All Along the Watchtower
Written by: Andrew Dabb
Directed by: Robert Singer
Air date: May 18, 2017
The Winchesters and Crowley work together to track down Castiel and Kelly before Lucifer does.
Tropes:
- After the End: The Alternate Universe that the Nephilim opens a portal to is a post-apocalyptic wasteland where angels and demons are constantly at war, with what's left of humanity stuck in the middle.
- Alternate Universe: The Nephilim opens a portal to one, where Lucifer and Mary get trapped at the end of the episode. In this one, Mary didn't make the deal with Azazel, meaning John stayed dead, she never married him, and Dean and Sam were never born.
- Anyone Can Die: Rowena, Castiel, and Crowley, all long-running, fan favorite characters, die in this episode.
- Big "NO!": Lucifer when he realizes he's trapped in the alternate universe.
- Born as an Adult: Newborn Jack already appears to be a young man when Sam finds him.
- Break the Haughty: His latest defeat and spending some time in a rat gave Crowley time to think, and afterwards he admits that he's so sick of running Hell that he's willing to do humanity a favor by sealing the Gates of Hell.
- The Bus Came Back: Bobby, albeit as an alternate universe counterpart.
- Character Death: Rowena, Crowley, Castiel, and Kelly Kline.
- Continuity Nod: Sam compares the Alternate Universe to "The French Mistake", when he and Dean were sent into something resembling the real world.
- Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: In the Alternate Universe, Bobby has bullets forged from angel blades that can kill angels.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Mary states her intention to punch Lucifer in the face, and ends up doing so with the Enochian brass knuckles the British Men of Letters had.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Rowena is Killed Offscreen by Lucifer.
- Greater-Scope Villain: While it's not stated in this episode, Season 13 reveals that it was Michael, not Lucifer, who won the Apocalypse in the alternate universe.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Crowley, of all people, sacrifices himself to power the spell that traps Lucifer in the other universe. A non-fatal one was Mary punching Lucifer into the Apocalypse world during which Lucifer pulls her in with him. But considering Lucifer's expression of rage at the end, who knows for how long?
- Impaled Palm: Dean tries to keep Crowley in the bunker by pinning his hand to the table with a knife. Crowley just pulls it out and keeps going.
- In the Back: How Lucifer fatally stabs Castiel.
- Killed Off for Real: Rowena and Castiel's deaths were undone in Season 13, but it seems as if Crowley's death is, and will remain, permanent.
- Make Sure He's Dead: The reason why Lucifer sets Rowena's body on fire.
- Near-Villain Victory: Lucifer manages to kill Rowena and Castiel and even Crowley's Heroic Sacrifice does not work as well as expected. The only reason he does not win completely is because Mary punches him into another dimension while trapping herself with him and Lucifer does not get his hands on the Nephilim.
- Oh, Crap!: The look on Mary's face at the end of the episode, when she realizes she's trapped in a war-torn alternate universe, with a very pissed-off Lucifer barely yards away.
- Our Demons Are Different: The demons in the alternate universe have razor teeth and horns. They're known as "Tempter" demons.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Turns out, Crowley did indeed jump out of his body and into a nearby rat before Lucifer could kill him.
- Shout-Out:
- When Cas first explains the portal, Dean compares it to Narnia.
- Upon seeing the actual Alternate Universe, Dean changes his comparison to Mad Max.
- Right before shooting Lucifer with the anti-angel gun, Dean says "Say hello to my little friend!"
- Taking You with Me: Lucifer drags Mary through the portal with him just before it seals.
- Talk to the Fist: When Crowley first shows up in the bunker, Dean punches him in the face hard enough to knock him out of his chair.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Apparently having learned his lesson from last time, Lucifer is sure to not only smash Rowena's head in, but also burns her body "just to be sure". Still doesn't work.
- Villain's Dying Grace: Crowley's last act is to make sure the brothers can get home and to use his own blood to trap Lucifer in the alternate universe.
- Wham Episode: Rowena, Crowley, and Castiel all die. Lucifer and Mary are trapped in another universe. The Nephilim is born, already grown up.
