S9E23 Metatron on Destiel
For my first post I’ll be talking about the scene leading up to Metatron’s defeat. He has just killed Dean and Castiel has broke the Angel Tablet and he has been summoned (I think?) to his office with Castiel:
Metatron accuses Castiel’s heroic act against him (breaking the angel tablet) not really being for the cause of the rebellion and leading the angels back to Heaven, but actually being for the sole purpose of saving Dean. And he is partly right, because while saving the Angels was absolutely important to him and was his main objective, so was Dean. At the moment Metatron doesn’t quite know to what extent he has lost the battle, and believes that he’s still won despite the broken Angel Tablet. Yet why does he make such a big deal about Dean?
This is his way of throwing one last punch in the fight and getting the last word. He wants to hurt Castiel and further remind Castiel of just how badly he has lost this battle, and rub it in. So he does it in the most powerful way he can emotionally.
He tells him that Dean is dead.
“That was your goal, right? I mean, you draped yourself in the flag of heaven, but ultimately, it was all about saving one human, right?”, Castiel breaks eye contact and then Metatron says slowly, “Well, guess what. He's dead, too”.
One can just imagine how the world shatters for Castiel, because so much of what he does is for and about Dean. The human who he shares “a more profound bond” with, and cares so much for has risked and gave up everything for (ex. in the S5 Michael and Lucifer arc, he says so in in S5e18 Point of No Return). Metatron, and many angels and demons have pointed out and mocked him for his attachment to Dean over and over again, but now Metatron is doing it as a stab of victory against Castiel. Even if he knew that he lost the battle against Castiel and the angels, he’s saying that Castiel has also lost the battle, for his loss is heavier. Castiel has visible tears in his eyes when he finds out, and even the transcript says: [CASTIEL's horrified eyes shoot to METATRON's face]. He looks so distraught and upset, it’s heartbreaking.