Okay, ladies and gentlemen, after a fantastic chat with fellow WFB author Bookdal, we have come up with an extra-special Theory about the entirety of Season 8. We think we've found a way to explain all manner of inconsistencies and strangeness that's been happening this season. Not only that, but our theory even redeems Sam's early-season behavior! Not possible, you say? Read on and see what you think after you've heard what we have to say.
The Alternate Universe Theory
At the end of Season 7, killing Dick Roman created a sonic blast of sorts that was strong enough to send Dean and Castiel into Purgatory. We saw Sam looking despondent, and then we saw Purgatory itself, Dean gets left alone, end of season 7. Move to season 8, and Dean gets out of Purgatory. Awesome! Now here's where our theory kicks in: Dean didn't come out of Purgatory into the correct world. The entire world of Season 8 is not "Dean's world." He's in an alternate world (S8 world from now on) that is extremely similar to his but is off in minor and telling ways. And how would he know that he wasn't in the correct world? He wouldn't. Things are so close that for him, it seems like he IS in the right place. And Dean had just spent a year in Purgatory. He was changed. Any discomfort he felt was probably written off as PTSD from his time there. First clue that this isn't the right world? Sam didn't look for Dean. Because this Sam isn't OUR Sam. This Sam and HIS Dean made a pact that they wouldn't look for each other. They made that promise and actually kept it. So S8!Sam didn't do anything wrong. S8!Sam acted exactly how he was supposed to.
The only other people who are from OUR "Supernatural" world and not this Season 8 world are Castiel and Benny. Naomi is from S8 world. She pulled Castiel out of Purgatory and into S8 world. Benny came along with Dean. Everyone else that we have seen this entire season has been from S8 world, which explains why so many characters seem slightly off or have slightly different powers. Let's talk about a few of the things this theory explains, shall we? I won't list every single thing that fits under here, but there are some interesting things to ponder.
1. Sam's behavior and some of his memories. S8!Sam wouldn't have looked for Dean, and that would have been perfectly normal to S8!Dean. This Sam doesn't regret not looking for Dean because he WOULDN'T regret that, and S8!Dean wouldn't expect him to regret it. That's why S8!Sam was so taken aback when Dean was angry at him. Also, S8!Sam has been to the Grand Canyon.
2. Crowley. He's got all manner of powers and interesting things in S8 world that he never did before. Red smoke? An intense and powerful hatred of the Winchesters? He didn't hate them this badly before. He was more of a businessman, playing both sides depending on who benefitted him more. This season, he's a straight-up ruthless villain. In our world, he explains the rules of a demon deal to those who make them. In S8 world, he doesn't.
3. Bobby isn't in Hell in our world. He is in S8 world. And speaking of Hell, it's normal Hell again in S8 world. In our world, it's people standing in line endlessly.
4. Benny is OUR Benny, so of course he felt completely out of place in S8 World. He didn't have a Sam to anchor him like Dean did, even if it's not quite the right Sam. So S8!Andrea didn't want to leave her cushy life and go with Benny. Our world Andrea would have.
5. The Men of Letters exists in S8 world, but not in our world. Henry Winchester didn't raise John in S8 world because he died. He raised John in our world. In S8 world, the Winchesters are scholars instead of hunters.
6. The backwards exorcism, the bullets with a devil's trap on them, an angel blade that can kill anything, etc. All manner of new tricks that we thought were neat are from S8 world. Though, you can bet Dean is going to bring some of them back to our world if/when he gets back.
7. Naomi and the CIAngels don't exist in our world, but they do in S8 world. It explains why she thinks Castiel was born defective, too. S8 world Castiel might have been destined to always question. Our Castiel made his own choice.
8. You know what else doesn't exist in our world? The tablets. And we're betting that if you close the gates of heaven or hell in one world, they would be open in another. Close the gates in S8 world and they'd be open in our world.
9. Our Meg is alive. Our Sarah is alive. (Until Show dispatches them again, but shh.)
Basically, you've got a season-long "The French Mistake" or the AU part of "My Heart Will Go On." But the worlds are very, very close. Close enough that Dean isn't questioning it, Castiel isn't questioning it. In fact, we're thinking that there's only one person in S8 world who IS questioning what's going on. And that person is Sam, OUR Sam. Who, you may recall, we saw in the first episode of the season standing outside of a house watching S8!Sam drive away.
That's right, we think the person outside of Sam's house was...Sam! Our Sam has been looking for Dean and Cass. He found them, but when he did, he didn't know how to get them back to our world again. And that's what he's been working on all season long. Our Sam is going to find a way to get Dean and Castiel out of this S8 world and back where they belong.
What do you think about our newest theory? It explains a lot that happened this season, doesn't it? We're really excited about it! And I could have gone on and on with examples, so please feel free to add your own in the comments.
Comments
Thanks for this:-)
that he did not look for Dean and that he wanted to kill Benny just did not sit right with me. But I never thought of an AU
Point 5 was especially interesting though.
One thing is, what about Charlie then?
I'm going to have to take a while to digest all of this. All in all, I think if this isn't the way the season ends, it SHOULD be. Great job! :)
Also...so the Sam we have now is S8!Sam...so the Sir Galahad memories are not Our!Sam's memories? I wouldn't like that as I'd been waiting years to hear Sam say that sort of thing about his childhood.
It's a fascinating theory but I really hope it doesn't go this way as I am not a fan of alternate universe storylines. One off AU episodes are great but not for it to have been a season long, AU/it's all fake storyline. I think I'd feel really cheated if that happened. Not to mention hideously confused.
I think Sam did have regrets not looking for Dean, at least I got that out of his conversation with Bobby in Purgatory. As far as Grand Canyon memories, I think this was a result of having their memories wiped/altered on multiple occasions, and the fact that Sam is seeing things with great clarity now; reminding Dean of the trip jogged Dean's memories. Regarding the tablets, they were initially discovered in S7, before Dick Roman exploded all over the place (at least the Leviathan and Demon tablet)
While I didn't agree with your theory, a big A+++ for creativity; this was a lot of fun, especially the theory about the real Sam being outside S8 Sam's house - that mystery person's been bugging me all season.
My preference though is for something in between. Something where we are dealing with the real Sam and Dean but there reality is being played with and memories altered. BUT I still want a good reason like a mental breakdown that Sam didn't look or did look but doesn't remember or whatever. That way we keep any progress made in the characters and hopefully the batcave etc. But the lack of continuity is explained. Though I would still like Sarah not to be dead.
1. If they've been in an alternate reality all this time, then we have essentially been through an entire season without Sam in it. I would absolutely HATE that. If season 8 Sam is not the real Sam, then I don't care about him and would only want to find out what happened to real Sam. I would be hugely resentful of the show for basically writing him out for an entire season to just re-set at the end of this season. I had this exact same problem with the Sam hallucination or Sam in a coma theories; I wouldn't want Dean to have been in purgatory this whole time and essentially not really on the show all this year any more than I would want that for Sam.
2. If this is Season 8 Sam's version of reality for everyone except Dean, then how come both Bobby and Meg have been questioning Sam about not looking for Dean? If this would have been normal behavior for Season 8 Sam then why would either Bobby OR Meg notice or even question it? Why wouldn't season 8 Sam defend himself more vigorously if his behavior wasn't out of the ordinary in his reality? Why wouldn't he question Dean as to why he had suddenly gone against their understood, and for him, normal decision? If it was normal behavior for Sam in an alternate reality to not look, he should be more pissed off at what he would interpret as a double standard from Dean. But instead, Sam has been acting guilty and hasn't answered or defended himself against anyone's questioning his not looking.
3. I would also hate to think that those little, teeny, tiny pearls of insight we've gotten into Sam recently aren't actually any insight at all; this would make me incredibly sad. We've barely managed to learn ANYTHING about Sam this year. I would be very unhappy to find out that we in fact have learned nothing at all.
This is a very interesting theory, but I don't think that the writers are going to go there. I also hope that they don't; to me it would feel like a cheat somehow unless they could tie it into the myth arc in some way that is epically brilliant in season 9. This isn't Sliders or Quantum Leap. I want the show to be dealing with only one, true Sam and Dean.
I think everyone's reaction to Sam not looking for Dean and Sam's rather guilty reaction in turn is the point. I don't think it goes any deeper than that. Also since we haven't seen the last episode yet all this fretting about it may end up moot anyway.
I have to say with sorrow that our fandom is more creative than writers:(
i hope we will see something amazing in season finale..
& I hope this "season 8 universe" was not Carver misunderstandin g & confusions universe :/
I would hate for the MOL bunker to disappear. If they get back to the original universe, I hope that there is a MOL bunker, but John's father wasn't one of them. Then Sam and Dean can go to the bunker and either ally with any remaining MOLs or use their key and enter and use the bunker in their universe.
It explains a lot, especially early-season-8- Sam, who I just don't get. I like it in some respects, even though I generally dislike AUs as explanation of strange events.
I don't, however, believe that's where Carver is going with the story. But we'll see next week .... I've been mostly wrong all season long.
All season I have been writing little synopses of each ep from different viewpoints - like Dean being unconcious when he did or didn't pop out of Purgatory, and Sam being unconcious when the explosion knocked him out.
But it didn't even occur to me that it was an AU! Oh Chuck, I really hope it is! I know a lot of the fans would hate that, but it would make me very happy, due to every point you made.
I have been optimistic all year, waiting until the season reveals itself, just like I usually do. Last night, the night after ep22 aired, I got weepy for the first time ever about the way things were going. Your theory is a "dream come true" for me!
Sorry about the extreme use of quotey quotes, italey italcs and boldy bolds. I couldn't type with enough emphasis.
Thank you for cheering me up!
I understand how you feel. Just wanted you to know, CH.
Regardless, it's way more fun to speculate in a good natured fashion than whine endlessly about the season like some folk do :)
X
However, if it's not so, then it's sad that we viewers have to try and think up a reason for all the canon trashing and strange things that have happened this season, beginning with Sam not looking.
X
As Carver has been present practically from the start of the show, you would think he would understand these characters, so an AU scenario would explain his lack of sense and sensitivity, and also validate his nod to 'perception'.
X
I sincerely hope your theory is the right one.
Here's hoping, otherwise your list of 'inconsistencie s' remain as a testimony to the bad writing of this season.
Quote:I actually got goosebumps when I read this. Please I am so hoping you are going to be right. This will make me so happy, as my only gripe with S8 is Sam not looking for Dean, so 'the one ring to rule them all' theory could work. TPTB might very well have alluded to it with demon Sam and Dean in Great Escapist walking from the boat through the 'reality' wall into another universe. Hope I am not repeating anything as I haven't read through any reviews so far. but I LOVE THIS because theoretically Bobby and Benny would still be around. and Meg of course. Also I have loved the way they portrayed the 'other seasons' Crowley, but am feeling a little squeamish with the level of his depravity this season, especially with the angel torture scene (I think it was in Torn and Frayed).
Does anyone know if there is a twist at the end. I know there usually is, but I don't want to wait months like I had to last season to find out where Dean had disappeared to.
1. Who was that standing outside of Sam's house at the beginning of the season?
2. Why is anyone surprised about Crowley being nasty? (The only reason he wasn't trying to tear the Winchesters apart in s7 was that both sides wanted rid of the Leviathan.)
now if this were the writing team of the first few seasons, gamble, shiban, edlund, tucker, humphries, kripke...then i can see this happening..but now, not so much...it's like telling a first grader to read and explain war and peace...it just can't happen
besides, if dean went into an au wouldn't it have been because someone deliberately sent him there...i mean if benny, cas and dean are the only ones that are real, then whoever gave benny the info about the portal deliberately sent them to an alternate universe. and if that's the case, where is the dean from that universe? were there two deans in purgatory? there has to be the au dean floating around somewhere...
also in regards to having sam be the one outside the window, which would be so cool, ...how much of this world does sam get to see? when did sam learn that dean was in an au and not in purgatory? has he been watching this whole time?
i think what would make more sense is that dean never left purgatory, he was just made to believe he did...in essence whoever gave benny that info wanted dean to believe he got out of purgtory but didn't, yet still created a world in which dean would find out everything about the demon tablet, which is what the real goal was in the first place.....all the characters would fit in dean's story and make it real for him and believable....b ut all the while he was still in purgatory, still separated from cas, as he was probably taken by naomi and used by benny, who may or may not have been real....
in sam's case, he may have been getting close, so let's say it's crowley for argument's sake, he scrubs sam's short term memory and sends in amelia... but sam's memories are too strong and they started to come back...hence your theory about sam seeing himself leaving amelia...coming back to his own reality....
therefore in this scenario, even though we don't see what the real sam is doing, he's been all along trying to figure a way to get dean out of purgatory, which he never actually truly left....
now how's that for a messed up theory....
sad, but i do agree that the fandom is way more creative than the actual writers....mayb e we just have too much time on our hands
i'm with all of you though.....
i do want the inconsistencies explained...the re are alot of them....the shadowy figure and the reverse exorcism being the big mama and daddy of them all....but i think i'd prefer the explanation to be a little less "sliders"...tho ugh that was a cool show.
i think my preference is more along the lines of crowley manipulating thoughts and scrubbing short term memories, and not only kevin's but sam's as well.
he seemed to be quite comfortable in his claim of being born to direct...i'd like to think that he's had his tentacles in everything all along...
in that way, inconsistencies could be explained, and it doesn't take away from everything new and awesome we've been experiencing this second half of the season.
I find it incredibly Sad and tragic that OUR Sam can be so easily replaced and no one cares.
"I find it incredibly Sad and tragic that OUR Sam can be so easily replaced and no one cares."
Amy, I believe what I was reading from most of our fandom all season was that we cared VERY MUCH about where was our Sam and why was he replaced with this other non-caring Sam! I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this one!
Great theory girls but I really prefer the memory swipe theory to this one. This is too confusing although it would be genius on Carver's part and would mean he put a lot of thought into the show and the next 3 seasons. Remember he said at the beginning he had a 3 year plan mapped out.
Guess we'll have to wait and see what that plan is. As for me, I'm looking forward to whatever he has in store for the finale and season 9..and maybe season 10?
Take care,
Jane
There's no need to come up with a Universal Theory to explain everything thought wrong this season. I'm pretty content with : Bad Writers. (That's my theory and I'm sticking with it.)
That would explain what is wrong with my life, this season and all seasons.
But geesh.. I was totally underwhelmed by their reunion. Any one else?
besides dean doesn't wear jackets with the collar turned up like that, not since the leather jacket and we all know that was stolen by someone years ago.
it doesn't make sense that dean would let sam go on believing that dean was still missing...as far as we know at this point dean doesn't know sam thought him dead. from what we've been shown, the shadow figure was looking in the window on the night sam left, as if this figure knew that sam would be leaving....how would dean know that?
sam's reaction doesn't make sense if it was dean looking through the window. that would mean sam would've seen whoever it was looking thru the window and if it was dean, then why would sam not come out the door right then and there?
no, i'm sorry but i respectfully have to disagree with this. i don't think it was dean at all....what would be the purpose, to punish sam for an entire half of a season, only for sam to eventually find out and get pissed at dean for allowing him to think he was still gone? how is this a mature relationship? that's something a ten yr old would do...ha ha i got you back....i just don't see this as the case...
i think it was either cas or crowley...both of whom wear collars that are turned up...especially crowley.
if crowley had arranged for sam to stay out of the hunt..which i'm kind of leaning towards....then it would stand to reason that he would keep tabs on sam... i still think sam may have started to look but crowley did something to sam, like scrub his short term memory....i mean after all, he's done it to kevin...which would explain sam's reaction....if deep deep down he never believed dean dead, then that would explain sam's reaction to dean when he first saw him. if crowley heard through his network that someone had gotten dean out of purgatory, and then dear dead don is suddenly resurrected, then i think it's safe to assume that crowley would check on sam....once he saw that sam left amelia, i have no doubt that crowley started rev up his efforts on finding the demon tablet.
or
it could've been cas...who i still think was not in purgatory but was working for naomi...only she keeps mindscrewing him so he has no idea,...i think if it was her that leaked info to benny to get dean out and i think she brought don back..i think she needed crowley preoccupied so she brought the winchesters back into the fold....i think she used cas to keep tabs on sam....cas may have been watching sam all along..
that's more along the lines that i think it went down...on the plus side we don't have too much longer to find out...
the theory above is all about an a/u, which i don't really think is the case. metatron kept going on about stories and that in creating one, we ourselves become gods of tiny intricate worlds that we created.
mind manipulation has been the current theme this season by both naomi and crowley, so in essence naomi and crowley have sort of been like gods in creating their world, their universe. crowley even said to cas regarding having ion on his payroll as it being a new universe. crowley also created a fake world for kevin ....as one does when making a movie...he even went so far as to claim he was born to direct.
given all that, it leads me to believe that mind manipulation to create the world in which crowley and naomi desire is where i think we are head...in essence though they are creating another universe, which ties into the theory above,...it's just not an actual alternate universe that the boys fell into.
i also think sam was manipulated as well, as i've stated above. for reasons that i think we'll learn, sam was kept out of the game, as was dean, and then brought back in.
so here's what i'm wondering. it's obvious that the boys are yet again being used in a game that's being played by both angels and demons, much like in s4. actually , it started in s3. in s3 both the angels and demons needed for sam to hate lilith to a point where he'd do anything to kill her, thus having dean shreded by a hellhound right before his eyes and not dealing with sam so he can get dean out. dean of course was right where they wanted him and sam was in such a state that he was ripe for the picking.
enter ruby who either knowingly or unknowingly was working with the angels. both sides convinced the boys that lilith had to die before she broke 66 seals...neither one knowing she was the seal...
what if it's a similar story now? what if it's not so much about crowley caring about closing the gates as much as it is ensuring that he be the third trial...which is to cure him..
crowley has been quite an enigma this year. he's able to do things this year that he hasn't done before. he can do things naomi can do...like scrub memories and create worlds through illusion. i don't recall crowley ever doing anything like that before...am i wrong about that? as much as crowley wants the demon tablet, he seemed over excited, actually beaming when he had his hands on the angel tablet.
crowley over the past couple of seasons seems to have developed abilities or maybe has just been using abilities he's always had for the first time. he has a history with naomi and crowley has stated he's been around for a very long time...that he is forever. we also know that half of him is witch...what we don't know is what the other half of him is.
what if curing him brings crowley back to whatever it is he started out as...or what if purifying him makes him stronger/more powerful, maybe unbeatable?
do you guys think it's possible that crowley has created this world we have now in order to manipulate both boys ensuring that they want him to be the demon that gets cured...especia lly given that crowley has pushed them to that point by killing people they saved...sarah especially....
perhaps because crowley wants it .....
i think that would be a cool kind of twist..
Here's a question. If someone gets cured of being a demon and are inherently a bad person, might they want to go back to being (posessed by) a demon (we have already seen that plotline) It seems like Crowley could be cured but it might not last long .... assuming he is a demon to start with. If Metatron thinks Crowley is a demon and has organised the whole story with the idea of using Crowley as the final trial then any resulting mayhem would be on him if it turns out Crowley isn't...
This whole cure thing is sketchy to me. The demon taint is removed but the demon (cured) is still in the drivers seat. If the demon's original human was evil, the vessel is still possessed by an evil being. Some cure. Unless the original evil is also cured. But the vessel is still possessed. Not good! Yeesh, murky and confusing.
only three more days til we find out....
Happy Mother's Day Everyone..
I love this creative take on all the things that don't quite add up this year.
My only wish would be that somehow they keep the Men of Letters bunker (which I think they will. It was an expensive set to build, and the suggestion is that it will be in action for awhile).
I also don't want to lose the insights or the growth and maturity we've seen over the season. Both brothers do seem more grown up. And it was so illuminating to hear how Sam sees himself and his lifelong demon blood affliction. That scene alone explains so many of his actions, and so much of his attitudes over the previous years.
I think at one point I wondered if the figure outside Sam's house was Sam - kind of a time-travelling Sam (like Hermione and her time-changer necklace) but now I'm not sure how that would work.
Whatever the case, it's fun trying to figure it all out!