Okay so you know how everyone (myself included) is making jokes about how Crowley and Aziraphale didn’t actually do anything? I love those posts because they’re a) funny and b) emphasize the thematic importance of humans—particularly the next generation of humans—being the ones to enact change. BUT I don’t actually agree with those posts.
Aziraphale and Crowley did something very, very important. For a brief moment they were truly excellent dads to Adam.
Hear me out. At the start of the story they set out to be godfathers of the antichrist, hoping to provide enough saving and damning between them that it all cancels out. Things obviously go pear shaped, but it’s during that moment when Crowley stops time that they’re finally able to focus on the right child. Except now, instead of trying to influence Adam they accept him. Fully. Aziraphale and Crowley act as parents should by:
Treating Adam as an individual worthy of respect. It would have been super easy to try and control him and to justify that control with, “Well we’re celestial beings thousands of years old and you’re a mortal child.” Anyone who reads my RWBY metas know that I do think there’s something to be said for age and experience, but in this case it’s more a matter of acknowledging that kids have a voice that deserves to be heard. “We’ll need to think of something else,” Crowley says. “Being a kid isn’t a bad thing to be,” Aziraphale tells him.
They accept who Adam is. Aziraphale admits that he’d hoped Adam would be heaven incarnate, but he’s not and the implication is Aziraphale was wrong to expect that in the first place. Insert literally any situation where parents have rigid ideas about how their kids should turn out here. Our Ineffable Husbands bypass that in the final hour, realizing that being Adam—human incarnate—is far better than anything they could have imagined for him. He’s his own person, not a construct based on their expectations.
They accept whoever Adam might be in the future. Aziraphale then follows that up with, “Whatever happens, for good or for evil, we’re here beside you.” Do people realize what kind of rare as fuck support that is?? The angel will stand by him even if he’s bad. The demon will stand by him even if he’s good. They tell him plain as day that no matter what he decides or what the outcome of that decision is, they’re going to support him, full stop. That’s huge.
And that’s what gives Adam the strength to stand up to Satan. Before this he’s questioning himself—“I’m just a kid”—but with both of them beside him (taking his hands as a further gesture of support) he’s confident enough to not only face Satan, but change reality itself. And of course, Adam summons Mr. Young, another dad who has done right by him throughout the story.
Good Omens is a love story. It’s a love story on multiple levels: queer love, platonic love, love for a deity, love of humanity… parental love. I adore the “lol you could remove these two dorks from the story and nothing would change” posts as much as the next fan, but at a fundamental level I think they miss something crucial. Crowley and Aziraphale manage what neither God (who condemned questioning angels) nor Satan (currently condemning a disobedient Adam) were able to accomplish: accepting your child exactly as they are. They set out to do something Epic over an eleven year span. Then ended up doing something seemingly simple in just a few, stolen seconds. It’s up to the audience to realize that the latter is just as important as the former. Perhaps even more-so.
Their unconditional love literally helps save the world.
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