Gadreel was the angel that guarded the garden of Heaven from evil. He was imprisoned in one of Heaven's dungeons after his failure. After Metatron's spell, he posed as the good angel Ezekiel, who was considered to be the exact opposite of Gadreel. While masquerading as Ezekiel, Gadreel inhabited Sam Winchester, as a way to heal the hunter and himself.
History
Season 9
"Ezekiel" watches over an ill Sam in "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here".
I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
Gadreel fell to Earth with the other angels and took a vessel, but is injured and weakened by falling. When Dean lets out a desperate prayer to any angel to help Sam, Gadreel, who is traveling by bus, hears the prayer and gets back on the bus to help. He interrupts an angel that is attempting to get Castiel's location out of Dean, but when the angel attacks him, he is no match for him. Dean kills the angel with his own Angel Blade and Ezekiel passes out. While he is unconscious, Dean traps him in Holy Fire and demands to know what he wants as he is untrusting of angels, given what happened with the other angel. Ezekiel convinces him he wants to help and Castiel later confirms by phone that Ezekiel can be trusted so Dean lets him try. However, both Ezekiel and Sam are weak and he is unable to heal him right away. Two angels arrive and Dean puts up warding to protect Sam and Ezekiel as Sam can't leave without dying and manages to banish the two angels who show up. With Sam near death and unable to do anything, Ezekiel offers a "bad" solution: he possesses Sam. Doing so would allow him to heal Sam from the inside while recuperating from his own injuries. After showing Dean how close Sam is to giving up, Ezekiel takes on Dean's form and enters Sam's mind, convincing him to say "Yes" to him. Ezekiel possesses Sam and leaves the hospital with Dean, leaving his previous vessel there with no memory of what happened. Ezekiel decides to let Sam remain in control of his body while he hides away in his mind, but warns Dean that Sam must not know until he can accept it or he will be able to eject the angel from him, especially in Gadreel 's weakened state. Gadreeland Dean decide to erase Sam's memory of his near-death experience and Gadreelgives Sam back control.
Devil May Care
When Sam is knocked out by three demons, Gadreeltakes control of his body and displays what's left of his wings, and distracts them with the light it causes. Gadreelthen uses the Demon-killing knife to kill them in order to avoid questions when Sam wakes up. Gadreel's presence causes Abaddon to flee and he and Dean discuss the situation with Dean admitting that he feels guilty about all the deaths that have happened as he stopped Sam from sealing up Hell. Gadreeltells Dean that he understands that he did it to save Sam and that he loves his brother a lot from being in Sam's mind and keeps Sam from knowing what happened while he was knocked out after he gives up control again, having used the knife to kill the demons so Dean could explain away their deaths.
I'm No Angel
Gadreel takes control of Sam to warn Dean that the angels are looking for Castiel and that a faction is gaining vessels and power. He also reassures Dean that Sam is feeling better and that he is successfully healing him though it is slow going. Dean grows worried about the angels chasing Castiel, but has Gadreelgive back control to Sam rather than continue helping. When Dean gets desperate to find Castiel after learning that Reapers are after him, Dean calls on Gadreelto help. Gadreelreluctantly takes control, telling Dean that he can't be running around in control, but Dean asks him to just help to find Castiel. Gadreelis unable to do so due to Castiel warding himself with a tattoo against angels, but Dean instead has him look for Reapers that are after Castiel. Gadreelis able to locate Castiel this way and gives back control to Sam. After Castiel is killed by the Reaper and Dean kills the Reaper, Gadreelonce again takes control of Sam and resurrects Castiel. Dean covers it up by claiming that Sam got knocked out and then he made a deal with the Reaper not to kill her if she brought Castiel back and then killed her anyway. At the Men of Letters base, Gadreeltakes control and tells Dean that Castiel must leave because angels are after him and while the base is protected, they can't withstand an incursion. Gadreeltells Dean that if Castiel isn't sent away he will have to leave Sam and flee which would lead to Sam's death. With no other choice, Dean tells Castiel he has to leave.
Slumber Party
When Charlie Bradbury is killed by the Wicked Witch, Dean calls out to Gadreelas soon as Sam enters the room and he takes control. Dean asks for help with Charlie, but Gadreeltells him that Charlie is dead and he can't keep using his powers to help as it weakens him and he is only back at half-strength. He tells Dean he can either bring Charlie back or help with the Witch and Dean has him resurrect Charlie. Dean then tells Sam and Charlie that they got knocked out by the Witch but he drove her off. However Sam becomes suspicious as he heard Dean call for a "Zeke" but Dean tried to say that Sam was out of it.
Dog Dean Afternoon
After Chef Leo slashes Sam's neck, seriously wounding him, Gadriel takes control for a moment to heal the wound and erase Sam's memory of it. As a result, Chef Leo tries to eat Sam to heal his own cancer.
"Ezekiel" warning Dean about revealing the angel's possession of Sam.
Rock and a Hard Place
When Dean prepares to tell Sam about Gadreel, the angel quickly takes possession of Sam and tells Dean that Sam is not ready to know the truth, but also promises that he will not be in Sam much longer.
Holy Terror
He again promises Dean he won't be in Sam much longer. He is not happy when Castiel comes back and asks Dean to get rid of him. While at a bar, he goes outside to get some air where he is met by Metatron who tells him he know who he really is.
Personality
In his initial appearance, Gadriel imitated what he thought was Gadreel's personality; the stereotypical interpretation of an angel, as he was humble and polite as opposed to being arrogant and condescending like many other angels. He claimed to see angels as beings of compassion, not wrath. He speaks with a calm, soothing voice and was extremely pacifistic, but would engage in violence if necessary. When Dean informs Castiel of "Ezekiel"'s appearance, Castiel calls him a good soldier and believes he can be trusted, Castiel also implies they're friends. Gadriel also proves to be quite intelligent, using the demon killing knife instead of smiting the three demons, so Sam wouldn't be suspicious of their deaths. He also seems somewhat annoyed at being called Zeke. Despite his apparent compassion, he has a self-preservation instinct, that shows when he gives Dean an ultimatum: send Castiel away, or he will leave Sam, killing him, to save himself from Bartholomew. Despite this and his weakened state, he is compassionate to a fault, shown when he resurrects Castiel and Charlie despite knowing it will weaken him because Dean was distraught by their deaths.
Powers & Abilities
Ezekiel possessed the common powers of an angel. According to him, he was severely hurt when he fell. Thus, he was weaker than another fallen angel he fought against. Despite this, he was still capable of fighting off and defeating three demons in physically powerful human hosts. Despite being expelled from Heaven, he may not be completely cut off as he displays powers Castiel lost when he Fell the first time. However, using his powers as he heals himself as well weakens him.
- Super Strength - Ezekiel is strong enough to overpower three demons at once. However, in his weakened state, he was no match for another angel. His strength is gradually returning, though he is barely back to half-strength.
- Regeneration - Ezekiel heals his vessel's wounds, even mortal ones, in moments. Using this power, he can heal a vessel of damage even to the subatomic level while at the same time healing himself. However, in his weakened state this takes time though he is slowly making progress. A serious neck wound required Ezekiel to take complete control to heal, but he was able to do it in seconds.
- Healing - Ezekiel can cure the bodily wounds and illnesses suffered by others, even those of a supernatural origin. However, in his weakened state if the person he is healing is weak as he is, he is not able to do this. When he resurrected Castiel, he healed his wound and the ones he got from torture.
- Electronic Manipulation - Ezekiel caused the alarms on a machine connected to Sam to turn off with just a wave of his hand.
- Memory Manipulation - Ezekiel erased the Sam's memory that he meet Ezekiel in his mind, and gave Ezekiel permission to possess his body.
- Angelic Possession - As an angel, Ezekiel needs a willing living human vessel to physically exist on Earth. As of right now, Ezekiel is possessing Sam Winchester's body to keep him alive.
- Telepathy - Ezekiel can tap into "angel radio" as well as read the minds of humans, but only with physical contact. By placing a hand on two persons, he can let the first person listen to the thoughts of the second.
- Astral Projection - Ezekiel is able to display the remains of his wings, causing a massive flash of white light.
- Superhuman Senses - Ezekiel is able to find a warded Castiel by locating a Reaper who is holding him captive. Like the other angels, he can hear humans prayers and can sense thier location.
- Resurrection - Ezekiel is able to bring those who have died back to life, or at least those who have been dead for a short period of time. So far, he has demonstrated this ability on Castiel and Charlie Bradbury.
Appearances
Trivia
- The biblical Ezekiel was a Hebrew prophet of the 6th century BC who was exiled to Babylon in 587 or 597 BC and called for the Jews there to return to godliness and faith. He is the author of the Book of Ezekiel, which is named after him.
- Ezekiel's name is Hebrew for "God Strengthens".
- Ezekiel's angelic shadow form can be seen behind Sam on the barn in the Season 9 poster as well.
- In the Christian Faith Ezekiel is the 'Archangel of Death and Transformation.'
- When Ezekiel resurrects Castiel and heals his wounds, his hand glows in a similar manner to that of Leo Wyatt in the TV series Charmed whenever he healed someone. Leo was a Whitelighter, a type of human angel, but did not possess the power to resurrect the dead like Ezekiel. Castiel's hand also glowed in a similar manner when healing an orderly in "Hunteri Heroici," but these are the only two times this has been seen on Supernatural.
Notes
- Although other angels like Hael have lost their wings after the fall which is shown when Castiel killed her and the usual print of the burned wings did not appear, Ezekiel still has wings, though they are quite damaged. This could be a possible error or a hint that Ezekiel probably is not the one he pretends to be or that he at least is keeping some secrets.