Iâm honestly really bothered by the way that Aziraphale was treated by the writers and, notably, by CROWLEY, throughout the finale. why on EARTH did every single interaction between crowley and aziraphale regarding s2 Final Fifteen consist of crowley accusing aziraphale of abandoning him, aziraphale explaining that he had to try to do the right thing / they couldnât have been happy if they left all of earthâs inhabitants to suffer, and then crowley just making faces at him and never ONCE responding to those valid claims??? i kept expecting crowley to eventually arrive at the conclusion that yes, aziraphaleâs motivations WERE noble, and clearly his attempts to do good actually WERE on track to achieving something (ie the Second Coming wasnât going to be a war at all before michael ruined everything). but crowley never breached that topic.
it was all about crowleyâs forgiveness of aziraphale, but never crowleyâs admission that aziraphale made valid choices, too. throughout the show, aziraphale may have been flawed for acting like angels were superior to demons in efforts to keep him and crowley safe, but crowley is also flawed for always belittling aziraphale and calling him stupid/idiotic/etc any time he made a choice independent of their relationship out of some kind of protective instinct. iâm just so tired of the narrative that aziraphaleâs flaws are flaws, and crowleyâs flaws are quirks.
like what do you mean aziraphale is a âtakerâ????? he went back to Heaven to save all of humanity, yet he was characterized as selfish for it and no one ever stood up for him or acknowledged his attempts to stand up for himself. and in the end it was crowley who god gave the choice of what to do about the universe to, and whose idea it was to start a new universe for the sake of humansâ freedom. aziraphale sacrificed himself and his happiness FIRST with the s2 finale, but that choice was dubbed selfish whereas crowley was given the big moment to be self-sacrificing in s3 yet his choice is heroic. never mind the fact that aziraphale fought for the humans even harder than crowley did when he refused to run away in both seasons 1 and 2. no no noâ aziraphale is lazy. crowley is a hero.
besides, to imply that aziraphale only âtookâ and demanded things from crowley is to entirely misunderstand their dynamic. crowley takes on a doting role in that relationship because he has been told that he has to be the symbol of evilâ not even just a demon, but THE snake itselfâ and as much as he tried to convince himself otherwise throughout history, thatâs NOT who he really is. caring for aziraphale gave him the chance to be vulnerable and loving; aziraphale loved him BECAUSE he was different from other demons, not in spite of it. weâre expected to believe that while crowley is a good person BECAUSE heâs not like other demons, aziraphale is a good person DEPSITE the fact that he enjoys food and is âlazyâ or âpridefulâ or âgluttonous.â
furthermore, while i understand that throughout history aziraphale could have reciprocated crowleyâs care more openly, letâs not forget that over and over again, crowley implies things like âthey never check upâ and âthey love me down there.â while the risk of punishment and death is equally huge for both of them, the risk was always more likely to be a problem for aziraphale, who had heaven breathing down his neck 24/7 if he so much as used one frivolous miracle to save his own life. aziraphale kept them both alive for 6000 years by keeping crowley at a distance, yet he STILL showed up and gave him holy waterâ something that easily could have gotten him killedâ and showed up for crowley however he could. their situations were different, and in season 1, crowley understood that difference. they had to go at aziraphaleâs pace. but all of that went out the window when aziraphale was characterized as a selfish âtakerâ who abandoned his city and his soulmate rather than someone who tried to fucking save them.
donât even get me STARTED on the scene between the two of them and God; the entire show has clearly indicated that, in different ways, aziraphale and crowley each have equal degrees of trauma surrounding God and her lack of communication with them. thatâs what made their moments throughout the Job minisode so movingâ they understood what the other was going through because they were experiencing the same thing. so why on Earth was the moment of Godâs arrival given to Crowley and crowley alone?? aziraphale literally stepped aside to encourage crowley to ask his brilliant question, yet crowley didnât offer aziraphale the same stage, and when god took it upon herself to address aziraphale, his question was exclusively romantic and had nothing to do with his own trauma surrounding heaven and humanity. aziraphale was reduced to crowleyâs love interest, from the interaction with god to the fact that (nearly) every step along the way, it was crowley who figured out the next phase of the mystery first.
aziraphale has ALWAYS had ambitions outside of crowleyâ they both adore humanity, but it was crowley who always suggested that they say fuck it and run away whereas aziraphale stood by earth time and time again. so it makes NO sense that aziraphale wouldnât ask god a question about anything besides his love story. thatâs never been who he is. his love for crowley is an important part of his identity, but itâs not the only part. you wouldnât get that if you watched that scene out of context.
and unlike the crowley we know and love from seasons 1 and 2, finale-crowley NEVER intervened to say something like, âno, angel. you are not good DESPITE the fact that you eat and dance and act hedonistically. you are good BECAUSE of those things.â aziraphaleâs goodwill has always rippled out of small kindnessesâ he stops crowley from abandoning a stranger in the street whom he just ran over with a car. his love of music caused him to forgive a tenantâs rent for free. his love of food gave him a connection with the owner of a local coffee shop and sushi restaurant. fucking BULLSHIT that heâs lazy or hedonistic âbutâ still a good angel. heâs a good angel BECAUSE of the things God criticized him for, not in spite of them. and even if she said those things with respect /teasingness, Mr. âI did not care for itâ was SILENT during all the moments that implied that aziraphaleâs interests and joys were flaws.
aziraphale is selfish for loving food and comfort, but crowleyâs obsession with his car or plants just makes him funny and iconic. i kept waiting for crowley to intervene and say something beautiful about aziraphale the way that azi did for him in that scene, but nope.
and while i understand the argument iâve seen some fans make that itâs religiously liberating for aziraphale to acknowledge that he is technically a sinner by biblical standards but is still good, my issue stems from the word âstill.â he argued to god that she was right about him âBUTâ he still always tried to do good. no oneâ not aziraphale OR crowleyâ pointed out that those things arenât sins in the first placeâ they make him who he is. crowley is redeemed, in godâs eyes, for his creativity and curiosity, but his temper/selfishness was never addressed. alternatively, aziraphaleâs so-deemed âflawsâ were criticized, but his love for crowley is what made god appreciate him. and as sweet as that idea is, itâs also a version of synecdoche; it reduces aziraphale to his love story and nothing else.
and SPEAKING of aziraphaleâs speech to crowley, while it WAS so sweet, i call bullshit on the idea that crowley was the âonlyâ one willing to question, or that he âtaughtâ aziraphale bravery. aziraphale has been THE bravest character on that show since Day One; the very first thing we learned about him was that he gave away his god-given sword because adam and eve were alone and scared, and aziraphale made that choice entirely without crowleyâs influence. we also watched him look out for his fellow angel and warn him not to get into trouble BEFORE the Fall even happenedâ proving that deep down, aziraphale suspected heaven for what it really was before crowley even did. and then in the finale, we watched an angel who JUST saw what happens to deserters take off his own wrappings to help an injured demon whoâd threatened him with his own blade.
aziraphale has NEVER needed crowley to teach him bravery; crowley taught him that the bravery he already possessed was nothing to be ashamed of. but to rob aziraphale of the same qualities that crowley possesses, to give him no ambitions outside of romance (ie âi only want one thingâ), is to demote his character to crowleyâs love interest, and not once in this finale did crowley speak up about it.
i think a lot of times when we have a queer relationshipâ even one like this in which neither being is genderedâ fans subconsciously try to find a Man and Woman in the dynamic based on systemic heteronormativity and misogyny. so when we condemn aziraphale for his flaws but treat crowleyâs as silly aspects of his personality, when we refuse to acknowledge that aziraphale might have ambitions outside of his love story (ie the Nate and Andy From Devil Wears Prada Effect), or when we claim that wanting SOME creature comforts for himself makes him lazy and prideful, we end up treating aziraphale exactly the way that female love interests are treated. and while i personally think thatâs been a huge issue in the fanbase for years, this finale is the first time in which crowley acted that way, too. crowley actively mistreated aziraphale throughout this entire finale.
even down to the human versions of themselves: anthony is a published author, a teller of his own story (albeit not a particularly successful one), whereas that scene implied that asa didnât even own that bookshop, he was a subordinate employee in it, connoting an inherent difference in power. and while i understand that âcrowleyâ might be an easier name to adapt than âaziraphale,â something in me twinges sadly at the fact that he doesnât even keep his own name in their supposed, reincarnated happy ending. and our very last scene of them involved crowley looking at the stars-aka HIS passionâ and aziraphale bringing him a drink like some kind of housewife. whatever happened to all the fanon representations of the south downs cottage that was overrun with plants AND books? aziraphaleâs personality was bled from his happy ending, and only crowleyâs remained.
iâll always be sorry for that clever, kind, compassionate angel who forgives all at the expense of himself, who willingly sacrificed his own happiness after fighting for it for 6,000 years so he could undo the system of abuse that HE was a victim of only to be obliviated out of existence before he got the chance to have that happiness back. he was never acknowledged as the protagonist, the frodo baggins, the hero of this story. and he fucking deserved better.
