| “ | There's seven. Do you have any idea who we're up against? (...) The Seven Deadly Sins. Live and in the flesh! (...) Binsfield's Classification of Demons. In 1589, Binsfield ID'd the Seven Sins, not just as human vices, but as actual devils. (...) These demons haven't been topside in half a millennium! We're talking medieval! Dark Ages! We've never faced anything close to this! So we are going to take a breath and figure out what our next move is! | ” |
— Bobby Singer explaining the Seven Deadly Sins and the threat they pose to Sam, Dean and Tamara
in The Magnificent Seven | ||
The Escape of the Seven Deadly Sins was a conflict between a group of hunters and the demons known as the Seven Deadly Sins following the demons escape from Hell.
Progression[]
Prelude[]
As part of his efforts to release Lucifer from his Cage, the Prince of Hell Azazel got Special Child Jake Talley to open the Devil's Gate in Wyoming. In the battle that followed, both Jake and Azazel were killed, but the Devil's Gate was briefly opened. Though Azazel's main intention was to release Lilith from Hell, a couple of hundred other demons were released as well. Amongst these demons were the Seven Deadly Sins, seven demons that embodied each of the sins and hadn't been active on Earth in "half a millennium."[1][2][3]
Battle[]
After escaping from Hell through the Devil's Gate,[2] the Seven Deadly Sins all seek out vessels that apparently match the sin they embody. One such vessel is Walter Rosen from Oak Park, Illinois. Within a week, the Sins have established themselves in Lincoln, Nebraska, resulting in demonic omens that draw the attention of hunter Bobby Singer who calls in the Winchesters. While in Lincoln, Sloth uses his power on a family, resulting in them being too lazy to get up off the couch and eat or drink. As a result, the family starves to death. Their home becomes "ground zero" for the cicada swarm that is part of the omens left by the Sins. The Sins eventually take over a local bar to use as their hangout.
The Winchesters and Bobby investigate the home where the cicadas "ground zero" appears to be and discover the decomposed corpses of the family sitting on the couch in front of the TV. As they investigate, Dean notices a noise on the porch outside and investigating, is assaulted by a man with a shotgun. However, Bobby recognizes the man and the woman with him as fellow hunters Isaac and Tamara.
That night, at the abandoned house Isaac and Tamara are squatting in, Dean flirts with the coroner's technician Jenny over the phone to get the family's cause of death. Once he has it, he reports to the other hunters that it was ruled to be dehydration and starvation. With no signs of violence or struggle, this means that the family simply sat down and never got up. As the family had a fully-stocked kitchen just yards away, the Winchesters and Bobby are left confused by if it was a demon attack as it is nothing like Bobby had ever seen and he's seen "plenty." However, Isaac is reluctant to work with the Winchesters and Bobby due to the Winchesters' role in the opening of the Devil's Gate and the release of a demon army. Tamara eventually pulls her husband away from the argument and the group settles in for the night, unaware that they are being observed from a distance by the demon Ruby.
The next morning, Envy enters a shoe store and draws a woman's attention to a pair of shoes that another woman is buying. Infecting the woman with envy, the demon directs her to the other woman holding the shoes. The infected woman comments on the niceness of the shoes and states her want for them, but the other woman refuses as they are the last pair. Following the other woman outside, the woman infected with envy bashes the other woman's head in against her car windshield and departs with the shoes.
Learning about the murder, the Winchesters and Bobby investigate. In disguise as an attorney from the DA's office, Bobby questions the woman who had been infected with envy and discovers that her story bears none of the classic signs of demonic possession. When Bobby splashes holy water on the woman, it also has no effect. Checking the store, the Winchesters are unable to find any sulfur or other classic demon signs, but Dean notices a security camera. Checking the store's security footage, they find a video of Envy interacting with the woman and directing her attention to the victim.
Splitting up, Sam goes off to discover more about the man on the video while Dean and Bobby canvas the town with Envy's picture from the security camera, looking for clues. Unknown to Sam, he is tailed by Ruby who disappears when Sam appears to realize that he is being followed. Finally, Dean finds someone who directs him to a local bar for where Envy has been seen drinking.
Shortly after midnight, Sam joins Dean and Bobby with the information that the man is Walter Rosen from Oak Park who went missing a week before. As it was the night that the Devil's Gate opened, the hunters realize that Walter is likely possessed and ponder how he did it with Bobby commenting that the demons that escaped will be able to do "all kinds of things we haven't seen." As they watch, they spot Envy driving up and going into the bar. While Dean argues for going in immediately, Bobby argues for tailing him as they don't know what kind of powers the demon possesses. However, Sam spots Isaac and Tamara climbing out of their vehicle and following Envy in, causing the Winchesters and Bobby to realize that Bobby's plan is no longer an option.
Inside the bar, Isaac arms himself with a flask of holy water and prepares to go after Envy when he heads to the bathroom to capture him. However, Isaac and Tamara are unaware that the other people in the bar are also demons and Isaac is stopped by Wrath who reveals himself as a demon to them and states that he doesn't like hunters in his bar. The Seven Deadly Sins reveal themselves to the two hunters as Bobby and the Winchesters desperately try to break in through the locked door. With the two hunters surrounded by demons, Envy taunts them that they "really walked into the wrong place."
Envy and Lust joke about what they'd do to Tamara while Isaac tries to threaten them not to touch Tamara. In response, Gluttony infects Isaac with the sin of gluttony and hands him a container of drain cleaner to drink. Under the influence of Gluttony's power, Isaac drinks the whole container, killing him. As the demons restrain and taunt a hysterical Tamara, Bobby crashes his car through the bar doors. Emerging from the car, Bobby and Dean start splashing the demons with holy water, forcing them to release Tamara. Splashing holy water of his own at the demons, Sam grabs a hysterical Tamara and drags her into Bobby's car, knowing that Isaac is dead and beyond their help. As Dean splashes the demons with holy water, Envy avoids his attack and gets close to Dean as he runs out of holy water. Opening the car's trunk, Dean engages Envy in a hand-to-hand fight briefly, finally flinging him into the trunk the lid of which has a devil's trap drawn on the inside of the lid. With Envy bound by the devil's trap, Dean shuts the lid on him and the hunters flee in the car, leaving the six remaining Sins behind at the bar.
Returning to the abandoned house Isaac and Tamara have been squatting in, the hunters bind Envy to a chair under a devil's trap on the living room celling. Upset over the loss of her husband, a vengeful Tamara insists upon going back while Dean is willing to join her as he will be dead in a year anyway despite having no way to kill or safely exorcise the demons. Sam argues with the two about their plan, especially since they don't know how many demons there are, but Bobby reveals that he has figured out who the demons are: the Seven Deadly Sins. Bobby shows the others Binsfield's Classification of Demons, a book written by a man who identified the Seven Deadly Sins as actual demons in 1589. Bobby has realized that the family was touched by Sloth, the customer by Envy and Isaac by Gluttony which is what enabled him to identify the demons. Tamara doesn't care about who the demons are in her wrathful state, causing Bobby to angrily remind her what doing things her way had led to. Bobby tells the other hunters that the demons haven't been on Earth in "half a millennium" and they haven't faced anything even close to the Seven Deadly Sins before. Bobby insists that they need to calm down and figure out their next move before "going off half-cocked" again.
With Tamara reluctantly agreeing for the moment, the hunters turn to Envy for answers. Envy is amused by the hunters and when questioned on what the demons want, Envy tells the group that they already have it: they're free of Hell. Envy laughingly states that "I am legion for we are many." Envy is simply taking the time to enjoy his newfound freedom from Hell by having "fun" killing people. Envy goes on to mock the hunters, their threats and the fact that they think they are better than him. Envy laughingly mocks Dean and Tamara for their sins, particularly the wrath Tamara has. Envy's words cause Tamara to briefly assault him before being restrained by the other hunters. Ever more amused, Envy insists that the demons aren't sins but rather natural human instincts. "You can repress and deny us all you want but the truth is you are just animals. Hungry, greedy, horny, violent animals. And you know what? You'll be slaughtered like animals too," Envy mocks. Envy tells the hunters that the other Sins are coming for him, but Dean says they won't find him as Envy will be in Hell. As Envy loses his amusement and arrogance, Dean orders someone to send Envy back to Hell, a task Tamara gleefully takes upon herself.
As Tamara performs an exorcism on Envy, Bobby and the Winchesters discuss their options. Bobby tells the Winchesters that he thinks that Envy is right and the Sins will come after them and won't quit easy. Dean suggests that Sam and Bobby take Tamara and run while he holds the demons back, but the other two refuse, believing that running is not the answer. Despite the fact that they will be facing six demons and are outmanned and outgunned, Sam and Bobby insist on making a stand and Dean finally agrees, telling the other two that they won't make it easy for the Sins. At that moment, Tamara completes her exorcism and Envy is sent back to Hell. Walter doesn't survive his possession and dies when Envy is exorcised. With Envy gone and the other six Sins on their way, the four hunters set up defenses in and around the house.
Later that night, an old radio activates and starts playing music, causing the hunters to realize that the Sins are close. As they position themselves, Isaac suddenly appears outside, apparently in pain and calling for help from Tamara. Isaac claims to have escaped though badly hurt and calls out for Tamara's help as Bobby tells the conflicted Tamara that one of the Sins is just possessing Isaac's corpse to manipulate her emotions. As the possessed Isaac reminds Tamara of their promise to never leave each other, his tone turns darker and its revealed that Isaac is possessed by Wrath who taunts Tamara about leaving him behind and leaving her and Isaac's daughter to die. Enraged, Tamara opens the door and attacks Wrath, breaking the salt line blocking the door. Tackling Wrath to the ground at the bottom of the stairs, Tamara stabs him with a Palo Santo stake, disabling Wrath.
With the salt line broken, the other five Sins are able to get into the house. As the others go after the Winchesters on the second floor, Sloth spots Bobby on the first floor and turns to face him. As the apparently terrified Bobby backs into a corner, a smirking Sloth follows him. However, Sloth is suddenly stopped and realizes too late that Bobby has lured him under a devil's trap. "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son," a smug Bobby mocks the demon. Bobby then performs an exorcism on Sloth, exorcising Sloth out of his vessel and back to Hell.
On the second floor, Dean is confronted by Lust who knocks a flask of holy water out of his hand and backs Dean into a bathroom. Dean ineffectually threatens Lust who infects Dean with lust with a touch. Dean begins making out with the demon, apparently under her influence but in reality uses the opportunity to back them up towards the bathtub. When they reach the bathtub, Dean breaks the kiss to shove Lust's head into the bathtub full of holy water, subduing the demon.
Elsewhere on the second floor, Pride, Greed and Gluttony burst into a room where Sam is waiting for them with holy water and a devil's trap. Spotting the devil's trap, Pride mocks Sam on his attempt to trick them, causing Sam to realize that he is Pride. With a wave of his hand, Pride creates a tremor that destroys the devil's trap. Pride reveals that he has heard of Sam, "the Boy King." Pride mocks Sam's status as the Boy King and tells him that with Azazel dead, he doesn't have to follow Sam anymore. "Your fair game now boy. And its open season," Pride gleefully mocks.
Pride quickly brings Sam down and begins strangling him to death from behind. As the other two Sins gleefully watch, Ruby enters the room and draws the demon-killing knife, using it to slit Gluttony's throat as he turns around. Seeing the death of Gluttony, Greed angrily turns to face Ruby, spinning her around with a couple of punches. Ruby quickly kills Greed by stabbing the knife into her throat, but Pride lets go of Sam to grab Ruby from behind. As Pride restrains Ruby, Sam grabs him off of her and punches Pride in the face, stunning the demon long enough for Ruby to drive the demon-killing knife through Pride's chin and into his brain, killing him. Afterwards, Ruby dodges Sam's questions about her identity, simply telling him that "I'm the girl that just saved your ass" and promising to see him around. After leaving the room, Ruby teleports away, leaving Sam confused when he enters the hallway and can't find her.
With all of the demons dead or subdued, Bobby performs exorcisms on Wrath and Lust. The two demons are returned to Hell while Sloth's vessel and Lust's vessel both survive the ordeal.[3]
Aftermath[]
The morning after the battle, the Winchesters salt and burn the corpses of Pride, Gluttony and Greed's vessels while Tamara gives Isaac a hunter's funeral. Along with Bobby, the Winchesters are left wondering about Ruby's identity and the knife she used to kill the demons, a weapon that they have never heard of before. Sam also brings up a troubling question: "if we let out the Seven Deadly Sins, what else did we let out?"[3]
Trivia[]
- Interestingly, each of the four protagonists in The Magnificent Seven confronts the deadly sin for which they are most culpable. Tamara confronts Wrath, Dean confronts Lust, Bobby confronts Sloth and Sam confronts Pride.
- While fighting the Seven Deadly Sins, Ruby appears for the first time to help Sam out.
- This battle marks the first use of the demon-killing knife against an enemy. It eventually becomes the Winchesters main demon-killing weapon on the show.
- After the fight, the Winchesters and Bobby Singer wonder about the origin of the demon-killing knife used by Ruby. In season 8's As Time Goes By, Henry Winchester identifies it as "an ancient demon-killing knife of the Kurds." However, its origins are never further expanded upon.
- This is the first time that the Winchesters have faced truly powerful demons aside from the Prince of Hell Azazel. Bobby specifically states that the Seven Deadly Sins are unlike anything they have ever faced before, After this, they start coming up against truly powerful demons such as Lilith, Alastair, Crowley, Abaddon, Cain, Ramiel and Dagon.