on the one hand dean’s Cosmic Purpose seems to be ‘becoming mindless weapon for someone else’. the Ultimate Killer, with all of the competence and none of the agency. this is reinforced when he’s john’s ‘blunt little instrument’, a ‘mindless obedient attack dog’; and when he becomes a student of alastair, another tool used in the tortures that sustain hell; in his role as the Michael Sword, nothing more than an occupied vessel in the apocalypse; when he becomes an extension of the mark and the blade and he gets pointed in whatever direction people need him to go; when god writes two different versions of a story in which he pulls the trigger on someone he loves.
on the other hand dean’s other Cosmic Purpose and designated role in the universe seems to be to Care about other people, to care about humanity, to give a damn because god certainly isn’t bothering to do it. it’s the role of the eternal caretaker, whose job is to provide love and emotional support to others on the smaller scale, and to keep the world from falling into disrepair on the larger scale. to save and to give love, and it’s to cry; the part of the person left behind to mourn and grieve in the wake of loss and devastation. to live their life in grief. your misery is the whole point
