I am very very pleased to read this meta! I'm glad someone is thinking about free will and seeing how it is a, possibly the, positive force that the boys have going for them when so much seems to be stacked against them.
I think your analysis is spot on and I like how you related the song lyrics to your points. Very nice job! :)
For my part, I find nothing to disagree with, and that's unusual, especially since I routinely find nits to pick with other fans' interpretations of the show's events and the characters' actions and motivation.
I do have some slightly differing thoughts about Zachariah but I don't have a lot of basis for them. I'm just suspicious as to whether he is exactly what he claims, or whether he is part of the contingent in heaven that is working towards Uriel's professed agenda of freeing their brother Lucifer.
Like I said, I don't have much to base it on besides suspicion, Zachariah's mention in 4.17 about having to come down into a "stinky" body, and the threatening tone he took with Chuck at the end, none of which really mean anything and could have the simpler interpretation of "(most) angels are just dicks".
I've been thinking about Anna's description of angels as having no free will, which she obviously meant not in the strictest sense, since if that were true she couldn't have chosen to fall. But the idea of it, that angels only obey the word of God (apparently as it's passed on from higher level angels), seems to be getting a thrashing. Anna chose to fall, Uriel became a actual traitor, and Castiel now skates the edge. So angels do have free will after all.
But how can they, and still be effective servants of God?
I've been wondering if this manifestation of free will in angels is why most of them haven't heard from Him, and maybe why even the ones at the top (those four that are supposed to have seen Him) may not be hearing from Him either.
It does lead to the question of whether Chuck is receiving his visions via divine inspiration from God himself, or from other sources.
His visions and how they affect him are so much like Sam's original visions, if more specific (to the Winchesters) in scope that a lot of questions are raised, at least in my mind.
Anyway, thanks for the excellent meta. Thanks for writing about the boys intelligently and compassionately. It is appreciated, enjoyed, and it definitely causes more examination of the subject.
Angels totally have free will - that's why some rebel, some came to earth to marry mortals, and some (like Anna) fell. The most important part of their existence, however, is their obedience. Free will isn't much tolerated for them. Castiel is definitely toeing the line, but I think his actions were more of an interpretation of the will of God than an act in defiance of it.
I think your analysis is spot on and I like how you related the song lyrics to your points. Very nice job! :)
For my part, I find nothing to disagree with, and that's unusual, especially since I routinely find nits to pick with other fans' interpretations of the show's events and the characters' actions and motivation.
I do have some slightly differing thoughts about Zachariah but I don't have a lot of basis for them. I'm just suspicious as to whether he is exactly what he claims, or whether he is part of the contingent in heaven that is working towards Uriel's professed agenda of freeing their brother Lucifer.
Like I said, I don't have much to base it on besides suspicion, Zachariah's mention in 4.17 about having to come down into a "stinky" body, and the threatening tone he took with Chuck at the end, none of which really mean anything and could have the simpler interpretation of "(most) angels are just dicks".
I've been thinking about Anna's description of angels as having no free will, which she obviously meant not in the strictest sense, since if that were true she couldn't have chosen to fall. But the idea of it, that angels only obey the word of God (apparently as it's passed on from higher level angels), seems to be getting a thrashing. Anna chose to fall, Uriel became a actual traitor, and Castiel now skates the edge. So angels do have free will after all.
But how can they, and still be effective servants of God?
I've been wondering if this manifestation of free will in angels is why most of them haven't heard from Him, and maybe why even the ones at the top (those four that are supposed to have seen Him) may not be hearing from Him either.
It does lead to the question of whether Chuck is receiving his visions via divine inspiration from God himself, or from other sources.
His visions and how they affect him are so much like Sam's original visions, if more specific (to the Winchesters) in scope that a lot of questions are raised, at least in my mind.
Anyway, thanks for the excellent meta. Thanks for writing about the boys intelligently and compassionately. It is appreciated, enjoyed, and it definitely causes more examination of the subject.
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Angels totally have free will - that's why some rebel, some came to earth to marry mortals, and some (like Anna) fell. The most important part of their existence, however, is their obedience. Free will isn't much tolerated for them. Castiel is definitely toeing the line, but I think his actions were more of an interpretation of the will of God than an act in defiance of it.
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Thank you!
The MST3K base is from dragynville - I picked it up a long long time back and never had the inspiration to use if for an icon until now. ;)
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