#specuation

There are several ways things can play out from here. The most obvious are these two options focused on the brothers:

Dean starts to fulfill the MoC prophecy, something stops him (probably Sam), the price is probably high.

Sam starts to fulfill the MoC prophecy, something stops him (probably Dean), the price is probably high.

Just because these are the most likely climaxes, doesn’t mean we’ll get either of them. I’m leaning more and more towards thinking that all the focus on Cain’s prophecy and roles of the brothers means another factor will end up coming into play which will radically skew how things turn out.

These are the most likely:

Castiel’s Grace being used either with or without his consent to cure Dean of the MoC.

Metatron firing Chekov’s gun by using the Demon Tablet, which will provide a problem going into s11.

Rowena and the Steins complicating matters.

So, if the MoC prophecy ends up being skewed somehow, what might happen?

There are heaps of ways it could play out, obviously, but there’s one other major contender which has been hinted at since the start of s10 and has been slowly but surely building in the subtext.

Instead of a two-hander, we will get a triangle.

I’ve ranked this as having a fairly low likelihood until this point, but now I’m pushing it up to join the possibilities about Sam and Dean and the MoC. This third possibility is Destiel heavy, and because I think it’s unlikely the showrunners will take Destiel into overt canon, I’ve been keeping it on the back burner as a meta idea, and focusing more on Sam and Dean.

Anyway, even though I still have doubts Destiel will go overtly canon, the Book of the Damned feels like the start of the push into the finale, and in this final stretch of the season, the subtext for a Destiel-heavy finale option has ramped up hard.

We had two important developments in this episode. “The last supper,” which pretty clearly showed us who the important pieces on the Winchester’s board are -- Dean, Sam, Charlie and Castiel. Charlie and Castiel sat together, the two non-lead characters who currently have the strongest emotional ties with the boys. In terms of emotional peril that doesn’t focus on Sam or Dean, these are realistically our two options. The second thing is that we had Metatron pushing Castiel about his role, desires and future, and Castiel had no answer (except for the unspoken “Dean”). Then there was that misleading Don Quixote quote about the maddest thing a man can do (it doesn’t mean what the show makes it seem, which I discuss towards the bottom of this meta here).

This sequence has basically set Castiel up as a sacrificial piece. Between the Metatron conversations and the last supper... Man, it’s just so suggestive.

So if this subtext pays off, the triangle option in the finale goes something like this:

Sam does something typically Winchester and unforgivable to save Dean from the MoC (which may or may not work), and part the cost is Castiel (probably his Grace, but maybe his life, or being locked on the wrong side of Heaven or Hell’s door when Metatron uses the Tablet).

As a result, Dean is forced to choose between Sam and Castiel, and to add to the anguish, choosing Sam will continue the Winchester pattern of toxic co-dependency and likely damn the world.

Dean EITHER chooses Castiel over Sam, OR chooses Sam but then immediately rejects him (saying he can never forgive him, instead of “there ain’t no me, if there ain’t no you”).

A lot of stuff has happened for me to think this has even an outside chance of being endgame in s11.

Dean:

has hit a level of emotional maturity for the first time which is starting to take him out of John’s shadow, and all that entails, including questioning whether he needs to keep hunting.

is finally articulating that he has adult wants and needs in his own right that have nothing to do with the family legacy, and one of them is experiencing things and feelings (however you interpret that), and he’s acknowledged the two people who are important in terms of feelings are Sam and Castiel.

wants a cure for the MoC and to live, but not at the price of causing another disaster. He is actually thinking about this in a way we’ve not seen him tackle impossible problems before, and I think he means it in a way he never has before.

Castiel:

has gone on a parallel journey to Dean, in which he is no longer prepared to cause harm to others for his own survival. He wants to live, but will give up his Grace and/or his life if the alternative is damaging.

loves Dean the way only an Angel can love -- implacably and absolutely.

has been positioned as a sacrificial piece. His future and relevance has been questioned -- he has no obvious role in Heaven anymore, and hasn’t yet acknowledged a role he might want to play on Earth. He either must find another role, or he’s likely to become the sacrifice (like Quixote).

Sam:

is still trapped in John’s legacy, and only thinking about saving Dean and not the price.

still can’t articulate adult needs and wants, just that he doesn’t value his own life, and can’t live without Dean (I really hope he gets his growing up arc in s11, because this is no way to live).

is beginning to act out his single most destructive legacy of his childhood trauma -- when he wants affirmation from Dean, he does something terrible, so that Dean will affirm he loves Sam anyway, no matter what.

Sam also has a terrible jealous streak when it comes to Dean, and he’s expressed it about Castiel before (back at the end of s8, for instance). Push him hard enough, and I think that will play out by making him force a choice on Dean.

However, for the first time, I’m not 100% sure it would turn out the way Sam expects. In many ways, Dean has been a parent to Sam, but one of the unintended consequences of unpacking the trauma of his childhood is that Dean is finally moving away from that identity and wanting an adult life of his own, rather than one he inherited from John. It’s not that he doesn’t still love Sam, it’s that he wants a family of his own very much. He’s hungry for it, and he’s felt the ticking of the clock in a way he never has before.

Would he still choose Sam if it came down to it? Probably. A lifetime of habit is hard to kick, no matter how much Dean has grown this season.

Would it be an easy choice if it was between Sam and Castiel? No. No, it would be an impossible choice. Sophie’s choice.