Threads: Supernatural 9.16 “Blade Runners”

My last Threads recap included a prediction: “I sensed [“Captives” was] the turning point in many threads, many arcs, for the season. Maybe we are getting closer to redemption.” With its in-depth study of the Mark of Cain (MoC), “Blade Runners” might very well have been the front end of that run-away train that will pull us headlong down the tracks toward the season’s cliff-hanging precipice. We have transitioned into the last quarter of the season, which typically includes the breathtaking sequence of episodes that answer all our questions and show how everything fits together. Get ready for a wild ride!!

Before you read further, I would like to note that this edition of Threads is not based on any spoilers divulged in the recent interviews with Jeremy Carver or Jensen. That would be cheating! The Threads readership has come this far together, identifying the clues in each episode, and speculating about what it all might mean. So I have written this installment based solely on the dialog and characters presented to us. After all, Jensen hasn’t yet read the final episodes (by his own admission) and Jeremy has been known to willingly mislead fans, so I want to try to keep our theories independent and pure. The theories and conclusions I offer are driven by the show! I included only one interview comment that validates our ideas (marked as a spoiler if you don’t want to read it). Feel free to affirm or contradict theories in the comments if you have read those juicy interviews. I make no promises about the comments! The article, though, should be safe.
           
New Evidence for Existing Threads

“Blade Runners” did not include any new threads that I could detect, but it began weaving together the threads we have been following individually. Finally the pieces are coming together to reveal season nine’s overall design!  I believe from now on we will be shown more and more of how everything fits together.

The Mark of Cain / Crowley’s Need for Blood/ Redemption

Obviously, we were given a great deal of new information about the Mark of Cain (MoC) in this episode.  We had been speculating whether the MoC’s “burden” would make Dean isolated, immortal, evil or a stone cold killer. Comments in the last Threads discussion added the idea that maybe the MoC keeps the wearer awake 24/7. Not sleeping was a side effect of not having a soul (Sam, S6). Losing all connections to those you love is very similar to losing your soul. Maybe Dean is doing research and listening to music at night because he can’t sleep. While still possible, we didn’t see anything this week to confirm that. What we did see, though, was a human being slowly penetrated by the knife in Dean’s hand in “THINMAN” and a lightning fast beheading of Magnus in “Blade Runners”. I think it is safe to conclude that the MoC does indeed make its bearer a lethal “killing machine”, to quote Crowley. So everyone who voted for stone cold killer can count that as a win!

It appears that the MoC does more than galvanize its owner, though. It seems it also addicts them to its power.

Magnus: “Next time, it’ll be easier. You’ll get used to the feelings, even welcome them”.

Maybe the “great burden… great cost” that comes with the mark is addiction to its power (that wasn’t one of our theories! How did we miss that?). Addiction has been a recurring theme throughout Supernatural. Power corrupted Castiel. Sam’s addiction to demon blood spanned multiple seasons. Dean’s reliance on alcohol ebbed and flowed depending on his mood. “Sex and Violence” explored a siren’s immediate addictive power over innocent victims, including Sam and Dean. Even “Repo Man” was based on a possessed victim’s addiction to the adrenaline rush he felt stalking and killing his prey. With the information revealed about Crowley in this episode, it seems his interest in human blood became an addiction too.  When his attraction to human blood was first introduced, we were given only vague references to his desires. We theorized that Crowley needed Kevin’s blood because it transferred the power of the prophet, or because it was a key to a spell in the angel tablet. The few who commented that Crowley wanted a different “flavor” may have been the closest to sensing the coming addiction.

In retrospect, Dean gave us the clue in “Road Trip” (9.10), when he offered a syringe of his own blood to Crowley, saying “Word is, you’re jonesing for it”. “Jonesing” usually refers to being addicted to anything from cocaine to the caffeine in our morning coffee.

In “Blade Runners”, several lines of dialog made it clear that the blood truly is an addiction in the purest sense of the word:

Crowley’s query to the boys “What is this? An intervention?”  and,
“You don’t know what it’s like to be human. It’s your DNA. My addiction. My cross. My burden.”
Dean’s retort to Crowley: “This crap ends now. You’re cut off. Okay? Kicking it. Cold turkey.”
Then later in the bunker, Crowley complained, “You shoot me up, you make me a junkie…”

Was anyone else freaked out by the size of that needle?
 
All of these references confirm that Crowley was fated to become an addict ever since Sam injected him in the church at the end of last season, and Crowley’s new interest in the substance was most likely what motivated him to want to “taste” Kevin’s blood. I think we can put to rest our other theories about Crowley’s interest in Kevin.

Maybe the most thought-provoking aspects to the addictions suffered by everyone over the years are how our heroes have reacted, recovered and redeemed themselves after their addictions. “Team Free Will” may be the most ironic name of all, since Sam, Dean and Cas all became addicted to their relative substances on their own, telling themselves they were motivated by good intentions. Sam told himself he wanted to “save the victim” rather than kill the vessel when he used demon blood to pull demons. It was really pride or revenge, though, which motivated him to drink enough demon blood to kill the oldest and most powerful demon, Lilith.  Cas pursued the power of souls to defeat Raphael and avert a return to apocalyptic policies in Heaven, but even he reflected that his motivation may have been arrogance. Dean accepted the MoC to defeat the last powerful Knight of Hell, but was he punishing himself or running away from his guilt? Over time, they are each accepting that their motives may not have been as pure as they claimed. Only Crowley was introduced to his addiction without his consent. Using Dean’s names for him, the “King of Rotten” or “Captain Evil” avoided the allure of addictions while our heroes willingly walked right into them. Again, an example of the subtle reversals playing out this season.

As far as recovering from their addictions, we have been shown sudden and miraculous cures, such as Castiel’s death (when bearing the Leviathans) and subsequent resurrection as pure and innocent Emmanuel, and Sam being cured by God when he was rescued from Lucifer in “Sympathy for the Devil”. Other times we have been told or have surmised there was a cure, such as Dean being cut off from alcohol in Purgatory. Part of our Threads discussions questioned how Dean was going to get rid of the MoC. Seeing how the blade affected Dean after he used it for the first time, I was reminded of a clue we were given in “First Born”. Cain said he threw the First Blade “to the bottom of the deepest ocean”. I think it is interesting to ask the question, “why?” After seeing Dean’s reaction of being glued to the blade, almost like it was controlling his mind, I wonder if putting as much distance as possible between himself and the blade was the only way Cain could find rest when he wanted to “retire”. Maybe the blade “calls” its owner to kill, like a siren calls its victims. That would be a sleek reminder of the siren episode and a reinforcement of any vice’s relentless call to feel the rush of use. Like Cain, then, Dean will either have to separate himself from the blade or transfer the mark to its next owner. Actually, I believe the story needs to find a way to do both, given the lure and power of the mark/blade combination. The blade can’t fall into anyone else’s hands, so does it become part of the MoL’s collection or is it destroyed? I completely believe that the Mark is not a permanent addition to Dean’s character, so does he give it back to Cain or does it simply disappear if the blade is destroyed? One possible sequence of events is that Dean uses the blade to kill Cain, then (with Sam’s urging) he destroys the blade. The mark disappears since it is of no use without the blade. Wouldn’t Cain have tried to destroy the blade, though? Did he still believe it might have its uses in the future or couldn’t he bring himself to destroy it, ala the ring in Lord of the Rings? What do you think?

The tricky part of everyone’s addiction is their redemption, or lack there-of. I propose that we haven’t seen any of our heroes attain the redemption they so crucially need.  We have painstakingly recounted how Sam, Castiel and Crowley have all asked for redemption this season. The core of the brother’s issues is Sam not believing Dean has forgiven him for his mistakes, and obviously Sam not being able to forgive or forget Dean’s overt control of Sam’s will. Dean needs redemption just as much as Sam does. After all the distractions, side-stories and complex plots, I strongly believe season 9 (and maybe 10) is about redemption. It will save the brothers. It will save Cas, Gadreel and to some extent (yet to be determined) Crowley. ***Small Spoiler*** In a recent interview, Jeremy Carver said they would answer the question “is Crowley redeemable or not?” I think his choice of that particular word was very intentional, and was a result of the amount of time that word has been discussed in the writer’s room as the thread, the arc, woven through the whole season.

Brother’s Relationship

“THINMAN” (9.15) was ostensibly all about the brother’s relationship.  They witnessed what will happen to them if they continue their feud. Maybe it got through to them. It is hard to tell. The only evidence of their love in “Blade Runners” was their panic when Magnus threatened the other brother’s safety. “What did you do with my brother?” (Dean)  and “Take me to my brother” (Sam) showed that deep down, Sam and Dean still regard each other as brothers. I was happy to have that breadcrumb of hope, and a week off from their depressing stalemate. I find their emotional separation very hard to endure.

Reversals

This episode gave us another reversal in a long line of contrasts this season:

                Demon blood makes humans stronger;
                Human blood makes demons weaker.
                …but both make the user an addict.

The other reversals we have previously cited:

Dean has a demon mark on him, even though he is the vessel for the strongest angel;
Sam had angel grace in him even though he is the vessel for the strongest demon.
Will this give them more empathy for each other?

Sam battled Lucifer’s influence in season 5.
Dean is battling Lucifer’s influence (from the MoC) in season 9.
Dean saved Sam.
Will Sam save Dean? (the parallel would seem to predict yes)

The two supernatural beings, Castiel and Crowley, learned a lot about what it means to be human.
The two humans, Sam and Dean, are learning a lot about what it means to be supernatural (Sam with Gadreel’s grace and Dean with the powers of MoC).
Will mutual empathy again be the result?

Castiel is working with Sam (Hell’s champion) instead of Dean. They have different motivations, but they will eventually end up in the middle of the angel war (even though Dean originally said he was going to find Gadreel and Metatron alone.)
Dean (Heaven’s champion) is working with Crowley to understand the First Blade and kill Abaddon. They also have different motivations, but they will eventually end up in the middle of the demon war.

Sam worked with a demon (Ruby) to kill “Lucifer’s First” (season 4).
Dean is now working with a demon (Crowley) to kill a Knight of Hell.
Ruby ended up dead.
What does this say about Crowley (especially since twice during this episode Sam pressed Dean to kill Crowley after they had the blade)?

Almost poetic, don’t you think? All of these reversals have to lead to a greater understanding between the brothers and eventually their reconciliation. Is someone smart enough to use the outcomes of season 4 and 5 to predict the outcomes of season 9?

Threads on Hold (no new clues this time)

Let me know if I missed anything related to:

  –  “You’ve [Sam] seen everything that he’s [Gadreel] seen!”  Sam may have untapped knowledge of Metatron’s plans.

  –   Is the Angel Banishing Spell Reversible? Is Crowley the key, because he read the Angel Tablet? We have to assume he is working toward a secret agenda that has something to do with that “interesting” note. Is Castiel’s grace the key, stolen and used for Metatron’s spell?  

  –  “Here is the FIRST name on your to-do list.”

  –  “I did what I had to do” – Was Castiel’s resistance to Bartholomew’s challenge the end of this thread? Possibly, but I believe more people have to make their choice for this to be complete.

  –  Will someone else turn out to be who they aren’t supposed to be?

Cain => Dean; Abel => Sam    
Ezekiel => Gadreel
Castiel => Human => Theo!Cas
Crowley =>Human-ish=> what type of creature has red smoke??

  –  Letting Go

Curiosities

– I thought it was really odd that Sam and Dean a) allowed Crowley into the main room of the bunker and b) discussed so much of the MOL business in front of him. Crowley seemed to be listening intently.

–  NoLieFe observed in a comment posted to “Captives” that seeing the ring of Kevin’s father connected to an old phrase that Crowley said to Kevin in 8.02: “Surprising what mommy dearest has rattling around in her head. Want to know who your real father is? Scandalous.” That ring ended up being extremely significant to Kevin, since it is binding him to earth. Maybe a new thread about Kevin’s real father was teased in season 8, touched on in season 9, only to be developed further in season 10. What do you think?

–  For some reason I noticed the writing on the crates in the warehouse when Lola met Abaddon’s messenger. The crate behind Lola seems to say “Origin Blade”! Nice subliminal placement by the set design team!

Your turn! What clues did you see in “Blade Runner”? How are your theories holding up?

Screen Caps courtesy of www.homeofthenutty.com. Quotes verified with www.supernaturalwiki.com.