Tag: let dean be the hero for once

Your post about wanting Dean to love and accept himself. Yes that’s what I want to, but it hasn’t happened in 11 years so there need to be some kind of catalyst for it, some hero journey that takes him there, I think it can only come through proving himself like Sam has had chance to. There’s no point in Sam being the one to prove himself over and over, it doesn’t add anything to his character anymore but will add to Dean’s.

dustydreamsanddirtyscars:

Hey dear!

Yes, and I kind of think that’s what the past seasons and this season in particular have been shaping up to be and to deliver. For Dean to free himself from the things that weigh him down in a coming of age story. The entire MoC arc has always been about Dean’s struggle, it was his struggle to come out stronger on the other side and then before he could try and find this balance the choice was taken from him and along came S11.

That said, I have said this a few times and of course this is just my guess from how I read the story thus far and in that it simply does not make any sense to end this arc for Dean with anything other than him realizing his own importance and have another character suddenly jump in when it’s simply not their struggle (helping yes, but not being the only one). You don’t emphasize that a character feels like he has nothing to offer, but only be a bystander to have that happen in the most pivotal moment too, but to have said character grow over himself and realize that he is playing an important part. We had that pattern countless times with various charactes and arcs, so there’s no reason why this would not play out for Dean this way too.

And I just have to think of one of my all time favourite books and one of my all time favourite quotes that imo seem very relevant and fitting when it comes to this arc. It’s from Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild” and it says

“I read somewhere… how important it is in life
not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong… to measure yourself
at least once.”
   

That’s what I see coming for Dean, what Dean needs, to feel strong, this is Dean’s hero’s journey, his final individuation, his freeing himself of his father’s ghost. I still think a Dean version of “Swan Song” could fully be in the cards to happen, but of course that’s just me. 🙂

That said, I remember something Bob Singer said in relation to S10 and Dean’s arc, which imo still applies a great deal as this arc was merely extended and not wrapped up in S10, because he said if I remember correctly, possibly even at JIB or in some other interview (I really don’t remember where he said it  – and I know how he’s despised but that’s actually not of import for what he said) that one of the first things they talked about for Dean S10 the quest would be for him to start seeing himself as a hero again. And that could imo not be more on the head than what the hero’s journey is about. So yes, fingers crossed for Dean to come out of this all stronger on the otherside, liberated, truly himself – even if it means (temporary) death in terms of growth, decay and transformation.

The idea that Sam is going to turn out to be God’s Chosen really upsets me. Amara is not Sam’s battle to fight, she is Dean’s. Dean is the one that carried her with the MOC. Dean is the one she has a connection to. If Dean’s not going to fight her than what’s the point? That aside, Dean is the one that’s been called a representation of God’s Creation and a martyr. Dean is the one that’s had a legion of halos and light sources around him. Dean is the one with the Christ imagery. (1/3)

mytharc4dean-deactivated2016070:

(2/3) All signs point to Dean being God’s Chosen, but Sam is the one that’s going to be the Christ figure? Why? It just doesn’t make any sense. I don’t understand how Sam can be a seen as a Christ figure at the drop of a hat, but Dean being viewed through the same mythological lends is some Sisyphean effort. Dean has literally had the myth arc of, ‘Sacrificed himself only to be resurrected by Heaven so he can fight Satan’ and he’s the one true vessel of a Christ stand-in (Michael). (2/3)

(3/3) Sam is not Supernatural’s only hero. Dean is too and he deserves to have the narrative that has always been about him- because Dean is the one who sought out Cain and got the MOC in the first place- be about him and be concluded by him. (3/3)

I agree, with everything you say, but wonder have you heard new spoilers? Or read someone’s spec that says they definitely think Sam will be the Chosen One? Right now, I keep seeing posts saying that it’s gonna be Cas. As you can imagine I don’t want it to be either unless Dean is also chosen, and it’s all three somehow. 

I’ve been reading @dustydreamsanddirtyscars and @lost-shoe a lot with their spec, and they both point to Dean, and I still hold out a little bit of hope that they’re both going to be right. There’s a LOT of pessimism amongst my other friends which I can understand, immediate assumptions that anything interesting will be handed over to Sam especially. The fact that Andrew Dabb is writing the finale has made it worse. 

The thing is though, there has been so much foreshadowing in the MOTW eps recently…especially Safe House, that Dean may end up somewhere like the Empty, that Dean is going to be in someone else’s control..again Safe House, and also Into The Mystic, and then there’s the obvious parallels with s5 with Dean in a similar position that Sam was in back then. 

Plus, out you pointed out, Amara is connected to Dean in a way no one else is…and to have him just stand aside while the others defeat her would not make any sense narratively, even by Supernatural’s standards it would be ridiculous. 

My thought, and this is because even when being more positive, I’m still cynical with it, is that Dean will end up in another realm again because if nothing else I think the writers are going to re-do the whole Dean is lost, presumed gone forever, scenario and this time Sam will bring him back. The current writers seem very preoccupied with trying to make Sam likeable, more so this season than ever, turning him into some kind of hunter yoda type at the start of the season (although that only makes him look a hypocrite tbh), the Imaginary Friend ep (which to me anyway was awful because it made him look ungrateful as a child of what Dean did for him…it’s funny how no matter hard they try they still manage to make Sam look bad) to the Super “Marty Stu” Sam writing of Red Meat. They also seem to be going through the familiar checklist of what fandom has complained about for years – giving him extra POV and bonding time with guest characters. The other thing on the checklist, something that creates a lot of bitterness and arguments, is that Sam never bothered to look for Dean in Purgatory, and failed to rescue to him from Hell. So if the writers are hoping to make up for it, then redoing s5 where Dean this time makes the jump with the big bad is the most likely opportunity. Which sadly means that this could all be just for Sam’s benefit rather than actually be about Dean. But then that’s the way it is because as Jensen’s made it clear, Jared is the first person on the call sheet! This is Sam’s show, there’s no way around that. Carver especially has made that clear since he took over. The least we can hope for not a repeat of s8 where Dean was literally buying the drinks for the rest of TFW and offering moral support and not much else.