I can be fucking thorough, y'all.

[apocalypsos]

My last day at work, I killed time by writing down a bunch of notes for something I planned on writing regarding my beliefs (or hopes, I guess) of what would happen on the SPN finale. And then the whole ordering-dinner debacle happened and I was really annoyed and the landlord came over and ... well, distracted. But I want to get this off my chest before the finale even if it's completely wrong, just because I watch and note stuff and get ideas and I might as well write down my particular theory on this.

I know I've said it before but I really do think this whole Demon situation is just as much about Dean as it is about Sam, if not more so. It's obviously WAAAY more complicated than we've been shown and there are still a lot of things we don't know.

However, I feel a little weird saying, "It's All About Dean!" because I'm such a Deangirl that it puts me in a position where I get the impression people see that statement from me as less of a determination made through plot points and more of a hope that Dean's not just there to be a big ginormous woobie.

So this is where I list the reasons I came up with for how it could be All About Dean.

(As in, the Demon wants Dean, not Sam, and this is all a bait and switch. And I'm not saying that it's not entirely possible that it's simply All About Sam as we've had shown to us, but if it were All About Dean, this is why I would be all, "See?! I told you so!" later. Except not as snotty. ;))

Bait and switch, or why I don't think Dean Winchester's just a pretty coat rack

The first point is simple. Jared's name is first in the credits and (when cornered and forced to make a choice) Sam is presented as the lead character over Dean. His girlfriend dies in the pilot, he is the target of the Demon, etc.

However, someone on ye olde friends list pointed out something that really struck me a few days back -- we don't know Sam nearly as well as we know Dean. We know Dean's favorite foods, music, what he likes in a woman, what he reads, what TV shows and movies he watches. We know who he is in the details far better than we know Sam.

Now that's not a lot to point to as a sign but it really does make me curious about why we would be given so few details about Sam and so many about Dean. (Granted, it may just be lazy writing but I'm trying to keep my hopes up. ;))

In the finale of last year we were given the impression with Rose that even before the Demon came to her she was a gifted baby. Her mother said as much -- "It's like she can read your mind."

So then why would the Demon have to give baby Sam his blood?

The tracking-system theory hasn't held water with me since it was proposed because if the Demon can find these special babies in the first place, then why would he need to put a few drops of his blood in them as a tracking system at all? The thing is that I don't think anything in what the Demon showed Sam of that night was untrue. I think his words were false, but I do believe that Mary knew him and that Sam was fed a few drops of his blood.

Sam is a very smart guy who's extensively trained in legends and lore and how to hunt demons. If he believes that a few drops of demon blood as a baby might give him abilities I'm willing to go with the assumption that it's possible. So if Rose's abilities were also real before the Demon showed up, then why would Sam need to be administered demon blood?

How about to mask the Demon's desire to take Dean when he grows up?

Look at it this way. He makes the whole thing about Sam. Gives him powers, follows him throughout his life, kills his girlfriend, taunts him with visions. Obviously it's all about Sam. His mother burned over his crib, he has the powers -- it's him the Demon wants.

But halfway through the season it turns out that not everybody's mom died over their crib. It's possible that the Demon visited Dean as a baby and Mary and John never knew (or that Mary knew and didn't tell). He knows that this is the perfect general for his future army, so he begins to make plans and contacts, set things up, and wait. Wait, until he has a red flag he can wave over here while over there he's slipping a GI Joe action figure into his pocket.

The Demon is just incredibly dismissive of Dean for reasons that don't make sense. Everybody else in that family -- Mary, John, Sam -- have all been the focus of his designs at one point or another and he's taken them all very seriously. But he handwaves Dean a lot. Why? What possible reason would he have for so easily dismissing a guy who's willing to go to more extreme measures the more you break him?

The thing about Mary knowing the Demon hits me hard, particularly with the fact that so far we've yet to see any evidence that any of the other children weren't firstborns. (I'm considering Andy and Webber as firstborns of a sort even though they're not because it's a single pregnancy and I'm not exactly sure about the details. HOWEVER.) Nobody else has said anything about a big brother, nobody else has mentioned their brothers or sisters -- just Sam.

Mary's angelic reputation is really in question with the revelation that she knew the Demon. It's possible she was a champion of an earlier generation, which would make a lot of sense. I've been brainstorming since I saw the spoiler about that particular plot development, and most of the reasons I can think of for why she would know the Demon mean that there was a good chance she had abilities of some sort as well. So if she did, why wouldn't Dean inherit them as well? Does the Demon know if he does? Better yet, does Dean know if he does?

I keep coming back to Dean's amulet. John said that after Mary's death he went to Missouri and learned "the truth." What truth? Are we still sure it was JUST that the supernatural is real? Was there more, perhaps about Dean and Sam and their prospective futures? Or about Mary and who (or what) she really was? Let's say that Dean really was like Rose, born with abilities, while Sam was just given demon blood. Would Missouri have known about Dean the same way she might have about Sam, or vice versa?

Here's what gets me -- at the end of "Home" when Missouri walks into her home and speaks, she doesn't mention Sam by name. She says, "That boy." It's like with the comment at the end of "Croatoan" with the infected kid mentioning "the Winchester boy". There are TWO Winchester boys. Now, in all likelihood both instances refer to Sam and I'm making a mountain out of a Winchester boy. (Not hard to do, the ginormous bastards.) However, that's precisely the sort of bait-and-switch intended to have an audience making assumptions that come back to bite them in the ass later.

The Demon's M.O. appears to us like he's trying to take everything away from the boys (or more aptly Sam) in an attempt to break them. The thing is, Sam's been there. Six years ago now he broke off all ties with his family and walked out into a life and a place where he had no friends, no money, no place to live, and a slippery grasp of what a normal life was like. It took a while, I imagine, but by the time Dean came back around Sam had friends, a decent apartment, a pretty girlfriend, fabulous grades and family out there who, while he wasn't speaking to them and didn't get along with them, he knew were alive and loved him. Sam is not as easy to break as all that.

Dean, on the other hand? Barely a single friend if any, a series of one-night stands punctuated by the disaster that was Cassie, no job, a criminal record, no home, and only a broken family to hold onto. Who the hell would try to crack Sam when Dean is so much easier? He was practically on the brink even before Sam was the only thing he had left of his family to hold onto.

And as I've said before, the timing of the lack of demon activity versus the length of time the games at Cold Oak have been going on feels odd to me. Ava tells us she's been there since she was taken five months ago. Bobby says there hasn't been any demon activity in a month. Why? Where do the two facts jive together? I find it odd that the demon activity dies down right as the Demon is bringing the Winchesters into play. That could be him networking, of course -- "Come and look at who I'm going to kill!" -- but what if it's not? What if those demons are part of the army he's gathering, along with the souls of the special children he's condemned to Hell (he did put them in a position to commit a mortal sin, after all), and he's preparing them for the soldier he's been waiting for and grooming for years now?

Not Sam -- DEAN.

Let's say he dragged both Dean and Sam to Cold Oak. First off, it would look highly suspicious for Dean to be there when he supposedly has no powers. And Dean wouldn't stoop to killing these people until Sam's life were in danger. Knowing Sam, he'd talk Dean out of killing humans and that's not what the Demon wants. That's not even taking into consideration that this could all be Dean's test. He is left in the middle of nowhere with no clue about where Sam is, who took him, or why. By the time he does come to find Sam -- the journey being part of his test -- Sam will either have won and be damned, or lost and be dead.

Either way, Dean is going to be fucked UP.

Which is exactly what the Demon would be counting on.

Like I said, this is pretty much me explaining where I'm coming from in regards to that particular belief. And if it comes true tonight I will pretty much SPAZZ OUT. :)

EDIT: *sigh* I can meta hardcore and yet I can't pry fic from my brain to save my life lately? Well, fuck you too, brain.

OTHER EDIT: It also strikes me that if there isn't already an SPN version of heroes_meta there should be. And it could have a fic quotes section!

I'm, um, not starting that comm.

*pokes anybody else on my friends list* You do it.

Comments

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

(or that Mary knew and didn't tell).

Oh my god... if she saw the demon before... standinng over her other baby's crib... *gnaws on fists*

I really can't wait for this damn episode but with another season there's going to be a lot unexplained or re-explained isn't there?

You thought you know what's to come? You haven't even begun

[juice817.livejournal.com]

I love your reasoning - it makes a lot of sense to me, and I can't wait to see how close to the truth you are. I'm betting pretty close.

Also, here. http://community.livejournal.com/spn_meta/

[shibbyfangirl.livejournal.com]

Heeee! There is a gilmore girls community where they just post one show quote a day. Like one of those lame calendars. Though SPN is not lame, so the quotes would always be good. With the exception of "Dude, you fugly." OH DEAN.

Okay I agree with

[angels3.livejournal.com]

you on the part about this

"But he handwaves Dean a lot. Why? What possible reason would he have for so easily dismissing a guy who's willing to go to more extreme measures the more you break him?"

not that I don't agree with you on other's but this has always stood out to me too. I wonder if demon doesn't see it as a weakness, a human failure that he doesn't understand can be the biggest weapon.

I like you believe there is way more than meets the eye with Dean and what his part in this is. And no I'm not just saying that because like you I am a Deangirl. I feel like Dean has a gift one he nor us have been mad privy too.

I have always wondered about his ability to be where he needs to be when he needs to be there even if he sometimes get's caught with his pants down. He seems to have an internal trigger system that says this is fucked up and I think we need to check it.


I get kinda pissed at stories that make Dean sound dumb because hello the man did hunt on his own. So not only did he obviously research shit by himself, he worked out the salt shells for the double barrel and built an EMF detector and managed to not get himself killed in the four years Sam was gone. Just because he doesn't like to do something doesn't mean he can't.

[allyoops.livejournal.com]

I still harbor suspicions that one of the reveals for the finale will be that Dean is adopted, which would neatly explain "the Winchester boy" line. And, if the going theory that all the specials are first borns holds true, it explains why Sam was 'chosen' and not Dean (apart from their age -- all the specials seem to be 23).

I really hope it's not so though (though it would neatly fit into your theory of breaking Dean down) because so much of Dean's dreams and identity are tied up in his family to a very unhealthy point. Broken!Dean is fun, but that's just...too much ouch for me. Woe!

Interesting theories, though. I need to mull on them some more (and maybe hope some of them play out!). :D

[meriwethersays.livejournal.com]

Man, I really want to believe you're right, since I'm such a Deangirl myself.

I like your theories - definitely making it a little easier for me to wait (17 hours!) until the season finale.

[suaine.livejournal.com]

Also. The demon asked something of John's when he brought Dean back, but even so, it must have been an incredible breach of demon etiquette to do that much. I would propose that

1) the demon wouldn't have done this just for anyone, not even if it meant getting John's soul and

2) John was specifically meant to tell Dean about having to kill Sam. What better way to break a boy than have him kill the only thing he still cares about? It would be a perfect move for the demon, tying right in with the bait and switch (though I am assuming John didn't know that Dean could have been the one, or he might not have saved him)

[revenantrose.livejournal.com]

(my eyes first told me that said 'I can be fucked thoroughly, ya'll *g*)

That's really interesting. You know, I always did have a problem with the demon bringing Dean back in exchange for the colt--which, IMO, he could've got back SO EASY on his own--and John's soul, with no other motive to explain it.

Either he hates John so much he wants to torture his soul for eternity, and/or John is so important to him that it's worth the trade. I don't think he'd be motivated to kill John for the same reason he claimed to have killed Jess because John was really supporting Sam's journey to uber soldier guy.

But it really messed with Dean. And something else just occurred to me. When the demon was possessing John in the shack and it appeared to be killing Dean and John fought back, what if the demon let him do that so he could let Dean live without making it obvious? The demon that casts a shadow over every episode possesses John and he's able to fight him back out of sheer willpower? Good drama, but I never did buy it (only when he was shot, when he was weakened did it make sense to me).

I don't think it needs to be one or the other, though. What if the demon has plans for them both? But I like that Dean isn't part of the master plan. He throws a big huge wrench into the master plan, and he does it out love for his family and a sincere desire to hunt things and save people. :)

[janissa11.livejournal.com]

So then why would the Demon have to give baby Sam his blood?

YOu bring up so many great points, I'm sitting over here alternately shivering and flailing. Eeeeee!

It's like with the comment at the end of "Croatoan" with the infected kid mentioning "the Winchester boy". There are TWO Winchester boys.

This ALWAYS struck me as potentially far more meaningful than face value. Ostensibly Sam, but as you point out -- Sam ain't the only Winchester boy. Now -- with Croatoan in mind, Dean was never infected in the first place, so immunity is moot, right? One way to twist it is to say that there was no point in ever trying to infect Dean because the demon knew he was never vulnerable in the first place. That's pretty wanky of me, though. It's VERY hard to see how all these pieces fit together. My own inkling is that somehow this finale IS going to swirl around the pieces on the board, align them differently, but I can't put my finger on exactly HOW, or why I feel that way. Maybe just because I love nothing more than thinking about "The Sixth Sense" I know what the truth is, and finding out late that EVERYTHING is otherwise. And that the clues have been there all along.

One BIG clue -- well, potential one, also totally potential red herring on my part -- is one that's been mentioned on and off all season, and that's Dean's flirtation with going truly dark. Like the first Gordon ep, the vampire thing where Dean got blood spattered all over him. Truthfully I still very much see that event as a statement of how bitterly deep Dean has gone, in the wake of John's death. But a part of me chitters about how Sam has never seemed the TYPE to go bad, and Dean in second season HAS.

And well, hell -- Sixth Sense was an obvious and masterful example of putting spin and camera angles on the truth. For example, the fabulous anniversary-dinner conversation. It's only how much we know that puts the proper light on things -- the first time we see it, as it happens, it looks real. Because dialogue, blocking, and momentum tell us it IS real. If SPN turns out to have been doing this ALL SEASON I will absolutely turn inside out tonight. That would be an incredible feat of long-term sleight-of-hand.

Holy crap. TONIGHT! I just said, "TONIGHT!"

::commences insane level of flailing::

[elz.livejournal.com]

It's possible that the Demon visited Dean as a baby and Mary and John never knew (or that Mary knew and didn't tell).

You know, in addition to explaining why Mary apologizes to Sam in Home, that would put a really creepy spin on her telling Dean that angels were watching over him every night.

I don't really see the whole story becoming Dean's though, with Sam completely sidelined - I think they're always going to try to strike a balance there.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__tiana__/]

My brain is slowly ceasing to function as I prepare to hyperventilate all damn day waiting for the show tonight, BUT I am fully intrigued and taken by a lot of your points. If this is not what happens, write a fic where it DOES. *nods frantically* It would be BRILLIANT to see this storyline worked out, if it's not what the show's been doing.

Because honestly, why wouldn't you go for the guy who has killed before and WILL kill when it comes down to it, even when it may not be the absolute last option? Take away his every last support system (and there weren't that many in the first place) and wham, you've got yourself a general. *nods*

[lemmypie.livejournal.com]

Dude, you've TOTALLY been wandering around in my head.
These have been my thoughts as well.
The demon is was too dismissive of Dean, making it a point to say he doesn't matter and blah,blah,blah. That YED is totally protesting WAY too much for me that we aren't getting a bait and switch.

[ejayye.livejournal.com]

Here's some of the varied things I've been thinking about, and this is all said both without any knowledge of spoilers for the second part of the finale(beware, these are unconnected ramblings ^_^):

1) In Home Mary deliberately bi-passed Dean to face Sam and say "I'm sorry".

2) My own assumption with the 'demon blood' idea has been that the special children were born with their psychic abilities, but the demon blood gives them the potential to use those abilities to control demons, a la Ava, when their powers develop.

3) It has been repeated - 3 times now? - that Mary told DEAN that angels were watching over him. And at the same time, she knew the demon. Has she been planning against the event of the demon coming somehow etc. etc.?

However,

4) I hadn't noticed that Missouri etc never specified Sam. But damn that's a good idea. It also supports the point that Dean seems to be surviving when every other family member/support system is killed off (Check out Spn Origins to see what I mean).

5) We know the demons are in contact and working for ol' Yellow Eyes. I find it hard to believe that Meg in BUABS went completely rogue. I think she might have still been working for YED to get Dean to shoot Sam, realise his mistake, and then try to fix it by...

6) Dean knows he can bargain with the Crossroads Demon. What if what the demon wants is for him to actually sell his soul? Thus the demon OWNS Dean, and Dean becomes his general?

UGH. DON'T KNOW BUT BLOODY WELL CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT!

[modillian.livejournal.com]

Dang, I love this meta. So much to chew on, even if Kripke has been neglecting the demon arc for an episode or ten.

[openmydoors.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just, wow. Your reasoning makes so much sense I can't believe I couldn't see it before. Dean. It's Dean, isn't it? Well that's a twist if I've ever seen one.

Thanks so much for sharing!

[tabaqui]

Oooh, man. So much speculation! And they have 22 *new* episodes to tell us if we're right or wrong!!
*flails*

One more thing i noticed in un...the wishverse ep. John and Mary were born in the same year. Same generation. So if Mary is a part of some 'special' gen....mabye John is too?

[jellicle.livejournal.com]

It's possible that the Demon visited Dean as a baby and Mary and John never knew (or that Mary knew and didn't tell).
This could also point out that The Demon has visited Dean when he was an infant as well.

Very interesting, everything you said.

[causeways.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool theory. I kind of REALLY hope you're right about at least part of this.

[ficangel.livejournal.com]

I love this theory so much, and even more so because Sam going dark side just doesn't make sense given what we know of him, and, much as I love Dean, I would not be shocked to see him raise the black flag and start slitting throats yesterday. Sam was a baby when the fire happened. He doesn't remember Mary. He had Daddy Winchester playing the father role and Dean stepping in as the mother, he's pretty emotionally balanced, all things considered. Dean is the one who was old enough to register that a loss has happened, and Dean is the one who has been balanced on the edge of some serious Darth Vader action all season.

BTW, if Kripke was sitting in his office cackling like a damned fool when the entire fandom was up in arms about how lamecakes the 'Hunted' reveal was, all the while planning this bait and switch about Mary and Dean being the focus of the mytharc rather than the demon and Sam? I WILL ADORE HIM FOREVER.

[storydivagirl.livejournal.com]

And didn't they also say in canon at some point that Dean was a real quick take to the hunting? Like he was born to do it?

Also, I can't recall if this is canon or fic (oh this fandom), but wasn't Dean great with weapons from the beginning? And was he the one who came up with the idea of rock salt in guns?

And yeah, it's just always bugged me the way the demon thinks nothing of Dean. And the way he set out to BREAK Dean in Devil's Trap. Not Sam...just Dean.

Like you I want to give the writers a lot more credit for all these little bits of information they throw at us rather than just it being "Dean loves Sam" (which we all know)

[scarlet-avatar.livejournal.com]

I have nothing construtive to add but that This meta is awesome on so many different levels and if the finale plays out anything like this i'll be beyond thrilled!