#aziraphale analysis

[queenofthearchipelago]

"Go and tell your friend the good news..."

That's what the Metatron said to Aziraphale before the Final Fifteen. And I wanna take a second to talk about the word choice there.

The Good News

In Christianity, people tell each other to "spread the good news." They believe it is part of their purpose to spread the good news.

And what is the good news?

That Jesus died on the cross for their sins, so they can be saved from death, and live forever in Heaven with their Heavenly Father, their God who loves them. All they have to do is believe.

So when the Metatron tells Aziraphale to "tell his friend the good news." He's not saying that to be friendly. He's not saying this is an amazing and happy thing. What he is saying is "Angel, serve your purpose. Spread the good news."

He's telling Aziraphale to do his job.

It was an order. And that's why the Metatron walked in after the Final Fifteen assuming that Aziraphale was coming with him. Because simply by having that conversation with Crowley in the first place, he'd already said yes to the job of being an angel again.

He spread the good news.

You can be saved. From Hell, from death. You can come live forever with your soulmate who loves you. You can be saved.

"Heaven is the side of good."

He did his job.

This is it, the moment he was no longer a renegade angel. He going in to work.

And this?

Just, maybe let's analyze the final fifteen with the assumption that Aziraphale was already working the moment he walked into the bookshop. I think we'll find some value there. And perhaps some more insight into his intentions. Did he actually want Crowley to come with him? What did the Metatron say that Aziraphale felt he had to return to being a working angel after just one conversation? All we actually know is what Crowley knows. What Aziraphale decided to tell him about what the Metatron said, after all.

And more importantly...

Was the Metatron using the phrase "the good news" as a threat? That Jesus was coming back and everything would be destroyed? That Crowley would die and be sent to Hell forever if he didn't accept the good news?

Or maybe that Crowley wouldn't just die. Maybe he'd be destroyed if he said no.

Or maybe...

Or maybe Aziraphale thought it was all a trap, and he didn't want Crowley to come. Hence the insults about Hell being the bad guys among other strange choices in what he said.

All I know is that Aziraphale is a horrible liar. But he can do it when he needs to.

"You have my word as an angel."

An angel.

An angel.

He can lie. As an angel.

Not Crowley's angel. Heaven's angel.

He can lie as an angel.

Maybe Aziraphale does know better than thinking Heaven is the side of good. But he's clocked into work and he's lying his ethereal face off for the greater good of saving Crowley and hopefully Earth too.

[gayofthefae]

I saw a post saying that Aziraphale wants to see Crowley as happy as he was when he was an angel. What he doesn't understand was that he wasn't that happy because he was an ANGEL. That was ignorant bliss. It started when he found out God's Plan. Going back to God can't undo what's been done, what's been found out. The same thing is true. He wants to see him that happy again so he doesn't see that that won't give it anymore and refuses to try the thing that now will because he assumes Crowley is settling for not having the stars again.

[queenofthearchipelago]

My good omens chess metaphor becomes a LOT more interesting when we remember that over the history of the world, Aziraphale has both been a knight and a bishop

[queenofthearchipelago]

Okay but let's actually think about Heaven in season 3

I know we love our angsty fic, but in all seriousness, Aziraphale won't be literally alone in Heaven come season 3. I bet Aziraphale will have plenty of scenes with the Metatron either giving him orders or "guiding" him through his decisions. I imagine that Michael will be there rolling her eyes at Aziraphale and being very frustrated that she isn't in charge. Maybe she's even actively working to undermine Aziraphale without angering the Metatron where she can. Actually, I can imagine this is what the Metatron is hoping for. I imagine Saraqueal will try to help Aziraphale where she can. She's a powerful archangel but after her scenes with Crowley, I think she's more on our side than we originally thought. I think the Heavenly dynamic is gonna be Michael and Uriel being antagonistic towards Aziraphale, Metatron being manipulative as always, and Saraqueal being a help when stuff starts going down.

He's not alone up there, and his relationships with these other angels is going to matter more than ever. Heaven's politics overall are going to matter hugely. Literally, the last time we saw Micahel and Uriel, the Metatron was threatening them with the idea that they did something wrong. Aka, the worst thing an angel can do. How is this going to impact season 3?

The end is nigh and all of creation's most powerful beings are going to be playing the world's greatest game of chess and it starts on the Heavenly plains.

A white pawn moves forward one space on the board.

A renegade angel steps into an elevator.

[queenofthearchipelago]

I think now is a good time to remind everyone that Heaven was going to DESTROY Aziraphale for fraternizing with a demon. They were going to throw him into Hellfire for not hating Crowley. There was no trial. And these are the details that Aziraphale DOES know about. THIS is the stuff that Crowley DID tell him about after the body swap. Aziraphale isn't stupid nor is he clueless. His only charge was knowing a demon. THIS is why they call him a traitor. Not for stopping the end of the world but for doing it WITH A DEMON. Of course the precious, pure of heart angel got excited for Crowley to be an angel again. They BOTH get to be safe that way.

[queenofthearchipelago]

"Little restaurants where they know you."

Aziraphale likes being known. So much so that one of his earthly loves is the community he's made for himself. And Crowley knows this is true so much so that he felt the need to remind Aziraphale that this is something he will lose if Armageddon happens.

Aziraphale likes being known and Crowley knows that no one in Heaven knows him.

Aziraphale is unknown in Heaven.

[queenofthearchipelago]

It's completely crazy but Aziraphale did completely destroy a book just to hide a gun in it. He did that. Having a gun around for an emergency was important enough to lose knowledge over.

[inconveniently-discorporated]

Great. Now I'm having self-reflective feelings when it comes to how much I relate to Aziraphale. 🥲

Not putting this one under the cut because there's no pictures, but there will be spoilers and I'll tag as well, so scroll on by if you'd like.

I talked a little bit earlier how I can relate to the feeling of wanting control, and how when that was offered to me by a previous job with a toxic environment, I took it even though I had misgivings about it. And even though I wasn't happy, I was still afraid to leave because I didn't want to lose that control.

Well, I forgot about another aspect of this situation that I can COMPLETELY relate to Aziraphale about.

It's the part where Aziraphale comes in and excitedly starts chattering about how he thinks he was wrong about the Metatron, and how he wasn't so bad after all.

Holy SHIT can I relate to that.

You see, I feel like I am simultaneously petty as fucking hell (cross me and I WILL remember exact dates and quotes), while also desiring to forgive really easily. And like Aziraphale, it's not all completely selfless -- a lot of it is, it simply takes a lot of energy to be angry at someone, and it's really inconvenient to have to work around it if the other person has something you need (e.g., a coworker you need to work with, a shop owner who finds the records you want).

But I also... just generally want to believe that people are good? And I think Aziraphale does too.

One of my former coworkers was extremely toxic. One moment, they would be perfectly fine and get along with the team and actually be helpful. The next, they would be PURPOSELY awful to people with zero remorse. Just saying some of the most hurtful things, being a bully.

What hit me hard is how much I wanted to believe that maybe things could change. I could SEE that glimmer of a good person deep down! Moments of compassion or simply deep understanding. We would go weeks without incident, and I would start to think, "I think there's real progress being made! Maybe I really was wrong about them, maybe there's a reason they acted that way before."

I think that was what kept me there the longest: I kept forgiving them (plural, because it wasn't just this one coworker) for doing hurtful things again and again and again. And I also internalized the treatment as something I was not faultless in -- if only I was better, if only I was not so weird, if only I fit in or understood.

And I see this happening again and again throughout my life. I have a hard time judging intentions, sort of. It's more like, my judgement is STRONGLY influenced by my insecurities and my feeling that most people are generally good and have reasons for what they do.

But I don't know any other way to be? I'm not always wrong. I have someone like Crowley in my life, who is far more suspicious of others -- but I don't feel like they're always right either? It's just HARD, because I would rather believe someone and give them the benefit of the doubt, but I also need to make sure I don't get hurt.

There's no point I'm trying to make. Only that I can relate to why Aziraphale trusts the Metatron. And, damn, Neil did it again with a character that I can feel in the pit of my soul.