Conclusion

[tarod45]

Previous meta.

Almost time for the finale, where hopefully, a lot of questions will be answered, and a lot of what I say here will be invalidated. So, if I'm going to say anything, I suppose I should say it now. If only for potential "I knew it!" bragging rights, later.

There's a lot here, and I'm going to do my best to take it in stages, in order.

Azazel's Plan vs Lilith's Plan

For a while, it was looking like Azazel's plan was entirely separate from Lilith's, and that Azazel's plan was now moot with his death. However, the more I think about it, the more I think that the two plans are connected, possibly the same thing, or at the very least that Azazel's plan is still in play.

The Psychic Kids

We know from In the Beginning that Azazel spent a lot of time and trouble setting up the births and infections of his psychic kids. For some reason that hasn't been explained very well, the parents of the the psy!kids were important, and the YED was handing out deals like candy in order to gain access to their houses ten years on. How did the YED know that the date he was setting up ten years later would be the six-month anniversary of a kid of the chosen parent? Spectacular coincidence? That seems unlikely. So did Azazel manipulate the parents? You'll notice that the "in ten years" thing is kind of vague. Did it mean, "just the once, exactly ten years from now?" Or did it mean, "at any time in the tenth year from now?" The kids were infected six months after they were born -- within a year. So if the parents' houses were open to Azazel that entire year, then he could very well have manipulated the parents somehow into having a child that he could come back and infect with his blood in the available timespan. But all of this just reinforces the idea that he went through a lot of trouble to get his psy!kids in place. They had to have been important.

In All Hell Breaks Loose (I don't remember which part), Azazel tells Sam that he and his associates are not the only generation of psy!kids (which we also know from Salvation). So the psy!kid effort was important enough to be ongoing, just in case a given generation didn't work out. Why wouldn't a generation work out, though? Azazel didn't seem all that pleased with Jake as the winner of the free-for-all, but he didn't dump the plan and wait for next time. Assuming that Sam et al were not the first generation, just as they weren't the last, then Azazel must have dumped other winners as well, if he even went through with the free-for-all for previous generations. I'm thinking that the multiple generation attempts weren't about the quality of psy!kid produced, but was instead all about the timing. Azazel needed the Colt to open the Devil's Gate. Perhaps he also needed a righteous man in Hell. Seems like a bit of a coincidence that the demons were trying to break John just as Azazel's big end-of-the-world plan was coming to fruition.

John in Hell: Alistair's Word

On the other hand, it could very well be the case that the demons weren't making any special effort to break John. It could easily be that Alistair only told Dean that John was meant to break the seal to rile Dean up. In the context of that conversation, either is about equally likely: after all, demons lie, but only unless the truth hurts more. However, in the context of Azazel's versus Lilith's plans, it seems a little more dubious.

The evidence we have for Azazel planning to break the seals and free Lucifer is this: the question (of the timing) of the multiple generations; Alistair's word that John was intended break the first seal while Azazel was still alive and in charge; and Azazel's rather ambiguous mention of a "bigger endgame" in In the Beginning.

Azazel's Endgame

In In the Beginning, Castiel doesn't seem to know what Azazel's "endgame" is or was. He, and therefore likely his superiors, don't seem to assume that it is the same as Lilith's. The fact that they spent the time and energy to send Dean into the past would indicate that they do think it's relevant. The most prominent feature of Azazel's plan (based on what we've seen, and what the angels chose to show, which is admittedly a potentially limited view) is the psy!kids. The only functioning psy!kid still alive is Sam. If the angels think that Azazel's plan is still ongoing, then it has to involve Sam in some way.

And here is where we begin to see the probability that Lilith is not continuing Azazel's plan. Because Lilith has been consistent in her desire to see Sam dead. So far as we can tell, her plan does not involve Sam. Indeed, if anything, her words and some of her actions have indicated that (to a degree, at least) it hinges on Sam not being there.

Ruby

Season 3 Ruby

Enter Ruby. It seems pretty certain that Ruby has an agenda, and is helping Sam for reasons other than that she "remembers what it's like to be human." Ruby showed up shortly after the death of Azazel. She claimed to be able to help Sam save Dean. In order to do so, she pushed him to embrace his powers, and she encouraged him in his growing moral ambiguity. The simple fact of the matter is, if Sam had agreed to let her enhance his powers before Dean was dragged to Hell, it might have worked. We know now that, with her help, Sam will soon reach a point where he can kill Lilith. There is nothing about his development in Season 4 that couldn't have happened in Season 3, except that Sam wasn't in a place, emotionally, to be willing to do what was necessary. As such, Ruby's offer of assistance could be interpreted as genuine. Ruby also helped Bobby repair the Colt. It might simply be a coincidence that the Colt was then promptly stolen by Bela and delivered to Lilith. During No Rest for the Wicked, Lilith at some point displaces Ruby in her host body, and tells Sam that Ruby had been a bad girl, and she'd sent her far away.

I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Return of Ruby

When Ruby shows back up during the summer, she claims that Lilith had sent her back to Hell, tortured her in particularly nasty ways, and then sent Ruby back up to redeem herself by killing Sam. Predictably enough, Ruby promptly betrays Lilith, saving Sam in the process. That being said, why would Lilith release Ruby, and send her on a mission to kill the person that she had, until quite recently, been helping? Why would Lilith care about acquiring or testing Ruby's loyalty? It's also very convenient that Ruby "saves" Sam in that encounter from a threat that she'd set up herself.

The Ruby that we see during that brief encounter is very like the Ruby that we knew in Season 3: caustic, sarcastic, sharp as a knife's edge. When Sam continues to refuse to cooperate, she leaves and returns with a new, more inoffensive body, and a new, more inoffensive personality. This new Ruby is soft, vulnerable, sympathetic to Sam's pain. Her renewed offer to help Sam is quickly accepted, and she just as quickly has Sam sober and working on his powers.

Bloodplay

At some point, she convinces him to start drinking her blood. When Sam calls a halt (presumably in Metamorphosis), she waits a while, then starts pressuring him to start again. I think it is probably well outside the realm of possibility that Ruby wouldn't know about demon blood's addictive quality, meaning that she deliberately hooked Sam -- although it is curious to note that Sam didn't seem at all distressed by the lack of blood following his first decision to quit. From Metamorphosis (4x04), when he quit, to Criss Angel is a Douchebag (4x12), when he started again, Sam had fairly substantial access to his powers (as seen in It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester), and showed no symptoms of withdrawal. True, Sam wasn't able to take on Alistair in I Know What You Did Last Summer, which Ruby was quick to blame on Sam's decision not to drink her blood. On the other hand, over the course of the (approximately) eight weeks Sam spent dry, there were no DTs, no hallucinations, no excruciating pain. When Ruby started pushing Sam to start again, his refusals didn't seem particularly forced. Despite the word "addiction" being thrown around fandom from the time we first learned about the blood, Sam's first physical signs of addiction didn't show up until The Rapture (where they proceeded to boink us over the head with clown mallets). It might very well have just been the progression of the addiction. It seems a bit stupid to think that Ruby somehow made her blood addictive to prevent Sam from stopping again. So I don't think that. I just thought it was interesting.

Ruby re:The Boys' Relationship

We know from I Know What You Did Last Summer that Sam gave in to the fiery, demonic passion with Ruby because she said the things Dean would have said. She presented herself as a Dean stand-in. When Dean returned from the Pit, Ruby was supportive of Sam's relationship with him -- all the while pointing out (sometimes subtly) that she, and Sam's relationship with her, would be a point of contention. That Dean wouldn't accept what she and Sam were doing together. Sam didn't appear to need much convincing on that score, but still. It was Sam's sneaking around with Ruby that perhaps drove the most significant wedge between the brothers. (Personally, I tend to think that Dean bears a more subtle, but more significant kind of blame, but that's an entirely different essay.)

I think it's safe to say that Sam didn't tell Dean about Ruby and the blood because he knew that Dean would blow a gasket, and, based on Sam's hallucination of Dean in When the Levee Breaks, that he thought Dean would reject him outright. Hence, the secretiveness was, in part at least, meant to preserve Sam's relationship with Dean. And meanwhile, Ruby continued to emphasize to Sam how important his relationship with Dean was, and also how important what she and Sam were doing was. By doing so, she tacitly encourages the secrecy. And so, she avoids alienating Sam by being supportive of Dean, but at the same time rather effectively isolates Sam from Dean. She offers him sympathy, and encouragement, and acceptance, where Dean (legitimately hurt and nervous over Sam's secretiveness) starts to offer only anger, and suspicion, and condemnation. Which only sends Sam further into Ruby's arms and influence. It might be giving Ruby more credit than she's due to chalk the rift between Sam and Dean up to her machinations, but she does appear to have played her part.

Lucifer's First (aka, how hilarious is it that Firefox thinks "Sam's" is misspelled, but "Lucifer's" is okay?)

I have to say, I got the same vibe off of Ruby during her explanation of Lucifer's First that I got off of Castiel during his conversation with Dean. That is to say, I'm pretty sure we're missing something. It's been pointed out by others that the whole "twisting and tempting of a human soul" sounds a lot like what Ruby's doing with Sam. And it's Sam who jumps to the conclusion that Lilith is Lucifer's First. There have been some theories presented as to how Sam could be Lucifer's First, but in order for him to fit the story, Ruby would have to be lying about so much of it, there wouldn't have been much point in her telling it at all. On the other hand, Ruby doesn't say how Lucifer's First will break the seal. Could just as easily be with her death as anything else.

That being said, there must be some connection to Sam in the story. We've seen signs of Sam's corruption as the season has progressed -- most subtly (I don't think I would have ever noticed if someone else hadn't pointed it out), but most significantly, Sam's irises turned demon-black after drinking Ruby's blood in On the Head of a Pin. Castiel told Dean flat out that Sam drinking enough demon blood to kill Lilith would "change him forever." That "change," and also the following "most probably" leave a certain amount of ambiguity, but the implication is clear: that Sam would, in all the ways that matter, be a demon. So: a human soul, twisted and tempted into becoming a demon. Sounds like Lucifer's First. Just, you know, not first. Still, there had to be a point -- it's a lot of trouble to go through, just for the scorching-hot joy of evil!Sam.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the final seal is a mirror of the first seal: the corruption of a pure soul. Only this time, as a sort of replaying of Lucifer's First. That would provide a pleasing sort of symmetry. Well, it might be an elegant solution, but I kinda doubt this one.

Ruby's Plan: Azazel's Pawn or Lilith's?

POINTS IN FAVOR OF RUBY WORKING FOR AZAZEL

- She showed up very shortly after Azazel's death.
- From the start, she was encouraging Sam to use his powers, which, as far as we know, Sam had originally gotten from Azazel.
- She was trying to encourage Sam to become a ruthless general (see Jus in Bello). Azazel, of course, wanted Sam as the general of the demon army.
- She continuously protected and/or tried to protect Sam. Sam is important in Azazel's plan, but Lilith seems to want him dead.
- She fed Sam demon's blood, continuing something that Azazel had begun when Sam was a baby.
- If Sam had cooperated with her in Season 3, he might legitimately have been able to stop Dean from going to Hell, effectively putting the kibosh on any plans for freeing Lucifer.
- Ruby's whole goal with Sam was to make him strong enough to kill Lilith.
- Ruby played her part in Sam's plan to orchestrate a fight between angels and demons. Alistair didn't treat her as an undercover comrade when no one was watching, he genuinely tortured her to get Anna's whereabouts.

POINTS IN FAVOR OF RUBY WORKING FOR LILITH

- Ruby claims that Lilith released her from Hell to give her the chance to prove that she was loyal to Lilith. Why? That makes no sense, and is oh so very convenient. As is Ruby showing up as part of an ambush, giving her the opportunity to betray Lilith and save Sam, as a way of getting Sam to trust her again.
- Ruby helped Bobby rebuild the Colt, which pretty quickly ended up in Lilith's hands. That might have been a coincidence, but how odd is it that effectively no one had the Colt, then the Winchesters had it long enough to use it a few times to kill a few minor demons, and then Lilith, easy as pie, was able to steal it?
- If Lilith's death is the final seal, and Sam is the only one who can kill her, then Ruby getting Sam to the point where he can and wants to kill Lilith would fit with the plan.

The evidence seems to weigh more heavily in the "Ruby works for Azazel" column, but there are a couple of points that just don't make sense unless she's working for Lilith.

Heaven vs Hell

Who's Actually Running This Apocalypse?

A pet theory of mine is that Lilith is not actually involved in the apocalypse. Consider: we've never seen her directly involved with the seals. In fact, the only direct involvement in the seals we've seen by demons was the (successful) breaking of Dean in Hell, the (successful) resurrection of Samhain and the (attempted) deaths of the two Reapers.

Lilith was definitely involved in getting Dean into Hell. Fine.

However: Samhain was freed by a couple of demons who seemed to have personal reasons for wanting him back, and who were taking a once-in-a-long-time opportunity to get him back. Those demons never mentioned either Lilith or a seal. The fact that it was one seems to have been incidental.

Alistair was definitely, knowingly trying to break a seal by killing the two Reapers. However, he himself didn't seem all that enthusiastic about it, noting that he's been ordered upstairs to do the job. But he didn't say who had ordered him. If you'll notice, Alistair never -- from his first appearance in I Know What You Did Last Summer to his death in On the Head of a Pin -- mentions Lilith, except when Sam forces him to answer a direct question about her. And he doesn't say anything particularly incriminating about her; he says that if she could, she'd kill a thousand angels. I would think that it's pretty safe to say that that holds true for most demons, whether they're involved in the apocalypse or not.

Other than that, Lilith's only involvement with the breaking of seals, we've heard about second or third hand. The angels have said that Lilith is breaking seals. Ruby has said that Lilith is breaking seals. Neither source is what I'd call trustworthy. Indeed, the only time we've heard anything about the apocalypse straight from the horse's mouth, Lilith was offering to stop. Like Alistair, she didn't sound happy about the prospect of Lucifer being free; indeed, just as Alistair said more than once that he'd be much happier going back down to Hell, and continuing on as he had been, Lilith also expressed a desire for the status quo. As I said in my previous meta, if Lilith's death is the final seal, then she should have no practical reason to want to break it.

Maybe she's fanatically religious and doesn't care. Maybe, as Lucifer's First, she has some sort of relationship with him that makes it worth it. Neither of those options, though, jive with the fact that she offered to stop, and didn't seem at all enthused about the idea of continuing. If Sam and Dean are the only ones who can kill her, then their deaths would bring the apocalypse to a screatching halt.

However, when Sam refuses the deal, the seals continue to break, as if Lilith had never expressed any reservations about her death. Why would she try and sabotage herself if she was willing to die? And why would she continue on with the apocalypse if she wasn't?

So what if Lilith hasn't been the one breaking seals? There would have been no way she could have convinced Sam that she wasn't responsible, so when she tries to hit the brakes before she gets killed, she offers to "stop." Easy to stop when you were never doing it in the first place. With Sam and Dean dead, they can't kill her, and the apocalypse goes on indefinite hiatus.

Meanwhile, Ruby's been coaching Sam in nothing but Killing Lilith. When it looked like Sam would be trapped by Dean, and unable to continue on with that, Castiel freed him.

The Angels

At the end of The Monster at the End of This Book, Chuck foresaw something horrible that he immediately moved to warn the Winchesters about. Zachariah prevented him, prompting Chuck to say that he was going to go kill himself.

Castiel, who had been becoming increasingly fond of both Dean and humanity, discovered something and tried to warn Dean about it, worrying that someone (very likely Heaven, as it was angels, rather than demons, who had invaded Dean's dreams before) would overhear. Clearly someone did overhear, as Castiel was taken before he could deliver his message. When he returned, he said to Dean, "I serve Heaven, I don't serve Man. And I certainly don't serve you." (Bolding mine.) Everyone has been focusing on the not-serving-Dean part, but I'm thinking it's the not-serving-Man bit that's important.

The apocalypse, as described in Revelation, is the work of Heaven. What's more, we know that the angelic hierarchy is filled with angels (most of whom have never seen God, but who knew Lucifer personally) who want Lucifer freed. Uriel told Castiel that he'd been making the rounds, converting the other angels in the garrison to that position, and killing those who refused. That would imply that almost every other angel in the garrison (however many that might be) wants Lucifer to rise. And I doubt that it was confined just to the one group of angels. After all, somebody higher in the hierarchy must have known that the demons couldn't have been killing the dead angels. And yet Uriel went along on his merry way. And, indeed, got promoted when Castiel started getting a little too friendly with the natives.

Is it such a leap, then, to think that a significant portion of Heaven wants the apocalypse? Both Chuck and Castiel were prevented from telling the Winchesters something very obviously urgent. Castiel was given an attitude adjustment that resulted in him manipulating Dean, and sending Sam back to Ruby. This after Castiel confirms to Dean and to us that, at the bargain price of Sam's soul, Sam could kill Lilith.

I doubt that Show is going to go there. But I do think it would be a nice twist.

With only three-and-a-half hours to go, I do believe I'll stop there, and we'll see what happens. Hopefully, my heart won't be irreparably broken.

Yeah. That's likely.