kill his father when he has a chance to kill YED, letting YED escape, which leads to the truck crashing into them, Dean almost dying, John giving up his soul and the Colt to save Dean, YED later setting up Sam to be killed, Dean sacrificing his soul to bring Sam back, Dean breaking the first seal, etc. In the season 2 finale, Sam walks away rather than killing Jake, which results in Jake getting up and knifing Sam, again leading to the events that result in the Apocalypse. When we see Jake again at the cemetery, the Winchesters plus Bobby and Ellen have Jake cornered but hesitate to shoot him, allowing him the chance to force Ellen to put a gun against her head. And instead of taking the shot at this point, sacrificing Ellen but preventing Jake from opening the door to Hell, they allow Jake to open the Devil’s Gate, releasing hundreds of demons that kill probably thousands of people over the next few years. We saw at least ten people killed as a direct result in the season 3 premiere, including a fellow hunter.
In season 2’s “Bloodlust,” Sam and Dean save the good vampire Leonora from Gordon, who won’t accept that she’s not evil just because she’s not killing people. They win that battle and do the right thing – or so it seems. We later see Leonora in season 6, who tells the Winchesters that under Eve’s influence, her whole nest, including herself, started killing again. So Sam and Dean’s mercy led to a number of innocent people eventually being killed.
On the other side of this argument, the creepy aunt in “Scarecrow” makes an argument for the good of the town justifying sacrificing her niece to the pagan god. “The town needs to be saved. The good of the many, outweighs the good of the one,” she says. And in season 3, Ruby argues that cutting out the heart of the virgin Nancy is necessary to cast a spell to destroy the demons attacking them and save the other people in their group (“Just in Bello”). In retrospect, this was an obvious attempt by Ruby to get Sam to the point where he’s willing to make the tough decisions in the name of the bigger picture. But just because the “good of the many” rational is sometimes used by a demon, or the bad guys, does that mean it’s wrong?
So why do Sam and Dean keep making the same decisions over and over even though doing the merciful thing never seems to work out for them? In Croatoan, Dean is ready to kill a local man who they think may be infected with the virus. Sam argues against it, saying that the job is “supposed to be tough .. We're supposed to struggle with this. That's the whole point.” Sam says struggling with it buys them “a clear conscience.” Sam wins the argument and it turns out the man was not infected after all. Instead we find out later in the episode that he’s likely the demon who organized the infection, as he kills Sarge. What I’m stuck on here is that yes, the merciful decisions make the episodes we watch a little less disturbing, and yes, the road paved with good intentions does lead to Hell, but on Supernatural, the alternative just leads to the Apocalypse. They can’t win, and looking at the big picture, a case could be made that Cas and soulless Sam were coming out ahead on this point.
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Submit or die? What are you, French? How about resist?”
Cas is faulted for starting a civil war in Heaven and joining an alliance with Crowley, but at least Cas was trying. Let’s be honest, who really wants an action-figure hero who rolls over and submits once things get tough? Cas didn’t have many options. He was being challenged by Raphael, an archangel who had the backing of most of Heaven. Raphael was too powerful for Cas to oppose on his own, and he was certainly too powerful for Dean to stand up to on his own. Dean and Sam didn’t have much luck taking down archangels in season 5. The only way they were able to defeat one was for Sam to sacrifice himself by letting Lucifer get inside his body and then jumping into the pit. So why should Cas assume now that Dean suddenly has a solution for taking on archangels?
One of Dean’s arguments was that it’s wrong to make deals with demons. Umm, hello?? I’ve heard fans make the argument that while Sam and Dean have made deals with demons in the past, they’ve learned from their mistakes, so I’ll address this point by just talking about the sixth season. First of all, when I use the phrase “make deals,” I’m not talking exclusively about the selling-your-soul kind. Cas didn’t sell his soul to Crowley, he just worked with him in a mutually beneficial situation.
As for season 6 arrangements with sketchy supernatural creatures, first of all, there was Crowley. Sam and Dean hunted monsters for him for several weeks without knowing what he planned to do with the monsters or whether he had any intention of keeping up his end of the bargain, which was getting Sam’s soul back from Hell. At least Cas had a better idea of the stakes so he could enter into his partnership with his eyes open. Second partnership was Meg, the demon who had killed Ellen, Jo, two of John’s friends, and had caused a lot of other problems for them in the past. They agreed to partner up with Meg to get to Crowley, and Dean even released Meg from the torture table at one point. Third, there was Death. He seems huggable now, but this is a horseman of the Apocalyspe. Dean has lucked out twice in that Death wanted something from him and didn’t kill him when Dean approached. But there’s nothing to indicate that Death won’t turn against Dean once Dean stops being useful, or that he won’t pull a demonesque trick by getting Dean to do something that he’ll regret later. Even Bobby raised his eyebrows after hearing Dean say that he was all squared with Death after Death returned Sam’s soul. Fourth, there was Balthazar. Later in the series, Balthazar was presented as a friend of Cas, but earlier, when Balthazar was still seen as corrupt angel, soulless Sam went to Balthazar for a spell to keep out his soul. Balthazar agreed to do it because he didn’t like Dean, and also because he thought having Sam owe him might come in handy some day. Fifth, there was Eve. Yes, Dean said “no” to her offer because he had a secret plan to kill her, but before that plan became known to Sam and Bobby, Sam shot Dean a look as if to say “take her offer.”
“I'm your new God. A better one. “
This is all about perspective. Sam had a chance to work out his daddy issues by becoming a hunter. Dean had the chance to work out his daddy issues by becoming Ben’s father. Cas just wants the same opportunity, but his dad just happens to be God. Who hasn’t at some point in their lives desired the chance to be a better father than their own father, a better mother than their own mother, or a better boss than the one being ushered out the door? It’s human nature to deal with daddy or mommy issues by using their performance as a benchmark, and striving to do better.
And is Cas becoming God a bad thing? We’ll find out more next season, but if Cas meant what he said when he stated he would be a better god, at least he’s trying to make a difference. The world has clearly suffered under the old God, and with God’s departure, Heaven is in disarray. If Cas thinks he can improve things, I say let him try.
“You know who spies on people, Cas? Spies.”
To me the main fault in Cas’s deal with Crowley is more in the lying than in either his decision to work with a demon or to take his chances with the Purgatory plan. Trust is important when your lives are on the line, and no one likes to feel like your friends are setting you up. But Cas did set Sam and Dean up when he pretended to help Sam and Dean hunt Crowley in “Caged Heat.” But in Cas’s defense, he did his best to keep Sam and Dean safe, and if they had died, Cas knew he could just bring them back. Also, it’s also not like this is the first time the Winchesters have lied to each other. Cas deserves punishment, but he also deserves a chance to explain.
“Just find Purgatory. If you don't, we will both die again and again, until the end of time.”
When Dean was sent to Hell, Cas saved him. When Sam was sent to Hell, Cas at least tried to save him. But if Cas got sent to Hell because Raphael released Michael and Lucifer (who I’m sure were both not pleased with Cas), who would save Cas? Doesn’t Cas have a right to try to save himself? He tells Crowley at one point, “Just find Purgatory. If you don't, we will both die again and again, until the end of time.” There’s some self-interest in his motives, but let’s be clear - Sam couldn’t live with the knowledge that Dean was rotting in Hell. He did everything he could to get him out, including starting to drink demon blood. Dean, likewise, couldn’t let Sam continue to rot in Hell. He agreed to keep working for Crowley, not knowing what evil might come of his work, because Crowley said he could get Sam’s soul out of Hell. Sam and Dean are willing to do anything to help each other, but Cas in season 6 was on his own. Why shouldn’t he try to save himself?
The devil’s in the details
Cas had good intentions and he was right – the big picture was important. But Cas stepped over a line and started torturing monsters and probably people (at one point he hurt a kid). He killed his angel friends. He purposely crashed Sam’s wall, which seemed more mean than anything else (he could have just put them to sleep for a few days). And he repeatedly lied. He did bad things, but Dean was wrong too – the situation was not simple. Looking at just the consequences of Cas’s actions and not examining the possible consequences of inaction paints a distorted picture.
As an angel, Cas focused more on the greater good – the bigger picture. But to me that doesn’t seem to be where the problem is. It wouldn’t hurt Sam and Dean to focus more on the bigger picture than on each other at times. The two actions that I’ve had the biggest problem reconciling were Cas crashing Sam’s wall and Cas killing Balthazar, who was a loyal friend. An “bigger picture” argument could be made on Cas’s behalf that these actions too were right. Does anyone really think that Sam would be better off with Lucifer on the loose or back inside his head? And Sam himself had chosen Hell to prevent the Apocalypse. Balthazar was guilty of treason in a time of war – a capital offense. But while the case can be made, both actions feel personal to me. Cas was angry at Dean, and he felt betrayed by Balthazar. This was emotion, not logic. Acting out was very human of Cas, but it was wrong. The angel perspective part – I have no problem with it. The human perspective part – it might be limited.
Screencaps from Supernatural Caps.
