| “ | This reality -- it has rules, Dean. So many rules. And one of them? Kill one incarnation of Death, like you did, the next Reaper to die takes his place. | ” |
The Natural Order, or Just Is[1] for short, is one of, if not the only, governing forces behind The Multiverse. One of its most important roles is that it is connected to the flow of life and death and assures that people live and die as they should.
Description
The Natural Order or what is usually called Just Is[1] is a powerful and unknown factor of the multiverse. It is impartial and is unknown how long it has existed if it didn't already always exist. The earliest form of the Order is in regard to the demanded existence of Darkness and Light.
Notable Beings
- Reapers - They have a connection to it. They can see a person's whole lifetime, how that person will die, and when it is time for them to die. The Natural Order is impartial and both good and evil are subject to its power and when it is time to die, a person will and must die.
- Death - It has a role in his job as Death. It follows the natural order as it dictates the flow of life and death. Death while able to bend or even break the order, didn't like to do so. As they often cause chaos and violations in the world. As he asked Dean when he was Death, "Wrecking the natural order's not quite such fun when you have to mop up the mess, is it?".
- Eve - She is also aware of the Order and claims to have an "arrangement" between the balance of killing between humans and monsters.
- The Fates - They have a role within the Natural Order. The three sisters have the job to maintain fate, make sure everything happened the way it should, that everything followed its destiny and that everything died when its time was up, the latter being responsibility of Atropos. Since Sam and Dean broke away from their own fates and stopped the Apocalypse, free will now rules over destiny, and they no longer works to ensure that fate is met.
- Anubis - He was enlisted to work with Heaven to ensure that the souls met their proper destinations, after the departure of God. He clarifies that he doesn't decide where the souls go, he only acts accordingly to the judgement the souls give to themselves that he measures with his abacus.
- Mandatory Existence of Light and Darkness - God and The Darkness are the most notable pillars of The Order, as they both need each other to exist; otherwise, reality itself would be erased. However, it has been said that if both were to be killed, reality would continue to exist in a new state. As a result of this, the Winchesters are unable to kill God after he begins trying to destroy their world and instead begin seeking out a way to lock him away instead. As seen with the Darkness, Light and Dark can be locked away without disturbing the Natural Order. It is later revealed, however, that if God is locked away, then the forces of darkness will prevail as he is the one who keeps the balance and if he is gone, the world will be overrun, as shown by how after God was sealed away, the monsters are able to dominate the hunters. However, it is later revealed by Billie that God has a book in her library, serving as a way for Creation to keep existing after he is gone. Billie explains that because God was forced to weave himself into the foundation of the world when God started creating alternate realities, he is vulnerable.
- Mandatory Existence of Death - If one incarnation Death is killed then the next reaper to die will take his position and become the new Death, inheriting all of the former's knowledge and possessions such as his scythe and library.
Notable Places
The Natural Order also has places that fall under its laws, mostly the spiritual realms where souls go. Reapers are the ones that take humans souls to Heaven, Hell, and possibly monster souls to Purgatory. God can tweak the rules such as allowing a damned soul into Heaven.
- Heaven - The spiritual world where mostly good souls go to. If there are not enough angels to power the realm, Heaven will crumble and all of the souls will be released as ghosts wandering Earth.
- Hell - The spiritual world where mostly evil souls go to.
- Purgatory - The spiritual world that souls of monsters go to. If a human were to somehow get trapped in the realm, they'd have to escape through the portal that only they can use.
- The Empty - The void predating Creation where angels and demons are sent upon death. Believed to be impossible to be recovered from, except if the Empty's guardian, The Shadow, expels someone.
- The Veil - The spiritual plane that serves as a transition road or waiting room from one place to another, only available to incorporeal beings.
Trivia
- In Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting, Eve herself wanted to ensure that her children also follow the Natural Order, even going to extremes as forging the dragon swords to stop her dragons, should they attempt to destroy other beings.
- In the same book, Lethe or Oblivion, a pagan deity, was also shown working for Heaven. Her role was to wipe memories of people who have seen or witnessed something supernatural that they shouldn't have.
- During Dean's time as a demon, he states that his kind is part of The Natural Order and that's how it was set up.
- In situations where the Natural Order is disrupted (e.g.: a person dying before/after their time, or a person being resurrected), the aftermath will last as long as the cause of the disruption exists. As Tessa once mentioned after Dean (during his day as Death) refused to reap a little girl, "chaos and sadness will follow her for the rest of her life" (referring to the girl). According to Death, Sam and Dean, due to their repeated resurrections, "cause disruption on a global scale."
- The Natural Order appears to be the laws that govern the totality of existence.
- The Darkness, God, and Death have profound and required connections to the Natural Order. God and Amara are the necessary universal components that balance and sustains reality. Death and the reapers are connected to maintaining the flow of life and death. Upon the destruction of one incarnation of Death, the next Reaper to die would be reincarnated as the next Death. In addition sealing God away causes adverse effects on the world, in particular the law of nature replaces God in regard to monsters.
- Unlike God and the Darkness, Death appears to have multiple incarnations in the multiverse such as Death (Apocalype World). This is likely because each world required reapers.
- The Fates decide how people die, Anubis judges if the human souls go to Heaven or Hell, while monster souls go to Purgatory, then Death and/or the Reapers reap and guide the souls to their respective afterlife.