“So, what's it all add up to? It's hard to say. But me, I'd say this was a test... for Sam and Dean. And I think they did all right. Up against good, evil, angels, devils, destiny, and God himself, they made their own choice. They chose family. And, well... isn't that kinda the whole point?”
-Chuck “Swan Song”
Season 5 is the story of the Winchesters defeating destiny and becoming God. When God created everything he willed it and so it was and when he created man it is said he gave man the gift of free will. Free will is a tricky subject because God created time and destiny yet those contradict free will unless we see free will as potential divinity and a gift only for the Winchesters. Thus, God created everything as it is, was and should be. Everything up to season 5 was always set up to happen exactly how it did. This final test was the defining moment for the future: either the Apocalypse would occur as it was always foretold or the Winchesters would rise to the challenge and take God’s position in the world, relinquishing his control.
There are many theories about the construct of time; it could be a 4th dimension that exists outside of our knowledge, an illusion created as a product of human perception or it could be an ambiguous and inconsistent amalgam of consequences that lead to parallel universes. For the sake of how it works in Supernatural, we should assume that time is a creation of God that was produced among all his other creations as it is said in the Bible. Because Supernatural diverts from the lore of the Bible, we also have to look at how higher beings perceive the continuum of time. Death is a good example because in “Two Minutes to Midnight”, when he speaks to Dean and tells him how very old he is and how one day he will reap even God, we can assume that Death and God just existed before the creation of time and thus Death transcends time.
The archangels are another higher power who experience time on a grander scale than humans and are another source of the knowledge of how time works. Gabriel acts as an interesting medium when it comes to playing with time. Before he reveals his self as an angel, the Winchesters think he is a trickster— a demigod who can warp reality and create things out of thin air. In season 3, Gabriel warps time for Sam in “Mystery Spot” and sets him in a loop where he is stuck living the same day over and over and when he begs the trickster to stop, Gabriel leaves him in an alternate time line where Dean is dead and Sam goes rogue. In the end, Sam gets sent back to the true timeline on Wednesday with an alive Dean which creates an conundrum about time in the Supernatural Universe.
To understand this perceived outlier in the concept of time in Supernatural, we must ask just how powerful Gabriel really is and the extent of his control over time. Later on in season 5, when we learn Gabriel’s true identity in “Changing Channels,” we get a glimpse of how his illusion works. Gabriel doesn't physically create an alternate universe in which T.V. Land exists, he warps reality for the Winchesters and makes it seem like they’re jumping through channels even though they never leave the warehouse. With this in mind, we can safely assume that Gabriel only manipulated Sam’s perception of time in “Mystery Spot” instead of time itself, a power we also see elsewhere in the world with djinn and other reality warping monsters.
Even though angels can’t manipulate time, we know that they can traverse it. In the couple of times Cas has zapped Dean into the past, it has always been to prove a point about destiny. When he gets sent back to meet his parents, “In the Beginning,” he learns that Sam was always destined to suckle on the teat of demon blood and that he could do nothing to change the past and even partially contributes to the future he always knew. Dean was always supposed to be there when Mary made the deal with Azazel and Sam was always meant to be Lucifer’s vessel. When the boys bump into a cupid in their dealings with the Apocalypse throughout season 5, they learn that Jon and Mary were always meant to fall in love and Sam and Dean were always supposed to be born thus they were always destined to be the end. As Gabriel revealed, “…from the moment Dad flipped on the lights around here, we knew it was all gonna end with you. Always.”
Because time can’t be manipulated and destiny can’t be changed, then how can Sam and Dean have free will in a world that seems predetermined? We know that everything is betting on the Winchesters saying “yes” to be the vessels of the Apocalypse, but there shouldn't be so much trouble to bend the will of meager humans to their destiny unless the “end” means something different than we originally thought. Since God created time and destiny and set them so steadfastly in its way, I propose that the end everyone prophesies about is the end of God’s command over the Earth and all its inner workings. God is gone. He left heaven and earth and left the angels to maintain his creation and he doesn't seem eager to return to his post anytime soon so I argue that he planned for everything to happen right up to the Apocalypse, but because he loved humanity he gave them a choice to keep the world. Though, only if he relinquishes the control to a new god who is fit for the betterment of humanity. This god is the Winchesters as one being.
God planned failures in their past, however, to prepare the boys for godhood. Dean was dragged to hell and had his will broken. Without Sam there, he bowed under Alastair’s torture and gave into becoming the torturer. His greatest grievance is that he enjoyed inflicting pain on others and this weighs on him for the rest of his life as a mortal human, but it shapes his character as a fallible creature who must learn from his mistakes. Sam fell into the trap of gaining strength from demon blood and thinking he could use this double edged sword to make things better, but ended up setting Lucifer free because of his ego. Sam carries this guilt as well, knowing that he can be wrong when he puts too much trust in himself. These two pivotal moments in their characters are emphasized by the fact that these failures were executed when they alone didn't trust in each other. Dean realizes this in “Point of No Return” when he changes his mind about being Michael’s vessel and says,
“I don’t know if it’s being a big brother or what, but to me, you’ve always been this snot-nosed kid that I’ve had to keep on the straight and narrow. I think we both know that’s not you anymore. I mean, hell, if you’re grown up enough to find faith in me, the least I can do is return the favor. So screw destiny right in the face. I say we take the fight to them and do it our way.”
Thus, in “Swan Song” Dean solidifies that trust and sets the final stages in motion when he relents and says,
“I'm not gonna lie to you though. It goes against every fiber I got. I mean, truth is ...You know, watching out for you ... it's been kinda my job, you know? But more than that ... it's kinda who I am. You're not a kid anymore, Sam, and I can't keep treating you like one. Maybe I gotta grow up a little too. I don't know if we got a snowball's chance. But ... but I do know, that if anybody can do it .. it's you.”
In the final episode, everything that has been culminating for 5 seasons comes to fruition in a final test. Lucifer and Michael’s conversation explains God’s conundrum of destiny versus free will. Lucifer says, “Think about it, Dad made everything which means he made me who I am. God wanted the Devil.” He acknowledges that he is just a pawn in God’s master plan, both of them are and it seems like some of Sam’s free will rubs off on Lucifer. He begs Michael to just walk off the chess board but Michael says that he has his duties and his destiny to which he will always comply. The moment of truth rides in on a ’67 Chevy Impala and in that moment, the test has been completed. Dean’s presence changes the course of time and the Impala gives Sam the moment of control he needs to stop the Apocalypse from happening.
When all is said and done, Cas returns saying God brought him back. Whether that is God’s final gift or the will of Dean, it’s no matter because it’s what he says to Dean that completes the theory: “You got what you asked for, Dean. No paradise. No hell. Just more of the same. I mean it, Dean. What would you rather have? Peace? Or freedom?” And so ends the rein of God over the earth and thus begins the realm of free will for so the Winchesters willed it and so it was.
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