All Along the Watchtower

All Along the Watchtower is the 23rd and final episode of Season 12. It aired on May 18, 2017, immediately after Who We Are.

Summary
Lucifer battles Sam, Dean and Castiel for control of his unborn child.

Plot
Castiel and Kelly Kline are hiding out in a cabin in the woods. Kelly is determined to put together the nursery for her child by herself, saddened that she will not be able to actually raise him. Castiel comforts her by promising to give his life for her son and to raise him into someone that she would be proud of.

Back at the bunker, the Winchesters are discussing Lucifer’s reappearance, blaming Crowley. In a flashback, we see that Crowley actually transferred himself into a rat before Lucifer stabbed him, and he is now back in his original vessel. The Winchesters decide that they really only need Rowena to lock Lucifer away again, but when they call her it is revealed that Lucifer has killed her and burned the body. Answering Rowena’s phone, Lucifer tells the Winchesters that he wants to find his son. He is confident that, without Rowena, there is nothing they can do to stop him. Meanwhile, Kelly and Castiel return to the cabin with a truckload of diapers. Kelly suddenly clutches her stomach in pain, but insists that she is fine and lets Castiel help her back into the cabin. Unnoticed, a patch of Nephilim energy is left on the truck where Kelly’s hand was. The energy detaches itself from the truck and floats behind the cabin.

At the bunker, Dean remarks that Lucifer was right – they have no way of killing him or even putting him back in the cage without Rowena. Sam suggests that they buy themselves some time by finding Castiel and Kelly and hiding them from Lucifer. They still hope to be able to siphon off the Nephilim’s grace before it is born. Mary expresses doubt that Castiel will go along with this plan, but Dean replies, “You think we’ll give him a choice?” Whenever a Nephilim is born, signs such as storms, outbreaks of disease, or a plague of locusts happen in the general vicinity. The Winchesters begin looking for “something weird” in the hopes that it will lead them to the Nephilim.

While Kelly is painting the nursery, Castiel steps out behind the cabin and discovers a rift formed by the Nephilim’s energy. When he touches it, Castiel is transported to a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with red lightning and corpses impaled on spikes protruding from the earth. Castiel is knocked over by a horned demon, but is saved by someone with a demon-killing gun. Upon seeing the person’s face, Castiel looks confused and asks, “You?”

Back at the cabin, Kelly records a message for her son to see after she dies. She tells him that she loves him and that he will be okay because he will have an angel watching over him. After finishing the message, Kelly has a contraction, and the rift outside seems to pulse. Back at the bunker, the Winchesters are on the lookout for any strange events that might signal the birth of the Nephilim. Crowley suddenly appears, only for Dean to immediately punch him in the face. Dean demands to know if he let Lucifer out. Sam tells Dean not to kill him because he might know something about the cage spell. Crowley, annoyed, says they have Rowena for that, and the Winchesters inform him that Lucifer has killed her. Crowley responds, “Funny. I always thought I’d be the one to kill her.” After the Winchesters question him further, Crowley admits that he perverted his mother’s spell and saved Lucifer because he “wanted to win,” thinking that having the devil on a leash would keep others from challenging him as King of Hell. However, Crowley says that during his brief time as a rat, he has reflected on his job and realized that he has actually come to hate it. Angry about being stabbed in the back, Crowley offers to help the Winchesters put Lucifer away and then seal the Gates of Hell for good.

Still experiencing contractions, Kelly searches the house for Castiel. He suddenly reappears, but when Kelly asks him where he has been he says, “nowhere.” Kelly tells him that she thinks the baby is coming, and experiences another contraction. All the lights flicker and the rift pulses again. Castiel looks worried, but assures her that everything will be fine.

Back in the bunker, the Winchesters are still searching for signs of the Nephilim. Bored, Crowley remarks “Is this what you do when I’m not here? Type?” Sam reports that there’s been a massive power outage in the Pacific Northwest, centered on a house in North Cove, Washington currently rented to a James Novak. Crowley impatiently exclaims, “It’s about time!” as the Winchesters prepare to leave, but Dean stabs him through the hand with Ruby's knife, sticking him to the table. He says that they can’t trust Crowley after what he did with Lucifer, so he has to stay behind. The Winchesters leave Crowley in the bunker. Back at the cabin, Castiel reassures Kelly that she’s all right because the “pressure waves” are still far apart. When Kelly seems confused by the term, Castiel explains that it’s another word for “contractions” that he learned in his online doula class. He looks warily out the window at the rift, which is still floating in mid-air behind the cabin. Suffering through contractions, Kelly begs Castiel to tell her again about the vision he saw when the Nephilim lent him power. Castiel responds that he saw the future – a paradise without fear or hate that her child will help to create. Castiel hears a car pull up outside the cabin and goes downstairs to investigate.

The Winchesters arrive, and ask Castiel if the house has strong enough warding to protect against Lucifer. At first surprised to see them, Castiel is horrified by the news that Lucifer is coming. Sam and Dean add that they can “deal with their crap” later but that their first priority is to move Kelly somewhere Lucifer can’t find her. Castiel tells them that she can’t be moved, and they all hear Kelly crying out in pain upstairs. Mary volunteers to go up and check on her. Dean asks Castiel if he can incinerate Lucifer the same way he did to Dagon, but Castiel replies that it was the Nephilim that did it, not him. Dean abruptly clutches his injured leg in pain, and Castiel, touching Dean’s forehead, heals him with a burst of yellow light. Sam and Dean decide to double-check the house’s warding, and before Castiel can stop them, they step outside and see the rift. He explains that the rift is a “tear in space and time” leading to an alternate reality, and that it opened because the Nephilim’s power is puncturing the fabric of the universe. The Winchesters, deciding that they need to see what is on the other side, step through the rift with Castiel.

On the other side of the rift, Castiel tells the Winchesters that this world is actually Earth, only an alternate Earth where angels and demons are locked in eternal battle and humans are caught in the crossfire. When asked how he knows all of this, Castiel cryptically remarks, “a friend told me.” The group is approached by a mysterious figure, and Sam and Dean draw their guns despite Castiel telling them not to. The figure removes his headscarf and reveals himself to be Bobby, much to the Winchesters’ surprise. Bobby doesn’t recognize Sam or Dean, saying that the only Winchester he ever heard of was John Winchester, who has been dead for 40 years. Bobby adds that he only knows about John because of a hunter he knew named Mary Campbell, who was killed by Azazel 10 years ago. Castiel explains that in this world, Sam and Dean were never born and thus were never there to save it.

Back in the cabin, Mary is helping Kelly through her contractions. Mary gently tells Kelly that it’s almost time because her contractions are less than five minutes apart. When asked if she’s okay, Kelly responds, “I’m dying.” Kelly asks Mary if she would die for her sons. Smiling, Mary says, “yeah.”

On the other side of the rift, Bobby explains that the rift’s opening set off alarms at his place, and he arrived just in time to save Castiel from a tempter demon. Bobby says that he usually guns down angels on sight, but Castiel looked different somehow. After he saved Castiel, the two of them filled each other in on their separate worlds. Bobby says that “the dicks upstairs” will soon notice the rift, and when they arrive he plans to mow them down with his gun (named Rufus) full of bullets cast from old angel blades. Dean is very excited at the prospect of angel-killing bullets, but Castiel seems less than thrilled. Sam, Dean, and Castiel step back through the rift only to be greeted by Crowley, who has managed to escape from the bunker and follow them to the cabin. Crowley cheekily informs them that he is the answer to all their problems.



Castiel goes back upstairs to check on Kelly, who asks him what’s wrong. He reassures her that everything will be fine, and reminds her of his vision of paradise. Downstairs, Sam and Dean prepare to face Lucifer. Dean says that he hope’s Castiel’s faith in the Nephilim is right, but that he puts faith in all of them (“You, me, Mom, Cass. And Crowley, sometimes”) instead.

Sam, Dean, and Castiel step outside to face Lucifer. Sam warns him that Chuck will stop him from whatever he plans to do, but Lucifer mockingly tells them that Chuck is gone. Castiel charges at Lucifer but is tossed aside, and Sam and Dean appear to run away, heading behind the house. When Lucifer catches up to them, they are standing beside the rift, and they step through as he watches. Intrigued, Lucifer follows them through. When he appears on the other side, Dean stalls Lucifer by shooting him with the angel-killing gun while Sam and Crowley attempt a ritual to close the rift and lock Lucifer in the parallel universe. Lucifer isn’t fazed by the angel-killing bullets, and begins to beat Dean up.

Crowley reveals that the rift-closing spell’s final ingredient is a life, and he walks over to face Lucifer. Taunting him, Lucifer says, “whatever you try, you’re gonna lose.” Smiling, Crowley agrees with him, and turns to Sam and Dean to say goodbye before stabbing himself with an angel blade. The rift-closing spell ignites, and the rift pulses. Castiel suddenly appears and charges Lucifer. Dean tries to stop him, but Sam drags Dean back across the closing rift into their own universe.

In the cabin, Kelly screams in pain during a contraction. Yellow energy pulses under her skin, and she is engulfed in light. She whispers, “I love you” before an explosion of yellow energy knocks her back and sends Mary flying across the room, unconscious.

On the other side of the rift, Castiel stabs Lucifer with his angel blade, and Lucifer’s eyes glow red. Back in their own universe, Sam and Dean worriedly watch the rift. They are relieved when Castiel steps back through, but their relief turns to horror when Lucifer steps back through behind him and stabs Castiel through the chest with an angel blade. Castiel falls to the ground, dead, and Lucifer quips, “playtime’s over.” Mary emerges from the house and tells Lucifer to get away from her sons. Lucifer responds by thanking her for everything, saying, “I owe ya, kid.” Sam tries to hold Mary back, and she tells Sam and Dean that she loves them before lunging forward and punching Lucifer with her Enochian Brass Knuckles. She knocks Lucifer backwards and he falls into the rift, taking her with him. The rift closes behind them, trapping them on the other side.



On the other side of the rift, Sam notices flickering yellow light coming from Kelly’s room and runs back inside. Dean is left kneeling next to Castiel’s body, looking despairingly up at the sky. When Sam enters Kelly’s room, he finds her dead, lying on the bed with her arms folded. As Sam is closing Kelly’s eyes, he hears a noise coming from another part of the house. Looking for the source of the sound, Sam goes into the nursery. In the corner of the room, he sees Jack, a fully-grown man, whose eyes are glowing gold. Upon seeing Sam, Jack gives a sinister smile.

Main Cast

 * Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
 * Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
 * Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer
 * Mark Sheppard as Crowley
 * Misha Collins as Castiel

Special Guest Stars

 * Jim Beaver as Bobby Singer

Guest Stars

 * Samantha Smith as Mary Winchester
 * Courtney Ford as Kelly Kline

Co-Stars

 * Alexander Calvert as Jack

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * Archangel (Lucifer)
 * Crossroad Demon (Crowley)
 * Knight of Hell (Abaddon; mentioned only)
 * Nephilim (Jack)
 * Seraph (Castiel)
 * Witch (Rowena; corpse and mentioned only)

Continuity

 * Five months have passed since Jack was conceived in LOTUS.
 * A Nephilim was previously seen in season 8 episode, Clip Show.
 * An alternate universe was previously featured in season 6 episode, The French Mistake.
 * Team Free Will have been reunited after being separated in The Future.
 * The Enochian Brass Knuckles were previously used in Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes.
 * Castiel and Kelly Kline were previously seen in The Future.
 * Bobby Singer was previously seen in season 11 episode, Safe House.
 * Rowena was previously seen in Family Feud.
 * Castiel's wings were previously seen in season 10 episode, Inside Man.
 * An angel's wings were previously seen in Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell.

Trivia

 * The episode was watched by 1.70 million viewers and got a 0.6 rating making this the second least watched season finale of the series behind Season 7's finale, Survival of the Fittest.
 * This is Misha's 100th episode.
 * This is Mark Sheppard's final episode.
 * The title of the episode is a reference to the 1965 song of the same name by Bob Dylan.
 * This is the second part of the two-part season finale. Who We Are being the first part.
 * This is also the first episode since LOTUS to air at the 9PM timeslot.
 * This episode marks Mark Pellegrino's 20th appearance as Lucifer.
 * Jim Beaver tweeted that he's sad he won't be appearing this season and asks showrunner Andrew Dabb to include him in an early episode of Season 13. As revealed in this episode, he was lying.
 * This is the first episode since Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell to feature all the main characters.
 * This is the first time Lucifer appears in the season finale since the season 5 episode, Swan Song. As in Swan Song, Lucifer ends up locked away at the end. He is joined by Mary in this episode, while in the previous episode he was joined by Michael.
 * This is also the first time an Archangel appears in a season finale since the season 6 episode, The Man Who Knew Too Much (Raphael).
 * This is the first season finale since season 10 to not feature Rowena. However, she is shown briefly as an incinerated corpse.
 * This is the second season finale to feature Mary, after season 11's Alpha and Omega.
 * Two main and one recurring characters have been killed on this episode.
 * Crowley sacrificed himself to complete the ritual that seals the rift that separates the reality from the alternate world that Jack opened.
 * Castiel was killed by Lucifer. This is the second time he was killed by Lucifer, as the latter previously killed him in Swan Song but was later resurrected by God.
 * Lucifer killed Rowena MacLeod. This is also for a second time, as Lucifer previously killed Rowena for the same reasons in The Devil in the Details.
 * Kelly has named her son with Lucifer "Jack".
 * Crowley has revealed that he doesn't want to be the King of Hell anymore.
 * Castiel has revealed that the future Jack made him see in The Future was a "paradise".
 * In the alternate world that Jack opened;
 * John Winchester and Mary Winchester were never married as Azazel killed John and never brought him back.
 * Sam and Dean were never born.
 * Team Free Will never stopped The Apocalypse, as they never existed.
 * Bobby Singer and Rufus are alive but Bobby doesn't know who Sam and Dean are, since both of them were never born.
 * There are angel-killing bullets, similar to the ones Crowley made in season 8.
 * A new type of demon called "Tempter Demon" exists.
 * Earth is stuck in the middle of war between Heaven and Hell.
 * This is the third episode to feature an alternate universe on the show with The End and The French Mistake being the first two.
 * This is the second episode to physically feature a Nephilim. The first one was Clip Show.
 * This is the first episode to feature a Nephilim and not be killed on the same episode.
 * As of this episode, three members of The Winchester Family have been trapped with Lucifer at some point. Sam and Adam were trapped with Lucifer in the cage whereas Mary is currently trapped with Lucifer in the alternate world.
 * This is the third episode of the season to feature an angel's wings burned to the ground with Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets and Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell being the first two.
 * This is the fourth episode Castiel's wings are shown on the series.
 * This is the first episode to feature a childbirth.
 * Castiel, the angel of Thursday, died on a Thursday.
 * This is the first time Team Free Will and Bobby are in the same scene together since Season 7.
 * As of this episode, the MacLeod Family are extinct.
 * This episode marks the final appearance of Kelly Kline.

Quote
Crowley: I wanted to win. I perverted Mother's spell, put Lucifer in a vessel of my own making because I wanted to win. You have any idea how many people have made a play for my throne over the years? Lucifer, Abaddon, blah-blah-blah-blah. I thought if I could put the Devil on a leash, my own personal nuke. No one would ever dare challenge me again.

Sam: So, why are you here?

Crowley: Well, whenever there is a world ending crisis at hand, I know where to place my bets. It's on you. You big beautiful lumbering piles of flannel. So if you'll forgive my transgression, I'll make it worth your while.

Dean: Which means?

Crowley: After we put Lucifer back in his Cage, together. I'll seal the Gates of Hell. You'll never see another demon again, apart from of course, yours truly.

Mary: You would do that?

Crowley: Why not? They stab me in the back, I'll happily stab them in the front, the sides and right up their little black-eyed asses. So, do we have a deal?