Canon Discrepancies

A list of Supernatural inconsistencies that have occurred during its run.

Archangels
In "The Great Escapist", Metatron described the archangels as wanting to rule the Universe, forcing him to flee so his vast knowledge would not be used by them. This is inconsistent with the behavior of the four archangels, who have not showed signs of wanting to take control over the Universe or even make contact with the Tablets, objects that would have granted them the power to do so. Ironically, Lucifer was in possession of one of these tablets since he had hidden it inside his crypt, yet he showed no signs of wanting to use it.

In "Hell's Angel", Amara refers to Lucifer as the "first son", which is inconsistent with statements made by Michael and Lucifer throughout season 5, in which Michael is the first son and Lucifer is the second. It is unclear why Amara said this.

Angels appearance
Angels are given no definitive size in season four, being described by Zachariah as being "with six wings and three faces, one of which is a lion." However, Zachariah and all other angels showed two wings when they were killed, and also upon astral projection. The size of angels were retconned to being the size of the Chrysler Building in season six, stated by Castiel, and then in season ten, Metatron says that they are really just masses of halo like lights. Also, Reapers, which are said to be a type of angel, were shown clearly in their true angelic forms as human sized, meaning their relation to Castiel's alleged true form as unclear, also the Reapers were seen to quite clearly possess only one head and not three, so whether Zachariah and Castiel simply lied (due to Castiel's already increasing arrogance in season six corrupting him) is unclear.

Azazel's goal
Azazel fed demon blood to a number of babies who grew up to become Special Children, and the purpose of this was said to be so he could find the perfect soldier to lead the demon army. Sam was the one he was rooting for, and had intended for Sam to win the battle against other Special Children of his generation.

In "All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 1", Azazel implies that he has fed demon blood to other generations, presumably for a different purpose. This explains why Azazel sought out Rosie Holt, 23 years after Sam was born.

In "Lucifer Rising", it is revealed however, that Azazel was to create the Special Children in order to find a suitable vessel for Lucifer.

Presumably, Azazel made no mention of this because it was a secret mission, and by being Lucifer's vessel, the chosen Special Child would lead the demon army anyway. However, since Azazel kept this part of the plan a secret, the demons sought out Sam as a possible leader of their army for the first half of season 3, causing Lilith, a candidate, to try and kill Sam.

Castiel
In "My Bloody Valentine", Castiel consumes hundreds of hamburgers and a tray of raw meat due to the influence of Famine. He tells Dean that the burgers make him "very happy" and his facial expressions imply that he finds they taste delicious.

However, in "First Born", Castiel complains that by becoming an angel again, he has lost the ability to taste food like a human, and a sandwich tastes like "molecules" to him.

On a side note, if angels could not taste food like humans, then every drink and snack would taste like molecules, in other words, "disgusting", yet Gabriel and Balthazar are shown consuming human foods with no trouble in the taste.

Rogue Reapers
Reapers are shown to be very meticulous about caring for the Natural Order of life and death, because of the chaos angry ghosts can wreak on Earth otherwise. Thus, why Death even allows Rogue Reapers to exist in the first place is unclear. Also how Death allows Gavin MacLeod to be taken from his time and put back in the 2010s when this would hugely affect the flow of time in a negative way when Death stated his power was immeasurable is beyond anyone's reasoning.

Grand Canyon
In season 8's episode "The Great Escapist", Sam recalls a visit to the Grand Canyon when he was four years old, however, Dean mentions in season 2 episode "Croatoan" that they have never been to the Grand Canyon.

Writer Ben Edlund admits this to be a mistake on his part.

Lilith's plan
For the entirety of season 3 and most of season 4, Lilith's plan was to kill Sam Winchester in order to rid herself of any opposition so she could claim the throne of Hell. She sends a number demons after Sam and personally attempts to kill him in the season 3 finale, only to become scared when Sam proves immune to her powers.

By season 4's episode "The Monster at the End of This Book", Lilith wants to make a deal with Sam and obtain his soul in exchange for escaping her fate as the final seal to Lucifer's Cage. Again, she makes an attempt to kill Sam, indicating she was pretending to offer a deal. By the season 4's finale, she has submitted to her fate and lets Sam kill her as he was pre-destined to.

This behavior is odd since Lilith had, pre-season 3, ordered Ruby to act as a double agent and feed Sam demon blood so he would become powerful enough to kill Lilith anyway. Her motive for killing Sam appears inconsistent with her endgame.

Lucifer's Cage
There seems to be an inconsistent statement regarding how Lucifer was cast into Hell and subsequently the Cage. It is initially said that God had been the one to banish Lucifer into his prison, though season 5 reveals that Michael did it on God's orders following the conclusion of the First Heaven Civil War. Dean tells Rowena in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" that God had dumped Lucifer into the Cage himself, which is untrue.

The Darkness
Up until season 11 finale "Alpha and Omega", killing Amara has never been stated to cause any side effects. Prior to this, attempts have been made by the angels and Dean, though both have failed due to the power difference. It is mentioned that during the First War against the Darkness, God and the archangels did not destroy Amara simply because they were not powerful enough, and had to resort to tricking her and then imprisoning her.

After God is weakened by Amara, the sun and plants show signs of decaying since God and Amara must co-exist or both must cease to exist in order to allow creation to remain.

This is due to CW, the network which hosts Supernatural, demanding a change of script since God cannot be killed. Rob Benedict, who portrays God, also revealed at a convention that God was originally supposed to die until CW intervened.

The missing year between season 5 & 6
The first five seasons take place in the current time, matching with the year the season was aired in. Season 5 concludes around May 2010. Between season 5 and 6, a year has gone by during which Dean has been living with Lisa and Ben Braeden, and by the time Sam gets his soul back in season 6 episode "Like A Virgin", a year and a half has gone by since the season 5 finale. This would put the date around November 2011.

However, the Supernatural crew decided to resume their tradition of giving each season the same year it was aired in, leading season 6 to be marked with the year 2010.