SPN 9x9 - Holy Terror

[pocochina]

(ii)
OMG, how GREAT was the way things went down with Dean went down in the last third of the episode. Oh, he’ll lie to and undermine and gaslight Sam for weeks on end, but as soon as he found out HE got played, THAT light a fire under his ass and turned him 50 shades of blasé as to whether Sam could survive throwing “Zeke” out. Note, too, how he

Comments

[percysowner]

I do think he’s lying about not hearing everything that goes on between Sam and Dean. He has to be constantly scanning all information Sam might take in if he’s going to keep himself under wraps. But why lie? To keep Dean acting as normally as possible around Sam? To be able to pretend that he, Gadreel, is on the receiving end of that affection, rather than Sam? Just ‘cause? And how different is he from Dean, then, who’s been sticking his head in the sand and pretending that Schroedinger’s Winchester is actually Sam?My theory is that he may have been planning on sticking around in Sam forever. At some point push was going to come to shove and Dean was going to get pushy about getting Gad out. So Gad learns to act like Sam. I think Kevin talking about how often Sam has been going out lately was Gad practicing being human. Then when he's really good at it he tells Dean that Sam is healed, puts on a big light show so it looks like he's left and just continues to pretend to be Sam. This does mesh with him not being sure where he ends

[pocochina]

Your picture of Gadreel makes a lot of sense, particularly with someone who's been captive in a place that was isolating and mindwarping and terrible even by Heavenly standards.

have hit the people who want Sam to do something "different" and just forgive Dean

LMAO DO THEY EVEN GO HERE

I personally am rooting for Sam to say he forgives Dean and understands and then have him run to Jodi and Cas and say "I want Witness Protection and I want it now!"

SANCTUARY MOTHERFUCKERS

I'm dreaming for him to start sucking away Gadreel's grace and gain discretionary smiting power. Like, how amazing if Dean's latest bid for control over Sam prevents him from controlling Sam ever again.

[percysowner]

I'm dreaming for him to start sucking away Gadreel's grace and gain discretionary smiting power. Like, how amazing if Dean's latest bid for control over Sam prevents him from controlling Sam ever again.

As cool as that would be, I'm sure Dean would find some way to turn it around and make Sam responsible for something BAD, worse than getting Kevin killed bad and then convince Sam to give up the smiting ability and grovel for forgiveness for becoming weird AGAIN. Dean is really good at this and Sam has no other support system. Kevin's dead. Garth buys Dean's viewpoint. Cas has bigger fish to fry and still prioritizes Dean's friendship over Sam's. Jodi told Sam that what he and Dean have is special. About the only person who might want to get Sam away from Dean is, ironically, Crowley, who may be becoming human thanks to Sam and who, at the very least, recognizes that he has a better chance if Sam and Dean aren't together. And let's face it, Sam will never trust a demon over Dean again. THAT particular lesson got pounded into him.

[pocochina]

I actually do hold out a little hope that Dean has overplayed his hand enough for Sam to stick to his guns a little bit. And, not to put too fine a point on it, some hard power in Sam's corner (as much as I don't believe he would use it against Dean) would shift the emotional power dynamic significantly.

I hope EVERYONE THEY KNOW fucking finds out what Dean did to him. Let them know what they're actually supporting when they're all OMG DA BRUDDERS!

[duckondebut]

Gadreel is my FAVOURITE already.

I can't seem to think anything about s9 without running into great, honking s6 parallels. The Gadreel/Sam parallels are pretty obvious, sure, but look: he's been sprung from a cage where he has spent millennia repenting for a crime he's convinced he didn't do; he comes down to Earth and pretends to be someone else, someone the world would approve of and trust; he slots himself into a system where he doesn't have any particular personal gain other than the satisfaction of having a purpose and being a part of something; he protects Dean and indulges him because it's more than survival, it's a way of life... HELLO THERE, ROBO!SAM, how lovely to see you!

Like, it's not perfect? But--psychologically porous, more so than most angels: he’s both highly manipulative and highly susceptible to manipulation seems to be just as apt for Robo!Sam. I respect Robo!Sam as his own being, but there's an undeniable core Sam-ness that compelled him to indulge Dean and (initially) do anything to try and get his soul back

[pocochina]

Oh, that is a great comparison to RoboSam! I wouldn't have thought of it because Gadreel seems hyperemotional and sensitive, rather than detached and reckless, but the experiences have a lot of parallels.

he craves Dean's approval, and will go above and beyond his capabilities to get it. And now that Metatron has smoothly replaced Dean...

YES.

Gadreel is my FAVOURITE already.

I KNOOOOOOOW. There's this...artless eagerness, this need to please and be loved that is a little bit hard to look at. He's so dangerous and so non-malicious all at once.

[cuddyclothes]

That's why I called him a clueless dumbass (forgive my phrasing) when Metatron manipulated. The only humans he knows are the Winchesters...and the late lamented Kevin. He had killed before, but it was in self-defense (the diner full of demons). It is clear that he is unhappy about what he is being asked to do, since Dean had Zeke/Sam in a passive position until now.

I consulted the Bible rather than Wikipedia, and Azazel is one of the angels mentioned. Although I think that has nothing to do with the arc of this narrative. There are actually a fuckton of angels in that section:

And behold, the names of those Angels: - The first of them is Semyaza, and the second Artaqifa, and the third Armen, and the fourth Kokabiel, and the fifth Turiel, and the sixth Ramiel, and the seventh Daniel, and the eighth Nuqael, and the ninth Baraqiel, and the tenth Azazel, and the eleventh Armaros, the twelfth Batriel, the thirteenth Basasael, the fourteenth Ananel, the fifteenth Turiel, the sixteenth Samsiel, the seventeenth Yetarel, the eighteenth

[pocochina]

SPN tends to lean on apocrypha and lore and sounds-good-ium, though? In the actual Bible, Ezekiel is a man, not an angel, but the name sounded like what it needed to do ("God will strengthen"). If something has a possible/loric/apocryphal association with Azazel AND with Sam Winchester, that's probably not an accident.