Castiel making morally questionable decisions and treading into the grayer end of the spectrum has been a recurring theme all season. It was quite a revelation last week that Castiel is working with Crowley the King of Hell, but it made for a great turn of events. The “The Man Who Would be King” was a great look at things from Cas’s perspective.
Ever since his introduction into Supernatural Castiel has been one of my favorite characters. From the moment Dean crawled out of his grave after his death, I knew that it would would be agents of heaven that had a part in redirecting him. Though in Supernatural’s universe angels of heaven can be just as manipulative and douchey as the demons in hell. In my mind Cas has redeemed angels with his unique affinity for the humans and his supreme loyalty to the Winchesters. In certain scenarios he seems like the third brother. This season had a slow start but was building towards something. I thought that it was building toward “Mother” as the big bad, but she was taken out relatively easily in ” Mommy Dearest”. It turns out the entire buildup has been around Castiel, his alliance with Crowley, and the Civil War in Heaven. The entire season can be viewed in an entirely different light. Truth be told the apocalypse is a hard act to follow. If the climax of this season revolved only around monsters and their mommy, it would have been a let down. Making the climax circle around Cas’s celestial civil war explains why he has been so grim and shifty. Not only is he his strict wooden self, he is also a bit self loathing and desperate. I particularly enjoy him praying to God, and talking about the creation of the universe from his perspective. Castiel has become a champion of free will, and he’s starting to learn that entails both the good and the bad. This has the potential for some very interesting character development. The only thing I worry is this will turn the brothers against Cas. This would be upsetting because it would invalidate everything Castiel has stood for. Its great that Castiel has decided that the brothers are his teachers of the value of love and freedom but if it turns out that they he’s just another supernatural threat it’d be very upsetting.
One of the things that I am curious about is how souls are used as a source of energy in Supernatural’s universe. I know Crowley has advanced Cas 50,000 souls to bolster the angel’s powers, but what becomes of those souls. Are they consumed an no linger exist? Are they placed in some type of holding cell in heaven. In Frontierland, Cas touches Bobby’s soul. Its painful to Bobby but it doesn’t destroy him. Additionally the souls Castiel gets from Crowley are presumably from damned individuals, and they’re hunting down the souls of the monsters in Purgatory. Does that mean they’re letting demons and monsters into heaven now? They might as well turn heaven into Earth.
All in all this leave me primed wanting more. With next weeks season finale on the horizon I wonder if well get another cliffhanger or if well resolve what’s happening.
On a scale of 1 to Epic ( epic =10) this episode get an 8.2.