After evading death for years, Dean's death in Supernatural season 15 is made sadder by a parallel between a pilot and a final conversation with Sam.
SUMMARY
- Dean's death scene in Supernatural season 15 emphasizes his growth and vulnerability, showing how far he has come throughout the series.
- The pilot and finale parallel between Sam and Dean's conversation highlights their changing views and the deep bond between them.
- Dean's acceptance of death and request for Sam's permission to let go symbolizes his readiness to let Sam continue without him, completing their character arcs.
Dean's Supernatural season 15 death is difficult enough for fans already, but there's one line in the pilot that makes it even sadder. After Dean is pierced by a sharp metal rod during a run-of-the-mill vampire hunt, he and Sam share a heartbreaking final moment together. Although Dean's death seems anti-climactic given the immense danger he's lived through, his acceptance and vulnerability in this scene is what really emphasizes how far he's come.
While Dean has died many times on Supernatural and been resurrected more times than that, his final death reveals a satisfying callback to a conversation between him and Sam that brings light to how their original views have changed. Dean admits numerously throughout the series, even in his final moments, that he would die on the job, but it isn't until it's happening that he comes to terms with it.
Sam & Dean's Supernatural Pilot Conversation Is Flipped When Dean Dies
In the pilot, after Dean shows up to fetch Sam because their father, John, has been missing, he and Sam have a disagreement, establishing their two opposing views on the hunter lifestyle. Sam argues against joining Dean and complains about John's obsession with finding the demon who killed their mother, Mary. Dean says, "I can't do this alone," to which Sam replies, "Yes, you can." Dean responds, "Well, I don't want to." This admission spurs Sam to concede and join the search for John.
In Dean's death scene, Sam, while in tears, says, "I can't do this alone," setting off the same dialogue from the pilot but with the brothers saying each other's original lines. To add even more to this parallel, Dean references the scene prior to where the pilot's dialogue comes from — when he shows up at Stanford. Dean confesses he was worried Sam would not have gone with him that day because it was "always you [Sam] and me [Dean]," indicating he couldn't imagine a world without Sam. Now, he reassures Sam, who clearly doesn't feel ready to say goodbye, by saying, "I'll be there, every step."
What Sam & Dean's Pilot/Finale Parallel Actually Means
Originally, the dialogue indicated Dean's struggle to live his life without Sam at his side. While Sam's words now echo not wanting to lose his most constant loved one, they also speak to how much his persistence to leave hunting behind has changed to viewing hunting as his life because it involves his family. Dean embracing his death is revealing as he admits that nothing good ever happens when the brothers resurrect each other. Instead, Dean uses his last moments to encourage Sam to keep living, confess his pride in who his brother is as a person, and, most notably, ask Sam to tell him it's okay to let go.
Dean getting to a point where he feels even remotely ready to let Sam go highlights his acceptance that Sam can continue without him. Sam honoring Dean's wishes allows him to have a somewhat normal life, since hunting becomes too painful without his brother there, giving him what his younger self had always wanted but with Dean there in memory (Sam even names his son after him). This role reversal and dialogue parallel brilliantly bookends the series as a whole, essentially reminding audiences that from the beginning right until the very end, Supernatural is, at its core, about two brothers and how they both grow.
What Sam & Dean's Pilot/Finale Parallel Actually Means
Originally, the dialogue indicated Dean's struggle to live his life without Sam at his side. While Sam's words now echo not wanting to lose his most constant loved one, they also speak to how much his persistence to leave hunting behind has changed to viewing hunting as his life because it involves his family. Dean embracing his death is revealing as he admits that nothing good ever happens when the brothers resurrect each other. Instead, Dean uses his last moments to encourage Sam to keep living, confess his pride in who his brother is as a person, and, most notably, ask Sam to tell him it's okay to let go.
Dean getting to a point where he feels even remotely ready to let Sam go highlights his acceptance that Sam can continue without him. Sam honoring Dean's wishes allows him to have a somewhat normal life, since hunting becomes too painful without his brother there, giving him what his younger self had always wanted but with Dean there in memory (Sam even names his son after him). This role reversal and dialogue parallel brilliantly bookends the series as a whole, essentially reminding audiences that from the beginning right until the very end, Supernatural is, at its core, about two brothers and how they both grow.
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