The Needham Asylum is Crowley's former base of operations.
Overview[]
The lair is located near Fall River, Massachusetts, and was formerly a decommissioned Needham Asylum. The main room has a throne, upon which Crowley sits and gives orders from. The room is sometimes set up for various tasks, such as a meeting, for which a large table will be placed before the throne.
There is also a kennel in one wall. There is also a bedroom where Crowley briefly housed a young Amara. There are also torture rooms, one of which was used to torture Rowena.
History[]
Crowley on his throne at Needham.
Crowley holds a court, during which he sentences Abaddon loyalists to death for high treason. This eventually causes a demon to demand Crowley to stop, before he commits suicide in front of Crowley.
The demon Gerald rushes to Crowley to inform him of a witch who killed Raul. He also informs Crowley of the method they've been using to collect souls, which Crowley is unimpressed with. Crowley then dispatches demons to capture the witch, who is promptly chained up and tortured. However, when Crowley visits her, he discovers that she is his mother.
From this point, the witch Rowena begins spending time in the throne room, sometimes sitting on the throne and acting like she is queen. She also uses her position to try and turn Crowley against his loyal subjects, until Crowley rejects her and banishes her from his presence.
After helping Sam and Dean deal with the Knight of Hell Cain, Crowley returns to his lair and uses one of his demons as a target to throw darts. It is then that two demons inform him of Rowena's disappearance. He kills one of them out of anger and orders the other to find her.
After The Darkness rises, Crowley takes her in once she is in child form and feeds her souls, as well as teaches her new things. As she grows older, Amara begins sneaking out for human souls. Sam and Dean later break into the lair to kill Amara, but she manages to escape by sparing Dean's life from Crowley.
Upon wishing to speak with Lucifer, Sam and Dean arrive at Crowley's lair to recruit him, and soon after, Crowley's demons drag in Rowena, who is also needed. Unfortunately, the plan ends with Lucifer escaping his Cage and reclaiming Hell.
As the new Ruler of Hell, Lucifer begins using the lair and the throne as his own. Crowley is meanwhile housed inside the kennel, until he manages to escape. The lair is abandoned for a while after, until Crowley returns to try to reclaim his title as King, but is rudely brushed off by the demons. Dean soon visits him to recruit him in God's plan against Amara.
After God and Amara's departure, Crowley again attempts to reclaim Hell, and again obtains Rowena in order to achieve this. With a trap prepared, Crowley awaits for Lucifer to arrive inside the throne room. Lucifer does arrive, in the form of Vince Vincente, and angrily orders Crowley to get off of his throne. Rowena and Crowley attack Lucifer in that moment, but their attacks prove inefficient so Crowley flees the lair, leaving his mother at the mercy of Lucifer.
Later, Crowley tells the Winchesters that he can't return to his "palace" to their amusement at calling the lair his palace.
Lucifer chained in Crowley's lair.
After saving Castiel from the effects of the Lance of Michael, Crowley returns to the lair to call his demons and demand that they find the Colt. Disgruntled, he pours himself a glass of scotch. Suddenly, singing starts up. Lucifer, originally thought to be back in his Cage, is sitting in another cage inside Crowley's throne room and trying to convince Crowley that the Winchesters do not care about him. Crowley brushes off his comment and calls him "dog", much to Lucifer's calm irritation.
Later on, Crowley places Lucifer in a chair bound with chains crafted using the design of The Cage. Crowley explains how his demons have restored Lucifer's vessel, all so Crowley can get his revenge on Lucifer for humiliating him. Lucifer is unfazed and even taunts Crowley. While alone, Lucifer smiles proudly when he senses that Dagon is now protecting his unborn child.
When two demons try to help Lucifer escape, Crowley reveals that it was not the chains designed after The Cage, but the vessel itself. Through a mechanism known only to the late Spevak, Crowley also has control over Lucifer himself. Lucifer is chained up once more and presented as Crowley's "slave" to the demons, but Lucifer is still not giving up and convinces Drexel to help crack Spevak's special implement on the vessel. Meanwhile, Lucifer keeps himself up to date on his son's whereabouts, and becomes enraged when Castiel manages to get his hands on the baby and its mother.
Lucifer eventually escapes when Drexel succeeds in altering Spevak's design, causing Lucifer to take control over Crowley's vessel instead. After seemingly killing the King of Hell, Lucifer leaves the palace while the demons remove Crowley's vessel.
Following the disappearance of Lucifer, the demons keep the lair to act as Lucifer's throne room when he returns. Upon the arrival of the Prince of Hell Asmodeus, he took over the lair as his own as the new King of Hell.
Castiel and Lucifer imprisoned in Needham Asylum.
After capturing Castiel and Lucifer, Asmodeus keeps them locked up in cells in the lair, adding more power to the wards on Lucifer's cell to help hold the weakened archangel. After discovering that rage allows him to tap into some of his powers, Lucifer teams up with Castiel to break out, killing Dipper and four other demons between them. The fight forces the weakened Lucifer to take a break on the steps of the asylum where he forcefully tries to take some of Castiel's grace, causing Castiel to stab Lucifer with an angel blade.
Gabriel held captive by Asmodeus
After Arthur Ketch returned from his failure in killing Lucifer, Asmodeus revealed he had the archangel blade in his possession as well as the archangel Gabriel.
Following a brutal beating by Asmodeus, Arthur Ketch decided to flee the lair and rescue Gabriel in the process. Before leaving, Arthur stole the archangel blade and the parts of Gabriel's grace that had been extracted. As Arthur and Gabriel made their way out, they were accosted by Asmodeus' Guard. However, Arthur killed the demon with the archangel blade and was able to escape with Gabriel to the Men of Letters bunker.
After Gabriel's escape, Asmodeus meditated in the throne room while attempting to determine Gabriel's location. After detecting Gabriel, Asmodeus called Sam to demand Gabriel's return then led a demon incursion to take Gabriel back by force that resulted in Asmodeus' death.
Known Inhabitants[]
Rulers[]
Purveyors[]
- Amara (formerly)
- Arthur Ketch (formerly, deceased)
- Asmodeus' Guard (formerly, deceased)
- Castiel and Lucifer's Attackers (formerly, deceased)
- Bearded Demon (formerly, deceased)
- Billie (formerly, deceased)
- Castiel (formerly)
- Crowley's Captors (formerly, deceased)
- Dean Winchester (formerly, deceased)
- Demon Minion (formerly)
- Dipper (formerly, deceased)
- Drexel
- Gerald (formerly, deceased)
- Rowena MacLeod (formerly, deceased)
- Sam Winchester (formerly, deceased)
- Simmons (formerly, deceased)
Prisoners[]
- Castiel (formerly)
- Crowley (formerly, deceased)
- Gabriel (formerly, deceased)
- Lucifer (formerly, deceased)
- Olivette (formerly; turned into a hamster)
- Rowena MacLeod (formerly, deceased)
- Trish (unknown)
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Prior to Crowley, no Ruler of Hell had an established residence. Due to Crowley, this location is now strongly associated with the title, as seen by Rowena and Lucifer's use of the throne room in order to show authority. Even Asmodeus chose to use the location after becoming the new King of Hell. The only exception is Rowena MacLeod who, as a Hell soul, rules from Hell itself instead after taking over in Season 15.
- This residence is unique given that it exists outside of Hell, the domain the residence's owner is dominant over. This contrasts with Heaven's Garden.
- In Mamma Mia, the set used for Crowley's throne room was the same set used for the bar in Bloodlines.
- As of Let the Good Times Roll, the three Rulers of Hell that used it as their base are all dead, two of whom were killed during Season 13.
- Though it has often acted as a prison for the current Ruler of Hell's enemies, the prisoners have a habit of escaping or being rescued as seen on several occasions.
- Unlike Crowley's other known bases, he did not abandon this location after it was discovered by the Winchesters in Our Little World and continued using it until his death.
- Crowley often refers to it as his palace which causes the Winchesters to scoff when they realize he's talking about "the abandoned nuthouse."
- While first seen in Soul Survivor, its location and in fact what the building was was not known until Our Little World when the Winchesters identified it while looking for the Darkness. Since then, the outside has been seen several times.
- The Winchesters found the location due to the fact that it was in the area where Amara was stealing people's souls. While trying to find a location that fit Crowley's criteria, Dean noticed the asylum as a point of interest on a map and the Winchesters figured that it seemed like a place Crowley would like. The lock on the door and the angel warding on the outside confirmed it.
- The asylum acted as the location of several different conflicts after its introduction.
- Two of the asylum's owners, Crowley and Lucifer, were both held captive within. In the case of Crowley, it was by Lucifer and in Lucifer's case it was by Crowley and later the Prince of Hell Asmodeus. Crowley escaped with Simmons' help as part of a ploy by Lucifer while Lucifer escaped the first time with the help of Drexel and the second time with the help of Castiel who he was imprisoned alongside.
- Needham Asylum is located in Fall River, Massachusetts, which is where the infamous Borden family axe murders occurred.