If Harry and Hermione are “platonic soulmates”, then congratulations you’ve just confirmed that the deepest bond in the story exists outside both canon marriages.
When the soulmate isn’t the spouse, the spouse is just canon. Harry and Hermione share a soul. Everyone else shares the epilogue.
One theme that I see running fairly strongly through S2 is the idea of identity.
I'll start with Nina and Maggie precisely because they chose to use the actresses' real names as their characters' names. I'm sure the actresses are back because they are respected and liked, but it also works to serve a purpose. That of emphasizing identity. Who someone is beneath the outward appearance. And maybe to get us to slow down and question our assumptions about someone when we see their face.
It's Nina Sosanya, the actress. But also Nina, the coffee shop owner. And, Satanic Sister Mary Loquacious and Mary Hodges, Tadfield Manor owner.
It's Maggie Service, the actress. But also, Maggie, the record shop owner. And "Skinny Latte". And Satanic Sister Mary Garrulous.
Is it Madame Tracy or Shax? Is it Shakespeare or Furfur?
With Gabriel we have Jim, James, and of course "Supreme Archangel".
Aziraphale is "Angel", Mr Fell, Mr McFell, Mr Wherever-He-Is and your partner. Even "Hey you!" from Gabriel.
Crowley is Crawley, Anthony J Crowley, [Mr] Six Shots of Espresso, [Mr] Struck By Lightning, Mr Crowley. And, from the Metatron, Demon.
Did I miss any other nicknames for our characters? Let me know in the comments.
By comparison, we have Beezelbub, same name and same being inside, but with a different face. Interestingly, Crowley knew it was Beez and simply noticed the different outward appearance. But Gabriel did not immediately recognize the new face as being the someone he knew.
Some of this may seem a bit so what? It's a show, so of course the actors are not the same as the characters. But how many viewers, upon realizing that Nina and Maggie were also in S1, upon recognizing that Shax looked like Madame Tracy from S1, thought that maybe they were still the characters they were from S1, even if only for just a moment? Because they had the same face. Because they looked like someone we knew.
Returning to Gabriel. Or Jim. But he's actually both, at least in my opinion. I think Jim was always in there, but smothered by Gabriel The Supreme Archangel. And by setting aside the memories of how he behaved as the Supreme Archangel, we get to see the nice angel that he used to be, or could be.
I take all this as a warning to be careful with my assumptions about who's who based only on seeing their face.
Now this is the part where I veer off into my own theory-land with all of this. I currently still hold the shared-soul theory because I haven't seen anything to outright debunk it. The theory that a part of Crowley has gone up to heaven within Aziraphale. This is where I think the edges have been blurred and the face we see in the elevator, riding up to heaven with The Metatron, looks like Aziraphale, but there's more inside than just Aziraphale.
The result of the first Sorcerer punished by the Sorcerer’s Council for defying their laws, the Renegade was cast into the primordial chaos for her attempts to control it, but there she drank deep of the twisted magics and grew strong. When the Iron Queen attacked the Council, she seized her chance and tore her way back into Ur-Eden, creating a rent in the world that became the Twisted Kingdom. In the wake of the Council’s Defeat, the Kingdom quickly inserted itself into the culture of Ur-Eden and became a staunch ally to the other kingdoms.
The Seers of the Celestial Kingdom tried to be neutral in the face of the Council as their philosophy demanded, made all the more surprising when the High Seer attained a seat on the Council. The High Seer died along with most of the Council when the Iron Queen attacked their fortress, but he left behind a construct to rule in his stead. The Seers are now able to remain neutral, but some wonder if this outcome was a part of some plan by the High Seer...
Another new Kingdom in the wake of the war, the Electric Kingdom was torn out of the Zephyrous Kingdom by the Storm Artisan’s rebellious daughter. The new Stormsinger consolidated the electrical magic in the Zephyrous Kingdom and broke away as an anarchist state. The gangs and militias that joined the Stormsinger supplied energy to the Iron Queen’s war machines and harried the Council’s forces whenever they could.