Fan Video of the Week: Supernatural Reflections “All Along the Watchtower”

“Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.” — Walter Anderson

Supernatural Season 1-12 The Road So Far (Carry On) made by LK

The finale and the commotion after it has been so huge that it made me choose two words specifically for this article – loss and pain. Why, do you ask? Because even though nobody ever dies in Supernatural, two characters really seemed to have bitten the dust permanently. The whole MacLeod clan was killed in season 12. Our beloved Crowley and Rowena died literally with no comebacks. Mark Sheppard has played Crowley a long while so nobody thought he would be gone before the show is over but it seems that will not be the case. The proof the fandom got during the weeks after is pretty solid. We don’t fully know Castiel’s situation either.

The fandom is still mourning so I have piled up in this article a lot of in memoriam videos. The loss has been great so all our lost characters have a tribute. Also you can check out my updated Road So Far video (Carry On) at the start of the article.

Before the other videos I want to focus on one revelation that intrigued me in the finale and that is the purgatory-esque Apocalypse world. It has a lot of possibilities for next season so I will glance at a few examples that we have had on the show about that kind of world.

23.13 All Along the Watchtower – Apocalypse world (Bizarro world, Apoca-world)

Castiel: As I said it’s, it’s earth. But this earth is locked in eternal war between heaven and hell. There are armies of angels fighting hoards of demons and the few humans that remain are caught in between.

Sam: Cas, what the hell is this?
Castiel: This is a world where you were never born. It’s a world you never saved.

Dean: All right on a scale of one to ten, how bad is this?
Sam: I don’t know. I gotta say a hole in reality to a bombed out apocalypse world. I’m gonna go with eleven.
Dean: Sounds right.

This world raises a lot of questions. Did they specifically say the apocalypse happened or was it just the same kind of thing? Angels had enough of the dull life and they decided to attack demons? We only know a few certain parts of the other dimension.

In the alternate universe we know that Mary and John are also dead so they can’t be there, but everyone else can and now Lucifer is there. So everything can be different. Mary did not make the deal so everything after that crucial moment can be different. Lucifer might have Michael over his head as he is the devil. DEATH is probably alive and can resurrect Crowley on the other side. (Nope, fare thee well Mark Sheppard.) I think Bobby will help Mary to be safe. But really, Rowena, Castiel, Eileen, Ellen, Jo, Ash, Cain, Azazel, and many others – they all might be alive. This opens up LOADS of possibilities. Rufus might be alive but because the gun was named after him I doubt it. This might even be the spin off because Sam and Dean are not there.

Recap of the alternate dimension:

– Bobby is alive
– Rufus is a gun (so he is maybe dead)
– Mary is dead (Azazel killed her 10 years ago)
– John is dead
– Boys are not even born
– The land looks dead, with pointy angel pillars and red horizon. It has sand and maybe ash everywhere.
– Angels are brutal
– Demons look different
– Only few surviving humans remain

Everything else is free for the writers to roam on story wise, although I also suspect Lucifer is still in the cage there so we will not get double Lucifer. The “Apocalypse” that happened, though, can mean everything between heaven or hell that causes the end of the world.

5.04 “The End” – The End world

ZACHARIAH: Three days, Dean. Three days to see where this course of action takes you.

DEAN: What’s that supposed to mean?

ZACHARIAH: It means that your choices have consequences. This is what happens to the world if you continue to say “no” to Michael. Have a little look-see.

2014!DEAN: It’s efficient, it’s incurable, and it’s scary as hell. Turns people into monsters. Started hitting the major cities about two years ago. World really went in the crapper after that.

DEAN: What about Sam?

2014!DEAN: Heavyweight showdown in Detroit. From what I understand, Sam didn’t make it.

When Dean wakes up in this episode we see our first glimpse of this world. It is not so far gone as the Apoca world because Sam and Dean have had an effect on it. Kansas City is in ruins and is deserted. Those that inhabit the city are not that friendly either. Croatoan virus has taken a hold on them so we are pretty much in Apoca “The Walking Dead” world. An empty city can be very intimidating with what it hides in the shadows and because of the isolation. Survival makes that world even more appealing.

Bobby’s house was also empty and torn apart. When Dean gets to Camp Chitaqua in the forest, it follows the camps that a world torn by war would be. “The End” world was pretty close to how Purgatory was with its dark forests. Also the base where they found Lucifer looked like a prison/Asylum. This place had been taken over by nature. This world is pretty militaristic because of the events that had transpired, but not as far gone as the Bizarro world.

Purgatory

“It’s like the backside of your worst nightmares. It’s all blood and bone and darkness. Filled with the bodies and souls of all things hungry, sharp, and nasty.” – 6.12 Like a Virgin, Bobby Singer

Location, location, location. I’m a developer. Purgatory is vast, underutilized, and Hell adjacent, and I want it. – 6.07 Family Matters, Crowley

Every soul here is a monster. This is where they come to prey upon each other for all eternity. – 7.23 Survival of the Fittest, Castiel
It was bloody. Messy. Thirty-one flavors of bottom dwelling nasties. Hell, most days it felt like 360 degree combat. But, there was somethin’ about bein’ there. It felt pure. – 8.01 We Need To Talk About Kevin, Dean Winchester

I loved Purgatory! It was mysterious and hard to get to (the door you needed to open by a spell or a rogue reaper). In season seven’s finale, the place already made a huge impression on viewers with the glowing red monster eyes that surrounded Dean and the darkness of the forest. You feel no hunger there nor do you feel tired so no sleep. The place is not meant for humans so they can escape – IF they survive that is. I always wondered if Purgatory was just a forest or were there also buildings/cities. I think I would like if it was a primal place with just the land and nothing else. Here is what Supernaturalwiki has about Purgatory:

Purgatory is a realm where the souls of supernatural creatures go after they die. Its physical location is separate from both Heaven and Hell. Crowley estimates there are 30-40 million souls there. It was originally created by God to contain the oldest creatures, Leviathans, for fear they would destroy the rest of creation. Purgatory is revealed not only to be the place where supernatural beings go after death, but also to be the place where the “Mother of All” is located.

Sam, Dean, Castiel and Benny were in Purgatory in these episodes 7.23 Survival of the Fittest, 8.01 We Need to Talk About Kevin, 8.02 What’s Up, Tiger Mommy?, 8.05 Blood Brother, 8.07 A Little Slice of Kevin, 8.19 Taxi Driver 10.19 and The Werther Project.

The spell to open the door to purgatory:

Ianua Magna Purgatorii Great door of Purgatory
Clausa Est Ob Nos That is closed for us
Lumine Eius Ab Oculis Its light is kept away
Nostris Retento From our eyes

Sed Nunc Stamus Ad Limen Huius But now we’re standing on this threshold
Ianuae Magnae Et Demisse Of the Great door, and humbly
Fideliter Perhonorifice Faithfully, respectfully
Paramus Aperire Eam Are preparing for its opening

Creaturae Terrificae Quarum Ungulae Terrible creature, whose claws
Et Dentes Nunquam Tetigerunt And teeth have never touched
Carnem Humanam Aperit Fauces Human flesh, is opening its jaws
Eius Ad Mundum Nostrum Nunc Toward our world now
Ianua Magna Great door
Aperta Tandem! Open at last!

11.16 “Safe House” – The Shadow World

RUFUS: A Soul Eater? What the hell is that?
BOBBY: Undead creature that feeds on souls. Hence the name. They exist in a place between our world and… another. Soul Eater moves into a house, and once it does, it makes what the lore refers to as a nest.
RUFUS: A place that exists outside of time and space.

[IN THE PRESENT]
SAM: The nest looks and feels like whatever house the Soul Eater is in.

I was also curious about this world – A nest that the Soul Eater (an undead creature which feed on souls that it kiddnaps to the nest) made for its victims. The world is actually just a house outside space and time where those who are trapped there are first alone. Then they see their worst nightmares come true. After that, they see the past killed victims (that look pretty creepy) until the monster comes and devours them. The body withers and dies outside the nest. I loved the creepiness and isolation again that we had in this world. That it was outside of space and time was also pretty cool.

The Empty

You and Dean . . . Dying and coming back again and again. The old death thought it was funny. But now there’s one hard, fast rule in this universe. What lives . . . dies. So the next time you or your brother bite it, well, you’re not going to Heaven . . . Or Hell. One of us — and, Lord, I hope it’s me — we’re gonna make a mistake and toss you out into the Empty. And nothing comes back from that. I know you’re dying. I can feel it. You’re unclean in the biblical sense. So I’ll be seeing you again, Sam . . . Seeing you real soon. Name’s Billie, by the way. – 11.02 Form And Void, Billie the Reaper

There was a page in the season 11 discussion board where we talked about “The Empty”and what kind of place it is. In a artistic way, I would think it would be totally black and white. Almost like painted. Sometimes it would show grayish and lighter colors as flicker. People would hear only their voices as echoes in their mind sometimes. Otherwise it is a place without sound. Their voices also would twist like it was in Twin Peaks in the Neverwhere, bend and stretched, even metallic and robotic. “The Empty” would be presented by abandoned city in ruins.

They can see creatures floating and even the others, like through a mirror, but they would be invisible to them. Creepy loneliness would need to be felt from the place. Also, nothing moves in the backround. No animals nor wind etc. Clouds would not move but they would be frozen and it would be forever night. Also, sometimes the land would just vanish and the character would be surrounded only by pitch black. And their yells would stop on their lips.

I think that this is where the monsters that die in Purgatory will go and also angels that die. Of course it has not been said but this is the only place that has been mentioned and nobody knows how it works really. So it remains mysterious.

Images to illustrate the Empty are from:

Night.jpg
Tshernobyl

Time for the fan videos!

Consumed | Supernatural S12 made by: Pinkly

It’s Alright by Fractures

[Chorus]
It’s alright, It’s alright
It’s alright, It’s alright
It’s alright, It’s alright
It’s alright, It’s alright

[Verse 1]
It’s alright, It’s alright
You see the fault lines, started panicking
It’s alright, It’s alright
You confide in the low light, you’re so kind
You’re caught up in the crossfire
It’s alright, It’s alright

[Bridge]
Don’t get dragged through
Don’t be consumed
Don’t catch it through
Don’t be consumed

[Verse 2]
Get out the tight robes
Give her asked clothes
Better know you’re falling
Follow your shadow
Lost count of the die slows
And the man hoes fighting in the morning
Acting like you don’t know

[Bridge]
Don’t get dragged through
Don’t be consumed
Don’t catch it through
Don’t be consumed

[Chorus]
It’s alright, It’s alright
It’s alright, It’s alright
It’s alright, It’s alright
It’s alright, It’s alright

Castiel & Crowley Tribute || Time Of Our Lives (Supernatural) made by: Castiel The Fallen

Time Of Our Lives by Tyrone Wells

This is where the chapter ends
A new one now begins
Time has come for letting go
The hardest part is when you know
All of these years – When we were here
Are ending, but I’ll always remember

We have had the time of our lives
Now the page is turned
The stories we will write
We have had the time of our lives
And I will not forget
The faces left behind
It’s hard to walk away
From the best of days
But if it has to end
I’m glad you have been my friend
In the time of our lives

Where the water meets the land
There is shifting in the sand
Like the tide that ebbs and flows
Memories will come and go
All of these years
When we were here
Are ending
But I’ll always remember

We say goodbye
We hold on tight
To these memories
That never die
We say goodbye
We hold on tight
To these memories
That never die

Tyrone Wells was born in Seattle and raised in Spokane, Washington. He has said in interviews that he was inspired by his older sisters who “brought out the music in me” but did not begin songwriting until his move to California. While attending Hope International University in Southern California, Wells joined the band Sinai in 1994 turning out two LPs on Say-Sos Records before signing with Word Records and renaming the band Skypark for their 1998 Dove Award-nominated album Am I Pretty?.

In 2000 Wells launched his solo career, playing acoustic shows in Orange County, California. In 2006 Wells signed a recording contract with Universal Records. They re-released his independent album Hold On on the internet in 2006, and released it in stores on February 6, 2007. On Hold On, Wells worked with producers Chris Karn and Marc Ford. Wells released his solo album Remain on January 27, 2009. The first single from Remain, “More”, reached #13 on the Triple A radio charts. The second single “Sink or Swim” was used in promos for the season 6 premiere of Grey’s Anatomy.

In September 2010, Wells’s song “Time of Our Lives” was used in the series finale promo for American daytime soap opera, As the World Turns, as well as The Vampire Diaries episode, “Memory Lane” (season 2, episode 4).

Tributes to Crowley.

Crowley || Why do you hate me? {+12×23} made by: The Family Business

I’m the King of Hell | Crowley [12×23] made by: Profound Destiel

Tribute to Castiel.

Castiel | Angel of Thursday made by: 6rooroo

Tribute to Rowena.

Rowena | I am a fighter made by: bitch oh sorry witch

Quotes:

Lucifer: Oh, if you’re looking for Rowena, she is presently indisposed. Which is a delicate way of saying I stomped on her face until the white meat showed, and then set her on fire just in case. Oh, gingers. It was messy and screamy, but it had to be done, Sam. I’m about to be a Dad, can’t raise the little nipper from a jail cell now can I? Speaking of, you know where your little pail Castiel is?

Crowley: I wanted to win. I perverted Mother’s spell, put Lucifer in a vessel of my own making because I wanted to win. You have any idea how many people have made a play for my throne over the years? Lucifer, Abaddon, blah-blah-blah-blah. I thought if I could put the Devil on a leash, my own personal nuke. No one would ever dare challenge me again.

Sam: So, why are you here?
Crowley: Well, whenever there is a world ending crisis at hand, I know where to place my bets. It’s on you. You big beautiful lumbering piles of flannel. So if you’ll forgive my transgression, I’ll make it worth your wile.
Dean: Which means?
Crowley: After we put Lucifer back in his Cage, together. I’ll seal the Gates of Hell. You’ll never see another demon again, apart from of course, yours truly.
Mary: You would do that?
Crowley: Why not? They stab me in the back, I’ll happily stab them in the front, the sides and right up their little black-eyed asses. So, do we have a deal?

Dean: Bobby. It’s us. Sam and Dean Winchester.
Bobby: The only Winchester I ever heard of was John.
Sam: Yeah, John Winchester. Our Father.
Bobby: Doubt it. He’s dead, been dead over forty years now. The only reason I know about him, is this hunter I ran with Mary Campbell, you get a few pints of shine into her, she always told the same story about the man she loved — John Winchester. Azazel killed her about ten years ago.
Sam: Cas, what the the hell is this?
Castiel: This is a world where you were never born. It’s a world you never saved.

Music

Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas
Scotland the Brave

Minutiae

“All Along the Watchtower” is a reference to the song of the same name by Bob Dylan and most famously covered by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

“All Along the Watchtower” is Misha Collins’ 100th appearance on Supernatural, including his voice over work from 11.04 Baby. The episode also marks Mark Sheppard’s 70th appearance as Crowley.

Castiel’s death fell on a Thursday, appropriate as he is the angel of Thursday.

References

en.wikipedia.org
supernaturalwiki.com
genius.com
azlyrics.com
brainyquote.com

Cover art by: FIGHT THE FAIRIES! @Alice_Mars_Mann, Her Instagram

Did you like the fan videos? What do you think about the worlds I presented. Share your thoughts below.