cas vs au!cas
I hope so much that I read this scene wrong, because to me it is not uplifting at all. To me, I see Cas looking at himself and hating himself so much that he had no problem killing another Castiel. And I’m super tired right now and not entirely able to feel much because of it, but even so this is pretty much breaking my heart.
@gertiecraign Maybe look at this in the same vein as Dean facing fake Demon!Dean when he tells himself that “this is what you will become” or whatever the line is.
Cas knows all this shit he did and how he fucked up. He realizes that this Cas is what he could have become if he never fell for Dean Humanity.
So yes cas is willing to kill another Cas, but he also knew that this Cas was misguided and corrupted by AU!Michael and was lost to him. He knew that this Cas was all the parts of himself that he does in fact hate.
Then again, maybe I’m not the person who should respond to this, I am pretty emotionless about a lot of this episode, especially where AU!Cas is concerned. But maybe it is something to think about?
This was our Cas denouncing angels permanently. “We are not that different,” except for one thing–
he “vastly prefers humans”
^^^ Above points by formidablepassion and winchester-reload are exactly what I inferred from this vital scene! CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!
Cas and AU!Cas ARE the same. They’ll do anything to protect whatever they want to protect, but you see—
Unlike Cas, AU!Cas is conditioned to hate, to follow orders. He’s a murderer. He has no one.
Unlike AU!Cas, Cas learned about LOVE; about FREE WILL. He’s a merciful warrior and a gentle pacifist. He has a family who loves him in return. He’s MORE than just ‘the same.’
Like Gabriel said, humans are beautiful creatures.
This scene imo portrayed Cas killing his past self, his errors, his sins: the obedient angel underneath Heaven’s control who showed a ruthless lack of compassion. Killing him brings his already pre-existing internal struggle re: his personal nature—where “too much heart was always his problem”—full circle.
Here, the narrative textualized his endgame: HUMANITY.
Dean.
