#gabriel!!!!

ALRIGHT, SO, WE HAVE THE OBVIOUS STUFF. like the tweets and things:

but what really makes me think--observing THE EPISODE!

yes, yes my friends. it was the episode that really gave it away.

first of all, we know metatron made a script. but that does not mean that whatever he writes comes true. this became obvious when gadreel was captured. and from the looks of it, metatron could only use what he had readily available to him. thus why sam and dean weren't involved--not even in a fake phone call.

i think that entire illusion was 100% gabriel.

"but why!!" you shout! because clearly that was not gabriel! it all felt wrong! THAT'S BECAUSE I THINK HE WAS TRYING TO BE PAINFULLY OBVIOUS WITH METATRON'S SCRIPT. and he's an archangel--his SPECIALTY when portraying loki was creating these illusion-worlds and scenarios that were all improvised, and this was when gabe was at full power.

so say, in changing channels, at 100% max batteries, gabe could switch channel to channel, complex illusion to illusion, seamlessly and without worry. he could make them as real as he wanted, but only as long as HE was really there. and the only time he made a mistake was when he mentioned his family, which was NOT a part of his own personal plan.

now with his powers depleted, or under strict control of metatron, i think all he could handle was a scripted, one-world illusion. thus why he could only use "actors" that were readily available to him. he didn't have the energy to make his own projections, except for the one of himself. but he also didn't care for it. i don't think gabe would have ever even have dared to have pointed out metatron's mistakes he made. with him, the world--

and it's not like gabe hasn't been stabbed before and it didn't make a difference.

GABRIEL CAN MAKE REALISTIC PROJECTIONS OF HIMSELF THAT CAN INTERACT WITH OTHERS, INCLUDING THE PHYSICAL REALM OF POSSIBILITIES.

and i think that's what the gabriel we saw was.

and now, you ask, "BUT WHY WOULD GABE DO ALL OF THIS???"

HIS POSITION. if ANYONE else knew where he was, or that he was alive, they WOULD NOT leave him alone. he would be pestered until this was all over. i think he's locked up in heaven right now, maybe where gadreel was originally kept. if he hadn't contorted to what metatron wanted, which all-in-all wasn't really that sharp of a plan, metatron probably would have thrown him back to earth, to deal with the other angels. he would have preached out to the angels that gabriel lives.

in fact, he probably would have been thrown in the backseat of the impala. and his only option to get out of that would be to open the door, tuck and roll. that is, if his wings are crispy-fried, too.

anyway, back to the scripted illusion-world!

at the end, i do believe that was gabriel actually interacting with cas.

what, did you expect him to say "cas, this whole metatron thing is a bust. get out now, and fix this heaven shit oR SO HELP ME" because THAT would have definitely lead down a ROUGH PATH if metatron is holding him, or threatening him with something.

gabe knows cas rips up scripts, so once the tear was discovered and the veil was lifted, gabe knew there was nothing to do other than break the good ol' green room effect. and honestly, metatron can't blame him for that. if he would have kept him going, cas would have probably cracked the truth out of him.

and i don't think the hiding in heaven story is bogus, either.

because honestly, that was the last trip lucifer wanted to take during the apocalypse. gabe knew he was perfectly safe up there. until, you know, metadouche.

and as far as the big question?

he didn't say yes or no

because he's a little shit