First Born

First Born is the 11th episode of Season 9. It aired on January 21st, 2014.

Summary
Crowley asks Dean to help him find The First Blade, the only weapon that can kill Abbadon. They find it's owner - Cain, The First Son - who leaves his mark on Dean. Leftover angelic grace inside Sam may be used to track Gadreel. But there's a painful catch.

Plot
In 1863, a group of demons guard a shack in Jasper Springs, Mississippi when Cain arrives and slaughters them. He then pulls out a weapon made of a bone and makes his way into a back room.

A forlorn Dean sits belly-up to a bar, several empty bottles around. Crowley suddenly appears on the neighboring barstool and Dean immediately goes for his blade, reminding Crowley that he said he'd kill him the next time they met. Crowley manages to calm Dean somewhat, and then asks to hunt with him to search for the First Blade, the only weapon that can kill a Knight of Hell such as Abaddon. The only clue he's aware of is that John Winchester exorcised a demon who worked for Abaddon who had knowledge of the First Blade. Using information from John Winchester's Journal, they find information on the hunt in John's Lock-Up which points them to a hunter named Tara who John worked the case with.

Meanwhile back at the bunker, Sam enters the room to find a frustrated Castiel trying to enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Castiel explains that he enjoyed PB & Js whilst he was human, but that now that he's an angel again, they only have the disgusting taste of molecules. He laments that he will miss PB & J. Sam and Castiel discuss the former's healing process, and Cas proceeds. Castiel finds some of Gadreel's grace left behind in Sam. After some research,  they discover a Men of Letters' extractor theory, a seemingly painful process which they were never able to prove without a guinea pig.

Dean and Crowley find Tara to ask her about the case. Tara is immediately smitten with Dean, but keenly aware of Crowley. They convince her that the only reason they are working together is to obtain the First Blade. She reveals that she's chased the Blade all over the world, but has only found a location spell for which she could not find one missing ingredient: Essence of Kraken. Crowley claims he has a stockpile of it, but that Tara will have to release him from the devil's trap she's laid in order for him to retrieve it. She reluctanly agrees but tells Dean that John would be disappointed in him, indicating a sexual relationship between the two. Dean reassures her that he will deal with Crowley later, but Abaddon has to be stopped as she is "way worse" than Crowley. When Crowley returns with the ingredient, the three cast the spell which points them to a location in Missouri. Dean invites Tara to join them, but while she likes the idea of working with Dean, she refuses to go anywhere with Crowley and stays behind, wishing Dean good luck.

Back at the Men of Letters Bunker, while extracting the grace from Sam, Castiel figures out that the extraction might have regressive effects onto Sam and volunteers to stop. Sam, however, forces Cas to continue, since the extraction is the only way of finding Gadreel.

After leaving Tara, Dean and Crowley come upon the location of the First Blade. Surprisingly, the King of Hell trembles at the very sight of the Father of Murder, Cain, who's been living quietly as a beekeeper. Meanwhile, Tara is murdered by a demon sent by Abaddon to find the First Blade. The demon then leaves to find Dean and Crowley. Cain refuses to give Dean the First Blade and leaves, but not before telling them that he created the Knights of Hell and something that only Abaddon knows: the Archangels didn't kill the Knights of Hell, he did. When he's gone, Dean and Crowley search his house for the First Blade, discovering he was married but finding no sign of the Blade. Cain returns, but a group of demons arrive, having gotten the location from Tara.

Back at the bunker, the grace extraction continues, which seems to be killing Sam. Cas suddenly stops and sympathizes with Sam, talking about how he's screwed up more than Sam has, and how sorry he feels. He heals Sam and the duo leave with the grace.

Meanwhile, Cain lets four demons into his house and sits back and watches as Dean single-handedly takes on three. Crowley kills one, but just watches the rest of the fight. Dean kills the demons all by himself, impressing Cain. Afterwards, Dean demands if Cain will help now, believing the fight to be some sort of test. Cain proves completely immune to the demon-killing knife and refuses to help and leaves again as more demons arrive. However, he travels to his wife's grave and tells her he can't keep his promise to her anymore and returns home.

Cain explains to Dean about why he killed Abel in the first place: he wasn't talking to God, he was talking to Lucifer. To save his brother, Cain made a deal: his soul in Hell in exchange for Abel's in Heaven. Lucifer agreed if Cain killed Abel himself. Cain did with the First Blade and was transformed into the first Knight of Hell and trained the rest. He was the best at being the worst for thousands of years until things changed.

Eventually, Cain fell in love with Colette Mullen and left the Knights for her. All she asked of him was to stop killing and he retired. However, the Knights didn't accept this and kidnapped Colette in an attempt to force Cain back into his old ways. Enraged, the Father of Murder picked up the First Blade once more and slaughtered all of the Knights in revenge until he got to Abaddon. Upon finding her, Cain discovered that Abaddon was possessing Colette to try to seduce him and get him to return to her. When Cain refuses and tries to kill her, Abaddon fled Colette, causing Cain to accidentally kill his wife. While he wanted revenge on Abaddon, Colette made Cain promise not to go after her and end the killing, a promise which he kept.

While unwilling to kill Abaddon himself and break his promise to Colette, Cain agrees to give Dean the First Blade. However, in order to power it, Dean also needs the Mark of Cain, the source of the Blade's power. He can transfer it to someone worthy which Dean is, but warns that there is a great price to wielding it. After learning that it can enable him to kill Abaddon, Dean agrees without learning the price and Cain transfers the Mark. He then tells Dean and Crowley he dropped the First Blade to the bottom of the deepest ocean to keep the temptation away from him. Cain makes Dean promise to kill him after the latter has killed Abaddon and then transports Crowley and Dean to safety as he takes on a massive swarm of demons. Dean tells Crowley that he knows that the latter set the whole thing as a trap and vows to go after Crowley after Abaddon.

Back at the Men of Letters' Bunker, Castiel and Sam try to locate Gadreel but the attempt fails as the grace turns out to be insufficient.

Castiel and Crowley realize the dangers of facing Metatron/Gadreel and Abaddon alone and try to reunite the brothers but Sam and Dean shun the reunion.

Characters

 * Sam Winchester


 * Dean Winchester


 * Crowley


 * Castiel


 * Cain

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * Angel
 * Demon
 * Kraken (Mentioned only)

Featured Music

 * Just Another Night by Ian Hunter

Continuity

 * When Sam accuses Castiel of being a terrible liar, the latter defends himself by pointing out how he had previously tricked and betrayed the Winchesters. This refers to the entirety of Season 6, where Cas continuously lied to Sam and Dean without them realizing.
 * Dean and Crowley meet Cain, the first born son of Adam and Eve. In the Season 5 episode The Song Remains the Same, it was revealed by the archangel Michael that the Winchesters are descended from Cain and Abel. This is not acknowledged in the episode, however.

Quotes
Sam: A lot of human things are pretty annoying. Castiel: I enjoyed the taste of food, particularly peanut butter with grape jelly. Not jam. Jam I found unsettling. Castiel: That is not true. I once deceived and betrayed both you and your brother. Dean: We are the furthest thing from family. You got that, dick bag? Crowley: What do you call this décor anyway? Rustic obsessive? Paranoid deco? Didn’t they teach note-taking at Hunter’s Hogwarts? Sam: You just did. Cas: Can I ask you another question? Sam: Well, technically you…yeah, go ahead. Castiel: Why must the Winchesters run toward death? Castiel: You have a guinea pig? Where? Sam: Me, Cas, I am the guinea pig.
 * Crowley: Let's go check out Daddy's man cave?
 * Crowley: This bar is a bust. That waitress is trouble with a capital V.D.
 * Castiel: When I was human I had to eat constantly. It was kind of annoying.
 * Sam: You’re a terrible liar.
 * Crowley: I’ve been inside your brother, we’re practically family.
 * Tara: You are as handsome as John. And as dumb, too, if you’re looking for that old relic.
 * Dean: Look, I get it, you’re retired. And we’re not here to get between you and the demon A.A.R.P.
 * Cain: You have quite a reputation, Dean. I see the part about being brave rings true. Since when does the great Dean Winchester ask for help? That doesn’t sound like the man I’ve read about on demon bathroom walls.
 * Castiel: Sam, may I ask you a question?
 * Castiel: When I was human I died, and that showed me that life is precious and it must be protected at all costs, even a life as pig-headed as a Winchester’s. Nothing is worth losing you. Being human didn’t just change my view of food, it changed my view of you. I can relate now to how you feel. The only person who has screwed things up more consistently than you is me. And now I know what that guilt feels like. And I know what it means to feel sorry, Sam. I am sorry. Old me, I would’ve just kept going. I would’ve jammed that needle in deeper until you died, because the ends always justified the means. But what I went through, that PB&J taught me that angels can change. So who knows, maybe Winchesters can too.
 * Crowley: Your problem is that nobody hates you more than you do. Believe me, I tried.
 * Crowley (after killing a demon): You're good... but I'm Crowley.
 * Castiel: (eating a sandwich): It tastes like molecules.
 * Sam: Well they didn't have a guinea pig... we do.

References to Popular Culture

 * Crowley: "I do love a good buddy comedy."
 * refers to the buddy film genre where two people of the same sex (historically men) are put together. The two often contrast in personality, which creates a different dynamic onscreen than a pairing of two people of the opposite sex. [source]
 * Crowley: "Didn't they teach note-taking at Hunters Hogwarts?"
 * refers to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the Harry Potter book series