The Challenge and the Response (or, Crowley and the Metatron duel for control)
Crowley and Aziraphale have been playing a precarious game of chess ever since Jimbriel showed up. But when the Metatron arrives, the stakes in the game immediately escalate. The possible threat of the Book of Life quickly fades as a greater threat establishes itself. We feel the immediate rise in tension as he is recognized. Every character in the room visibly reacts. Everyone except Crowley, that is.
Crowley won't submit so easily. The Metatron knows a thing or two about the strategies of power, but Crowley is a master of subtle resistance. For the sake of his Angel, and the peaceful, fragile existance they are clinging to in this desperate moment, Our Beloved Demon has a few tricks to try.
The game intensifies. Let the Power Dynamics begin...
(reformatted a bit - sorry for any confusion if you saw the first version!)
From the moment the Meta-Strategist enters the bookshop, he immediately sets himself up as the reigning authority in the room. He takes control of the space, puts everyone on their back foot. It's a power move -- he wants everyone present to feel intimidated, uncertain. Even his old-fashioned slang isn't actually meant to put anyone at ease. His blustering confidence quickly hones into a knife-blade. During his first few minutes, he works his way through the room in a show of dominance, dismissing or diminishing each archangel or angel in the room except for Saraquel, whose superpower is "being overlooked."
He set himself up with two immediate strategic advantages. He reveals that he can hear through walls/doors, leaving everyone wondering just how powerful he is, and how much he really knows. He also seems to have expected that he wouldn't be recognized. Whether from a concealment miracle or something else, it adds to his control. Like a puppeteer, he holds the strings.
Everyone in the room, at some point, signals their submission to the Metatron's authority. But not Crowley.
Crowley is prepared. He doesn't react at all. He's in smooth, cool, enigmatic mode. He had already spotted the Metatron when he got Maggie and Nina out (explained here), and established his own position in the room before the Meta-Villain arrived. His suave, go-with-the-flow survival-mask is on, but there's more to it this time. This time, Crowley doesn't want to be overlooked.
He's signaling that he's the force to be reckoned with in the room. A daring, dangerous move. He's trying to protect Aziraphale...
The Metatron notices, without appearing to notice.
I think there's been a lot of misunderstanding about the Metatron's old-fashioned mannerisms. He's decisively charming, at first in an eccentric great-uncle sort of way. However, all of that lovely old-fashioned slang and jovial manner with his coffee cup isn't actually meant to humanize him. It's a ruse. A con job. Piffle. (He quickly makes that clear by systematically intimidating most of the beings in the room.) All of that charm is meant to convey Extreme Confidence. When power is at play, the most loudly confident person in a room "controls" the room. (Think CEOs and pushy salesmen!)
Within moments, his mannerisms shift and there's nothing in his body language that suggests he wants to put anyone at ease, or to appear to be at anyone else's level. Not Aziraphale's, not anyone's. Despite his avuncular appearance, his movements convey control and authority. His back is erect and his chin up, his speech is brisk and his tone is patronizing. He looks intently at each being he speaks to with a piercing gaze like a predatory hawk.
The Meta-Machinator takes control of the room within moments, even before everyone recognizes him. Every eye is on him. Everyone (except Crowley) turned towards him. He is now the centerpoint. He has the control. Where Michael was strident and threatening and tense, he is the contrast, calm and relaxed, speaking casually and making her look (and feel) absolutely ridiculous. The Top Authority doesn't need to yell to show they are in charge.
He's also providing proof that he's familiar with how humanity speaks and operates. He understands the London humans' rituals of beverage consumption, and can use rather obscure regional vernacular with familiarity.
This not only establishes his superior knowledge over the earth-clueless archangels, but he's also demonstrating to Aziraphale and Crowley that they do NOT have any advantage over him despite their 6000 year job experience on Earth.
He's essentially saying: I know your wiles, you two traitors. Don't think you can use any earth-tricks to "pull one over" on me or play word-games. I understand the language and culture here better than you suppose!
The Metatron is already laying the groundwork to disable Our Ineffables' communication with each other. Keep in mind, he's already established that he can HEAR when he's not in a room. He's signaling that he will hear whatever they say, and that he will understand any unusual words they attempt to communicate with.
Meanwhile, Crowely has deliberately posed himself to make a similar but different first impression. He's also trying to control the room. He doesn't react, he doesn't turn, or shift. He is the only person not centering on the Metatron. Crowley refuses to surrender to the Metatron's power grab.
We would normally expect him to be at his Angel's side, defending and protecting as Michael blusters and threatens. Instead, Crowley has already set the stage by placing himself aside from the jabbering chaos Michael creates. In power language, he's signaled that he's not part of that nonsense -- he's above it all.
Crowley is skilled at strategic body language, including seating-messages. We saw it in the flashbacks when a dashingly daring demon dramatically posed himself in the Bastille to completely fluster his Angel-in-distress. We also saw this in S2 when Muriel first arrived (there are so many mirrors and patterns in S2!). In that instance, Crowley's casual ease as he leans against his Angel is DARING Muriel to comment on their relationship. He's totally confident, oozing artificial charm, and, to be honest, is a bit possessive of Azi and more than a bit playfully predatory towards poor inexperienced Muriel -- he's daring this unknown angel to try to play a game they don't know the rules of and can't possibly win. He makes it clear that he's running the show.
Now we see a different performance for the Meta-Dastard. Crowley struck a calculated pose, in readiness, before the arrival. His sprawl across the chair signals confidence -- totally open and relaxed, and taking up as much space as his lanky form can manage. Being the first one seated in a prominent spot anchors the room, establishes dominance. Taking up a lot of space in a room by spreading out (or by gesturing broadly like Gabriel often does) signals ownership of the room, at least when power dynamics are at play.
Like the dominant cat who takes the belly-up position in a fight, Crowley is demonstrating that he already owns the room. It's his (and Azi's!) space, not the Meta-Dictator's! There's no tightness or self-protective curl in his relaxed posture. He shows he has no need to cringe or cower. He's trying to convey a total absence of fear. It's a challenge to the Metatron's attempted takeover of the bookshop.
Of course, that goes over like a lead balloon.
WHAT ABOUT YOU, DEMON? DO YOU KNOW ME?
Specifically asking Crowley is the Metatron's Power Move against him. A Challenge.
Some of it is in the thinly veiled disgust in the way he calls him "Demon." He wants to demean Crowley, to "put him in his place" by not calling him by name. It's disrespect. It's dismissive. His tone makes it clear that he believes a demon is a crawling, low, valueless thing.
However, the Metatron also specifically asks Crowley because the Metatron knows that Crowley was just in Heaven. He's asserting that knowledge and authority, but he's also assessing the being that he considers his primary threat -- the long-ago-angel ex-demon who keeps interfering with his plans.
And Crowley rises to the challenge.
There are layers to what both of them are communicating. It's innuendo, insinuation. Almost like coded language.
Do you know me? (These idiots don't recognize me, but I can see that you do. I'm in charge of Heaven. I know you were there and why you were there. How much did you see up there?)
Oh, I know you. (Damn straight I can take you on. Your tricks don't work on me. Saw plenty up there.) Last time I saw you, you were a big floating head... (Yeah, I saw the files too. I'm on to your schemes.)
Crowley doesn't play dumb. He chooses to respond with a power move. He's assessed that showing his hand (pardon the mixed metaphors!) is the strongest move. Speak with strength against a show of strength. Don't let the Metatron think you're an easy pawn.
Our beloved demon's response shows cleverness and courage. He's not intimidated by the Metatron's arrogance, and won't pretend to be. Unlike Azi, he doesn't need to. Crowley and the Metatron know where they stand with each other. Adversaries with a past that's alluded to but unrevealed to us. The Metatron despises Crowley, and the feeling is likely returned, at the very least for how the Metatron and heaven have treated his Angel for all these millenia.
However, Crowley is far more clever than the Metatron suspects, even with this confirmation that Crowley snuck into heaven, trotted around unrecognized, saw the files and knows the plan.
Because the Metatron just gave Crowley an opening to catch Aziraphale up a bit. A signal. Crowley is also informing Aziraphale what he saw up there. (There've been archangels and demons hanging around since he got back!) Azi knows what the Meta-Head looks like in heaven. He's seen the Big Floating Giant Head (in S1). So if Crowley has seen it, he must have found and accessed some significant information.
Crowley also just provided an opportunity for his Angel to reinforce the Metatron's mistaken belief that Aziraphale is a fool. They have to hide the fact that they both knew he would show up, and that Aziraphale also recognized him. (More on that in a minute!). It's one of the only advantages they have in this desperate situation.
Coded language and secret signals.
Ohhhh! The Metatron!
That's Aziraphale's "performance face." The one he's used for Gabriel, the exaggerated and silly, foolish, fawning mask he's used to protect himself in confrontations with the Supreme Archangel and his cronies in heaven.
It's a bit like the "good cop/bad cop" play. In this case, Crowley is the "bad cop." He's establishing that, if anyone is a challenge to the Metatron, it's him.
Keep looking at me. Focus on me. I'm the problem here, 'right?
The strategy sets up the "good cop" to be underestimated. Aziraphale purposely plays into it by playing the fool. In this case, it's not so that the "good cop" can get the information. It's so that Aziraphale in particular can be kept safe. An anti-power play, so to speak.
Even though Crowley is signaling that he's the potential challenge, any direct move to actually challenge the Metatron now would be dangerous -- both to himself and Aziraphale. Like a powerful snake that's guarded and watchful, not wanting trouble, Crowley stays almost perfectly still. He doesn't even gesture with his fingers as he speaks. He wants to minimize any risk to Azi, to keep the Metatron focused on him, and especially to NOT trigger the Meta-Menace into harming his Angel.
Unfortunately, in spite of Crowley's best attempts, the Meta-Dictator is literally the most powerful being in the room by virtue of his authority. He moves into the dominant position in this power duel from the moment he dismisses Crowley and focuses on Aziraphale. The last of the genial, jovial pretense is gone. He's pure predator behind a shallow veneer of cordiality.
Although Crowley remains in the room, still draped in that chair, he becomes totally peripheral. Helpless to interfere. He's lost the power game. The Metatron has stripped him of any feigned control he momentarily had of the situation.
And Our Ineffables have no idea what his actual plan is now.
*****
Btw, why do I feel certain that Azi recognized the Metatron? Let's look at that gif one more time:
Focus on Azi, if you will, as he turns to see who entered. If he actually thought it was an elderly human, our kind and protective angel would scurry over in a flurry of distracting babble to scoot the fellow out of harms way and out the door. Pillar-of-salt threats and so on...
Instead, Aziraphale actually does an intense double-take. He then raises his eyebrows and tilts his head in grave concern. And waits. No protective scooting. Just watchful waiting.
That look is not confusion. Is it trepidation? Dismay? If that expression was on Crowley's face, I'd probably call it anger.
Instead, Azi pretends ignorance until Crowley identifies the Big Floating Head. He plays the fool, weak and conciliatory and fawning, to stay under the Metatron's radar, and to keep him from knowing that they expected him to show up. Perhaps they can have a better chance if he underestimates them...
*****
It was a Reasonably Good Plan against a far more powerful adversary. They had tried to anticipate his arrival, to be prepared. If only the Metatron hadn't threatened, hadn't separated them to dissolve their strategy, hadn't given Azi an offer he had no freedom to refuse. if only he didn't unexpectedly have the ability to hear through walls and doors.
If only they could have compared notes and made a plan.
However...
You know me by now -- of course I think they scrambled for a plan! And I think this scene of subtle signals and power dynamics sets the stage to signal us about it. Communicating with nonverbals, hidden meaning and coded language. Mirrors and patterns. S2 is full of them. And I've been building a case after all, moment by moment.
Here are the 3 posts I mention and link in this post, if you're interested in checking them out, and another 2 you might want to make sure you've seen about the Final 15:
Crowley was Ready: The Moment of Recognition
A Hefty Jigger of Death: Coffee Checkmate
Worthy of Rescue, Worthy of Love: The Damsel-in-Distress Saga
Through the Window (Part I): The Metatron Could See In! (F15)
Through the Window Part II: Did Our Ineffables Know he was watching?
*****
Thanks for being interested, and for your love of Our Ineffables!
At 3am I was completely convinced that "Power Plays" needed a better title and a few format revisions. Yeah, I know 3am isn't the best time for those decisions... 😅 But I still think that last edit improved it! I do apologize for any confusion to those who saw the original, though.
As always, thanks so much for your support, for the first version, this version, or any of my musings and Ineffable ramblings!
Important F15 Discovery? (Was "Nothing Lasts Forever" code language after all?)
WHAT. IS. THIS?????
When I was totally-not-neurotically deep-diving for any possible clues about Aziraphale saying "Nothing lasts forever," I didn't expect to find a 1984 cult classic movie with a poster that coincidentally has Azirphale's earth-shattering words to Crowley on it. And coincidentally resembles the S2 Opening Title Credits ending. And that BOTH coincidentally match a poster from the 1946 Stairway to Heaven movie that Good Omens 2 keeps referencing and showing us images from...!!!
Three visual designs, extraordinarily similar, with a path -- or stairway --at almost identical angles leading to a glowing ball in the heavens on the upper right. It can't be random -- because THIS poster in the Opening is from the same 1946 movie!!!
Stairway to Heaven. Nothing Lasts Forever. Two fantasy love stories about lovers under threat from authoritarian structures, both connected to Good Omens 2.
I've recently posted Aziraphale is Not a Fool, with screenshot proof that he DID recognize the Metatron. Through the Window Part I gives step-by-step screenshot proof that the Metatron could clearly see them in the bookshop during the Final 15. Through the Window Part II shows screenshot proof that Aziraphale knew this the entire time, and was repeatedly signaling Crowley. By the time Crowley growls and says, "Right. Yes. So. We've known each other a long time...," we have definitive visual proof that he has seen the Metatron too.
Of course, the implications of this are HUGE...!! Crowley would never PLEAD while a dangerous enemy was watching and listening (Remember, the Metatron heard Michael's Book of Life Threat), and he would Absolutely Never give up and walk away knowing Aziraphale is being forced.
It's logical to conclude that he and Azi were scrambling for a plan, both trying to communicate in coded language. Apparently painfully miscommunicating. Possibly starting to panic. But trying.
(If you're muttering into your teacup that "no way Crowley knew, it was a breakup dammit stop twisting things", please take a few minutes to read Parts I & II and Not a Fool before continuing on. I don't want to give anyone a stress attack. If you read both and still disagree, well, as Simone & Chidi said in The Good Place, I respect your position.)
So, Anyway... I was hoping to relieve some of the guesswork about what the coded communication might mean... Then I stumbled across this too-weird-to-be-random Nothing Lasts Forever movie & poster.
And I'd REAAALLLLYYY like to tell you about the details, and about why these movie references in GO2 are so important...
Good Omens 2 loves to load us with connections and cues and clues. Some are red herrings, or homages to Sir Terry Pratchett, or simply inside jokes and pop culture Easter Eggs, like all the fun Doctor Who references. (Fezzes are cool, after all!)
There are books that echo meaningful bits of the GO plot, like A Tale of Two Cities and Jane Austin novels, and the repeated sightings of The Crow Road by Iain Banks. There's also plenty of references to old movies -- particularly Powell and Pressburger films.
Especially this 1946 P&P film, including the promo posters:
The movie was released in the UK as A Matter of Life and Death, but was called Stairway to Heaven for it's US release. A key element in the story is an escalator linking Earth to the afterlife -- the literal "stairway to heaven" that's shown in the promo poster on the right.
The other main version of the poster, the Lovers' Kiss (with a heavenly trial in the midground) is featured twice in Good Omens 2: Once in the Title Sequence's 1941 bombing, and again in the very first episode when Aziraphale is in Maggie's shop.
Stairway to Heaven/A Matter of Life and Death is a "fantasy-romance-drama", like Good Omens. It centers on a Love Story -- two people who fall deeply and devotedly in love yet heaven says they shouldn't have. The male lead, a WW2 RAF pilot, literally "falls from the sky" into a completely new life (Crowley??). There is opposition, risk of death and separation, a trip to heaven via that giant escalator, and a trial for his life and love, won, of course, through clever argument!
(For more about the movie itself, and possible GO S3 clues it holds, @sendarya does a wonderful analysis in her YouTube video Love or Law: Which is stronger.)
In one of the earliest scenes in GO2 E1, we see The Kiss promo poster framed and featured at the sunny window in Maggie's record shop, as if it's important. It's the only poster there that's NOT for a record album.
Meanwhile, we had already been shown this same Lover's Kiss poster in the opening title sequence. But this one is shattered. No Kiss.
Now it seems even more significant, because we've been told that the entire title sequence is loaded with clues and symbolism.
Peter Anderson, of Peter Anderson Studios, has talked about how clues are hidden "in plain sight" in the Good Omens title sequences, as well as "hints and teasing". (@fuckyeahgoodomens has a beautifully formatted post where Anderson discusses Creating the S2 Title Sequence..)
That's really important to know. Because this image is also part of the Good Omens 2 title sequence, and it bears a strong resemblance to the two posters, both with the path angle and the heavenly goal:
We see a similar image earlier when the bridge in space splits and spins, but this final scene is an actual stairway (or gravity-defying ramp, if we're being literal!) leading to the doors of heaven's elevator that becomes a brilliant round light. (More on that in my look at elevators in Going Up!)
Is Stairway to Heaven THAT important, though? Well, the movie also features the Chess book Jimbriel is using to try out gravity in S2 E3. That exact book is shown repeatedly, woven into the plot of Stairway to Heaven because, like GO, it's also a series of strategic "chess moves" to save his life and protect their love.
(This screenshot is from GO2 E3! I talk more about the Chess Metaphor here, and @rada-76 brilliantly explains a GO2-relevant Chess strategy here.)
Yeah, this P&P movie was apparently a Very Big Deal for GO2...
*****
**Okay, here's where we link all of this back to "Nothing Lasts Forever" and Azi and Crowley using coded language in the Final 15.
I've been convinced for ages that Azi's "Nothing lasts forever" was coded language. After all, Aziraphale went to night-school with the great cryptographer, Monsieur Rossignol! (Explained by @azfell-ajcrowley here.) And Our Ineffables both tried (unsuccessfully) to use cryptic codes in S1. So, I found an online script of A Matter of Life and Death, and scoured it looking for that line. Somewhere. Anywhere.... No luck.
Undaunted, I searched the phrase "nothing lasts forever movie", and it led to this weird gem and its promo posters:
Apparently, this was a bizarre 1984 sci-fi-fantasy-romance-drama with a very bizarre plot and starring some of the most brilliant and unique comic geniuses of its day. (Yes, that's a young Bill Murray!) Very obscure, but known to people who are passionate about old and weird movies.
It was never formally released, anywhere, except one viewing at Harkins Cinema in Thomas Mall in Phoenix, Arizona in September 1984. (Totally bizarre, right??) MGM completely canned the project, even though Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd kept trying to get it released. It never even made it to video/VHS/DVD. (See Wikipedia entry and Reddit)
BUT... Nothing Lasts Forever did get just a few cherished television airings in the early 1990's, including BBC2 in the UK in 1994. The writers and production team of GO are the ideal age to have seen this oddity! Apparently, this special showing was a REALLY BIG DEAL to fans.
It aired again in a Turner Classic Movies special series on January 4, 2015 as part of "TCM Underground" -- a series for movie junkies and people who love odd productions and metaphor-loaded visuals. My hubby and I actually saw part of it, but I had jumped in mid-stream, drifted out again, and never knew the title. It was a Very. Weird. Movie. (There are some random movie clips on YouTube if you want to check it out!)
Of course, I can't prove they saw it. But I can certainly imagine its appeal to the GO production team. Maybe it was nothing more than coincidence -- until I saw the movie promo art, especially the stairs!
You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? (click to enlarge it for a closer look)
Another similarity is that, in the GO Title Sequence, the figures climbing upwards make a black and white pattern. Sort of like a keyboard...
The movie itself is very metaphorical and bizarre. It ranks as a "cult classic", and fans seem to gain an elite status if they actually got to see it somewhere. (Hello UK BBC2 1994!)
The gist is that it's partly a love story, loaded with secret symbolism, in which the male lead is swept up into an authoritarian regime. He has to go on a mission up to the moon, which is promoted as a utopia but is actually full of danger for him. He meets his true love, a resident of the moon, is cruelly parted from her, and later reunites on earth in a happy ending.
Replace the moon with Heaven, and the basic plot sounds a lot like Good Omens, with the happy ended still awaited. It's like how Stairway to Heaven has a different-but-very-similar story.
AND CROWLEY LOVES OLD MOVIES.
*****
Look, I'm aware that I just spent a lot of time pointing out a lot of connections that could be nothing but coincidence. It's not actual Proof. But there are an Awful Lot of Coincidences here...
On it's own, I might not place it as more than another fun Easter Egg. An inside joke for the production high-ups.
But once we realize that Azi pretended he didn't recognize the Metatron when he walked in, that the Metatron was watching and listening, that Aziraphale knew he was there the entire time, that Azi was signaling this to Crowley, and that at some point before he started really talking, Crowley also knew.....
... the links and connections and movie poster visuals start to take on a lot more weight. As if they're not coincidence after all.
Our Ineffables couldn't speak openly. They couldn't use French*, or obscure Latin, or any other language that the Metatron would also know. But, despite knowing some quaint British slang and his recent "expertise" in ordering coffee, the Metatron isn't likely to know Earth Movies. (After all, they only listen to The Sound of Music up there...! 😅/jk)
Using an obscure movie like Nothing Lasts Forever doesn't even need to be a plot point. It can just be a fun clue, one of their scores of hidden Easter Eggs for the fans they know love to search for them. The audience doesn't need to know exactly where the code language came from -- we only need to know that it was, indeed, a secret message between Our Ineffables.
"Oh, Crowley, nothing lasts forever" is the moment where everything changes in the Final 15 conversation. It's the moment Crowley seems to give up. "Nothing Lasts Forever" broke the fandom's collective heart.
But Crowley would Never give up if he knew the Metatron was watching and listening to their every word, that Aziraphale is being forced. And He Did Know.
Through the Window Part I & Part II prove it, using only on-screen evidence. Both of Our Ineffables knew he was out there eavesdropping.
Aziraphale is not a fool likewise proved, with on-screen evidence, that Our Ineffables had already begun attempting misdirection and strategy from the moment the Metatron walked in, because Aziraphale DID
recognize the Metatron. And Crowley Challenged the Metatron to draw his focus away from Azi. Teamwork, keeping their cards close to the vest.
It means Our Ineffables didn't give up.
It means that, in Good Omens 3, Our Ineffables are very probably going to give Heaven quite a bit of hell...
*****
This was a really long read. Thank you so very much for sticking around to hear me out! 💖✨
If this gave you Hope too, I'd be grateful if you could give it a like, or even pass it along. As @di-42 always says, #justice for Aziraphale!
*****
Thanks as always to the folks who've encouraged me to tag them, or have such lovely responses when I do: @olemka and @crowleysgirl56 and @lookingatacupoftea and @taiga013 and @rada-76, and @makewayforbigcrossducks and @dalliancekay, I hope the following won't mind if I add you as well? @zenkitty714 and @masnadies (I almost put in a French joke* as a nod to you!) and @aziraphalesnightingale, @idcllc, @lanzadeperla, @obligateweirdo, @sarahthecoat and @minnjes2. Please check out their blogs as well!
Been working on this for a while and if I don't post it now I never will so here you go <3 enjoy the most self-indulgent thing I've ever spent time on - I just really needed them to hug...
tangentwithtanner
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areudirty
germansingergirl
