First Born

Season 9

Episode 11

First Born

The episode starts with Dean in a bar as usual but it doesn’t take long for Crowley to show up, and ask for some help. He needs help killing Abaddon and there’s a clue inside of John Winchester’s journal that leads to the First Blade. After heading to a storage space of John’s it leads to his partner Terra, who was there at the time they killed the demon that mentioned the First Blade. After meeting up with Terra they utilize a locator spell that should lead them to the First Blade. However instead they happen upon Cain. Crowley is literally shaking when Cain gives him some tea. Eventually Abaddon’s followers find where they are and begin to storm the place. Cain gives Dean the Mark of Cain and at the end of the episode Dean infers that this was all Crowley’s plan, which he doesn’t deny.

This episode was also powerful for Sam and Cas even though they weren’t the main focus of it. They thought they had stumbled upon a way to trace Gadriel whom Dean is searching for. However, even with all the pain Sam had to go through to extract the leftover grace from Sam, it was not enough. However, Cas tells Sam he respects him, that Sam has survived through all of it. That Sam sacrificing his life simply to find Gadriel or close the gates of Hell doesn’t need to happen. He pretty much says to Sam that his life is worth more to him than any of that.

Dean on the other hand has a different type of episode. Where Sam is hanging with an Angel the entire episode. Dean is hanging out with the King of Hell the entire episode. He is called out by Terra for consorting with a Demon and the King of Hell at that. While leaving the shop Terra drops the, “If your dad could see you know,” card. After that they found Cain and as soon as Crowley saw his beekeepers outfit he was ready to leave. However, Dean being Dean, brave but impulsive as Cain put it, had other plans. As soon as Cain left the house to get groceries, Dean began to search the house, and Cain arrived before they could search everything and Abaddon’s minions began pounding at the door. Cain began to make his last meal before he disappeared again and then let a few demons into the house and made Dean fight them. After Dean killed them all, Cain said he felt a connection with him since the moment he laid eyes on him.

From that line a lot can be said about the show. The show being about to brothers and at multiple times the brothers have had opportunities to kill each other. Similar to the tale of Cain and Abel. However, Cain tells what he says was the true version of the story. He had to kill Abel because Abel was thought he was talking to God when in fact he was speaking to Lucifer. Cain had to kill Abel to send him to Heaven but by doing so damned himself to Hell forever and to the bidding of Lucifer. Which again is different from the brothers in our story because Sam is the one that spoke to Lucifer in our story. Lucifer was talking to Abel and he was and is obsessed with Sam but Dean is the one that is there talking to Cain. He is the one that is given the Mark of Cain by Cain himself that was forged by Lucifer. This is the turning point of Sam and Dean’s characters.

Sam has always been the dark side of the brotherly bond. He has been the one to consort with Demons and was Lucifer’s vessel. Whereas Dean was the one to consort with Angels even though they weren’t the nicest of people they were still Angels, and he was Michael’s vessel. However now Sam was the one that was housing an angel and in this episode was with the Angel. Whereas Dean was the one that was with the King of Hell and now his body is marked with the Mark of Cain. He has been marked with the mark that represents the man that slew his brother a brand made by the devil himself. All this he did with the King of Hell by his side. He knew he was being used but he went with it and that is what the worst part is. Sam didn’t know he was being used and when he found out he did everything he could to fix it. Dean on the other hand is just steering into the skid and that may be his folly.