#speculation masterlist

[littlehollyleaf]

S11 Speculation List

As always, some things will be variations on previous season spec wherever a version of the original idea is still possible.

1) Carry over spec: Dean is possessed by Cas. For ANY REASON AT ALL I JUST WANT IT PLS! (potentially it could be a way of combating Amara’s control over Dean, as weakly postulated here). BREAKING NEWS - Dean may consent to Cas possessing him in order to save Cas from the Cage or separate him from Casifer (depending on where Cas has ended up now Luci is in Cas’ vessel).

2) Carry over spec: Cas removes his grace and becomes fallen/human again. JUST BECAUSE. And hey, why not let’s keep the following here as well since they are technically still possible? Even if there isn’t compelling reason for them to happen atm:

2a) Cas removes his grace by transferring it to Dean, this transference may happen via kiss ;p (more on this here and here).

2b) As above but taking on Cas’ grace also (temporarily) ‘angelifies’ Dean (see here)

3) Vague carry over spec: Lucifer possesses Cas, as part of a deal to get Sam out of the cage (kind of a carry over, because last season had spec that CROWLEY might possess Cas, so this is a similar flavour, albeit a strikingly different scenario). As with a Crowley possession, I feel that this scenario also has the potential to explicitly textualise deancas (as explained with Crowley here)

3a) In order to free Sam from the Cage, Cas trades places with him, trapping himself in the Cage with Lucifer

3b) In order to save Sam from the Cage, Cas agrees to being possessed by Michael

4) Carry over spec: Crowley ends up working with Metatron and/or it’s revealed that he and Metatron had dealings in the past. Because why not?

5) Carry over spec: Dean performs the Trials to close the gates of Hell. *shrug* I mean, he still could, right?

6) Amara slowly comes to accept/embrace/like humanity/the world as it is, accepting the importance of free will - potentially reaching this way of thinking via falling in love with Dean OR via realising that she is NOT in love with Dean (see here, here and here)

7) Amara and god somehow merge together as two halves of one whole being (like, this SORT OF HAPPENED?), like dark!Charlie and light!Charlie. 

8) Amara possesses or otherwise merges with Dean (an example of this theory discussed in part over here)

9) The First Blade is used against Amara (see here)

10) Amara merges with and/or stands in opposition to Lucifer (see here)

11) Amara bodyswaps with Dean (see here)

12) Cas is possessed by god (see here and here)

13) Cas makes a deal with Metatron

14) Dean (and Sam) do ~something dramatic to make a Cas who is feeling unloved aware that he is, in fact, loved (PISSED THIS IS IN STRIKETHROUGH just fyi...)

15) Amara protects/saves Cas from danger/death, or specifically from being possessed by Lucifer (see here), perhaps because Dean asks her to or because she realises Dean cares for Cas

15a) In doing so Amara is killed/destroyed, having sacrificed herself for Cas (and Dean), thus earning redemption via death

16) Amara possesses Cas

17) Dean consents to being possessed by Luci to free/save Cas (see here)

18) Dean becomes the new Death (see here)

19) Cas turns out to be vital to defeating Amara, perhaps because he possesses a special (potentially god-given) power key to the task - this power could be that he is ‘god’s chosen’ (see here) and/or a Hand of God.

20) Dean and Amara end up in the ‘empty’ that Billie talked about, possibly after Dean merges with Amara, with Dean throwing them both into this ‘empty’ as a means to defeat her.

[littlehollyleaf]

Simplified bingo version of the Spec List

I thought I might as well make it a tradition

(updated the Spec List as a result of putting this together as well, annotating it more comprehensively and adding 2 additional theories I discovered on S09′s List that were still relevant and hadn’t been carried over)

[littlehollyleaf]

S10 Speculation List

Thought it was time to bust out another one of these babies :) 

Some things have rolled over from last season, some things are new. 

1) Carry over from last season spec: Dean is on the verge of embracing the Mark of Cain and the Blade (in this case again), but Sam and/or Cas get through to him at the last minute as part of a yellow crayon (or Power of Love) moment (acting as a nice piece of ‘literary symmetry’ to Swan Song or Goodbye Stranger eg. see here or here- to complete to symmetry with Swan Song the Impala might be involved, as speculated about here and here). 

1a) Dean is on the verge of embracing the Mark of Cain and the Blade and thus becoming a demon again, putting Cas in the position of having to honor Dean's request in The Things We Left Behind that Cas kill him if such a scenario should occur - except Cas can't do it.

2) Carry over from last season spec: Dean is possessed by Cas, perhaps as a means of destroying the Mark of Cain, perhaps as a means of helping cure/heal Cas of the effects of his stolen grace, perhaps both (al a Gadreel-Sam). Depending on the circumstances this may be a very temporary possession, over and done with by the end of the finale. Or the finale could end with Dean possessed by Cas as a cliffhanger, perhaps with something happening to Cas’ usual vessel that prevents him from returning to it. Early S11 episodes may then involve Dean and Cas sharing headspace and Dean’s body while TFW work on a way to either get Cas a new vessel or retrieve his original one (eg. see here, here and here, also here, here and here).

3) Carry over from last season spec: Cas removes his stolen grace and becomes fallen/human again.

3a) Cas removes his stolen grace by transferring it to Dean to ‘purify’ him of the Mark of Cain, this transference may happen via kiss ;p (more on this here and here).

3b) As above but taking on Cas' grace also (temporarily) 'angelifies' Dean (see here)

4) Carry over from last season spec: Cas regains his own grace 

4a) Cas finds his own grace but instead of taking it on himself he uses his grace to cure/purify Dean of the Mark of Cain (more on this here and here).

4b) As above but taking on Cas' grace also (temporarily) 'angelifies' Dean (see here) - look I just have a ~thing for angel!Dean okay??  

4c) Instead of finding the grace taken from him, Cas extracts remnants of his grace from Claire Novak left behind when he possessed her in S04 - this may restore him to full angel status OR it may allow him to ‘regrow’ his own grace somehow OR it may be just enough of his own grace to burn up the stolen grace and leave him human/fallen (see here). 

4d) Grace extracted from Claire is used as part of a spell to track down the rest of Cas’ actual grace (see here).   

5) Carry over from last season spec: Crowley possesses Cas, perhaps as part of a plan to hold him hostage to ensure Dean uses the Blade (acting as a nice parallel to the way Abaddon possessed Colette to try and make Cain keep using the Blade eg. see here). This scenario could also be used as a means of explicitly textualising deancas (see here or here for the creepy version!)

5a) Rowena, as part of a Lady Macbeth type plan to become joint ruler of Hell with Crowley (or ruler of Hell via manipulating Crowley into being a puppet King), has Crowley possess Cas or has Cas kidnapped in order to use Cas as leverage with Dean, forcing Dean into becoming a weapon of Hell (more discussion over here)

5b) As 5a, but instead of making Dean a weapon of Hell, Rowena fakes Cas' death and blames it on Crowley, hoping to goad Dean into killing Crowley so she alone can take the throne of Hell.

6) Carry over from last season spec: Crowley ends up working with Metatron and/or it’s revealed that he and Metatron had dealings in the past.

7) Dean performs the Trials to close the gates of Hell as a means of purifying himself from the Mark of Cain (see here and here).

8) Cole Trenton turns out to be the same kind of supernatural monster his father was (which is perhaps a Kumiho - see here), manifesting once he reaches a specific age (thus implying his son will as well). The Winchesters end up helping him control his monster side, possibly aided by Cole's wife, who is able to get through to him at a time when the monster part of his identity is overwhelming him via a power of love moment (see here and here).

8a) Cole's older brother turns out to be the same kind of supernatural monster their father was (with the implication that Cole will be too) and Cole ends up helping his brother control his monster side, perhaps via a power of love moment (see here). 

9) The 'source of the river' Metatron talked about turns out to refer to:

Lucifer

God

the power of Heaven (perhaps the angel or demon tablet)

Abel

Sam

John Winchester or the concept of him as Dean perceives him

Purgatory 

10) Dean is unable to remove the Mark of Cain and instead learns to live with it as part of him, potentially making Dean immortal. 

11) To cope with the Mark, Dean shares it between himself, Sam and Cas, perhaps by literally transferring one line from the Mark to each of them (see here and here)

11a) Dean shares the Mark with Cas, or even transfers all of the Mark to Cas, as a way to burn up Cas' stolen grace before the grace kills Cas (see here and here)

12) Sam works with, or makes a deal with, Rowena in an attempt to find a magical cure for the Mark of Cain (see here and here)

13) Hannah rips out her grace (possibly falling and being reborn in the process al a Anna) in order to give Cas more grace. 

14) Hannah takes Claire Novak as a vessel.

15) Sam makes a deal with Lucifer, as the original creator of the Mark, to save Dean (mimicking how Cain ‘saved’ Abel).

15a) This involves Sam saying ‘yes’ to Lucifer, leaving us in a variation of End!Verse - with Cas weakening/becoming more human mimicking future!Cas’ loss of wings/powers, and Sam becoming Lucifer!Sam (see here and here)

16) Crowley ends up sacrificing himself to protect Dean, but also as a form of suicide, potentially mirroring how Meg died (see here)

17) Sam attempts to take Cas’ grace from him by force as a means of curing Dean of the Mark of Cain (see here).

17a) Sam attempts to extract remnants of angel grace from Claire Novak as a means of curing Dean of the Mark (see here). 

18) Rowena puts an ‘attack dog’ spell on Cas, perhaps as a means of distracting Dean from stopping her and Sam using the Book of the Damned (see here).

19) The finale ends with Dean leaving Sam and Cas to spend an undefined time alone and/or Sam, Dean and Cas ALL go separate ways at the end of the finale as part of a group decision to spend some time alone (see here and here).

20) Carry over from last season spec: While 'high’ on the power of the Mark of Cain, Dean badly hurts Sam and/or Cas 

21) Carry over from last season spec: Dean's right arm gets cut off in order to free him from the Mark of Cain (see here and here for discussion).

...

KEY

strikethrough = Jossed spec

bolded = canonised spec

explanations (where I feel they are required):

1a) Taken as canon by me as of 10.22, when Cas talks about watching Dean murder the world and refuses to fight him back.

4) Canon as of 10.18.

4a&b) Jossed as of 10.18 since Cas took back his grace, but a variation of this still possible - see 3a&b.

4c) Jossed as of 10.18, but extracting grace from Claire still theoretically possible for other reasons.

4d) Jossed as of 10.18.

8) & 8a) Taken as Jossed by me as of 10.15.

9) Jossed as of 10.17 (though the ‘river ends at the source’ concept may still be important symbolically).

12) Canon as of 10.18.

18) Canon as of 10.23

20) Canon as of 10.22.

[littlehollyleaf]

Since all the cool kids are doing it!

(a simplified, bingo card version of the Spec List)

(though I had to add in a few things to fill up the spaces)

[littlehollyleaf]

Current Speculation List

Thought I'd put together a handy dandy basic list of all the major spec for the end of the season, to compare to after the finale:

1) Dean 'goes darkside' and embraces the Mark of Cain and the Blade completely, which possibly transforms him into a demon and/or Knight of Hell like Cain. We go into S10 with him separate from Sam and Cas, who must confront the possibility of having to kill him [canon as of 09.23 & 10.01]. There are several ways this darkside!Dean scenario might play out, all mostly the same but with varying details:

1a) Dean 'goes darkside' after killing Abaddon - with the act of killing her being the tipping point that pushes him over the edge into demonhood.

1b) Dean 'goes darkside' before he gets to the point of killing Abaddon and instead of killing her he joins with her as a Knight of Hell (very possibly after a bit of seduction/manipulation on her part - as speculated here).

1c) Once Dean has 'gone darkside' he becomes the one to win the campaign for Ruler of Hell instead of Abaddon and/or Crowley (perhaps by killing them both, or perhaps by subjugating them somehow)

1d) Sam 'cures' Dean of being a demon [canon as of 10.03], completing the 3rd Trial and closing the gates of Hell.

2) Dean is on the verge of embracing the Mark of Cain and the Blade completely, but Sam and/or Cas get through to him at the last minute as part of a yellow crayon (or Power of Love) moment (acting as a nice piece of 'literary symmetry' to Swan Song or Goodbye Stranger eg. see here or here- to complete to symmetry with Swan Song the Impala might be involved, as speculated about here and here).

2a) Having convinced Dean to give up on the hunt for Abaddon and the Mark of Cain and Blade, Sam and Cas hold Dean in the bunker while he 'dries out' (in parallel to Sam in When the Levee Breaks eg. see here)

2b) Alternatively, having FAILED to convince Dean to give up on the hunt for Abaddon and the Mark of Cain and Blade, Sam and Cas hold Dean against his will in the bunker while he 'dries out.' [canon as of 09.23]

3) Dean is possessed by Abaddon. We go into S10 with possessed!Dean separate from Sam and Cas, beginning S10 with Sam and Cas working together to try and figure out how to kill Abaddon without harming Dean.

4) Dean is possessed by Cas. Depending on the circumstances this may be a very temporary possession, over and done with by the end of the finale. Or the finale could end with Dean possessed by Cas as a cliffhanger, perhaps with something happening to Cas' usual vessel that prevents him from returning to it. Early S10 episodes may then involve Dean and Cas sharing headspace and Dean's body while TFW work on a way to either get Cas a new vessel or retrieve his original one (eg. see here, here and here)

5) While 'high' on the power of the Mark of Cain and the Blade, Dean badly hurts Sam and/or Cas (eg. see here) [canon as of 10.22]

5a) (also a variation on #1) Dean 'goes darkside' as a result of killing Sam - perhaps because the Blade is somehow 'activated' (as in - completes the transformation of its bearer into a demon and/or Knight of Hell) by the bearer killing their brother like Cain did to Abel. This may cause the series to end with Sam apparently dead, or Sam may be subsequently revived, say by Cas (see discussion here or here or here).

5b) As above, but the Blade is not 'activated' by the bearer killing their brother, but simply by shedding their brother's blood.

6) Cas removes his stolen grace and becomes fallen/human again.

6a) Cas removes his stolen grace by transferring it to Dean, perhaps to 'purify' him of the Mark of Cain (this transference may happen via kiss ;p)

6b) Cas uses up his stolen grace to revive Sam from the scenario in 5) (see here).

7) Cas regains his own grace [canon as of 10.18].

8) Cas' vessel (ie. Jimmy's body) becomes corrupted somehow by his stolen grace, meaning he can no long safely reside within it. 

9) TFW succeed in reversing Metatron's spell and Cas returns to Heaven with the other angels, locking the gates behind them, leaving Cas separated from Sam and Dean (with the potential promise of meeting again when Sam and Dean die). This may be Cas' choice, or possibly an unwanted necessity if in order to reverse Metatron's spell Cas is required to return to Heaven and be trapped there for some reason (eg. perhaps the spell can only be reversed by Cas and only for a limited time, so Cas must be in Heaven 'holding the doors open' as it were, and in order to make sure as many angels make it back as possible he must also be in Heaven when the time runs out and the doors close).

9a) Cas is somehow 'doomed' to Heaven in the same way Dean was doomed to Hell in S03, leading to the beginning of S10 being a mirror to the beginning of S04, with Dean rescuing Cas from paradise - ie. as opposed to raising him from perdition (see the very end of the musings here).

10) Dean's blood turns out to be a necessary ingredient for the reversal of Metatron's spell (the complimentary aspect of the 'grace of an angel in love with a human' ingredient of the spell itself, ie. 'the essence of the human who returns the angel's love') - a crack theory of mine, but thought I might as well include it!

10a) Or alternatively - Dean's soul/life turns out to be the key to re-opening Heaven (perhaps requiring him to succumb to the Mark of Cain and thus demonise his soul). As discussed here.

note on 10) - crossed out because the reversal of Metatron's spell turned out to not really be a ~thing, what with the 'backdoor' into Heaven allowing passage to and from it. HOWEVER, there has yet to be official word on the overall 'gates of Heaven' situation (eg. are souls still trapped in the veil, or do they cross over via the backdoor, or what?), so the spell MIGHT still be in need of reversing, in which case some of 10) might still be on the cards :p

11) Abaddon possesses Sam or Cas. 

11a) Dean stabs (or tries or seems to stab) possessed!Cas in an attempt to kill Abaddon, thus paralleling what happened with Cain and Colette (eg. see here).

11b) As b) but with Sam :p

12) In order to prevent himself from hurting anyone (either while 'high' on the Mark of Cain or while possessed by Abaddon) Dean kills, or attempts to kill, himself - perhaps by stabbing himself with the Blade (eg. see here - also includes an additional summary of various possible season ending scenarios written up in more detail than here, so worth a look for that!). Depending on the effects of the Mark, it's possible this attempt will fail, because the Mark may have gifted Dean with the same immortality Cain seems to have, which may prevent Dean from be able to kill himself.

[canon as of 09.23... kinda... since Dean's kamikaze attack on Metatron was something like Dean attempting to kill himself in order to prevent himself from hurting anyone. And, of course, said attempt at death DID fail due to Mark of Cain immortality] 

12a) Addition to the above - Dean stabs himself after killing Cas. Their deaths transport them to an angel/demon afterlife, mirroring Purgatory (see here).

13) Dean, aware of and frightened of the monster the Mark of Cain is turning him into, begs Sam and/or Cas to kill him [canon as of 10.09].

14) A time travel scenario best explained by larinah over here :)

15) Crowley possesses Cas, perhaps as part of a plan to hold him hostage to ensure Dean uses the Blade to kill Abaddon (acting as a nice parallel to the way Abaddon possessed Colette to try and make Cain keep using the Blade eg. see here)

16) Crowley ends up working with Metatron and/or it's revealed that he and Metatron had dealings in the past (eg. see here and here)

17) Dean's right arm gets cut off in order to free him from the Mark of Cain. Dean may perform the amputation himself or get someone to do it for him (eg. Gadreel, Cas, Sam). Or someone may perform the amputation without his consent in order to stop him turning into a monster (probably/possibly crack, based on the idea of the Mark being like a track mark and this season being the Empire Strikes Back of a 3 arc structure :p - see here and here for discussion)

18) Dean gives up the Blade as part of a deal to save Cas' life eg. giving Metatron the Blade in exchange for Cas' grace (see here)

19) Angel!Dean

19a) Dean is angelified by Cas' grace (see here)

19b) The Mark turns Dean into some kind of Angel of Death (as mused on here and here...and other places I lack links for sorry!)

20) Cas dies or appears to die (perhaps as a result of #5)

20a) This is what leads to #1 (see here and here)

...

Simplified in bingo card form.

Additional possibilities in alternative bingo card over here! XD

...

And, of course, various of these could happen together - #3 could well happen after #2, #4 could happen because of #3 or #8, #5 #6 and #7 could all be interconnected, #5 could lead to #1 or to #13, #2 could lead to #15 and so on...