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Canary nest

@canarybell

23yo (forgot to change it in time); she/her; good omens blog (for now)
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This might be a reach, but...

I was thinking about this moment:

And am I the only one to find it interesting that Saraqael here is reminding Crowley about his past as an angel (and nebulas, that were his passion back then) just a couple of hours before the offer is made to take Crowley back to that past? And Saraqael does react to his answer?

Now, I'm not in a team "trust Saraqael" - I am in a team "don't ever trust the security officer of an opressive system however friendly they might appear to be, unless you know their full motivation". We don't know any of Saraqael's motives - yet we can see, for example, that them letting Crowley looking into Gabriel's files actually led to Heaven finding out what happened to the former Supreme Archangel.

We also can see just a minute from this moment that Heaven as a place does have video surveillance:

So...what if Saraqael is directly subordinate to The Metatron and here they do follow his orders? What if these words ("remember how you was an angel and how much you enjoyed making nebulas?") was spoken with a purpose to see Crowley's reaction to it? Will there be some kind of regret, or shame, or anger - or just indifference?

What if his reaction was recorded in a real time and was quickly analysed by The Metatron himself, so he could imagine how Crowley feels about his angelhood in the present, and act accordingly?

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It might be an unpopular opinion...

...But I think we might not see Aziraphale and Crowley actively interacting in present in the first few episodes of S3 (i.e first two or even three episodes). There might be some flashbacks, some ways for them to check on each other (probably without the other knowing), and them both visibly reflecting on what was done and said in the Final Fifteen, so it won't be a complete absence of aziracrow content - but there won't be an actual interaction.

Iirc, Neil Gaiman said that the third season wouldn't be that aziracrow-focused as the second season was. So it wouldn't be just a story about their little divorce.

And I don't think they were separated just for the sake of the drama of the Final Fifteen. They both have plot-related things to do on their own - Aziraphale in Heaven and probably in America (as we know from a little information we have about the sequel), and Crowley...probably in London (because the bookshop is still there and we still have Whickber Street decorations intact) and in Devil's Dyke (I just have a feeling that South Downs thing won't be just a last-episode "oh, let's move in a cottage" and will actually have some plot significance)?

It was like that in the original book too - we had them mostly separated and acting on their own from the moment of Aziraphale finding Agnes' book and until the airbase reunion. TV show changed it, including a 30-minute flashback, all the bandstand/"I forgive you-1" drama, and the pub talk - this was necessary to flesh out TV versions of the characters and their conflict. But would it be necessary in S3, with us knowing these characters and what their problem is? Especially if aziracrow would be in a very different places due to the plot (unlike book/S1, where, prior to Aziraphale's discorporation, they both still were in London)? I'm not sure.

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Crowley loves Aziraphale so much that in a dangerous situation he's going to risk his entire existence just for the chance of them being together.

(it doesn't mean Aziraphale is ever going to accept Crowley going through this risk for him; in fact it might be his biggest fear that he's not ready to face)

Aziraphale loves Crowley so much that he can't stand the idea of him getting hurt. So, in a dangerous situation he will try every option he consider safe - even if he's the only one who will consider this option safe and/or even possible, and even if this option will hurt their relationship. Then, if there's no other 'safe' option left, he might do all kind of reckless things to save Crowley (or both of them) - but only after trying everything 'safe'.

(it doesn't mean that any of these 'safe' options would be acceptable for Crowley; in fact many of them might be offensive and hurtful for him)

It's not comparable, and it's definitely not a subject of "who loves who more". It's just...different ways in which people (or angels, or demons) can be simultaneously selfless and selfish in their love.

(but then again, isn't love by nature a fine, almost indistinguishable line between selfishness and selflessness?)

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So, in the first season, Archangel Michael had a phone number of Ligur and communicated with him. Then he got destroyed by holy water thanks to Crowley (and Aziraphale giving him said water before).

Michael, it seems, was not discouraged, and got Beelzebub's number instead for season 2 (it was confirmed by Neil recently that it was Beelzebub voice in S2E1 on Michael's phone). Then Beelzebub and Gabriel eloped, not without Aziraphale and Crowley help.

Idk what will be funnier - if in S3 it turns out that Michael got another demon's phone number (probably Dagon's) and then they lose it again. Or if they are just going to be bitchy about loss of their two previous "back channels" thanks to The Traitors' antics (on top of other reasons for them to be annoyed by Aziraphale). Although it might be both.

.....Or maybe they just have Hell's phone number as a phone of an organization, and it just so happens that whoever is nearby when they call, picks up the phone. Yeah.

In this case, I want to see some very annoying low-ranked demon (like Eric) pick up the phone in S3 and give Michael a very hard time. Preferably with it somehow also being Aziraphale's and/or Crowley's fault, so it would make Michael even more pissed.

Please. I want to see both "Michael collaborating with Hell" and "Michael being cartoonishly annoyed by Aziraphale" and "Aziraphale intentionally pissing off Michael" subplots in S3 so bad.

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About The Metatron's motivation to promote Aziraphale...

...why people usually dismiss this part?

Unlike other The Metatron’s ‘compliments’ made as an ‘argument’ to why Aziraphale should be a new Supreme Archangel, this one is made in later part of the conversation (not in the French restaurant, but right before the elevator, and right before ‘we call it the Second Coming’ bombshell). Unlike those ‘compliments’ this one isn’t a blatant lie – Aziraphale is familiar with ‘Earth ways’, not perfectly, but better than most angels.

And, unlike The Metatron’s earlier reasoning, this one can be true (or at least part of the truth).

Heaven are preparing a new Armageddon. The last one attempt was prevented mostly by humans, with aziracrow acting as a support at best. If The Metatron researched it properly to avoid mistakes of Hell, he should know about that. So humans of Earth might be considered as a significant threat to a Great Plan* - probably more significant than two defectors, even if these two are somehow powerful (if The Metatron is even aware about their 25 Lazarii miracle).

 (*also, remember: The Big One would be All of Us against all of Them, with Them meaning Humanity)

There might be a reason for The Metatron to start to go on Earth and “blend in”, to the point of understanding how to order coffee and have a small talk with a barista: to understand the enemy in general.

And tell me, isn’t Aziraphale an angel who spent more time on Earth than any other angel - literally all of its 6000 years? Doesn't he have the most experience with humans and their antics? Wasn’t he there when humans ruined Hell’s plans of Armageddon, meaning he should (at least in theory) understand how they did it and for what would a half-human Messiah reject their purpose?

And he is smart. Wouldn’t it be a waste to not use this source of knowledge for the benefit of Heaven? Of course, this one angel won’t just agree to work with Heaven again (we heard him refusing a few times in S2E6), so there must be something that will convince him – this part, how he was convinced, was discussed a lot of times and isn’t the point of this post, though.

I think, it also can lead to Aziraphale’s memories not being wiped in S3 and him having some (if very limited) capacity to act on his own. If The Metatron’s main purpose is just divide aziracrow or something like that, then wiping angel’s memories looks like the most logical action of his part. But if his main purpose is using Aziraphale's knowledge and experience, if angel’s memories are the main reason of why he is needed on Heaven – then memory wiping doesn’t look like a very good idea anymore.  

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....Technically, "by the point of S2E6 The Metatron is aware about 25 Lazarii miracle being aziracrow combined work and not amnesiac Gabriel's doing" only works together with at least one of these options:

  1. There were other cases of angelic/demonic power combined in the past, or
  2. The Metatron is aware about things that happen inside a bookshop, even if he isn't present there in person.

If there was no precedent of angel/demon producing more powerful miracle before, and there is supposedly (and then confirmed) a Supreme Archangel (even amnesiac one....if he did got an amnesia and didn't escape before his memories were fully wiped - does The Metatron know about it?) present in a place and time of a great miracle happening - who in his right mind will assume this miracle is not the said Archangel doing, but some thing that never happened before and thus doesn't have a confirmed effect?

Crowley does tell angels and demons that it was them who hide Gabriel with a miracle that 'apparently works too well' - but then again, this is said inside a bookshop in a middle of S2E6, and there is no time for any of the archangels to report it to The Metatron before his appearance.

So, unless there are ways for him to finding out while happened in a bookshop while only three people (Aziraphale, Crowley, Jim) were present...how would he know about it?

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“Crowley suggesting to Shax that he might be the one to cast ‘a miracle only the mightiest of archangels could've performed' is a hint he was an archangel before” is a very popular idea, and I can see why. However, I think, a few things should be noted:

  • As far as Shax knows, Crowley, no matter what kind of angel he was before The Fall, inexplicably survived a bath full of holy water, and he specifically said after it: “If he can do this, I wonder what else he can do?".  In her head, Crowley does possess some unknown powers, which are not necessarily tied to his former status in angelic hierarchy; and in theory these powers might be able to produce such a miracle. We don’t really know how much about Hell’s trial Aziraphale told Crowley, but he definitely knows about the holy water trick, so it would makes sense if his bluff was based on it.
  • However, Shax didn’t really believed Crowley about it. She immediately started to make threats, spied on a bookshop, didn’t even wondered what that miracle could have been for….doesn’t look like somebody who was convinced by that lie even for a second.
  • Heaven on the other hand… no, they didn’t really believed Aziraphale in that he did that miracle either. But they didn’t dismiss it. Saraqael could mock Aziraphale however they wanted - but they sent an angel to check, and in episode five archangels did ask Muriel what they learned about the miracle, suggesting that Aziraphale could indeed have performed it somehow (even if ‘Gabriel did it’ was more plausible). Which…actually makes sense too – he also allegedly survived his execution, so the possibility that he holds more power that he lets on is here for him as much as it is here for Crowley.

So, I don’t think this particular moment proves anything - aside from the fact that at the beginning of S2 both Aziraphale and Crowley assumed that their little body switch trick would convince both Heaven and Hell they have a lot more to offer.

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What if...

"They are not talking", they are very awkward upon their first meeting in S3 in the present - but not because they are angry at each other; but because they both did hurt each other in a Final Fifteen and are aware about it, and feel guilty - not about "going to Heaven/stay on Earth", but about everything else that was said and done that day. And each of them think that the other one won't forgive him (like, actually forgive) and still angry, and that's why the other one is so "cold" - but it's actually only because they both are scared to start an actual conversation and actually find out whether it is really so.

They both already hurt each other so much - what about not continue this mutual torture, but rather feel mutual remorse about it; yet not exactly know what to do with it?

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Archangel Michael in Season 3  

You know, I really am interested in Archangel Michael future contribution to the story. For some reason I think they have a chance to be a bit more relevant in S3.

The reasons for this assumption…are not that big. But still, listen to me.

 We know that at least some of archangels from S1 were brought to the script from sequel drafts. At the time nobody knew that the show will be successful enough to have S2 and S3, and the unwritten sequel might be created in any form. But the idea of what these characters could have done if the book had been written still was there. Probably not too detailed, but still existent. And now these characters have the ability to do what they were first intended for.

So…this why I was interested in this particular moment from the cut bookshop opening scene:

Isn’t it interesting that with that promotion Aziraphale was going to be replaced not by any other angel, not even by any archangel, but by “fancy” Archangel Michael themself? What position was he even going to be promoted to?  Would Michael like it – go to Earth, manage the bookshop? I suspect, no more than Aziraphale would like to go back upstairs in that cut scene.

And isn’t it interesting that throughout the season 2 we saw Michael not only wanting the position of the Supreme Archangel, but actively acting as if they were already promoted - only to have the position snatched out from under them at the last minute by Aziraphale? Isn’t it interesting how similar these situation are in a way?

I have a theory this one was a plot point from the sequel – Aziraphale got the promotion, and that pissed off Michael (or unnamed angel that later became Michael, not necessary an archangel at that point?). Be it because Michael wanted this position themself, or it caused some troubles for them (could it be that ‘Michael’ was supposed to be sent to the bookshop instead of made-for-S2-Muriel?). And that plot point was important enough to bring it up while writing the script for the first season, and leave it as a sort of mythology gag when there was no hope for the continuation; and then return to it while writing the second season with the lead-in to the third one aka the implementation of the aforementioned sequel.

So…if this is a plot point – what it might lead us to?

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Crowley's POV, Part II

(the first part is here)

The first post was made mostly as an observation - about how Aziraphale's distressed face after he heard about the Second Coming was visible to Crowley in all details, and how we can see it from the shots made from Crowley's point of view. This part, though, is more of the speculations - I tried to make a guess what other moments where we see things by Crowley's eyes might mean in a bigger picture.

I also know that this particular director's decision might actually mean nothing, but it is still something that is fun to speculate to me.

A little warning - this post is tied to the idea (theory?) "The Metatron might have watched in the window in the Final Fifteen, or at least Aziraphale assumes so". I made (maybe a little self-confident) post about it back in October, but since then a lot of people expressed this idea a lot better than me back then, so you probably know it already.

Anyway.

The first one for today is from S2E3. Crowley is explaining Jim his vavoom plans. Do you notice there are window frames in a shot, to show us we are looking from Crowley's POV once again?

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Crowley's POV, Part I

I've been wanting to write a post about several cases of camera in S2 being filmed from Crowley's point of view and why I find them curious for a while, but lately there just hasn't been time to put my thoughts together.. However, totally not because I'm heading to the deadline and heavily procrastinating I will try to point out at least one of them now, probably the most obvious.

Let's start with this one:

I call such moments 'Crowley's POV' because they are seemingly shot in the way we can see exactly what Crowley sees with his own eyes. In comparison, the shot below is made the way we still see the same picture as Crowley, but we also can see Crowley himself, so it is not the same thing.

Interestingly I can't recall 'Aziraphale POVs' moments, at least in S2, but I will touch on that in later parts.

But, let's return to Crowley watching Aziraphale leaving. So, what I want to point out here?

It's the fact that Aziraphale stops The Metatron and and turns around in front of him in such way that Crowley is able to see both of their faces (or at least, Aziraphale's face for sure). Whether this is intentional on Aziraphale's part or not is a matter of speculation for another time - however, all Aziraphale's expressions when he asks The Metatron what his job is supposed to be, and his reaction to the answer are perfectly visible to Crowley, not just the angel's final glance, which is once again is shown from Crowley's POV:

Crowley definitely does see how Aziraphale asks something - and that after The Metatron's answer his face falls, he seems shocked and scared, and he cautiously looks at Crowley; and then Aziraphale puts the smile on his face (again, visibly for Crowley) and steps into elevator.

So....regardless of any theories about the finale, one thing that is definitely true is that Crowley knows - something is up. There is some kind of information shared by The Metatron that was unexpected to Aziraphale, scared him, and made him try to send some kind of message for Crowley. And yet this something didn't change Aziraphale's choice about going to Heaven.

There is definitely something to think about - that's why I do think that in the end credits Crowley is not only sad, but also thoughtful and focused.

.....now, there are at least two more instances of Crowley's POV that I find curious, but the observations I made from them are more...on the speculation side. I wanted to make this one separately, because it is less of a speculation for me and more of just a simple observation. I hope I will find a time to write about two other moments in a few days.

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Personally I don't believe in "Warlock is Jesus" theory. Even if season three's Jesus turns out to be a different person from the man who died on the cross, it seems more logical to me to assume that it will be Johnson (the Beast's neighbor and all).

B U T.

I love the idea of the Metatron finding out that Heaven's new Messiah, the main star of the upcoming Second Coming is a bratty teenager without any sense of duty or something. And he's this way because of how he was raised by a certain demon and a certain angel. And they might be the only people Warlock would ever listen to now.

And then the Metatron was just "FUCK IT, you raised him - you'll deal with him!" and invited Aziraphale and Crowley back to Heaven so they could babysit Jesus!Warlock again. Or at least Aziraphale, even if Crowley didn't agree - that's at least something, the boy liked his Brother Francis when he was a kid....

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A few days ago I was kindly informed that "The Show Must Go On" is playing in the background in S2E6 when the Metatron is ordering his latte, and it has been mine Roman Empire ever since.

Like...all the implications. Wow. Especially with "The Show Must Go On" being included into aziracrow playlist by Gaiman himself....

But also - it makes Nina's coffee shop a place where Queen songs were played twice last season. With Bentley only playing it once. Which is also a bit weird?

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-You know what it's like when you don't know anything at all, and yet you're totally certain that everything would be better if you were just near one particular person? -No. Certainly not. I have no idea what that feels like. What makes you say that?

-Yeah, I've been looking back over a number of your… previous exploits, and I see that in quite a few of them you formed a de facto partnership with the demon Crowley.

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Is it possible that we'll see the bookshop opening scene in season three?

So, I was reminded about this ask that Neil Gaiman answered last June:

And the specific mention of the cut scene about bookshop opening day is..interesting, at least for me.

It might be (and probably is) a coincidence - Neil just needed an example of a deleted scene, and it was the first scene that came to his mind. And at that point he wasn't working on the script due to strikes anyway (though iirc he wrote the first draft of S3E1 by that point).

But it also might be something more - we saw Gaiman giving us hidden spoilers in a form of weirdly specific information before (37th degree scrivener):

But one thing that I do find interesting is that in its current form (which, of course, will be changed if this scene is in S3, but we'll work with what we have) the cut scene about bookshop opening day from S1 script book seems to have some parallels with the Final Fifteen?

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A little touch of Miles in the night

Do you think about this Michael Sheen post as often as I do?

Cause...you can see what he meant here, right? Comparing Aziraphale (especially this Aziraphale, with this boa) to Miles Maitland. Comparing two Sheens with twenty years between them.

And it's not just a boa. They are so...them. Gayer than a treeful of monkeys on nitrous oxide. Dramatic. Flamboyant. You can see this similarity in their energy in these particular moments.

And yet...is it all? Or there is something else?

Spoilers for "Bright Young Things" under the cut. tw:homophobia, just in case.

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