So, like I said a few posts ago, I'm rewatching Supernatural, and now, knowing how everything ends, some details just have a different meaning, or a new interpretation for me.
Today I watched Criss Angel is a Douchebag (4x12). For some context to those who might have forgotten: Dean just came back from hell, Sam's getting 'help' from Ruby to learn how to use his 'psychic superpowers' (which means he's drinking demon blood). Meanwhile, the brothers are trying to find Lilith and stop her from breaking the 66 Seals that will bring the apocalypse.
I transcribed one of the dialogues between Sam and Dean from this episode that hit me hard. Check it out:
DEAN: Man, I hope I die before I get old. Whole thing seems brutal, don't it?
SAM: You think we will?
DEAN: What?
SAM: Die before we get old.
DEAN: Haven't we both already?
SAM: You know what I mean, Dean. I mean, do you think we'll still be chasing demons when we're 60?
DEAN: No, I think we'll be dead. For good.
[Sam chuckles]
What? You wanna end up like Travis, huh?
Or Gordon, maybe?
SAM: There's Bobby.
DEAN: Oh, yeah. There's a poster child for growing old gracefully.
SAM: Maybe we'll be different, Dean.
DEAN: What kind of Kool-Aid you drinking, man?
Sammy, it ends bloody or sad. That's just the life.
SAM: What if we could win?
DEAN: Win?
SAM: If there's a way we could just... put an end to all of it.
For those who watched the series finale, it's like Dean was almost seeing the future, which is not that difficult, because he's always very realistic about the life of a hunter, while Sam's more optimistic, or hopeful, maybe.
The thing is, Dean never got the chance to get old. And he knew from the beginning he probably wouldn't, but that doesn't mean he didn't want to. Sam, on the other hand, got old and got to fulfill a wish he expressed at the end of this very episode, when he says to Ruby that he doesn't wanna keep hunting when he gets old.
What I mean is, everything Dean did (including dying the way he did), was so his little brother could have the life he always wanted. Sam's life would be happier with Dean around? Maybe so, but he also could never have the chance to get married and have a kid. The way I see it, Dean would never stop hunting, as long as there's evil in the world, and Sam would continue hunting with him. Dean could never marry someone knowing the person could be in danger because of their relationship. It's absolutely a hero thing, and that's what Dean Winchester was.