Season 8 Predictions for the Last Two Episodes
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT TO 08X21 "THE GREAT ESCAPIST"
[Follow up to the predictions in previous post]
Part I: Angel Tablet Revolving Door
Where is the angel tablet? It seems that as of 08x21 "The Great Escapist," Crowley has it. Crowley thinks so. Naomi thinks so. But does he really have it?
Nope. I think Mrs. Tran has the angel tablet. And the other half of the demon tablet. And that she and Garth (who is apparently missing as of 08x21 "The Great Escapist") are squirreled away somewhere safe.
Castiel did a good job of making everyone think that the angel tablet was responsible for his disconnect with Naomi. Dean said it to Sam. Crowley received reports about it. Naomi believes it was the tablet's doing. He even disappeared on Dean "to protect the tablet from" [Dean].
But the truth is, he chose to disobey Naomi. Repeatedly, actually, before he touched the tablet. If the tablet did anything at all, it was to break that constant connection...whatever it is that Naomi "installed" in Castiel to make him zap to her at the ring of a bell. (Noami tells Castile that "unless I ring my bell, you stay out of heaven" in 08x08 "Hunteri Heroici.") And, let's face it, if we wanna be nit-picky, he DID stop touching the tablet at the end of 08x17 "Goodbye Stranger" when he zipped it into a knapsack on a bus.
I personally think Castiel is playing a hand from Sam's deck, circa 04x10 "Angels and Demons." That is... when you've got Mothra and Godzilla on your ass, you get out of the way and let them take each other out! If he wants to protect Dean/Sam/any other friends he's got left, he's gotta make a play that is stealthy or cunning. Otherwise demon-fire and angel-fire is gonna be focused on his friends to draw him out.
So Castiel gets a ringer for the angel rock and stuffs it into his own vessel. Thus, anyone who catches him will have the tablet. Because both Crowley and Naomi use torture, and I find it hard to believe they'd miss the giant stone in the middle of his stomach/chest while they're in there. Then he starts his Biggerson's Roulette Routine, knowing he will either die in his attempt or will be gravely maimed for this particular trick. That's the only way he can get Mothra and Godzilla to take the bait.
Why Mrs. Tran and not Kevin himself? Castiel has met Mrs. Tran, so she knows who he is and Kevin probably told her about him. And like Castiel, Mrs. Tran wants her son to be safe, but he can't expect Kevin to be safe when translating the angel tablet. Not with angels around higglity pigglity. He knows Mrs. Tran is not on the angel radar like Kevin, she's in a secondary safe house, and she's badass. So he figures, if he wants to keep Sam/Dean safe, then Mrs. Tran is his only real option left.
Why do I think this?
1. Castiel wants to protect Dean and Sam and even Meg. He can't do that AND hide a tablet; he's basically putting all of his friends in the direct line of angel and demon fire. So he needs to protect the tablet with some stealth. Or die. But stealth would be better.
2. When Crowley is about to kill Kevin, he tells him that he "has the angel tablet..." and Kevin actually smiles. It could be him pushing bravado, but I don't think so. I think he knows that Crowley has a ringer. He is a prophet, after all, and is attracted to the tablets, which means he knows where they are. (Like in 07x21 "Reading is Fundamental")
3. Metatron set Crowley on fire, or at least burned the crap out of him, to save Kevin. I find it hard to believe he wouldn't take the 0.005 seconds to grab the bloody rock a few feet from Kevin before flapping out. I mean, damn, that thing is RIGHT THERE. And the way Kevin reacted to the Leviathan tablet, let he couldn't let it go, I'd think Metatron would be the same way with his handiwork. He couldn't just leave it there.
4. Now that Crowley believes he actually has the tablet, there's an added bonus: NAOMI believes Crowley actually has the tablet, too. This is Castiel's dastardly plot. Now Crowley has the Winchesters's on his ass AND Naomi's efforts will be trained for Crowley. Bonus: Castiel can now go chill with Dean and Sam again since he's tablet-free.
5. We spent a lot of early Season 8 showing how badass Mrs. Tran is in the face of Supernatural forces to just suddenly stop seeing her after 08x07 "A Little Slice of Kevin."
Part II: We need to talk about Garth
08x20 "Pac-Man Fever," Garth is out looking for Kevin. In 08x21 "The Great Escapist," suddenly Garth is MIA. My first thought was they used Garth to figure out where Kevin was; then I thought, if that's the case, how was Garth still OK in 08x20 "Pac-Man Fever" after Kevin went missing? I guess it's possible a demon possessed Garth to try to muscle in on the Winchesters, but really? Shouldn't they have made a play by now?
So I don't think Garth is dead or possessed or in one of Crowley's torture chambers (or in one of Naomi's either). I think he's hold up with Mrs. Tran in some ridiculously remote location. I believe Mrs. Tran/Garth have Kevin's half of the demon tablet AND the angel tablet.
Oh, I think Garth got the second half of the demon tablet from Kevin in 08x19 "Taxi Driver." Just a random theory.
Part III: Reincarnation
Apparently a lot of people think Castiel fell in love with Dean's reincarnated soul every time he was reborn into the next generation, and Naomi has done her damnedest to make him forget.
While I like the idea... the fact is, reincarnation isn't part of the Supernatural universe. I think, actually, in light of all of Season 6, we can rule it out as a 'natural' process of souls. By that I mean, while maybe it's happened, or can happen, in some circumstances, but it's only under special situations. Add that to the fact that reincarnation hasn't come up on the show. Like, ever...
According to Season Six, souls are power. Some play for team Purgatory, some for team Hell, and some for team Heaven. The idea that any one of those groups would give up that power via reincarnation isn't likely.
So, if not memories of past Deans, then why does she have to keep going back into his head? What's so special about Castiel?
Back in 04x10 "Angels and Demons," Anna explains to Dean why she chose to become human. When Castiel tells her, "I'm sorry," but she replies, "No, you're not. Not really. You don't know the feeling." Basically, angels don't experience emotions the same way humans do.
Castiel is the most human-like angel there is. I would say even more so than Balthazar was. He's lived through everything from being a good soldier for thousands of years to being cut off from heaven, to exploding, to pretending to be God, to insanity, to struggling in purgatory. His feelings for Sam and Dean are so profound that he saves them from Fate at great expense to his own civil war in heaven. I think he feels what humans feel.
And other angels don't.
You see, human memory is based on emotion. The stronger the emotional content, the stronger the memory, with the exception of extreme stress, trauma, etc. But memories of fear, or anger, or happiness, those "stick" in your mind. I could write about the neurology of sleep and short term memory into long term memory, but that's not really relevant.
Naomi has been dealing with angels who are unlike humans; she's been able to reset them and mess with their perceptions via memory control. But she's never dealt with an angel like Castiel before. She can't erase Dean or Sam or even Meg probably because Castiel has emotional history with them that Naomi doesn't get. You can tamper with things you don't understand, but the likelihood of success isn't good. That's what I think is happening with Naomi's mind control.
And, let's face it... One Dean's enough!
[Follow up to the predictions in previous post]
Part I: Angel Tablet Revolving Door
Where is the angel tablet? It seems that as of 08x21 "The Great Escapist," Crowley has it. Crowley thinks so. Naomi thinks so. But does he really have it?
Nope. I think Mrs. Tran has the angel tablet. And the other half of the demon tablet. And that she and Garth (who is apparently missing as of 08x21 "The Great Escapist") are squirreled away somewhere safe.
Castiel did a good job of making everyone think that the angel tablet was responsible for his disconnect with Naomi. Dean said it to Sam. Crowley received reports about it. Naomi believes it was the tablet's doing. He even disappeared on Dean "to protect the tablet from" [Dean].
But the truth is, he chose to disobey Naomi. Repeatedly, actually, before he touched the tablet. If the tablet did anything at all, it was to break that constant connection...whatever it is that Naomi "installed" in Castiel to make him zap to her at the ring of a bell. (Noami tells Castile that "unless I ring my bell, you stay out of heaven" in 08x08 "Hunteri Heroici.") And, let's face it, if we wanna be nit-picky, he DID stop touching the tablet at the end of 08x17 "Goodbye Stranger" when he zipped it into a knapsack on a bus.
I personally think Castiel is playing a hand from Sam's deck, circa 04x10 "Angels and Demons." That is... when you've got Mothra and Godzilla on your ass, you get out of the way and let them take each other out! If he wants to protect Dean/Sam/any other friends he's got left, he's gotta make a play that is stealthy or cunning. Otherwise demon-fire and angel-fire is gonna be focused on his friends to draw him out.
So Castiel gets a ringer for the angel rock and stuffs it into his own vessel. Thus, anyone who catches him will have the tablet. Because both Crowley and Naomi use torture, and I find it hard to believe they'd miss the giant stone in the middle of his stomach/chest while they're in there. Then he starts his Biggerson's Roulette Routine, knowing he will either die in his attempt or will be gravely maimed for this particular trick. That's the only way he can get Mothra and Godzilla to take the bait.
Why Mrs. Tran and not Kevin himself? Castiel has met Mrs. Tran, so she knows who he is and Kevin probably told her about him. And like Castiel, Mrs. Tran wants her son to be safe, but he can't expect Kevin to be safe when translating the angel tablet. Not with angels around higglity pigglity. He knows Mrs. Tran is not on the angel radar like Kevin, she's in a secondary safe house, and she's badass. So he figures, if he wants to keep Sam/Dean safe, then Mrs. Tran is his only real option left.
Why do I think this?
1. Castiel wants to protect Dean and Sam and even Meg. He can't do that AND hide a tablet; he's basically putting all of his friends in the direct line of angel and demon fire. So he needs to protect the tablet with some stealth. Or die. But stealth would be better.
2. When Crowley is about to kill Kevin, he tells him that he "has the angel tablet..." and Kevin actually smiles. It could be him pushing bravado, but I don't think so. I think he knows that Crowley has a ringer. He is a prophet, after all, and is attracted to the tablets, which means he knows where they are. (Like in 07x21 "Reading is Fundamental")
3. Metatron set Crowley on fire, or at least burned the crap out of him, to save Kevin. I find it hard to believe he wouldn't take the 0.005 seconds to grab the bloody rock a few feet from Kevin before flapping out. I mean, damn, that thing is RIGHT THERE. And the way Kevin reacted to the Leviathan tablet, let he couldn't let it go, I'd think Metatron would be the same way with his handiwork. He couldn't just leave it there.
4. Now that Crowley believes he actually has the tablet, there's an added bonus: NAOMI believes Crowley actually has the tablet, too. This is Castiel's dastardly plot. Now Crowley has the Winchesters's on his ass AND Naomi's efforts will be trained for Crowley. Bonus: Castiel can now go chill with Dean and Sam again since he's tablet-free.
5. We spent a lot of early Season 8 showing how badass Mrs. Tran is in the face of Supernatural forces to just suddenly stop seeing her after 08x07 "A Little Slice of Kevin."
Part II: We need to talk about Garth
08x20 "Pac-Man Fever," Garth is out looking for Kevin. In 08x21 "The Great Escapist," suddenly Garth is MIA. My first thought was they used Garth to figure out where Kevin was; then I thought, if that's the case, how was Garth still OK in 08x20 "Pac-Man Fever" after Kevin went missing? I guess it's possible a demon possessed Garth to try to muscle in on the Winchesters, but really? Shouldn't they have made a play by now?
So I don't think Garth is dead or possessed or in one of Crowley's torture chambers (or in one of Naomi's either). I think he's hold up with Mrs. Tran in some ridiculously remote location. I believe Mrs. Tran/Garth have Kevin's half of the demon tablet AND the angel tablet.
Oh, I think Garth got the second half of the demon tablet from Kevin in 08x19 "Taxi Driver." Just a random theory.
Part III: Reincarnation
Apparently a lot of people think Castiel fell in love with Dean's reincarnated soul every time he was reborn into the next generation, and Naomi has done her damnedest to make him forget.
While I like the idea... the fact is, reincarnation isn't part of the Supernatural universe. I think, actually, in light of all of Season 6, we can rule it out as a 'natural' process of souls. By that I mean, while maybe it's happened, or can happen, in some circumstances, but it's only under special situations. Add that to the fact that reincarnation hasn't come up on the show. Like, ever...
According to Season Six, souls are power. Some play for team Purgatory, some for team Hell, and some for team Heaven. The idea that any one of those groups would give up that power via reincarnation isn't likely.
So, if not memories of past Deans, then why does she have to keep going back into his head? What's so special about Castiel?
Back in 04x10 "Angels and Demons," Anna explains to Dean why she chose to become human. When Castiel tells her, "I'm sorry," but she replies, "No, you're not. Not really. You don't know the feeling." Basically, angels don't experience emotions the same way humans do.
Castiel is the most human-like angel there is. I would say even more so than Balthazar was. He's lived through everything from being a good soldier for thousands of years to being cut off from heaven, to exploding, to pretending to be God, to insanity, to struggling in purgatory. His feelings for Sam and Dean are so profound that he saves them from Fate at great expense to his own civil war in heaven. I think he feels what humans feel.
And other angels don't.
You see, human memory is based on emotion. The stronger the emotional content, the stronger the memory, with the exception of extreme stress, trauma, etc. But memories of fear, or anger, or happiness, those "stick" in your mind. I could write about the neurology of sleep and short term memory into long term memory, but that's not really relevant.
Naomi has been dealing with angels who are unlike humans; she's been able to reset them and mess with their perceptions via memory control. But she's never dealt with an angel like Castiel before. She can't erase Dean or Sam or even Meg probably because Castiel has emotional history with them that Naomi doesn't get. You can tamper with things you don't understand, but the likelihood of success isn't good. That's what I think is happening with Naomi's mind control.
And, let's face it... One Dean's enough!