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Angels, Vessels, And Special Children (aka The Post I Put Off Forever)
Okay, I've been having thinky thoughts on angelic vessels and how they've fit into Supernatural's mythology overall. I think I finally have everything cohesively put together enough for meta. We'll see.
(Please forgive all the parentheses in this post. I'm too lazy to format footnotes and stuff.)
ETA: The latest episode I reference in this is "The Song Remains the Same." There might still be spoilers, though. Read at your own risk.
On Vessels
What I've gotten from Show is that there are different types of angelic vessels. There's your normal angelic vessels, like Jimmy Novack and his daughter. There's your vessels capable of holding archangels, like Nick. And then there's Sam and Dean, who I'll refer to as Vessels. (The capital V makes them even more important.)
Sam and Dean have been told several times now that they are special cases. For example, Lucifer-as-Nick told Sam that Nick was a vessel, not the Vessel. That's why Nick's body is breaking down. Dean has a similar situation going on with Michael. I suspect that if Michael had stayed in John's body for any substantial length of time that he would have had the same problem as Nick, which leads me to what makes Sam and Dean special.
On Criteria
Obviously, there has to be something going on that makes them the perfect vessels for Luci and Michael to fight the apocalypse in. Somewhat less obvious is that fact that certain groups (the angels, a few of the demons) knew what those qualities were so they could look for them. (This brings into question whether there was a prophecy about Sam and Dean at some point in the distant past, or if this is just something that the interested parties can sense about them. I haven't decided yet.)
For Sam, I think there's a very clear, definite set of criteria that makes him Lucifer's vessel. First, he's from a bloodline that produces archangel vessels. Second, he was corrupted several times with demon blood. Third, he opened the final seal to start the apocalypse. Probably the two most important aspects are the bloodline and the blood drinking. Nick wouldn't have had either of those going on to make his body strong enough for Lucifer.
For Dean, the criteria that makes him Michael's Vessel is somewhat less clear. Of course he would need to be from an archangel vessel bloodline, but after that it gets kinda fuzzy. Did he need time in Hellfire to forge him into a Vessel strong enough for Michael? Did he need to open the first seal? Does he need to have a pure heart and strong will? (I would argue Sam also possesses the heart/will duo. He's just been misguided into using them differently from Dean.) From the way both sides have been talking about him, it seems like the only thing Dean needs to be a Vessel other than the right blood is to be Sam's brother. That suggests that if Adam were still alive, he would have made a perfectly good Vessel for Michael, and I'm not sure how that sits with me.
On Bloodlines
Anvils have been dropped repeatedly on Show that blood family is hella important. Having vesselness be something genetic is kind of a culmination of years of Show talking about family. I would like to suggest that the Children storyline actually ties in with this.
In "Lucifer Rising," we saw that Azazel was charged by Lucifer to find a very Special Child who would free Lilith, and therefore Luci, from their prisons. In "In The Beginning," we found that Azazel was rounding up the candidates for Special Child by making deals with their parents. However, we never found out why he targeted specific parents and specific children.
My thought is that Azazel was making deals with vessels so he could have first crack at their vessel children. I know, I know. John was an archangel vessel and Mary was a hunter. Why didn't he make the deal with John instead of Mary? I wonder if Mary was a normal vessel in addition to the hunting background. Maybe that was why she was so attractive to Azazel, and why he was pulling for Sam so hard during "All Hell Break Loose, Part I." How much more tempting would Sam be if he were the corrupted child of two vessels?
Which brings me to my next point. If I'm right about Azazel making deals with vessels, that means that all of the Children were vessels. He may not have known why Lucifer set him rounding up vessels, but wouldn't it make sense to have him looking for not only someone who could open the door to Hell and command demons, but also a meatsuit Lucifer could wear when the time was right?
On Powers
Okay, this last bit is probably the most iffy part of my argument. I think that every single vessel has powers of some sort.
This doesn't seem too odd a thought on the surface. If I'm right about the Children being vessels, then it stands to reason that vessels have powers. But you think about it for a moment and you realize two vessels we're familiar with (Jimmy and Dean) haven't manifested powers. Or have they? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Jimmy wasn't yet a host to Castiel when he stuck his hand in the pot of boiling water. Somehow, he managed to come through that okay. Maybe he had some sort of healing power or protection from harm. (Remember, not all of the powers we've seen are psychic. Jake originally only had super strength.)
Dean is interesting. Thinking about him and the possibility he has powers actually got me started thinking about vessels in conjunction with the Children. Like several of the Children (notably Sam and Ava), I think Dean can control demons. What proof do you have, you may ask. I would like to direct your attention to "Devil's Trap" and "Sympathy for the Devil."
Both episodes have a moment in common. Dean is being attacked by a possessed loved one (John and Bobby, respectively). He pleads with them to fight the demon. In both cases, John and Bobby were able to fight possession long enough to save the day. How many other times on Show have we seen someone successfully fight demonic possession? (I'm being serious. If you can think of a time when someone overcame being possessed without Dean being involved, I'd love to know.)
Before you ask, "Born Under a Bad Sign" is not actually proof against my theory. Dean was pissed at Meg, then he was being pummeled by Meg, but at no point did he beg Sam to help him.
Now imagine if I'm right about Dean. Imagine if he could control this power and use it when his life isn't being threatened. Maybe this power would be stronger with use and control. Don't you think it would end up looking something like Sam's Hand of Ipecac?
As for Sam, if he wanted, do you think he could make demons obey his commands like Ava did? I'm sure he could do it without drinking demon blood. As far as we know, Ava only had demon blood once, when she was six months old. The demon blood probably only serves to amp up powers to a point where you don't need to know how to use or control the powers in order for them to be effective.
The Grand Conclusion
If my meta seems too tl;dr (I know this ended up wordy and disorganized), I'll do a brief wrap-up.
1) Three kinds of vessels: normal vessels, archangel vessels, and Michael/Lucifer Vessels
2) Sam is Lucifer's Vessel because he's an archangel vessel that was corrupted with demon blood.
3) Dean is Michael's Vessel because he's an archangel vessel whose brother is Lucifer's Vessel.
4) Mary may have been a normal vessel.
5) Azazel's Children were probably corrupted vessels.
6) All vessels have powers, even Dean.
7) Can I say vessels any more times? Seriously.
Voila! *jazzhands*
(Please forgive all the parentheses in this post. I'm too lazy to format footnotes and stuff.)
ETA: The latest episode I reference in this is "The Song Remains the Same." There might still be spoilers, though. Read at your own risk.
On Vessels
What I've gotten from Show is that there are different types of angelic vessels. There's your normal angelic vessels, like Jimmy Novack and his daughter. There's your vessels capable of holding archangels, like Nick. And then there's Sam and Dean, who I'll refer to as Vessels. (The capital V makes them even more important.)
Sam and Dean have been told several times now that they are special cases. For example, Lucifer-as-Nick told Sam that Nick was a vessel, not the Vessel. That's why Nick's body is breaking down. Dean has a similar situation going on with Michael. I suspect that if Michael had stayed in John's body for any substantial length of time that he would have had the same problem as Nick, which leads me to what makes Sam and Dean special.
On Criteria
Obviously, there has to be something going on that makes them the perfect vessels for Luci and Michael to fight the apocalypse in. Somewhat less obvious is that fact that certain groups (the angels, a few of the demons) knew what those qualities were so they could look for them. (This brings into question whether there was a prophecy about Sam and Dean at some point in the distant past, or if this is just something that the interested parties can sense about them. I haven't decided yet.)
For Sam, I think there's a very clear, definite set of criteria that makes him Lucifer's vessel. First, he's from a bloodline that produces archangel vessels. Second, he was corrupted several times with demon blood. Third, he opened the final seal to start the apocalypse. Probably the two most important aspects are the bloodline and the blood drinking. Nick wouldn't have had either of those going on to make his body strong enough for Lucifer.
For Dean, the criteria that makes him Michael's Vessel is somewhat less clear. Of course he would need to be from an archangel vessel bloodline, but after that it gets kinda fuzzy. Did he need time in Hellfire to forge him into a Vessel strong enough for Michael? Did he need to open the first seal? Does he need to have a pure heart and strong will? (I would argue Sam also possesses the heart/will duo. He's just been misguided into using them differently from Dean.) From the way both sides have been talking about him, it seems like the only thing Dean needs to be a Vessel other than the right blood is to be Sam's brother. That suggests that if Adam were still alive, he would have made a perfectly good Vessel for Michael, and I'm not sure how that sits with me.
On Bloodlines
Anvils have been dropped repeatedly on Show that blood family is hella important. Having vesselness be something genetic is kind of a culmination of years of Show talking about family. I would like to suggest that the Children storyline actually ties in with this.
In "Lucifer Rising," we saw that Azazel was charged by Lucifer to find a very Special Child who would free Lilith, and therefore Luci, from their prisons. In "In The Beginning," we found that Azazel was rounding up the candidates for Special Child by making deals with their parents. However, we never found out why he targeted specific parents and specific children.
My thought is that Azazel was making deals with vessels so he could have first crack at their vessel children. I know, I know. John was an archangel vessel and Mary was a hunter. Why didn't he make the deal with John instead of Mary? I wonder if Mary was a normal vessel in addition to the hunting background. Maybe that was why she was so attractive to Azazel, and why he was pulling for Sam so hard during "All Hell Break Loose, Part I." How much more tempting would Sam be if he were the corrupted child of two vessels?
Which brings me to my next point. If I'm right about Azazel making deals with vessels, that means that all of the Children were vessels. He may not have known why Lucifer set him rounding up vessels, but wouldn't it make sense to have him looking for not only someone who could open the door to Hell and command demons, but also a meatsuit Lucifer could wear when the time was right?
On Powers
Okay, this last bit is probably the most iffy part of my argument. I think that every single vessel has powers of some sort.
This doesn't seem too odd a thought on the surface. If I'm right about the Children being vessels, then it stands to reason that vessels have powers. But you think about it for a moment and you realize two vessels we're familiar with (Jimmy and Dean) haven't manifested powers. Or have they? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Jimmy wasn't yet a host to Castiel when he stuck his hand in the pot of boiling water. Somehow, he managed to come through that okay. Maybe he had some sort of healing power or protection from harm. (Remember, not all of the powers we've seen are psychic. Jake originally only had super strength.)
Dean is interesting. Thinking about him and the possibility he has powers actually got me started thinking about vessels in conjunction with the Children. Like several of the Children (notably Sam and Ava), I think Dean can control demons. What proof do you have, you may ask. I would like to direct your attention to "Devil's Trap" and "Sympathy for the Devil."
Both episodes have a moment in common. Dean is being attacked by a possessed loved one (John and Bobby, respectively). He pleads with them to fight the demon. In both cases, John and Bobby were able to fight possession long enough to save the day. How many other times on Show have we seen someone successfully fight demonic possession? (I'm being serious. If you can think of a time when someone overcame being possessed without Dean being involved, I'd love to know.)
Before you ask, "Born Under a Bad Sign" is not actually proof against my theory. Dean was pissed at Meg, then he was being pummeled by Meg, but at no point did he beg Sam to help him.
Now imagine if I'm right about Dean. Imagine if he could control this power and use it when his life isn't being threatened. Maybe this power would be stronger with use and control. Don't you think it would end up looking something like Sam's Hand of Ipecac?
As for Sam, if he wanted, do you think he could make demons obey his commands like Ava did? I'm sure he could do it without drinking demon blood. As far as we know, Ava only had demon blood once, when she was six months old. The demon blood probably only serves to amp up powers to a point where you don't need to know how to use or control the powers in order for them to be effective.
The Grand Conclusion
If my meta seems too tl;dr (I know this ended up wordy and disorganized), I'll do a brief wrap-up.
1) Three kinds of vessels: normal vessels, archangel vessels, and Michael/Lucifer Vessels
2) Sam is Lucifer's Vessel because he's an archangel vessel that was corrupted with demon blood.
3) Dean is Michael's Vessel because he's an archangel vessel whose brother is Lucifer's Vessel.
4) Mary may have been a normal vessel.
5) Azazel's Children were probably corrupted vessels.
6) All vessels have powers, even Dean.
7) Can I say vessels any more times? Seriously.
Voila! *jazzhands*