When you first tune into Supernatural and for me that’s seven years back, what was one thing you actually noticed. That the brothers die a lot, and come back to life. This is fact, and very true!! Are the boys ever more surprised each time it happens, or is it now run of the mill, and they almost expect it to happen. Over 10 years there have been some amazing screen caps when we realize the Winchesters are not seeing things, it did actually happen!!
2:01: In my time of Dying
Sam realizes for the first time his brother is dead. Or does he, as time goes by he begins to realize that could Dean still be alive when Dean knocks the glass of water over on John’s bed trolley. Sam decided to take actions into his own hands and make contact with his bro. The Ouija board comes out to play…. Was that wise Sammy??
2: 21: All Hell Breaks Loose ….
Sam goes through Azazel’s plan to become his leader to lead his demon army unknowingly. But something happens along the way that we least expect. Jake stabs Sam in the back and fatally injures him turning Dean into an emotional wreck wondering how to get his brother back. Dean continues to ponder over what he should do to bring his brother back from the dead. Has this set the Winchester cycle in motion?? 8 years down the line, has this motion ever wavered?
Sam finds out that Dean has made a deal and is going to hell for his troubles. Sam lets Dean know he’s not best pleased and that he shouldn’t have done that! Is Dean reacting the same way John did in saving him? Can we see a pattern slowly emerging here?
Sam: “You’ve saved my life over and over. I mean, you sacrifice everything for me. Don’t you think I’d do the same for you? You’re my big brother. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
We also learn that the brothers would do anything for one another, and do all they could to bring the OTHER back from the dead. Was this a good thing, and were they of course affecting the natural order of things this we also learn later down the line. Sam as we know does all that he can during that year to release his brother from that deal. But what totally shocks him next is this …..
3:11 Mystery Spot
According to statistics Dean has died and come back to life multiple times during this episode at the hands of the Trickster. Who later we find out to be the Archangel Gabriel. Teaching the boys, and more importantly Sam a lesson, that he doesn’t live well without Dean in his life and tends to go off the rails just a tad…. This was one reason why I was never very keen on Gabe because of what he put Sam through in this episode. Begging in the end to bring his brother back Gabe finally does the decent thing. Sam spending 6 whole months without Dean clearly was a wreck. Dean is alive once again!!
4:01 Lazarus Rising
Sam cannot believe his brother has come back from the dead, Sam wasn’t utterly convinced to start with but Bobby managed to reassure Sammy, its him, clearly him…. Jared’s facial expressions here are just pure awesomeness as he struggles to believe could it really be his brother, and he’s come back from the dead!!
5:13: The Song Remains the Same
Anna Milton Stabs Sam in the heart with an angel blade and Michael with Dean’s cohesion brings Sam back to life.
5:16 Dark side of the Moon
Dean and Sam are killed by the hunters Walt and Roy in a hotel room for starting the Apocalypse and are caught by surprise and end up in Heaven where the boys continue to run from the angel Zachariah. Cas brings the boys back once more….
6:01 Exile on Main Street
Dean works around the clock to try and find away to bring his brother back from the pit. After he jumped in to lock the devil back in the cage. But Dean doesn’t know Sammy is back in the land of the living bought back by Cas without his soul. Staying with Bobby and the Campbell clan eventually the boys meet up.
6:11 Appointment in Samarra
Dean felt he had to intervene and do something to bring Sam’s soul back to him. So he went to see a specialist who could knock him unconscious to reach reaper Tessa so he could meet Death. He wanted a desperate favour from Death to ask him to retrieve Sam’s soul. Not just his brothers but his half brothers too. Way to go Dean! Death forced Dean’s hand and made him chose and he choose Sam. But there was a condition with this favour. Death put an order on Dean to be himself for a day. But another catch was placed on Dean that if the ring were removed during the day the order would be null and void. But later we learn that Death did retrieve Sam’s soul, even though Dean failed that task.
7:23 Survival of the Fittest
Dick Roman’s days are numbered and Dean and Cas find away to kill him and end up in a lab with the weapon. Dean Stabs him and unbeknown to either character Dean and Cas end up in purgatory, cause if you kill a monster, that’s where you MIGHT end up! Sam is left all alone, and once again ends up in a mess. He doesn’t look for his brother, who isn’t technically dead, and doesn’t rise. But this disappearance ends up causing ripples throughout the fandom. Luckily with Benny’s help the boys one by one, do get out of Purgatory and Sam is overwhelmed that Dean is alive and back in the land of the living once more….
8:23 Sacrifice
Sam falls sick during the trials which almost ends his life. Dean again panic’s wondering what the hell to do this time! Dean does a deal to save Sam from dying by asking an angel to possess his brother and heal him from the inside.
9:23 Do you believe in Miracles
Metatron kills Dean and Sam communicates with the King of Hell by summoning him with a spell. Was Sam about to make a deal, but Crowley beat him to it. Crowley brings Dean back to life by the aid of the first blade which took him a while to think was that really possible.
So what have we learnt from this little lot!
- Is it worth the boys going into danger to be bought back to life continuously?
- Is coming back from the dead worth coming back from?
- The boys put themselves in this upsetting cycle, but still never learn from that mistake?
- Making a pact is life threatening in itself, so why don’t they change that cycle?
- Sam sort of tried to break this pact, and that was a disaster in the making, so what should they try and do next time. What is the real answer that might be staring them right in the face??
- Has dying and coming back to life ever affected them in some way. Changed their personality?
- If Death doesn’t mean anything to them physically and mentally, what is the purpose of dying in their reality?
- Which is more precious, dying and staying dead, or coming back to life?
- In Sam’s case wanting to die at the end of S8, he desperately wanted out, but it wasn’t in Dean to let him die. Dean couldn’t face being alone without his brother. So making a deal was all Dean understood when the chips were down. If he had let Sam die, what would have changed?
- Asking the obvious question, that we all have to die sometime, are the boys immortal. Can they live for ever, because the world they are in keeps bringing them back? how can they remain dead for ever!
Written By: Bella
A Blog devoted to J2 and Friends! 
1. Is it worth the boys going into danger to be bought back to life continuously?
I think it is. They are chosen. They are so special that God, Archangels, Angels, Demons and Humans have been working on the mission to bring the Winchester brothers to life, carry them through adulthood and make sure they become quasi invincible warriors of forces that are supposedly greater than them. They are supposed to be here, and they’ll come back to life as long as their mission isn’t finished.
2. Is coming back from the dead worth coming back from?
Considering that death is often Hell, yes it is lol.
3. The boys put themselves in this upsetting cycle, but still never learn from that mistake?
I hope they never learn or we won’t have a show anymore 😉
4. Making a pact is life threatening in itself, so why don’t they change that cycle?
Because they’re beautifully codependent and don’t want to do it without the other.
5. Sam sort of tried to break this pact, and that was a disaster in the making, so what should they try and do next time. What is the real answer that might be staring them right in the face??
Are we talking about S8? If so, yes it was a disaster. The boys said it themselves. There’s no good or easy answer. It’s always a choice between a terrible option and a more terrible option. They’re never gonna have it easy. It’s just their lot in life.
6. Has dying and coming back to life ever affected them in some way. Changed their personality?
Well, Dean turned into a demon… LOL! No, I know what you mean. I think dying changed them every single time except Dean’s Mystery Spot deaths because he didn’t remember them. Example, when death means Hell, they come back with terrible psychological scars. When it’s Heaven, they come back defeated because they learn the truth about God and what a deadbeat he is. Purgatory changed Dean, it turned him Terminator and reconciled him with hunting. The funny thing about Dean is he’s destined for Heaven but when he’s died and not gone to Heaven or Hell, he liked the idea of death. He misses Purgatory and always said he should have gone with Tessa when he had the chance.
7. If Death doesn’t mean anything to them physically and mentally, what is the purpose of dying in their reality?
Death means a lot to them and it changes them. Its part of their journey as heroes and their destiny as codependent fools who do suicidal things to hold on to each other.
8. Which is more precious, dying and staying dead, or coming back to life?
Coming back to life. They’re not the average Jo. Winchesters don’t stay dead. Death is for peasants lol.
9. In Sam’s case wanting to die at the end of S8, he desperately wanted out, but it wasn’t in Dean to let him die. Dean couldn’t face being alone without his brother. So making a deal was all Dean understood when the chips were down. If he had let Sam die, what would have changed?
I can’t really answer that because Dean could never let Sam die. It’s the antithesis of who he is. He literally has to become a demon for it to become a possibility.
10. Asking the obvious question, that we all have to die sometime, are the boys immortal. Can they live for ever, because the world they are in keeps bringing them back? how can they remain dead for ever!
I would like for them to either both be immortal at the end of the show, or both go to Heaven together. I can see them being revived or sent down by Heaven whenever they’re needed to combat some incredible threat on Earth. I believe they will always be soldiers of Heaven and thus, on call for millennia to come. Which makes them immortal when I think about it.
Love the questions, Bella. Very good article 🙂
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“I would like for them to either both be immortal at the end of the show, or both go to Heaven together. I can see them being revived or sent down by Heaven whenever they’re needed to combat some incredible threat on Earth. I believe they will always be soldiers of Heaven and thus, on call for millennia to come. Which makes them immortal when I think about”
🙂
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I take it you like the idea of the Winchesters as soldiers of Heaven on call, ready to descend on Earth when they’re needed 😉
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I like, me like!!!
B xxx
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You’re welcome, it took me most of Saturday to put together, so probably from memory I might have left the odd death out since my memory is at best crap!
Death is such a huge part of this shows make-up and it really makes you think about the overall effect of Death and what effect it has on the boys and other characters. The boys continue to come back to life, and think is there more to death than just dying. We see them struggle when one of them dies, and neither ever handle it very well at all, and go crazy in different ways. Its interesting to see how they cope without the other, and each time do they do it differently? How well is their copping mechanism’s?
You say they are chosen, and that is an interesting thought right there. Where will this story end up, will they end up in heaven as sons of God, who’s to know. I think they are much more than human, but don’t know it yet. So by the sounds of this you both want them to die in the end?
B xxx
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“Asking the obvious question, that we all have to die sometime, are the boys immortal.”
I don’t think so, although it does seem like it doesn’t it? I think God will keep bringing thm back until their job is done, and then they will have eternity in Heaven-hopefully with the whole gang (Bobby, John, Ash, Kevin etc.).
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I know you’re not keen Barb, but there is something that they continue to keep dying and doing some crazy, crazy stunt to bring each other back. That they don’t actually stay dead. Supernatural motives are the reason they continue to be bought back, which is a dangerous combo!
B xxx
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“Supernatural motives are the reason they continue to be bought back, which is a dangerous combo”
Definitely dangrous
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Definitely dangerous
You bet!
B xxx
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Personally, I believe that Sam and Dean are supernatural entities. I think that will be revealed before the end of the series. However, to answer some of your questions, death has no real power or consequences for the brothers. Dean knew he would return from the dead when he promised to kill Roy and Walt in Darkside of the moon. Dean has become so comfortable with the concepts of death and resurrection, he routinely makes deals to trade his life or servitude to bring Sam back to life or health. Sam and Dean almost always choose each other over the good of mankind; the only exception being Sam’s sacrifice in Swan Song. I don’t think either brother fears death; rather they fear desolate lonliness. No one else can ever understand their lives except each other. If one dies the other will be left to live in solitude because they dare not bring a civilian into the life.
If Sam had died at the end of Season 8, I assume that all supernatural life forms would be locked away in heaven, hell, or purgatory. Dean’s reason for living would be over and without Sam, his will to live would be gone as well. Dean has stated many times that he does not want to live without Sam so I believe that Dean would have killed himself by drinking himself into oblivion.
The one thing I don’t understand is the aversion to spending eternity in Heaven. Based on the Winchesters messed up lives, why are they against dying especially when they know they will be together in Winchester Heaven?
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There are some interesting points to mull over there!
I guessed very early on even before the Purge speech that it was about the last man standing. That they both fear that dreaded loneliness day after day and that battle to carry on, on their own. That fear is deep in their soul and will never ease.
Dean is true about the whole dying thing, and is easy knowing he will be bought back by someone/something. It’s engrained within him. He is that confident that Death is just an obstacle to jump over and be reunited with his bro, he never wavers on that score.
S8 would have seen Dean give up I fear. I think he would have drunk himself to death, and that is so very sad that he can’t survive on his own if he really has to. I think heaven doesn’t appeal to the brothers because they see angels as Dicks and their idea of heaven might be spoiled. They hate the thought of being permanently dead, not being able to hunt and kill the enemy. And Heaven is like that final straw, giving in, surrendering to something they really don’t care for.
B xxx
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