User blog comment:Rafe Adler/"Stuck in the Middle (With You)" Discussion/@comment-30695490-20170218152738/@comment-30695490-20170219144450

The Princes were supposed to claim the Throne since their creation. This is why Azazel became the King of Hell. Lilith and Alastair's positions on the hiearchy, by the time, were left uncertain, as well as the Knights of Hell. They are certainly among the highest-ranking, but, if we take as true that Lilith and Cain are the strongest demons, it's hard to believe why Lucifer would choose a lower demon to replace him instead of the two, unless the retcon the Princes as the highest demons, which is not impossible, given their habit of retconning anything in order to keep the story

Baliel is actually another way to name Belial, who was a demon in the books, a Prince I think. I would like to know more mythical demons

The only two fan-favorites they make a point of keeping around are the only two fan-favorites with no storyline left for them. They are literally totally purposeless by now, and the only reason they are still alive and around is because the fans like them. Just that. Castiel has absolutely zero storyline, he is just being thrown around to whatever they need. Last season Castiel's possession by Lucifer was pretty much because they had no story for him. Crowley, on the other hand, is always going after being the King of Hell, still without a proper story for him and just being thrown in whatever the writers need him to be. It is much better to finish off a character than wasting him in nothing