The Darkness/Synopsis

History
"Before there was light, before there was God and the Archangels, there wasn't nothing. There was the Darkness, a horribly destructive, amoral force that was beaten back by God and his Archangels in a terrible war. God locked the Darkness away where it could do no harm, and he created a Mark that would serve as both lock and key, which he entrusted to his most valued lieutenant, Lucifer. But the Mark began to exert its own will, revealed itself as a curse, and began to corrupt. Lucifer became jealous of man. God banished Lucifer to Hell. Lucifer passed the Mark to Cain, who passed the Mark to you, the proverbial finger in the dike."

- Death According to Death, the Darkness existed before the Universe, light, and even God, her younger brother. She is credited as a powerful, amoral, and horribly destructive force. Some time after God and Death came into being, God created many worlds to show The Darkness that there could be more than just the two of them, but she would always destroy them. Eventually, God created the four Archangels and battled The Darkness in "a terrible war". Whilst even together they couldn't destroy her, they managed to defeat her; God and his Archangels tricked her and eventually sealed her away with a mark that would later be called the Mark of Cain, though they only barely managed to lock her away. According to herself, Lucifer and God conspired to seal her away, and she implied it was her trust in Lucifer that led to her downfall. God then gave the Mark to Lucifer, his favorite angel and most valued lieutenant, to guard and protect, and the Darkness had been locked away ever since. The Mark, however, began to exert its own will and revealed itself to be a curse. It corrupted Lucifer, leading to a chain of events that would see Lucifer refuse to bow down before humans and be cast out of Heaven. Lucifer then transferred the Mark on to Cain who then, thousands of years later, passed it on to Dean.

Season 10
In Brother's Keeper, Death revealed to Dean the existence of the Darkness, which he calls "a terrible, amoral force" when Dean requested that Death remove the Mark of Cain. Death warned that God and the archangels defeated the Darkness and locked it away with the Mark acting as lock and key for its prison and the Mark must not be removed without first passing it on or the Darkness will be released.

After Rowena performed the Mark of Cain Removal Spell, the Mark was removed from Dean's arm. Shortly thereafter, lightning bolts punched holes in the ground from which the Darkness emerged and swept over the Impala as the Winchesters tried to get away. As revealed in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, her release caused such strong disturbances in Hell, that Lucifer's Cage was damaged as a side effect, which eventually allowed Lucifer to influence the outside world.

Season 11
"We're bound, Dean. We'll always be bound. You helped me, I helped you. No matter where I am, who I am, we will always help each other."

- Amara

In Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire, shortly after breaking out of her prison, she spared Sam and Dean's life and in a vision, thanked Dean for freeing her. She mentioned that she already helped him and Dean helped her. Bound for eternity, they will always help each other. When Dean told her that he already knew about the Darkness from Death, she was confused as she didn't know Death nor did Death know her.

At the same time, her release caused the residents of Superior, Nebraska who encountered her smoke form to become Rabids. While Sam worked to find a cure for the Rabid infection, Dean took Jenna Nickerson and a baby named Amara who was born during the release of the Darkness to safety. Unknown to Dean, Amara had taken the baby as a vessel with baby Amara sporting the Mark of Cain on her left shoulder as the adult Amara did in Dean's vision. After Crowley returned to his vessel, his demons informed him of a disturbance in Lucifer's Cage that was believed to be a warning from Michael or Lucifer about the Darkness.

In Form and Void, following the Darkness' release, Sam continued searching for a cure for the people infected by her. His search led him to find that Holy Fire cured her victims. At the same time, Dean and Jenna Nickerson brought Amara to Jenna's grandmother's house in Cedar Raids, Iowa. After being put into a crib, Amara telekinetically moved objects in the room around, ultimately impaling blocks in the wall before Jenna and her grandmother with a demand to feed her. Jenna's religious grandmother called for an exorcist, but got the King of Hell Crowley posing as a priest. Crowley informed Dean that he could sense the being in the house, calling it powerful, old and dark.

As Jenna tried to sooth Amara, the baby ate her soul, causing the soulless Jenna to kill her grandmother. After checking on Amara and seeing the Mark of Cain on her chest, Dean realized that she's the Darkness, but he and Crowley got distracted by Jenna who revealed that Amara ate her soul. As Dean and Crowley were distracted, Amara aged into a young girl, put on some kid's clothes left in the room and departed, noticed briefly by Crowley. After Crowley killed Jenna and Dean incapacitated the demon, he went to kill Amara, only to find her gone. Crowley, intrigued by "the child who eats souls," tracked Amara down the next day and offered her a family he kidnapped to feast upon.

In The Bad Seed, after finding Amara, Crowley took her to his lair where he assigned her a demonic "nanny" and began educating her about what has happened since she was locked away. He essentially spoiled her with literally whatever she asked for so as to assure her allegiance. Amara, for the most part, proves complacent and calm, asking Crowley many questions about the world God created while she was learning but expressed a slight fear of him. She even came to call Crowley "Uncle Crowley" despite the fact that she was eons older than him. However, she dodges Crowley's questions about her own plans while conversing with a reflection of her older self in a mirror behind Crowley's back.



"Good, evil, Heaven, Hell, people, it all seems so unimportant."

- Amara

Amara was constantly hungry for souls to consume, which Crowley at first happily and later reluctantly facilitated by feeding her random demons in deceased vessels. Amara's appetite only grew to greater levels and eventually resulted in her consuming both of her demonic nannies and her taking on an older form, much to the concern of Crowley. When Crowley tried to dissuade her from consuming more demonic souls, she became angry and demanded to be fed.

In Baby, Sam informed Dean that there was no sign of the Darkness, worrying Dean that the Darkness was still out there somewhere getting stronger. While sleeping, Sam was visited in a dream by a being taking the form of his father who warned Sam that "The Darkness is coming" and only the Winchesters could stop her. However, he refused to elaborate on how she could be stopped. Dean later learned from the Nachzehrer Deputy Donelly that he knew of the Darkness, didn't believe it could be stopped by anyone and was building an army to try to survive for as long as possible. The Winchesters were left worried by the fact that even the monsters were scared of the Darkness.

In Thin Lizzie, while investigating a series of strange murders in Fall River, Massachusetts, Dean learned from Len Fletcher that he encountered Amara outside of the Lizzie Borden Hotel and Museum. After chatting with him briefly, Amara then devoured Len's soul, which subsequently extinguished his passion for Borden altogether and robbed him of his conscience. Dean realized from Len's description and his own experience with baby Amara that Amara was growing by feeding on people's souls and that the killer was another of her soulless victims. Sydney, the killer, told the Winchesters that she met Amara outside of a bar where Amara made Sydney feel bliss before consuming her soul when Sydney called Amara an angel which Amara had found insulting. Sydney planned to offer up the Winchesters to Amara who she sensed was close by, but was killed by Len before she could harm them further. The Winchesters later left Fall River to pursue Amara, but as they drove away, Amara emerged from out of a treeline, smiled and said "bye Dean. I'll see you soon."

In Our Little World, Crowley became concerned about Amara constantly feeding on demon souls and sneaking out to feed on humans when he put restrictions upon her, particularly before he could be assured of Amara's loyalty to him. When Amara returned from feeding on the soul of Goldie Schmidtlapp, which aged Amara into a teenager, Crowley grounded her and forcefully asserted his power over Amara when she tried to leave. Amara acknowledged that Crowley was stronger "for now," but subsequently began asserting her independence by refusing to feed on the people Crowley brought her. Crowley requested time to find something he could offer her such as his protection which Amara reluctantly agreed to.

At the same time, Crowley dispatched the demon Marco to clean up Amara's "left overs" around Fall River. Marco killed Len Fletcher, but was captured by the Winchesters who learned from Marco of how Amara had been feeding on demon souls under Crowley's care to grow stronger. After killing Marco, the Winchesters managed to track down Crowley's lair and launched a raid in an attempt to kill Amara before she could grow stronger. Dean confronted Amara in her room with the demon-killing knife, but had a hard time bringing himself to even try to stab Amara before Crowley intervened. As Crowley prepared to kill Dean, Amara overpowered Crowley and caused him immense pain. In exchange for Crowley allowing Dean to leave unharmed, Amara released Crowley and prepared to leave to pursue "the oldest grudge." When Sam burst into the room and Amara flung him away, Dean turned on her with the knife, forcing Amara to pin him to a pillar with telekinesis before she left. Amara later enjoyed her freedom as she walked through the world, unopposed.

As the Winchesters went after Amara, Castiel was able to capture the Scribe of God Metatron and interrogated Metatron for what he knew about the Darkness. Metatron eventually revealed the truth: that the Darkness is God's sister who he had to lock away in order to make Creation. The information left the Winchesters disturbed while Sam's constant visions began showing him Lucifer's Cage.

In Plush, Castiel has dug up every bit of pre-Biblical lore he could find in Gaza in an attempt to find some information on the Darkness. However, half of it Sam couldn't read as it was in Aramaic while the half he could read lacked a single mention of the Darkness. At the same time, Sam has been praying to God who Sam believed was sending him the visions asking for guidance. Sam later revealed to Dean that his visions were of Lucifer's Cage and Sam believed that God wanted Sam to return to the Cage and that God might be telling him that the Cage was where the answer to defeating the Darkness lay. Dean flatly refused the idea of Sam returning to Lucifer's Cage or that the key to defeating the Darkness may be there.

In Just My Imagination, the zanna Sully revealed that he had heard rumors about the Darkness. Sam admitted that he had released the Darkness upon the world and that he was terrified by God's apparent desire for Sam to return to Lucifer's Cage to do so. Sam later tried to discuss returning to the Cage with Dean, but Dean continued to refuse the idea.

By O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Amara, at last, had gained the adult form she had appeared to Dean as when she was released and set about tracking down God so as to settle her score. Scouting across the globe, she attacked and slaughtered hundreds of humans in various religious sects both to learn about his universe's rules and in an effort to draw her brother out of hiding, but was visibly and violently frustrated each and every time as God continually failed to appear or intervene in any way. Eventually, her activities drew the attention of the Winchesters yet again, who were in the midst of preparing to visit Lucifer's Cage with Crowley and Rowena. Dean traveled to her last known location, a church, and sensed her presence through their bond.

"He was so threatened by me, fearful that I would make a more perfect Creation than he, so he exiled me. Virtually erased me. Passed on stories that I was a threat."

- Amara

"Dean: What is it exactly that you want? When you make the world at bliss and at peace, what's in it for you? Amara: What I deserve. Dean: Which is? Amara: Everything. Dean: Everything? Amara: I was the beginning, and I will be the end. I will be all that there is."

- Amara and Dean



After meeting up with Dean, Amara teleported Dean and herself to the countryside and engaged him in conversation. She attempted to explain her actions by criticizing God and his universe due to his detachment from his beloved creations, the pain they endured, and his apparent need to be worshiped and loved by all. She claimed that, if she were allowed her way, there would be no pain, no sorrow, no rules, just bliss. Her words had no effect on Dean who stubbornly accused her of seeking to become the new 'God', to which Amara replied that God was the light, and she was the dark. She also revealed she was once all that there was, and she sought to reestablish that state. Dean attempted to stab her with a silver knife but the blade shattered upon the impact. Completely unfazed by the attack, Amara derided Dean's efforts to resist and closed in on him as if to consume his soul, but instead kissed him passionately, declaring that their bond was unbreakable and that in the end, she and Dean would be together and become one.

Before Dean could reply, a small group of angels appeared out of nowhere and attacked Amara but she butchered them with ease. The entire angelic population in Heaven then took aim at her from the heavens, combined all their power as one and prepared to open fire on Amara in a last ditch effort to destroy her with a single ferocious celestial blast. Amara exchanged one last pained look with Dean before teleporting him away to safety as she prepared to meet the angelic attack head-on.

"I mean, Heaven brought the thunder, and it barely even scratched my paint job, but you and a shiny knife? Sure."

- Amara

In The Devil in the Details, Dean met with Castiel in order to check if the combined angel smiting took the Darkness down. The power of the blast caused supernatural fallout and Dean was unable to proceed closer to the impact area. Castiel eventually met with the angel Ambriel who was sent by Heaven to verify if Amara was killed. The whole area was clouded in Darkness and they decided to team up and search the area. Ambriel eventually found her lying unconscious on the ground. As she came closer and touched Amara, the Darkness woke up. Alarmed by his partner's scream Castiel watched in shock as the Darkness consumed Ambriel's grace and reabsorbed the Darkness around her that had escaped her vessel. Amara was amused as Castiel threatened to stab her with his angel blade. Easily overpowering Castiel, she decided to spare his life since he wasn't even worth the effort to consume his essence. She sent him back to Billie to deliver the message "I am coming."

In Hell's Angel, months later, the Darkness still felt the impact of the combined angel smiting but with the help of Rowena and a powerful spell, she was able to heal her vessel. Rowena tried to convince the Darkness of her usefulness, adding that she could provide knowledge and help her design her world. Amara then tested her healed vessel by sending a powerful blast towards Heaven, which caused a heavy disturbance there as well as lightning on Earth. Meanwhile, Crowley teams up with the Winchesters in hopes of using the Horn of Joshua against Lucifer. Sam and Dean however, believe that the weapon used by Lucifer can destroy the Darkness. They also prepared a trap in order to give Castiel some time to either reject Lucifer or leave his vessel. With the help of Rowena, they were able to finally summon Lucifer. Lucifer asked for the Hand of God but Dean tried to reach out to Castiel with a spell. However, Lucifer quickly regained control of the vessel and running out of time, Crowley possessed Lucifer but also failed to free Castiel. As the wardings could no longer hold Lucifer, he was about to kill Sam and Dean. In this moment the Darkness blasted through the walls of the building. After a short conversation, Lucifer obtained power from the Horn and released an immense blast on Amara to no avail as she was completely unharmed.

"As God's favorite, his first son, you may be the one thing in all of creation that he still cares about. The one thing that could finally make him show himself, so that I could confront him and he can acknowledge the wrongs he has done me. And then he can witness the utter destruction of all his creation, before he himself is swept away."

- Amara

Amara telekinetically pulled Lucifer, who was visibly shocked, to her. She released Sam and Dean from Lucifer's telekinetic grip and said to Lucifer that they need to have a chat, teleporting them both away to her lair. Pinned against the wall, Lucifer tried to convince the Darkness that they both share anger towards God and that he is willing to team up with her. Amara eventually agrees, but not quite as Lucifer hoped: she came to think that Lucifer might be the proper tool to lure out God, since Lucifer might be the one thing in all of creation, that God still cares about. She announced that her brother will watch the destruction of all of existence before his own death. Amara raised her hands and began to torture her nephew, who subsequently began to scream in agony.

In Don't Call Me Shurley, Amara unleashed a deadly fog on a small town, which captured the attention of Sam and Dean. They quickly came to realize that Amara was responsible for this. Influenced by Amara, an infected police officer told Dean that God won't save them and that everything that exists will vanish forever - except Dean and Amara herself. Once the fog threatened to cloud the whole city, most people hid in the police station, including Sam and Dean. They tried to prevent the fog from penetrating the police station, but eventually failed and Sam got infected as well. In desperation, Dean demanded God's help. Due to his conversation with Metatron, God came to think that he should not abandon his creations. Dean's amulet began to glow, implicating God's presence. God erased the fog and also healed and resurrected all the people affected by the plague.

"You really aren't worth sparing... None of you."

- Amara

In All in the Family, Amara continued to torture Lucifer in an attempt to force him to call out to God and sends more fog to try to draw God out, attacking the town of Lewis, Oklahoma and inadvertently turning Donatello Redfield into a Prophet. When it failed, Amara projected an image of herself and Lucifer into Dean's mind to try to get him to let God know of Lucifer's predicament and that of Castiel since Castiel was Lucifer's vessel. Amara later contacted Dean again, asking to meet with him privately.

Dean eventually agreed to meet with Amara in a forest and she asked him to become a part of her and to give up his state of being. Amara and Dean both acknowledged the feelings they have for each other, even though Dean was frightened by their affections. Dean resisted her desire for them to become one, and Amara realized that he has met with God and is now protected from her mentally. Amara realized that she had been betrayed and returns to her lair where Sam, Metatron and Donatello had rescued Lucifer. Metatron used an angel banishing sigil on Amara, but she was simply amused by his efforts. Metatron told Amara that God meant well and asks her to spare the universe. Enraged, Amara replied with a "spare this" and imploded him into nothingness.

As Sam, Lucifer and Donatello raced away in the Impala, Amara appeared in the middle of the road and stopped the car, stating that none of them deserved to be spared. As she prepared to kill them, God teleported the car to the bunker.

In We Happy Few, in search of God, Amara entered the home of Donatello and attacked him, demanding he tell her the whereabouts of God. When Donatello refused, Amara absorbs his soul and gains the knowledge. She travels to Kansas and enter the Men of Letters bunker, after having taken down the warding. She appeared on the war room table and noticed ]God's mug, which she kicked out of annoyance. She then began her search inside the bunker. She eventually entered Dean's room and found a photograph of Dean with his mother, Mary Winchester, and appeared to admire Dean's photo.

Suddenly, Rowena called to her and offers to take her to God in exchange for Amara allowing her own escape. Despite knowing it to be a trap, Amara leaves the bunker and heads to Rowena's location at a nearby abandoned power plant. Rowena urged her to go inside the power plant, but Amara informed her of what she is aware. In response, Rowena attacked her with the Diminishing Spell to no effect. Amara mused how it "tickles". She proceeded to mock Rowena for thinking one witch could harm her. Rowena argued that she was not just one witch, and resumes her attack, this time empowered by other witches. This knocked Amara to her knees, but she soon rose up and deflected the spell, knocking Rowena away and killing the other witches.

Just then, Heaven begins preparing for a combined smiting. Amara extends her arms out and screams as the blast comes for her. The blast left Amara noticeably wounded, but shortly after, Amara found herself attacked by demons in their smoke form. She struggled to swat them away, and the demons began to levitate her into the air. Crowley exited the building and joined the fray, and hit Amara in his smoke form, knocking her into a car down below.

Now beaten and battered, Amara slowly marched into the warehouse and discovered God waiting for her. They met again for the first time since her imprisonment. She attempted to attack but Lucifer impaled her from behind with his spear, injuring her further. Amara admitted defeat, saying God won and he should kill her, even if his reason for doing so may not be justifiable. Amara explained that she loved God and they were equals together, but God went off and created lesser begins such as the archangels, to boost his ego. God argued that life needed to be created and that she wouldn't let him. Though sorry for what he did, God began sealing her away again, this time using Sam as the bearer of the Mark.

"If you won't change, why should I?!"

- Amara to God

Horrified, Amara struck back and attacked God with tentacles of darkness, yelling how she'd rather die a million times and kill him a million more before going back to her prison. Lucifer tried to protect his father and charged at her again, but Amara simply sent him flying into a pillar and ripped him out of Castiel's vessel. Dean tried to defend God too but Amara deflected him as well. God erupted in a ball of bright light and collapsed onto the floor. Amara stated that he was not dead, but dying, for she wanted him to witness to destruction of everything he created. Upon declaring her intentions, Amara departed, fully healed of her injuries. At the same time, the sun began going dark from God's state.

In Alpha and Omega, after getting her revenge, Amara traveled to a park where she noticed that she is starting to be affected by God's state as well. While there, Amara met an old lady who she talked about family with and despite how much the woman hated her son for trying to put her in a retirement home, she loved him anyway. Amara is emotionally affected by the discussion of family and upset as she reflected on what she did to her brother.

As the sun continued to die, Dean arrived, armed with a soul bomb to kill Amara with. Amara explained that the universe is dying with God and her along with it. Amara admitted to being conflicted on what she did to her brother to Dean who told Amara that God didn't want her dead either. Dean told Amara about his fights with Sam but how at the end of the day, he loved him anyway. After Amara mentioned she thought her revenge would feel better than it does, Dean told her it only feels good for about five minutes and urged her to find another way.

"I thought revenge would make me happy. But I was wrong. What you've made... it's beautiful. It took me a long time to see that."

- Amara to God

After speaking with Dean, Amara teleported God to their location and admitted that he had created something beautiful. Amara explained that before God created the universe, it used to be just the two of them and she got jealous when he created other things. Amara told God she knows they can't go back to before, but asked to have her brother back. God and Amara forgave each other and Amara healed the damage she did to God, causing the sun to return to normal. After God removed the souls from Dean, he and Amara departed the Earth to have a "family meeting" to truly reconcile fully. Before leaving in a stream of darkness, Amara told Dean that he gave her what she need most so she will do the same for him.

"Dean, you gave me what I needed most. I wanna do the same for you."

- Amara to Dean

Awhile later, as Dean tried to find his way out of the park, he discovered that Amara had resurrected his mother Mary Winchester as Amara's way of thanking him.

Season 12
After finding his mother resurrected, Dean explains everything that has happened since she died including the fact that Amara resurrected her. Mary is stunned by the fact that God's sister resurrected her and Dean admits that it's a lot to take in.

When confronted by the Winchesters, Castiel and Crowley, Lucifer, who survived the Darkness' attack on him, tells them that he believes that God only needed his help to defeat the Darkness. As a result, Lucifer now believes that God only apologized to get his help and abandoned Lucifer once he didn't need him to fight the Darkness anymore.

Season 13
During The Rising Son, Donatello reveals to Sam and Dean how he is now soulless due to Amara's attack on him.

In The Big Empty, while in The Empty, Castiel met the Shadow who states the realm has existed long before the Darkness or God.

In Various & Sundry Villains, when Lucifer tries to get Castiel to trust him and give Lucifer some of his grace, Castiel refuses, noting that he'd trusted Lucifer when they fought the Darkness together and got betrayed.

Season 14
In Lebanon, Sam and Dean tell John Winchester about the events that he has missed, including fighting the Darkness. After the timeline is altered by John's disappearance in 2003, Sam tells John that they think Mary will just fade away as the war with the Darkness never happened and thus Mary was never resurrected in that timeline.

During Peace of Mind, Donatello tells a curious Jack that Amara was the one who took his soul. Jack seemed surprised to learn of his great-aunt's actions and how they affected the prophet's morals.

In a flashback in Absence, Mary mentions her resurrection by Amara.

In Moriah, God tells the Winchesters and Castiel that Amara has been with him on his journey and that they have been having a nice time reconnecting. God states that Amara is currently in Reno, Nevada playing keno which she's discovered a love for.

Season 15
In Raising Hell, Amara receives a massage, only to have her masseuse Kimiko replaced by Chuck. Amara is annoyed when she realizes that Chuck smote Kimiko and reminds her brother that they agreed to give each other space. Amara sees through Chuck's attempts at small talk and demands to know why he's really there.

Later, as Amara does yoga, Chuck tries to convince her to use the time they have now to deepen their relationship. However, Amara is uninterested, enjoying her time in Reno and stating that "everyone here is so not... you." Amara senses something is off and realizes that Chuck needs her for the first time ever and demands to know what is going on. Amara notices Chuck's wound from The Equalizer and realizes that Chuck is not complete, not at full strength and is afraid.



Amara later prepares to leave, but refuses to help Chuck. While she is willing to coexist with her brother, she is not willing to do it anywhere near him. Though Chuck tries to force her to help him, Amara refuses, noting that even on his best day he couldn't force her hand "and this is not your best day." Amara thinks that Chuck can't do much of anything besides a few parlor tricks and he can't leave the Earth without her help. Amara states that she's changed, adapted and "become the better me," but Chuck is still the same petulant, narcissistic being he has always been and so she is leaving him there. Amara remembers that Chuck had once sealed her away and states that in a way, she is doing the same to him. "You're trapped. Diminished. Abandoned. So I guess you got what you always wanted: you're on your own." With a final look at her brother, Amara departs.

In Atomic Monsters, Chuck tells Becky Rosen that he went to his sister for help, but she had refused because she sucks.

In Last Call, after Castiel probes his wound from the Equalizer, Sam experiences some of God's memories, including God's memory of Amara telling her brother that he is weak and can't leave Earth without her help.

In Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven, the Winchesters and Castiel plot on how to lock God up as Amara once was. Later, while showing Michael his memories of God's betrayals, Castiel includes his memory of Amara mortally wounding God.