Thoughts on Cas at the end of S6

[morganlucas41]

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what happens to Castiel at the end of season 6. The conclusion that I’ve come to is, I understand what motivates everyone during that arc. I think there’s wrong on all sides, but that no one person can be solely blamed. And to explain that, it’s necessary to go back to the beginning of S6. There are some

Comments

[borgmama1of5]

"I can’t fault Cas for his actions because they do make sense to me. And I can’t fault Dean either because I know why he acted the way he did, too. They both made mistakes - but neither is alone in that

[morganlucas41]

You're exactly right about Dean's ultimatums, both with Sam and with Cas, and how those never ever work. I actually see a lot of parallels in how Dean handled both situations, in S4 and S6, and sadly, neither ended well.

I do kind of understand why Cas didn't tell Dean that Sam was alive, initially. What I don't get is why he blatantly told Sam and Dean that he didn't know who'd raised Sam (in 6.03, and subsequently). He was actively lying to them at that point and I've never quite understood why.

Yeah, Bobby's actions were weird, too. I mean, he should have known how important Sam was to Dean. He says he didn't tell Dean because Dean was "out" of the life, and he didn't want to take that away from him. I get that Bobby genuinely believed that, but either way, it was definitely the wrong decision on his part.

Oh, I am SO nervous about Cas's return! I'll be awaiting it anxiously with you :)

[inplayruns]

I feel like I should have a disclaimer that I'm a Dean girl who really loves Cas (and Sam), and a pretty hardcore Dean/Cas shipper - but if you are cool with what I ship, I'm cool with what you ship, in general.

This is a really good post. A lot of fandom doesn't seem to understand that recognizing a character messed up, or has flaws, isn't character-bashing. And then a lot of fandom is indeed actively out to character-bash. I think you do a great job here of exploring the issues from all sides, because it was complicated and there isn't an easy answer as to who was right and who was wrong. It hurt, but it was probably the best part of S6 because it was so very complex.

The only thing I don't quite agree with is that it was a satisfying arc. Unless you were talking about Cas' arc in S6 only, where I think I'd agree; it hurt, but it was a pretty well-done arc.

But IMO they made Cas go bad in 6.22 for the sake of plot - Sam's wall had to break somehow - and a twist to end the season, and then didn't do anything with that. Cas as the

[morganlucas41]

OMG - those are exactly my character/shipping preferences too! Either way I try to be open-minded, but I'm actually exactly the same. (I'm glad that didn't necessarily come across in my writing - I thought it might have, though I always try to be objective

[inplayruns]

Yeah - I made that comment just because I'm always afraid of shipping/character preferences accidentally slipping through (then again, I pretty much love every character, oops), and I'd want to be called out on that if that was the case. fwiw, I had no idea those were your preferences too - so you did a good job with the objectivity. Or perhaps, we are both equally biased. :p

[morganlucas41]

Aww, thank you! It was precisely after reading reactions like that that I thought "wait, no, that's not actually how it happened," lol. I'd try to think of responses to people but it ended up being this gargantuan thing, because I'm me and I'm overly analytical, lol. Anyway I am glad you agree

[morganlucas41]

Interesting thoughts on why Castiel didn't tell them about Sam. I've thought of those reasons, and they're probably true. Still, to me the fact that he blatantly lied to them so many times in the first part of S6 still bugs. When they revealed in 6.20 that Cas did in fact bring Sam back, it just seemed to make his earlier actions really inconsistent (especially since we know Cas can't lie). So I really don't know

[mimi_sardinia]

I think the lack of decent redemption so far should mean that it is still pending - Cas has to come back first before his redemption can really be played out.

Whether it gets played out satisfyingly is another thing, I would rather aim hopes low and be pleasantly surprised than aim high and be depressed.

[morganlucas41]

I agree with all this! Let's keep our fingers crossed together :)

[samincittagazze]

I always felt the reason Cas didn't initially step forward about raising Sam is that he wanted to give the boys one final miracle for all that they'd done. They'd averted an apocalypse, the world was saved, and Castiel's faith in his Father had been restored when he himself was resurrected. And yet neither Sam nor Dean got any of that joy, and he just wanted to give them their heavenly reward without the need for thanks or praise. It's this gorgeous mirroring of the beginning of Castiel's fall into God power-tripping - he's trying to create a miracle worthy of his father for them. And then, of course, by the time he's realised it's all gone wrong he's already so embroiled in lies that it's just one more to add to the list. It all spiraled out of his control

[sgmajorshipper]

I always felt the reason Cas didn't initially step forward about raising Sam is that he wanted to give the boys one final miracle for all that they'd done. They'd averted an apocalypse, the world was saved, and Castiel's faith in his Father had been restored when he himself was resurrected. And yet neither Sam nor Dean got any of that joy, and he just wanted to give them their heavenly reward without the need for thanks or praise. It's this gorgeous mirroring of the beginning of Castiel's fall into God power-tripping - he's trying to create a miracle worthy of his father for them. And then, of course, by the time he's realised it's all gone wrong he's already so embroiled in lies that it's just one more to add to the list. It all spiraled out of his control.
So, I had never considered this idea before. And I thought S6 couldn't GET any more heartbreaking. ARG. It's something I've never thought about, and yet, it fits in perfectly with his arc in S6. He wanted to pass along the faith, the good that he himself had received. I can see

[morganlucas41]

I can see the resurrected Cas from 522 seeing how miserable Dean was and wanting to fix it.

I do think this was one of the main reasons Cas saved Sam at all...apart from just actually wanting to save Sam, he had to have taken Dean's feelings into consideration, too. And to the extent that everything Cas does is in some way for Dean, I definitely think this was, too.

I'm not sure that Cas's motivation was entirely to give the Winchesters something good to hold onto, but it's a nice idea - and one that does seem plausible.

[amberdiceless]

Please forgive me for butting in (here via the newsletter) but I just wanted to say, this is a fantastic thought I hadn't seen before, and one thing that makes me think it's quite plausible is the look on Cas's face when he shows up behind Sam after Dean calls him in 6x03 and says "Hello," before they start chewing him out for not answering. It reads to me as definitely affectionate, and I can easily see some pride or satisfaction there in what he thought at the time was a job well done.