glassclosetcastiel:

Oh boy. There is so much to be said about these scenes, so I’ll try not to ramble too much. First and foremost, I’d like to proclaim my love for Robbie Thompson for giving us these mirrors, because they are an absolute treasure, amen. (Also, props to Jensen for his acting choices in that first sequence.)

There’s no question that the above were A) mirrored for a reason and B) subtextual storytelling. There are several ways to interpret these scenes, but I think they boil down to foreshadowing, no matter which way you slice ‘em.

In the first scene between Dean and Cas, there are a few possible interpretations that I can see. The first, more obvious choice (and the one that I immediately thought of upon watching the scene) is that the dialogue is about Dean and his own situation. This makes a lot of sense, because Claire has been a Dean mirror for most of the season.

In the last episode, we saw that Dean’s subconscious finally seemed to understand that having it would ruin Cas and Sam to have to watch him succumb to the mark again, eventually forcing one or both of them to take him out. It’s possible that Dean is using this as justification to strike out on his own again, like what he did after waking up a demon in 9×23/10×01 (PS, I’ve been getting this vibe ever since Jensen tweeted this: 

Which immediately left us all thinking of this:)

He doesn’t want them to see him complete this downward spiral into damnation. He figures, hey, he was doing relatively well on his own in his time as a demon, particularly after he gave Crowley the slip (see “partly because she doesn’t have anybody to answer to” in gif 4 above.) I think Dean was kind of testing the waters when he struck out to take on the vamp nest at the beginning of Werther Project. He may be trying to see if he can handle things solo, because he thinks he “may be stronger on [his] own.”

I don’t think that Dean actually believes this, though. He told us explicitly at the end of the last episode that he thought the universe was trying to tell them something, saying that he and Sam were stronger when they worked together. It seemed like such successful character development that I literally cheered when it happened. However, we see him now having some doubts. Possibly. Unless we look at it this way:

As we see quite often in fanfic, Dean could be employing the Break His Heart to Save Him or Please Dump Me tropes to try to get Cas to let him go. As I discussed above, Dean can feel himself slipping away and doesn’t want it to ruin everybody and everything, so this dialogue might be about him trying to make a clean break with Cas in case he does have to leave, or wanting to make Cas believe that he thinks he (Dean) is better off without him (Cas). We know that this would not only be a particularly brutal tactic for Dean to employ with Cas; it would also be an extremely effective one.

Castiel doesn’t feel like he belongs anywhere right now (see his conversation with Metatron in Book of the Damned.) He’s unsure of his place. We know, canonically, that the most important things to him- his missions, if you will- are fixing his wrongs in heaven and on Earth (done and done) and Dean. So, if Dean were to convince him, whether by suggestion or blatant dismissal, that he would be better off without Cas, Castiel would be devastated, but might not fight him on it as he has in the past when Dean has used the you’re better off without me argument. However…

This last interpretation breaks my heart a bit, but I still think it’s a distinct possibility. I almost didn’t see it at first, but the line “there’s nobody holding her back” really struck me as out-of-place. Until I examined it this way. And now I can’t un-see it. It’s entirely possible that the dialogue is about Cas. Consider this:

“…in fact, you’re not anything to her except a constant reminder of someone that’s gone.”

In fact, I’m not anything to you except a constant reminder of the angel that you used to be. The warrior of God. The leader of armies, the fighter of heavenly battles. This 100% has I’m-not-worthy self-deprecating Dean Winchester written all over it.

“No, I’m… responsible for everything that’s happened to her.”

No, you’ve made me everything that I am today. I owe you everything.

“Look,
I’m just sayin’, she’s been surviving on her own for quite a while now,
and it’s partly because she doesn’t have anybody to answer to. You
know, there’s… there’s nobody holding her back.”

Look, I’m just sayin’, you’ve been doing well on your own for quite a while now, and it’s partly because you finally got your head on straight and stopped listening to those tools upstairs. But it’s also partly because you’ve been keeping away from me. I’m poison, you know. I won’t be the one to hold you back.

“We just found her in a hospital. Are you telling me that she’d be better off on her own?”

I was at my lowest point without you. Are you telling me you think I’d be better off on my own again?

“I’m sayin’ she might be stronger on her own.”

I’m sayin’, maybe you’ll be sad without me, but you’ll be stronger.

I think the first possibility is more likely (and more supported by its mirroring scene between Sam and Cas) but still worth talking about.

If we continue with the assumption that the first interpretation is correct, Sam and Castiel’s conversation becomes super-supportive-bff/brother-in-law Sam Winchester.

“When this is over… should I… should I leave Claire alone?”

When this is over… when we cure the mark… should I leave Dean alone?

“What?
No, man. She’s family. Well, I mean… she’s not exactly family, but
she’s close enough. I mean, you two have history. Simple as that.”

“What? No, man. You’re family. Well, I mean, we’re not exactly family, but close enough. You and Dean have history. Simple as that.

“So you don’t think she’s better off on her own?”

So you don’t think Dean would be better off without me?

“Here’s all I know: going it alone, that’s no way to live. You being there for her, even if she thinks she doesn’t want you to be there for her, that’s good. For both of you.”

Here’s all I know: Dean can’t go it alone. He might think he can, but he can’t. He might try to convince you otherwise, he might try to convince himself otherwise, and even if he thinks he doesn’t want you to be there for him for whatever god-awful emotionally-constipated reason, it would be good. For both of you.

“Maybe, in the end.”

Obviously, I don’t mean to imply that textual conversation the boys are having is them trying to sort out their fear of talking about real issues by means of hyperbole and metaphor. But the writers frequently use textual conversations such as these as parallels between the scene and the over-arching story by utilizing mirroring and subtextual dialogue. We’ve seen it over and over and over again this season, in most of the Monster of the Week episodes, in the Dark Charlie story, in Cole’s arc. Supernatural is infamous for silent storytelling, for subtextual dialogue, for foreshadowing. I think, no matter what way we interpret this scene, we can be sure that something bad is going to happen. Dean is going to try to leave or force the others to leave him before he can destroy their lives.

I’m really interested in everyone else’s interpretation. I think we’re in for a lot of heartbreak in the coming episodes. What do you think?