#lol i know there was a guardian in the beginning but imma try to explain that lol

[shirtlesssammy]

14x08: Byzantium

Then: 

Jack’s all better, guys.

Oh, wait..

Now:

Our nougat boy is dying, guys. Dean “Free Will” Winchester is beside himself--for not being able to help his son and because he can’t seem to stop the inevitable. As Jack lies coughing his last coughs, Dean leaves, unable to handle it anymore. Once in the hallway he looks up (like, was he even humoring the idea of asking for help? In any event, Chuck ain’t listening, but Cas comes to his side.)

Sam stays by Jack’s side. Jack tells Sam to assure Dean that it’s ok. Then he asks what will happen next “for someone like me.”

As many times as Sam has died, and as many realms that Sam has explored, he doesn’t know. “Then it’s gonna be an adventure.” Well, the ugly sobbing for this episode started way too early for my taste.

In the hallway, Dean turns from Cas when he comes up to him. Dean just can’t process what’s happening.

For Concerned and Slightly Irritated Husband Science:

Cas makes it clear to Dean that Jack needs him by his side. They head back into Jack’s room. Sam informs them that he passed. AND WHAT? I was fully prepared for Jack to die, but right away?! Gah.

Sam, Dean, and Cas plan Jack’s funeral (pyre, hunter style).

Sam leaves the hallway conversation, and Dean lets him.

Dean reaches out to Mary, letting her know that Jack died. It kind of breaks my heart that Dean reaches out to his mother at this time. I really like Mary, but she is not the nurturing type, and yet Dean still tries to get some kind of motherly comfort from her, and I HURT.

Cas watches Sam take off, only to have Dean ask him where he is. Uh, oops?

Together, they take off in Cas’s (new?) truck to track down Sam. (This was glorious, by the way. Cas has never driven Dean anywhere before.)

They find Sam slumped against the Impala and Dean and every audience member ever scream, “Tell me you didn’t make a deal!” That’s what it looked like, but no, Sam was just taking out his frustration and sadness in the form of misguided tree chopping. So, in the dark of night, the brothers and Cas try to process their grief. Tomorrow they will say goodbye to Jack, but tonight Dean suggests they get loaded.

What follows is a glorious, fourth-wall breaking montage that is just a wonderful moment to witness for Team Free Will. This show is always so good at giving us a little happy with heaps and heaps of sad.

I love Cas drinking from the bottle vs Sam and Dean’s glasses. And Dean’s unanswered “We did everything we could, right?” is just beautiful.

Jack’s Good Place is traveling to Dodge City with Sam, Dean, and Cas. ALL THE HEARTS. Dean flickers in and out and the sun dims. Jack realizes that this place isn’t real and finds his way to the white hallways of Heaven. As he’s walking, a black goo rushes for him. He runs.

The next morning, Dean awakens to a knock-out hangover, and the voices of Sam, Cas, and Lily Sunder in the war room.

(Sidenote: The actress playing Lily has been steadily acting since the 1950s! I recognized her from the X-Files but she’s been in everything! Amazing.)

She’s older (as Dean so tactfully points out), having given up magic. Sam called her for help on Jack. Dean also points out that she tried to kill Cas. (Lol, I imagine Dean has an Arya Stark list of people who’ve wronged Cas. He’s just biding his time to cross off some names.) Sam wants Lily’s help with the angel tablet. She’s not a prophet, but she knows a lot about angels. She can’t read the tablet translations, but she does have another idea: use her magic and a part of Jack’s soul to bring him back. She just wants to get into heaven in return. Easy Peasy.

Team Free Will discuss. Sam’s “I know how important a soul is. Believe me, I do” punched me in the gut a little. He’s all for saving Jack though. They need to figure out how to get Lily into heaven before trying this little plan. Time to summon Anubis, Guardian of the Dead.

Meanwhile, in heaven, Jack finds his mom. Blarf, bringing back Kelly and having them meet just hurts so much. Kelly’s realization that Jack is dead is SO HARD TO WATCH.

Dean is still not on the Lily Sunder Plan Train, but his argument with Sam is interrupted when Cas comes in to tell them that Heaven is in trouble. All of Heaven’s gates are open. Cas heads to Heaven.

Dean continues to be the cantankerous worrier of the trio, complaining about the plan to resurrect Jack while he and Sam prepare the bunker for the ritual. Dean's seen way too many bad resurrection side-effects, man. But it's okay, because Cas is back!

Only...Cas reports that angel radio is just a distress signal on repeat, and all of Heaven's gates are wide open – including the ones closed by Metatron. Iiiiinteresting. Dean and Sam let him go. Cas will head up to Heaven and they'll pray to him when the ritual is ready. What could go wrong?

So Dean apologizes to Lily, but he does a “Dean” apology which tends to be half accusatory. He wants to know why Lily's using the Enochian magic again if she quit doing it. She tells Dean that if she preserves a piece of her soul, that she might make it into Heaven and finally see her daughter again.

Up in Heaven, Cas finds puddles of black goo and two apparently dead angels.

Dumah wakes up in a gasp, and asks Castiel why he's isn’t on Earth. (A question which will be important later.) He's there to find Jack. Dumah begs to go with him, and they head off to Jack's heaven together. Jack's adorable paradise is empty. Oh WAIT Naomi is there. She tells them that Jack is gone – perhaps the “angel side” of him knew how to get out. Naomi informs them about the nature of the goo. It's the Shadow from the Empty, and he wants Jack because of his half-angel nature. (Side note: also Cas is the only one to ever escape. Good job, bby!) Naomi encourages Dumah and Cas to give Jack over to the Empty. Jack's soul can't possibly be worth more than the safety of all the other millions and billions of souls in Heaven.

Cas refuses to help her, and Naomi gets enveloped by black goo. She urges him to run.

Downstairs, the Winchesters and Lily summon Anubis. Dean's a little salty, given the number of times he died and, oh yeah, went to Hell that one time. “Pushing pencils, damning souls,” Dean summarizes about Anubis's work. Anubis laughs (it's my personal headcanon that he rather likes salty Dean). Lily asks Anubis to tell her where she's going after she dies and Anubis glances at the Winchesters and accedes. He pulls out an abacus, which begins to calculate Lily's worth. The chips fall and show that she's headed to Hell.

Dean and Sam threaten Anubis with a trap of palm oil which they “just happened to have laying around.” Our headcanon: Dean bakes, okay? Anubis tells them that neither he nor God have the power to shove somebody upstairs or downstairs – the human decides where they go based on their choices. If they keep him there or try to kill him, they can't save Lily (but they might damn themselves). It's a compelling argument, and Anubis goes free.

Cas tracks down Jack in Kelly's heaven. They share an emotional reunion. (Boris: Crying noise. Crying noise.)

Cas apologizes to Kelly for failing her, but she tells him that he raised Jack well. Jack learns about their resurrection plan and how they'll just use a leeeeetle tiny piece of Jack's soul for it. Kelly's concerned about this plan, but the Empty's attack has added new urgency to the resurrection plan. If Jack's alive, the Empty can't claim him.

Dumah slinks in from the back of the house and turns out to be – Old Man Smithers from the abandoned carnival! J/K, friends. Dumah is now the Empty. Well, fuck.

In the bunker, Lily packs her bags to leave. If there's no hope for her, then the deal's off. Sam shouts after her, telling her that they're trying to save their kid. And she should really empathize with that. Dean skips past empathy and goes straight to accusing Lily of being essentially a monster. To him, her chopped up soul and willingness to leave them in the lurch is ample evidence of that fact.

The Empty is ready to take Jack. Kelly's ready to cut a bitch.

Erica Cerra as the Shadow does an amazing job of showing a completely cracked up facade, reveling in the pain that the Shadow brings her denizens. She tosses Cas across the room...

In the bunker, Dean's aggressive guilt trip has convinced Lily to help them after all. She reflects on the photo of her daughter, and then they begin the ritual. They pray to Cas, who is still mid-fight with the Empty.

It's go-time, and the Shadow has hold of Jack, so Cas offers himself. “Take me in his stead,” he demands. CAAAAAAS! “I'm the one you want. I'm the one who woke you up,” he tells her. The Shadow turns on Cas, enticed by the offer. Cas sweetens the pot. He's destined for the Empty when he dies, yes. But it might be years or aeons until that happens again. OR the Empty could have him now and without a fight.

We...had many emotions about this.

For Science (and get your minds out of the gutter) (Boris: Imma stay in the gutter, please and thank you):

Cas closes his eyes for the blow (get your MINDS out of the GUTTER) but the Shadow wants him to “suffer.” The Shadow will claim Cas when he finally gives himself “permission to be happy.” Daaaaaamn.

We...had MANY EMOTIONS ABOUT THIS.

Cas agrees and the Shadow fucks off, leaving Dumah alive after it's departure. (Phew) Cas explains to Jack why he made his choice. He loves Jack, and so do Sam and Dean. They're working right now to bring him back to life.

Cas asks Jack not to tell the Winchesters what he did. “I don't want them to worry,” Cas tells him, and Jack promises not to tell them, THEREBY COMPOUNDING OUR PAIN.

Jack and Kelly say goodbye – Kelly telling him to have a wonderful life and she'll see him when he comes back to Heaven. Cas sends Jack's soul back to his body.

In the bunker, Jack wakes up. Sam gets him to read the rest of the spell and as he reads it, Lily looks weak and walks away to sit in a chair. Life returns to Jack completely. He seems whole and healthy and all it cost was...

Dean thanks Lily for her help, then realizes just how much she helped them when he finds her dead in the chair. She used the last shred of her soul to save Jack, rather than cut into Jack's soul.

Lily finds herself in Anubis's office. He pulls out his abacus.

(Guys, look at his office, I love him!)

The calculations progress and show that Lily's moved the balance of her fate. “Did you know what doing the spell would cost you?” She totally did. <3 I love Lily.

“Say hello to your daughter for me,” Anubis tells her with a gentle smile.

Cas makes his way out of Jack's heaven, his memories clearly wiped by now. Confused, he's met with Naomi who thanks him for saving Heaven.

Naomi gives him a reward for his help – Michael's location. Cas returns to Earth victorious! I guess.

TFW 2.0 share emotional burgers now that Jack's resurrected. Jack's wrapped in Dean's robe. They're all happy. I'm...it's...this is all very, very good and touching.

We end the episode on a hopeful note, ready to find Kaia, tackle Michael, and WIN. Go, team! Nothing can hurt us now. NOTHING.

Natasha: Man, I loved this episode. I’m so excited to see how this bears fruit later on!

Boris: This episode! This. Episode. I just watched All Hell Breaks Loose (and Dean’s demon deal), and I’m just amazed how one episode is able to juggle 14 years of story threads while introducing really intriguing new story potentials. And we got a seriously good amount of TFW. Yep. 

Everything’s fine and nothing quotes:

Everything we've got – the spells, the lore, what good is any of it if we couldn't even save him?

Old school! A real map. Let's find our way to Dodge City!

When God left – sorry, long story – we needed a new judge and Anubis was the obvious choice

I don't like rolling the dice on the word of a psycho ex-angel-killer

Why risk going to Hell if you don't have to?

Where I'm taking you is worse than Hell, because at least Hell is something

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