Rowena MacLeod

""I hate you... Because if I didn't... I'd love you. But love -- love is weakness. And I'll never be weak again.""

- Rowena to Crowley

Rowena MacLeod is an extremely powerful natural witch, and the mother of Crowley, who was originally named Fergus Roderick MacLeod. She is also the grandmother of Gavin MacLeod. She is of Scottish descent. She was one of the main antagonists of Season 10. In Season 11 she continued her efforts to gain power, eventually Rowena leagued with Lucifer upon promises she would be his queen. After helping Lucifer free himself, Lucifer snapped her neck so he couldn't be trapped in the Cage by her again. However, she was able to resurrect herself with a spell she had prepared in advance. She was eventually killed by Lucifer a second time and her body burned to prevent resurrection. Despite this, Rowena was resurrected again though it took her a very long time to heal from the damage Lucifer caused.

Background
Born in Scotland during the 17th century, Rowena was the daughter of a tanner and, according to a confession she made while bound to a witchcatcher, she was a "pale, scared little girl who smelled of filth and death".

Rowena is the mother of Crowley (born Fergus Roderick MacLeod, 1661). Rowena has related two stories regarding how she became pregnant with Fergus. She first said that she had been with many men during a Winter Solstice orgy. The second tale she related was that Fergus' father had been a rich and already-married man. Rowena gave birth to Fergus upon a straw mat in 1661. The married man abandoned her almost immediately after the child's birth.

This was a powerful moment for Rowena, who vowed never to be weak again. She became an abusive parent towards her son. For Fergus (now Crowley) there are no fond memories of their time together.

Rowena claimed to be a "natural" witch and was born with the gift of magic (as opposed to harnessing the power of demons or learning it). Thus she was accepted into the Grand Coven, only to be dismissed by her superiors as a result of her violent and forceful use of magic. Later, Olivette revealed that her having a child with a non-witch also contributed to her expulsion.

Sometime after, Rowena was pursued by an unknown party in a witch hunt (presumably the British Men of Letters) and was forced to flee her hometown and leave her child in a squalid workhouse. She attempted to seek out help from the Loughlin Family and learn druidic magic. However, they cruelly rejected her despite her pleas. Around this time, Rowena fled to Milan, Italy and was tutored by Letitia di Albioni.

Rowena also encountered a Polish family who kindly took care of her. To repay their kindness, she cured the son, Oskar, of his terminal illness and even granted him immortality.

Between this period and the present timeline, Rowena developed many powerful spells. She is immortal given her long life, but she can still be killed by natural means. Rowena created a demon killing spell in the 1800s that only she knows how to perform. Many of the spells that she uses are not easily withstood by humans, and cause them to die shortly after being affected. Even simple spells like the servitude spell eventually burn up the human victims, as do powerful ones such as the Attack Dog Spell.

At some point close to the present day, Rowena was captured by the British Men of Letters. During her captivity, Arthur Ketch made a deal with Rowena where he would help her escape in exchange for a Resurrection Seal for himself. Rowena accepted the deal and cast the spell on Arthur who helped her escape as promised.

Before her reappearance in the present day, Rowena was briefly mentioned by Crowley. He described his mother as "dabbling in witchcraft" and said that she taught him a few things. However, Crowley did not mention her name.

Season 10
Rowena briefly appears at the end of "Soul Survivor" sipping on brandy and reading a book. After some blood drips onto her arm, she wipes it off and looks up, revealing two hotel staff members pinned to the ceiling whom she killed for coming to her for the bill. She smiles and resumes reading her book. "Hardly the most appetizing process in the world, but killing demons always makes me hungry."

- Rowena, after killing the demon Raul When Rowena visits Raul's Girls, a brothel where the demon, Raul, is running a new version of soul collecting by selling sex to men, then reaping their souls, she uses Defigere Et Depurgare, a demon liquefying spell on Raul. This makes Gerald, the other demon flee. She rescues the two girls forced into prostitution by Raul, and takes them to a French restaurant. The head waiter of the restaurant warns Rowena that the outfits of the prostitutes violate the restaurant's dress rule. She uses the Servitude Spell on the waiter, which makes him ignore the dresses and do the best he can for her table. Rowena enlightens the girls about witches and the Grand Coven, and convinces them to learn magic from her. The two girls accept, and the head waiter immediately dies because his brain boiled as an adverse effect of the spell he was under. Rowena and the prostitutes leave.

At a hotel, she teaches the girls some spells and tells them to use one on a man who she assumes is coming to her for the bill but later turns out to be someone who the demons use to lure her. The demons seize them and on the way, they face off with the Winchesters who kill them. Rowena uses the Attack Dog Spell on one of the girls, which causes her to fight against the Winchesters, buying some time for her and the other girl to escape the hotel. Caitlin queries Rowena about what she had done to Elle. Rowena tells her that she was not strong enough to harness magic. The girl distrusts Rowena and punches her in the face, after which she runs. Before Rowena can cast a spell on her, Dean incapacitates her by brandishing a gun but was stifled by Cole at the same moment who was after Dean. Rowena escapes but she is later captured by another team of Crowley's demons.

Gerald tortures her in a cell before Crowley comes to meet her. Rowena sarcastically greets the King, who is shocked to discover the witch is in fact his mother.

Rowena befriends a demon, Trish and persuades her son that she left him forever not because she hated him but because she wanted to motivate him in an attempt to escape being captive in Hell's dungeon. Crowley is still exasperated with his mother and makes Gerald throw her back into the dungeon. Rowena devises another ruse which is to expose Gerald being culpable for smuggling demons from Hell onto Earth. Gerald throttles her, but before he could kill her, he was stabbed in the throat with an angel blade by Crowley. He brings Rowena out but she reneges on the promise she made to Trish that if she sided with her as a witness of Gerald's crimes, she would free her if being released by Crowley and leaves Trish behind. In order to give Crowley a premonitory nightmare depicting Guthrie, one of his minions, along with several other demons, assassinating Crowley with angel blades, Rowena hides a hex bag under Crowley's throne. Rowena is then seen prying around Crowley's palace, which Guthrie tries to get her to stop. When Crowley makes a rendezvous with the Winchesters for a transaction dealing with the First Blade, Rowena watches him by performing astral projection, in order to eavesdrop on their conversation. When she learns that the First Blade is hidden in Crowley's tomb, she threatens Guthrie to purloin the Blade. Guthrie hesitates to hand it to her even though he got it, confirming that he will only give it to Crowley. Rowena stabs him in the chest with an angel blade. When Crowley arrives, she blames Guthrie for stealing the Blade, which Crowley believes for already having the precognitive nightmare in which Guthrie betrays him.

Katja, a witch and member of the Grand Coven, travels from Europe to the United States in pursuit of Rowena as ordered by her superiors in the Coven. Her hunt was thwarted by Sam and Dean Winchester when Dean incinerated her in her own flaming kiln, killing her.

Rowena is present as Crowley holds court and scorns a demon for demanding Crowley the credit which equals his work. She then suggests Crowley halve him and pin the bloody pieces to the wall of the court so that no one dares demand anything from Crowley anymore, thus not wasting the king's time, which Crowley complies. Rowena later reveals that Olivette, her rival and superior, the high priestess of the Grand Coven, has just resurfaced and implores Crowley to track down Olivette and coerce her to sanction her practice of magic once again on her behalf. Crowley reluctantly agrees but later, revokes the plan as he has some business with the Winchesters to exterminate Cain. Rowena is disappointed and chastises Crowley, telling him not to go but Crowley rebuffs. When Crowley returns distressed and crestfallen, double crossed by the Winchesters, Rowena is ready to leave but Crowley halts her. She berates him for being their puppet and lap dog and addresses him as "their bitch".

Rowena remains vexed with Crowley and vents her frustration by ruining the court and casting shocking spells to all those who interfere with her; she hexed one of the demons to spawn a rear face. She also rebukes Crowley for denying to help her and for choosing the Winchesters over his own blood. She taunts Crowley about his existence only because of her and again, spoils his palace by casting a spell. Crowley later captures Olivette, and brings her before Rowena, much to her joy. Rowena shackles Olivette and beats her. Olivette reveals she excommunicated Rowena for having a child with a non-witch and that the Grand Coven has already been devastated and weakened thanks to the Men of Letters. She mentions that the Winchesters are the only known Men of Letters. With the assumption that the Grand Coven from which she has been hiding for centuries and which she has been fearfully groveling until now is no longer powerful and authorized, she tortures Olivette and eventually, transforms her into a hamster.

As part of her plan to defeat Dean, Rowena draws sigils and symbols in blood on her body, and appears on Earth. She casts the Attack Dog Spell on a trio of teenagers, and uses them to attack Dean. When Dean successfully beats the teenagers without killing them, Rowena uses a Gaelic spell on Dean which was supposed to rip him apart, but did not since Dean bears the very powerful and ancient Mark of Cain. Dean spares her life for the sake of the hexed trio, as he knows that only Rowena can break the spells cast on them. Overwhelmed by the knowledge that even her mightiest spell cannot overpower Dean, she injures herself and reveals to Crowley that Dean attacked her in the hope of Crowley retaliating against Dean for his mother. However, Crowley ignores her, feeling unconvinced by her love for him, stating that the only reason she is clinging to him is he is being useful to her. Rowena then packs, and leaves her son's palace.

After an encounter with the Styne Family where Sam appeared to destroy the Book of the Damned in a fire, he meets with Rowena in the hope that she can find a way to reverse the Mark of Cain, since she is a very powerful witch. With a smile, she discussed the terms of an agreement with him.

Rowena stipulates that Sam has to kill Crowley in return for her decoding the book, to which Sam agrees. She mentions that an affiliate of the Grand Coven, a witch named Nadia, once wrote a codex which can help interpret the Book of the Damned. Nadia, however, was murdered by the Men of Letters, and her codex was plundered and hidden in a Werther Box which induces hallucinations and delusions to all those who attempt to open it. These illusions manipulate the victims to commit suicide, with 98 percent lethality. When Sam and Dean discover the whereabouts of the Werther Box, the former opens it which causes Dean to have hallucinations of Purgatory, in which he kills a leviathan and confronts Benny. Benny was trying to persuade Dean into puncturing himself with a shattered glass bottle, killing himself. Meanwhile, Sam is saved from Suzie, who blames him for being responsible for her death by Rowena by using a spell, who, herself, is a hallucination induced by the Werther Box. Rowena and Sam confer how to open the Werther box in order to get Nadia's codex. Rowena uses a spell to reveal the letters etched on the box which read that only by spilling the Men of Letters' blood would the hallucinations cease, and allow the box to open. Sam cuts his arm, and spills his blood into the collection bowl on the box. It doesn't work, however, since more blood is needed.

Being a hallucination that would bring about Sam's death, Rowena encourages Sam into spilling vast amounts of his blood and he almost kills himself by excessive blood loss, but Dean is freed from his hallucination by impaling Benny instead of himself. He seeks out Sam, and spills his blood with Sam, which deactivates the spell on the Werther box, and disperses Rowena. Having successfully opened the Werther box and retrieving Nadia's codex, Sam arranges a rendezvous with Rowena, and hands her the codex. As a precaution to make sure that Rowena neither goes back on her promise and abandons the search for a cure, Sam binds her with iron manacles and chains. Sam tells her to work on the codex and departs, leaving Rowena furious and enraged.

Since Rowena has not found a cure for the Mark, Sam argues with her for procrastinating in deciphering the Book of the Damned using Nadia's codex, to which Rowena replies that she is an, artist and needs time for interpreting the cure for Dean. She also states that her deciphering of the codex could be expedited if she could use magic, since Sam has her in iron shackles. Sam is desperate and demands why she is stalling but Rowena denies, saying that removing the Mark of Cain would insure her life, plus her willingness to have Crowley killed. In addition, Rowena mentions that Nadia also encrypted her own codex so that no one could ever decode it, to Sam's chagrin. When Sam goes to leave, Rowena asks him to go grocery shopping.

He returns with Charlie, who is also there to help find a cure for the Mark, but Rowena is antagonistic toward Charlie, and tells Sam that she does not need an ancillary decoder. Sam retorts by revealing that Charlie wouldn't be her helper, as she would be subordinate to Charlie. Rowena is not impressed by Charlie's confidence in tech, as she has never heard of the school where Charlie learned this magic. Sam tells her that she will find the ancient spells and curses, while Charlie's tech will put it into context. When Castiel is counted in as a member of the team, Rowena is intrigued by him, and taunts that all their discreet and unwilling collaboration must be unbeknownst to Dean, who doesn't even know that Sam didn't destroy the book. Sam, Charlie, and Castiel make a mutual agreement on cooperating for Dean's sake.

Rowena taunts Charlie and her laptop, and Castiel enters with his favorite snack as a human, pork rinds. Charlie asks Rowena about the nun who wrote the Book of the Damned, and Rowena replies that she was a hermit nun, Agnes, and that she was incinerated at the stake by the men of the church. Rowena mentions that her and Charlie are similar, however Rowena believes Charlie has too much trust in the Winchesters. Charlie confesses that the Winchesters are like her brothers, but Rowena tells her that her loyalty would be her undoing. Because Rowena won't leave her alone, and even tried to talk her into witchcraft, Charlie tells Castiel that she has to leave for two hours, or even one, just to get away from Rowena.

When Charlie and Rowena start arguing, Castiel calls Sam to let him know that Charlie wants to leave. Sam says it is too dangerous, however, so Castiel moves Rowena to another room, and chains her there. Rowena felt that Charlie was being the dramatic one, and believed that determining a cure would go faster if Charlie accepted her help. She also mentions that Crowley is her son, which surprised Castiel. Castiel leaves her, and finds out that Charlie has left for a motel, where she is later killed by Eldon Frankenstein.

Following Charlie's death, Sam decides to end the work to remove the Mark and kill Rowena, but changes his mind once he receives an email from Charlie with how to crack the codex. Rowena confirms she can now remove the Mark, but demands that Sam kill Crowley before she will as she doesn't trust him to keep up his end of the deal otherwise. After Sam fails, he calls Rowena to tell her and give her Crowley's warning. While Rowena is left worried, she insists Sam keep trying.

Following his failure to kill Crowley, Sam tries to threaten Rowena into helping with witch-killing bullets. However, Rowena is not threatened as Sam needs her to crack the Book and to cast the spell. She offers a new deal: her freedom and the codex in exchange for removing the Mark. Sam agrees and Rowena determines the ingredients needed for the spell which includes her sacrificing the person she loves most. Castiel is able to determine it is a young man named Oskar who's family had helped her hundreds of years before and she had grown so fond of she cured him of a terminal disease and made him immortal. Castiel summons Crowley who brings them the ingredients and Oskar. Rowena is happy to see Oskar despite her protests of loving no one and is horrified that she will have to kill him. However, she goes through with it and casts the spell to remove the Mark. She succeeds in removing the Mark, but unwittingly releases the Darkness at the same time. Rowena takes the opportunity to escape with the Book of the Damned and the codex, casting the Attack Dog Spell on Castiel so he will kill Crowley.

Season 11
Rowena stands before a trio of witches in an abandoned warehouse, at her altar she declares that they shall be known as the "Mega Coven" to the confusion of the trio. When one witch questions why they would join her, Rowena tells them that the Grand Coven is obsolete and falling apart. She tells them of how she compelled an angel to kill her son, the King of Hell. But one witch tells her, she made a deal with Crowley only the day before, she declares Rowena "delusional as ever." As the trio begins to leave, Rowena pulls out the Book of the Damned and performs an incineration spell, killing the trio of witches on the spot.

At a restaurant, Rowena sits with two witches, pitching them to join her new Mega Coven and offering them power they could never get while in the Grand Coven. The witches appear to agree to join, when suddenly a demon-possessed waiter attacks. One witch attempts to fend him off with a spell, but is too late and has her throat slit. Rowena makes her hasty retreat, using a spell to block her exit with furniture.

Sometime later, Rowena comes out of a brick building, disguised in a blonde wig and speaking in an American accent, carrying her suitcases towards a yellow taxi. She quickly realizes that the driver is actually Dean Winchester and sends him flying across the alley, pinning him to a wall. Before she can kill Dean, Sam appears from nowhere and places her in iron shackles.

Back at the Bunker's dungeon, Dean is chaining Rowena to the chair while Sam is searching her luggage for the Book of the Damned, but is only able to find Nadya's Codex and Charlie's code breaker. When Sam goes to retrieve Castiel, Dean threatens to call Crowley unless she helps them, Rowena eggs him on, telling him if she is dead, there will be no one to remove the curse from Castiel. A panicked Sam returns to the dungeon, telling Dean Cass has gone missing. The trio pile into the Impala and track Cass down using his phones GPS. Dean parks the Impala in the general vicinity of where Cass' GPS brought them, and tells Sam to take Rowena one way, while he looks another. When Dean tracks Castiel down, Rowena and Sam show up not long after as Castiel starts attacking Dean. With a gun to her head, with witch-killing bullets, Sam orders Rowena to remove the curse. Once done, Sam briefly takes his attention away from Rowena to place her back in shackles, but Rowena is able to use the momentary lapse to her advantage and uses a spell to send Sam's gun flying across the room, along with Sam. Before either Winchester can do anything, Rowena traps them behind a cage and makes her escape.

In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, A hooded and shackled Rowena is brought before Crowley and the Winchesters. She surmises they want her help to deal with the force that was released when the Mark of Cain was removed. Dean tells her everyone in the room holds a piece of the puzzle to stop the Darkness, Rowena is then filled in on Amara being God's sister, and is shocked at learning the truth, as back in her day people would be burned at the stake for merely suggesting God had a sister. Knowing that her decoding the Book of the Damned is pivotal to their plan, she wants to know what would be in it for her, to which Crowley agrees to call off his assassins, until the next time she crosses him. She asks what is in the Cage that is so important, and when they tell her it's Lucifer, Rowena is elated at the prospect of meeting the "Dark Prince". With everyone in agreement, Rowena is taken to the Bunker, where she is given Nadia's Codex and Charlie's code breaker. After some studying, Rowena finds the spell necessary to communicate with Lucifer without opening the Cage, and along with Sam and Crowley journeys to Hell to perform the spell.

Crowley leads the trio to "limbo," a desolate area in the furthest reaches of Hell. There Rowena paints warding sigils around a cage, and performs the first part of the spell — which activates the warding sigils, and a ring of holy fire surrounds the cage. The second part of the spell causes the flames to rise high above, once they die down a figure appears in the shadows with glowing red eyes — Lucifer. As Rowena and Crowley watch Sam's conversation with Lucifer from a distance, Rowena becomes enamored by the fallen angel. Eventually, the illuminated spell-work on the cage begins to fade and the fire around the cage begins dying. Crowley looks startled, but Rowena looks intrigued. As Crowley questions why the warding failed, Rowena simply tells him to follow her, and leads him away.

Rowena is revealed to have been working with Lucifer who approached her in her dreams, promising to make her his queen if she helped him get Sam. After she reveals the truth to Crowley, he calls Dean in to help him trap Rowena as she's the only one who can send Lucifer back to the Cage. Rowena catches onto their plan through a hex bag she placed in Crowley's pocket, but Crowley had put something in her tea that stuns her and allows Dean to place a witchcatcher around her neck that forces her to obey Crowley.

Rowena reluctantly sets up the spell to send Lucifer back to the Cage and casts it in time to save Dean, Sam and Castiel. Afterwards, Crowley has the restrained Rowena remain in Hell with him and asks why she hates him so much. Rowena explains that Crowley reminds her of her life before she was a witch and a member of the Grand Coven when she was just a tanner's daughter and Crowley's father abandoned her. Rowena hates being reminded of her weakness, and sees love as a weakness and therefore she chooses to hate him and won't love him instead. At that moment, Castiel enters the room and is revealed to have said "yes" to Lucifer. Lucifer releases Rowena from the witchcatcher and after checking that she's the only one who can open the Cage again, snaps her neck, killing her. In Hell's Angel, it is revealed that Rowena was revived through magic and chose to side with Amara, healing her wounds which were sustained from Heaven's smiting. Rowena offers herself up as a useful ally, adding that she can provide useful information and that she wants to get back at Lucifer. However, when Amara displays her powers, Rowena begins to have second thoughts. Once Amara is convinced that Rowena can be useful, Rowena sends a message to Crowley informing him that she is alive.

Rowena joins the Winchesters and Crowley in an attempt to summon Lucifer into a trap and have Castiel expel him from his vessel. Much to Rowena's frustration, the plan fails and Amara ends up following Rowena to their location. She flees the scene for her own safety.

Rowena begins working on a spell but in order to cast it, she needs another witch. Rowena goes to visit Clea and convinces her to help. As they prepare the ingredients, Sam Winchester appears at their location, protected by a powerful charm. He tells them that the witches are needed to take part in a battle against the Darkness. Rowena is distrustful of Sam, but Clea decides to listen and offers to bring more witches to join. Rowena meets up with God, Lucifer, Dean, Sam and Crowley inside a warehouse. She is shocked to actually meet God who in turn greets her rather tensely by stating he did not support her actions but found her amusing, to her joy and the other's disgust. God even assigns Rowena with the task of luring Amara to their location, while pretending that she is betraying God. Amara, however, sees through the ruse but arrives anyway. Rowena then casts a spell upon Amara to weaken her vessel, and while alone she is incapable of hurting her, the other witches assist her and Amara is briefly brought to her knees.

Annoyed, Amara deflects the spell, knocking Rowena to the ground and killing Clea and her companions. The angels then begin their own attack followed by the demons. Rowena remains unconscious for a while, and wakes up to what appears to be the sun, shining brightly.

She goes inside the warehouse and calls them outside. While they all look to the hole the mass-smiting made, she directs them into looking to the sun, shining red in the skies above them. Castiel states the sun is dying and that Amara is destroying it as God teleports them back to the bunker. There, all except Sam become hopeless and decide that Amara has won the battle, as it has no meaning to keep fighting a battle they can't win

Rowena helps God sit down and decides to make him some tea. While they drink tea together, Rowena talks about Crowley in his childhood and God compares him to Adam and Eve, much to Crowley's annoyance. However, Sam arrives, trying to convince them into doing something to fix the problem, but none of them show will into trying something. However, God tells them Amara can be potentially defeated by the light, and that the supernova of ten thousand suns could kill her. Castiel suggests they use souls, as they are living batteries of light and energy, and Rowena tells them that, with sufficient souls, she can make a soul bomb to explode Amara.

She gives Sam and Dean a magic crystal in order for them to collect the souls of the ghosts in Waverly Hills Sanatorium. After they collect the souls, they find it insufficient and, without help from Heaven or Hell, they can't do it. However, Billie appears, wanting to know what they are doing. Rowena is left uneasy by the looks she and Crowley exchanged, and Billie discovers their plan to defeat the Darkness. She states that dead folks are kind of her thing, and raids the Veil, catching the hundreds of thousands of souls they need to build the bomb. When they think about how Dean can carry it, Rowena states that he is going to be the bomb itself Rowena uses the crystal to transfer the souls to Dean, and tells him that, by pressing the index and middle fingers together, the bomb will explode, and that he must be near Amara when it happens. After Dean goes to meet her, she and the others invade a bar to drink while they wait for their salvation, or for the universe to be destroyed instead. When God is teleported away by Amara, they believe that he had died. Suddenly, the sun is fixed and light returns. They get outside, believing that Dean sacrificed himself and died to kill Amara, and now the universe is saved because the Natural Order is still intact. As she looks into the newly-revived sun, she exclaims that he "bloody did it".

Season 12
Rowena seeks to start her life over again as she no longer wants to have anything to do with the supernatural. However, both Crowley and Lucifer intend to use her because of her vast knowledge and her ability to decipher the Book of the Damned. Crowley is the first to reach her, by interrupting her date with a man named Ben. Despite her insistence that she wants to retire, Crowley orders her to help him send Lucifer back to his Cage, if not, then he will expose her true nature to Ben. Rowena reluctantly agrees, and the two set up a trap for the archangel.

When Lucifer confronts Crowley in his throne room, Rowena appears and uses a spell to paralyse Lucifer and enable Crowley to throw acid on him, thus weakening his vessel. However, Lucifer is able to resist Rowena's magic and heal his injuries caused by Crowley.

Seeing no other option, Crowley flees the scene, leaving Rowena behind. Rowena tries to inform Lucifer of her desire to be elsewhere and start a vacation, but Lucifer refuses to let her go since he wants to keep his enemies "close". Rowena is taken prisoner, and she screams in horror.

Later on, Lucifer takes Rowena on a short trip to Wendy Vincente's house, whom he promised his vessel to heal of her condition. He then ties up Rowena inside a cabin in the woods. Realizing his vessel is already decaying, Lucifer requests Rowena's help in strengthening it.

Rowena makes up an excuse of not knowing where the Book of the Damned is, but Lucifer is not fooled. Instead, he threatens to snap Rowena's neck clean off if she doesn't obey his orders. Rowena agrees and begins applying a spell on Lucifer's vessel, but soon reveals that she was using a spell that would not improve the vessel's condition, but rather, speed up its decaying process.

Furious, Lucifer tries to threaten her, knowing she cannot destroy him, and while Rowena agrees to this, she banishes both Lucifer along with his rotting vessel to the bottom of the ocean. Just then, Castiel and Crowley arrive, having been searching for her. They find her enjoying a cup of tea.

As the three leave the cabin, Rowena expresses her regret in having any part in freeing Lucifer, which she why she is willing to help them send Lucifer back to his Cage once they have the archangel cornered. She tells Castiel to call her when the time comes.

Rowena is enraged when she discovers that her latest fiancé has run a background check on her and has been lying to, using and cheating on her. While Rowena argues with the man, Crowley comes to get her help in reimprisoning Lucifer and explodes the man, touching Rowena as its the nicest thing Crowley has ever done for her.

Rowena participates in the planning for defeating Lucifer and is skeptical about the idea of using the British Men of Letters hyperbolic pulse generator to exorcise Lucifer out of President Jefferson Rooney. The group is able to use Kelly Kline and Lucifer's child to lure him to their motel where Sam uses a sigil to dampen Lucifer's powers and then the generator to begin exorcising him. As the generator does its work, Dean signals Rowena who begins reciting the spell to send Lucifer back to his Cage. Finally, Lucifer is exorcised from Rooney and Rowena is able to reimprison him in the Cage. Afterwards, both Rowena and Crowley disappear before the Secret Service arrives after Castiel announces that Rooney is still alive.

After Dean is cursed, Sam calls Rowena for help. Rowena, who is using her powers to cheat at poker, suggests that Sam find the witch who cast the curse and kill him. After finding the sigil used in the curse, Sam sends it to Rowena and notifies her that they have found the witch who cast the spell, but he is dead and Dean isn't getting better. Rowena joins the Winchesters and is intrigued by the memory-less Dean. Rowena then tells Sam that the spell is druidic magic belonging to the Loughlin Family. Rowena recognizes the dead witch as Gideon Loughlin and tells Sam that the only way to break the curse before Dean dies is to get her the Black Grimoire. Instead of taking Rowena with him, Sam leaves her to watch over Dean until he can get the Loughlins' to give him the reversal spell. While waiting, Rowena explains her current motives to Dean, knowing he won't remember it. The two then listen over the phone as Catriona and Boyd Loughlin capture Sam. Following Sam's capture, Rowena locates the Impala and uses it to reach the Loughlin house. Rowena leaves an unconscious Dean in the car with a note explaining the current situation, another note to stay and notes in the weapons locker directing him to his gun and the witch-killing bullets. In the house, Rowena confronts Catriona who recognizes Rowena and taunts her about their past. Rowena and Catriona engage in battle, but Rowena is no match for the other witch who prepares to kill Rowena with a shard of glass. Before she can, Dean interrupts and kills Catriona and Boyd with witch-killing bullets. Rowena is then able to use the Black Grimoire to break the curse and save Dean's life.

The next day, Rowena departs in a cab, but not before Sam makes her give him the Black Grimoire. Sam promises that the Winchesters owe Rowena "a small one" for her help however.

In Family Feud, Rowena is summoned by Sam and Dean to help them once again. Rowena does not wish to participate in anything the brothers have installed for her, but they insist and offer her something she really wants in exchange. The brothers ask her to locate someone important, and when Rowena inquires the identity of said person, they reveal to her that it's her grandson, Gavin.

The trio go to meet Gavin at a bus stop. Gavin initially believes his father is sick, but the brothers tell him they lied and proceed to introduce him to Rowena. Gavin is needed in order to investigate the wreckage of The Star, a trading ship he was supposed to be on but due to Abaddon's intervention, he ended up in the present timeline. When Gavin discovers that his fiancé had boarded the ship and suffered brutal assault from the crewmen, he decides to travel back in time to protect her to ensure she does not become a vengeful spirit.

Rowena agrees with Gavin's decision, and stops Crowley from interfering when he tries to prevent Gavin from going back in time, and to his death. She also modifies the Blood Sigil spell slightly so that it can be used to return Gavin to his own time. In the aftermath, Rowena admits that she saw Gavin as "a lovely boy", but she accepted his death because it would teach Crowley the pain and agony she suffered when she was forced to kill Oskar, a child she loved more than her own son.

In All Along the Watchtower, Sam calls Rowena so she can send Lucifer back to his cage. However, Lucifer answers the phone and reveals that he has killed Rowena, having "stomped on her face until the white meat showed and set her on fire just in case." Lucifer also calls it "messy and screamy." When Lucifer answers the phone, he is holding a lock of Rowena's hair and her charred corpse can be seen on the floor.

The Winchesters later inform Crowley of her death and show a belief that Rowena is truly dead this time. Crowley's only reaction is disappointment that he didn't get to kill Rowena himself.

Season 13
In War of the Worlds, the Winchesters discover a case of witches being tortured and murdered. They quickly learn that the murders are being done by a man resembling the deceased Arthur Ketch who is searching for Rowena. Though each witch tells the man that Rowena is dead, he refuses to accept it. After being captured by the Winchesters, the man, claiming to be Arthur's twin brother Alexander, claims that he is hunting Rowena simply because she is a witch.

After his deception is exposed, Arthur explains his deal with Rowena for a Resurrection Seal that enabled him to return after Arthur was killed by Mary Winchester. Arthur is still searching for Rowena as he needs her to recharge the spell despite being informed by the Winchesters that she was dead. Arthur implies to the Winchesters that Rowena is not actually dead as they believe.

In Various & Sundry Villains, Rowena suddenly reappears to break a love spell cast on Dean by Jaime Plum. Returning to the bunker, Rowena explains that her Resurrection Seal brought her back again, but the extent of damage Lucifer did to her caused her to take "a very long time" to heal. After the Winchesters reveal Crowley's death to her, Rowena appears to be genuinely distraught by the news and shows a belief that Lucifer will return from the alternate reality that he was trapped in by Crowley. Rowena states that she had placed a tracking spell upon the Black Grimoire and was after it when it was stolen by the Plum sisters.

To the great reluctance of Dean, the Winchesters take Rowena along with them when they chase after the Black Grimoire to Stillwater, Oklahoma. Rowena explains to the Winchesters that she is after a ritual in the book that will remove the magical binding placed upon her by the Grand Coven upon her expulsion. As Dean searches for information from the locals, Rowena privately admits to Sam that when Lucifer last killed her, Lucifer showed Rowena his true face. This has left Rowena terrified of what can happen to her and she wants her full powers back so that she can defend herself. Having also seen Lucifer's true face, Sam sympathizes with Rowena and attempts to give her advice on how to handle her fear.

After Dean returns with Jamie and Jennie's location, Rowena claims to need a minute. After Dean refuses to take Rowena with them, Rowena suddenly tosses a hex bag at the Winchesters' feet and magically immobilizes them. Arriving at the Plum sisters' home, Rowena reveals that she had made a deal with the sisters to steal the Black Grimoire and use it together for their own purposes. However, the sisters have attempted to use the book already to resurrect their mother with their inexperience bringing Mrs. Plum back as a zombie.

Though Rowena offers to help properly complete the resurrection, the sisters refuse due to her rude dismissal of their abilities and send their mother after Rowena. Though Rowena is at first confident as she has faced zombies before, Rowena discovers that Mrs. Plum is immune to magical attacks and is forced to flee into the kitchen where Mrs. Plum breaks in shortly afterwards. As Rowena desperately struggles with Mrs. Plum, she yells out to Dean for suggestions as he fights Jaime. Dean orders Rowena to shoot Mrs. Plum in the head and as Rowena struggles with Mrs. Plum, she manages to grab Dean's gun and use it to kill the zombie. With the Plum sisters about to kill the Winchesters, Rowena uses the Attack Dog Spell to force the sisters to kill each other.

In the aftermath, Dean once again refuses to leave Rowena with the Black Grimoire. Still terrified, Rowena pleads with Sam who takes the book, but leaves Rowena with the page containing the ritual that she needs. That night, Rowena performs the ritual and regains her full powers.

Personality
Rowena is an intelligent, cunning and extremely manipulative individual who takes great pride in her deceit and devious nature, describing it to her equally manipulative son as "who [they] are". Rowena often fluctuates between her mannerisms, sometimes presenting herself as calm and courteous and then suddenly vicious and violent when revealing her true intentions. She is exceptionally ruthless towards her enemies, whether they are people she loathes or disapproves of or someone who has simply annoyed her. She gruesomely kills the demon Raul after denouncing him as nothing more than "filth" and openly suggests to Crowley that he savagely rip a crossroads demon apart and brutally display his carcass for asking for recognition for his work, justifying this as a tyrannical threat not to waste the king's time.

Rowena has also demonstrated that she has no concern for innocent lives, as she frequently uses spells that result in their death by boiling their brains and impaling hotel employees to ceilings. She even points out to Dean that using the innocent against heroes like him will play out to her advantage. Furthermore, Rowena is dangerously wrathful, as she takes great pleasure in torturing Olivette for wronging her in the past and threatens to burn everything that Crowley cares for when he throws her out.

Rowena is highly ambitious and believes strongly in ruthlessly fighting and striving to gain power for the sake of greatness. She is very carefree and displays disregard and resentment for authority, openly and deliberately defying both Hell and the Grand Coven without fear of the consequences, preferring to use her magic whenever and however she wished. Olivette stated that while talented and skilled, she has always been reckless and egocentric.

Rowena often feigns a warm and sweet disposition towards others in order to manipulate them and gain their trust. Rowena claims to be extremely proud of her son, Crowley, and regrets abandoning him as a child. She states that she left him both for his safety and to further her career in witchcraft which she deemed "no environment to raise a child". However, it is highly implied she never cared for her son as a child, apparently trying to sell him for pigs on one occasion and abandoning him so she could live out her own selfish desires.

While she claims to love Crowley and regularly reminds him that they are family, it is later revealed that she is merely playing on his emotions, using it to manipulate and gain control over him so she can use his position as the King of Hell to her advantage and to further her own goals. Once Crowley realizes this with Dean's assistance and throws her out of his domain, she becomes disowning and berating and shows her hatred for him and her desire to destroy everything around him.

Although genuinely powerful and talented, Rowena's ego causes her to often overestimate her capabilities, both magical and manipulatory. Many of her failures are caused by her underestimating her opponents.

Like her son, Rowena is quick witted and sarcastic. However, unlike Crowley who believes in integrity, Rowena has no sense of loyalty. This is shown when she abandons a demon in Crowley's dungeon after the demon lied for her and helped her gain her freedom. Rowena has shown that she is indeed capable of genuine love and affection, which she shows for Oskar, though she was willing to sacrifice him for her own freedom. Rowena later confesses that the reason she hates her own son is because if she did not she believes she would truly love him, but since love is a weakness, she vows to never feel helpless or weak again, like she did when Crowley's father impregnated her and then abandoned her. However, Rowena displays great admiration and affection for Lucifer but justifies it with the explanation that he is not a man but is what she views as "perfection". This admiration shatters after Lucifer makes an attempt on her life. Crowley has described his mother as the type who would latch on to anyone with power and influence, including Lucifer, Amara, and God. Rowena has gone to great lengths to earn trust, despite never truly becoming loyal. Ultimately, Rowena values her own safety and survival above all else.

In Season 12, Rowena's personality shifts slightly. She becomes desperate for a normal life, having grown tired of the supernatural world and goes as far as to seek out romance, something she hasn't done for centuries. Unfortunately, her dreams are put on hold due to Crowley and Lucifer both seeking her out. Her poor choice in men also lead to misery. However, Rowena continues to act as a go-to ally for Sam and Dean whenever they need help. She reveals to Dean that her lust for power, which had compelled her to do horrible things throughout her life, no longer appeases her anymore after she witnessed the two most powerful beings in the Universe - God and The Darkness - still troubled by sibling rivalry. It was the realization that power could not bring true happiness that has changed Rowena in the recent months, and may have softened her heart.

However, even though aspects of her personality shifted, she is one to hold a grudge. She did not protest to her grandson's decision and even aided him in returning to the past and sealing his own death as she wanted to get back at her son, Crowley, for forcing her to kill Oskar, the boy she truly loved like a son, in order to remove the Mark of Cain.

After her second death at Lucifer's hands, Rowena has a more fearful personality and is far less manipulative. Privately, Rowena admits to Sam that after seeing Lucifer's true face, she is terrified of her future, especially as she believes that Lucifer will eventually return. While she seeks to gain her full powers back to ease this fear, Sam suggests that it won't be enough. Despite their past history and triple-crossing them, Rowena intervenes to save the Winchesters' lives when she could have let them die and it wasn't to her benefit to save them.

After Crowley's death, Rowena appears to express genuine grief, showing that despite her words she did truly care for Crowley. Rowena states that Crowley is her only son and she'd rather have a living son that hates her than a dead hero.

As a result of her incredible powers, Rowena relies on magic for basically everything to the point that she either doesn't consider or simply dismisses non-magical solutions, often to her detriment. In Dark Dynasty, Rowena was extremely dismissive of Charlie Bradbury's attempt to use technology to decode Nadia's Codex and through it the Book of the Damned despite her own troubles to do the same using magic. It wasn't until she discovered that Charlie succeeded in The Prisoner that Rowena admitted she was wrong at all. Additionally, in The Bad Seed, Rowena offered a magical solution to track down Castiel instead of the technological one the Winchesters were using. She also lacked understanding of tracking someone through their cell phone's GPS. In Regarding Dean, despite having access to the arsenal in the Impala and the Winchesters witch-killing bullets, Rowena preferred to rely on magic when going to face the Loughlin Family despite knowing how powerful they were and despite the fact that using the Winchesters weapons could work to her advantage. As a result, Rowena was nearly killed before Dean rescued her. In Various & Sundry Villains, when faced with a magic-proof zombie, Rowena didn't know how to fight back without being able to use her magic to attack. Until Dean ordered Rowena to shoot the zombie in the head, she never seemed to consider that option or any other non-magical one besides searching kitchen drawers for anything useful.

Physical Appearance
Rowena is a red-haired woman of shorter than average height. She usually wears long-sleeved dresses of various colors, from red, blue to black. Rowena is usually found wearing a small gold pendant necklace, but aside from this she carries or wears no other jewelry. As with her dresses, Rowena's hairstyle shifts between appearances. She sometimes ties it up in a loose bun or wears her hair down either in curls or straightened. She wears bold, colorful makeup and, like a typical witch, can sometimes be found clutching a book to her chest.

Powers and Abilities
"Charlie may have cracked the codex, but who's going to read it if I'm gone, not to mention handling the ingredients, getting the measurement just right, unless of course, either of you have spent years of your life studying with the greats, mastering the intricacies of high witchcraft?"

- Rowena

"Oh please! When we initiated your thankless ass into the coven we did overlook your private lapses because of your talent."

- Olivette to Rowena

"That? Parlor trick! I'm capable of greatness. Given free reign I'd be unstoppable."

- Rowena

"I'm afraid Fergus that, in all your long life, you've never seen what a real witch can do with real magic. I'm terrifically pleased it's the last thing you'll ever see."

- Rowena

Rowena is an extremely powerful witch that has been around since the 1600s. She is among the most powerful witches to appear in the series, and according to Sam one of the most dangerous witches in the world. After training throughout her life, she has mastered and collected a vast arsenal of spells and other magical objects, which vary in complication. Although her current powers are somewhat reduced due to Olivette's sealing, she is not significantly affected. In The Foundry, Crowley refers to her as "a colossally powerful witch." At the end of Various & Sundry Villains, Rowena's true power was unlocked, making her even more powerful than she has been in the past.
 * Witchcraft - Being a witch, Rowena is very experienced in the use of spells and hex bags. She even has the ability to create some spells of her own (Defigere Et Depurgare). It is unknown whether or not the Attack Dog Spell is of her making. She is also able to cast a spell that obliterated a human with ease. Her magic is strong enough to affect the King of Hell and a fallen seraph; even angels are unable to heal her curses. With knowledge from the Book of the Damned, she was able to perform the Mark of Cain removal spell, which eventually freed the Darkness. She was also able to conjure Lucifer and is capable of opening his cage. However, while the enochian sigils she used to bind Lucifer prevented him from teleporting, they did not remove all of his powers (though this was intentional as she was working for Lucifer). Furthermore, she claims to be the only person capable of opening Lucifer's Cage.
 * Immortality - Rowena can live for a very long time. She has lived for at least 300 years, if not longer.
 * Spell Creation - Rowena is capable of creating spells and is noted to have made Defigere Et Depurgare, one of the only spells known to be capable of killing demons.
 * Molecular Combustion - Through spells, Rowena is capable of obliterating beings. She attempted to obliterate Dean with a Gaelic Obliteration Spell which he only survived due to the Mark of Cain and turned three Grand Coven witches to dust using a witch-killing spell from the Book of the Damned.
 * Self-Resurrection - By casting a resurrection spell on herself as a fail safe, she was able to revive herself after Lucifer killed her.
 * Conversion - She was able to transform Olivette into a hamster as punishment for her wrongs against Rowena.
 * Healing - When Amara's powers were significantly weakened by fatal injuries caused by the massive smite, Rowena healed her by casting various healing spells. Rowena was also stated to have healed Oskar of a terminal illness with a spell when he was a young boy.
 * Power Granting - With a time-delayed spell, Rowena was able to grant Oskar ageless immortality, so that he can live without effects from age or illness.
 * Hex Casting - Due to being an old talented witch, she has absolute knowledge of hex bags, and is said to have taught Crowley how to use spells and hex bags back in the 1600s.
 * Astral Projection - She was able to float from her body and spy on Crowley and speak with the Darkness.
 * Cursing - Rowena was capable of cursing the Seraphim Castiel with the Attack Dog Spell in an attempt to kill Crowley. Her spell was so powerful that only she could remove it with it blocking even the angel Hannah's powers. Rowena was powerful enough that she was able to use this spell to turn two fellow witches upon one another.
 * Spell and Curse Removal - Through the Mark of Cain Removal Spell, Rowena was able to remove the Mark of Cain, the first curse. She was also the only one capable of removing her Attack Dog Spell which Castiel referred to as having cursed him. She even removed the memory erasing spell that was cast on Dean by Gideon Loughlin. Rowena was able to remove a love spell cast upon Dean and using the correct ritual, remove a powerful magical binding from herself.
 * Telekinesis - Rowena has pinned humans to the ceiling by impaling them on furniture on multiple occasions. Rowena&Dean11x03.gif was also able to restrain both Crowley and Castiel simultaneously. Rowena has demonstrated the ability to throw humans a considerable distance with her mind, as shown when she attacked Sam and Dean. She was also able to cause multiple pieces of furniture to move across a room and form a barricade behind her to prevent a demon from following her.
 * Summoning and Banishing - Rowena can summon and banish powerful beings through spells. She is the only known witch capable of casting the Cage Projection spell to summon Lucifer and the reverse of it to banish him back to Lucifer's Cage.
 * Tracking - Using a crystal ball, Rowena could perform a tracking spell capable of locating Lucifer. She was able to cast a spell on the Black Grimoire so she could locate it, but this one was more limited and only gave her a general location and if the book was moving around.
 * Thermokinesis - In order to get a message to the Winchesters and Crowley, Rowena remotely burned a message into a cabinet door near them.
 * Chronokinesis - With help from a second witch and a spell from the Book of the Damned, Rowena could time travel.
 * Mind Control - With the Servitude Spell, she made a waiter at a fancy restaurant become compliant and serve her and her guests free dishes after he wanted to expel the younger women for violating the dress code.

Skills

 * Multilingualism - She is capable of reading spell books which are written in ancient languages, such as druidic spell books. She was even able to read the Book of the Damned, albeit with the aid of Nadia's Codex and Charlie's decoder.

Weaknesses

 * Power Sealing (formerly) - Her powers are reduced to a certain degree due to an unknown sealing spell that was cast by Olivette before her expulsion. Although her current powers and abilities are somewhat reduced, she is still very powerful and difficult to defeat. After using a ritual from the Black Grimoire, Rowena lost this weakness.
 * Iron - Her power was reduced dramatically and blocked when she was bound by iron. She was severely weakened when bound by the iron cuff's in Hell's Dungeon. Sam was also able to restrain her using iron chains. However, she was eventually able to escape the chains. She later tells Sam that iron can't hold her long.
 * Verbal Restraints - It appears Rowena is unable to cast many spells without reciting an incantation as Crowley's demons were able to capture her with ease after they had gagged her.
 * Witch-killing spell - As a witch, she is vulnerable to the witch-killing spell.
 * Witch-killing bullets - Sam has twice threatened her with a bullet version of the spell though due to the circumstances, she has not been harmed by it.
 * Witchcatcher - Dean and Crowley were able to restrain and enslave her with this tool.
 * Mortality - Since her immortality only grants her an immunity to age and illness, she can still be killed. Lucifer was able to kill her, simply by snapping her neck.
 * Extensive Damage - Sufficient damage to her corpse, such as decapitation or extensive fire damage, may interfere with the normal time it takes her Resurrection Seal to restore her body and revive her. While Lucifer indicated that removing Rowena's head should permanently kill her even with her Resurrection Seal, it is not known if it would actually prevent the spell from reviving her. After crushing her head, Lucifer burned Rowena's corpse in an attempt to prevent her resurrection. However, this did not permanently kill her and instead resulting in Rowena taking "a very long time" to heal.

Killed By
After escaping his Cage by taking Castiel as his vessel, Lucifer confirmed that Rowena was the only one that could reopen his Cage before snapping Rowena's neck, killing her. Rowena was resurrected shortly afterwards by her Resurrection Seal. In order to ensure Rowena couldn't lock him away again, Lucifer crushed her head and burned Rowena's body to prevent her from returning. However, she was once again resurrected by her Resurrection Seal though the extent of the damage that Lucifer caused to Rowena resulted in her needing "a very long time" to fully heal from this death.
 * Lucifer (First Time)
 * Lucifer (Second Time)

Quotes

 * "Of course you had a father. You were just conceived during a winter solstice orgy, and it's not like I was taking names."
 * "This demon asks you to equalize credit for his and another's work. Split the baby if you will. Well, then I would well and truly split the baby. I'd cut this pulling, pathetic, grade-grubbing git in two, literally. Then I'd nail his bloody halves to the doors of the court. A reminder to all not to waste the King's time! Whiners beget whiners. You can't reward behavior like that. Why, I never gave in when you asked for sweeties as a child no matter how much you cried. Well, you were a very chunky child, darling. A bit of a bloater."
 * "You can't understand my disappointment or my pride. You don't know this but after I left you, after I was forced to leave you, I heard of your death. Your mortal death. I thought you were gone to me forever. Then, hundreds of years later and thousands of miles away, I find you: the King of Hell. And not by luck or accident, you made that happen all by yourself. You're not a mother. You can't know what that pride felt like. How huge it was. But can you try to imagine, for me? Now do you understand why it breaks my heart to see what a colossal numb nut you've become? You've got the crown but you're no ruler, not really. A sad, bored wee boy on the throne who'll flop ass up the second those Winchesters, hunters who'd as soon see you dead as have you to tea, ask you to. You're no king. Not any more. You're their bitch!"
 * "You see my son, the spawn you speak of, is now the King of Hell - total Cinderella story I'd say. Oh aye, and now you, dearest Olivette, are prisoner of the baddest of the bad and his devoted mummy."
 * "You say that like it's an insult. Nice girls, they're pathetic. Here's to evil skanks."
 * "I hate you because, when I look into your eyes, I see the woman I used to be, before magic, before the coven, when I was nothing but Rowena, the tanner's daughter. A pale, scared little girl who smelled of filth and death. I hate you because, when you were born, your father said he loved me. Then he went back to his grand wife and his grand house, whilst I lay pathetic and half-dead on a straw mat - my thighs slick with blood. I hate you, because if I didn't, I'd love you. But love...love is weakness. And I'll never be weak again."
 * "So that was a gun in your pocket." – to Dean Winchester

Appearances

 * Season 8
 * We Need To Talk About Kevin
 * Clip Show
 * Season 9
 * King of the Damned
 * Season 10
 * Soul Survivor
 * Girls, Girls, Girls
 * The Things We Left Behind
 * The Hunter Games
 * About a Boy
 * The Executioner's Song
 * Paint it Black
 * Inside Man
 * Book of the Damned
 * The Werther Project
 * Dark Dynasty
 * The Prisoner
 * Brother's Keeper
 * Season 11
 * The Bad Seed
 * O Brother, Where Art Thou?
 * The Devil in the Details
 * Hell's Angel
 * We Happy Few
 * Alpha and Omega
 * Season 12
 * Mamma Mia
 * The Foundry
 * LOTUS
 * Regarding Dean
 * Family Feud
 * All Along the Watchtower
 * Season 13
 * War of the Worlds
 * Various & Sundry Villains