How long is the lifespan, even uninterrupted, of a hairless ape compared to an angel?

It's just short-term investing in the futures market for them.

It's the way they did the action of giving it back, which implied more than unbinding a contract at the time. They just don't talk about it that way,

How long is the lifespan, even uninterrupted, of a hairless ape compared to an angel?

also true

It's the way they did the action of giving it back

You mean how Balthazar (dude needs a nickname, stat) cleared Aaron of his debt with the meditation thingy?

From what Castel said before doing the painful soul forensics stuff, it seemed like he was talking about the soul still being with Aaron (I know he said "living soul", I don't remember the rest of the sentence precisely, but that's the sense I had) but marked somehow by Balthazar for later collection. Which is what he was looking for, right, that mark. Which is what I figured Balthazar was doing, removing the mark.

I love "being a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent", btw, but I love comparing that to putting on inside pants even more. Nice one.

Thoughts on souls. Standard fantasy trope: souls are power sources for gods and demons. Belief by living souls (whether worshipers or enemies)is a power source. Worship by living souls is even a better power power source. Souls of the dead (your by worship, belief or contract) stored in an afterlife are a power source.

But for weaker entities who don't have a whole religion devoted to them, another way to harvest soul energy is to destroy the souls and get power all at once. Like killing a cow for meat - fewer calories in the long run than you can get from a lifetime of milking the cow, but concentrated calories and protein in the short run, and no care or feeding needing. Balthazar, not having had time to set up a cult, doesn't an afterlife soul barn, but he can still get short term benefit from harvested souls.

Not saying they will go there. But consistent with the old Solstice God Sam and Dean had to take down for Christmas. Explains why they needed an annual sacrifice to stay alive. Also explains why the God's needed to set up a Hotel California last season. Eating those people was not just a quaint custom. It was a way to power up.

Nothing in past show contradicts this. And consistent with a lot of fantasy and some horror tropes. Again not saying they will go there. But maybe that is the underlying value behind the derivatives.

I like it. It ties in nicely, although I fear you may have put more thought into it than they have. It does give them the opportunity to bring Crowley back in to provide the exposition for this, so he has a function other than to stand off to the side and make bwah-hah-hah noises about owning the lien on Bobby's soul.

I like the soul power-up theory too. It makes me wonder how the Campbells gathering up the monsters for some mysterious entity ties into that.

Tweet with picture from Misha. Oh, dude. Never change.

(You either, JP.)

de_nugis has posted a short story that's a quick interpretation of what Sam's headspace might be, as Dean's uncovering the mystery.

That story creeped me out in a way I don't feel comfortable with. Show, please don't make Sam bonkers like that.

I'm not sure, in general, why I'm caught up on SPN soul-taking to date being like Buffy, where it's something you can remove from a living person. It just keeps being the impression I get. Well, if they bring Crowley back and follow up on Bobby's, I guess I can find out that once and for all.

But I totally read this week as Balthazar as having taken Aaron's soul from him right then, and then given it back--and that taking the soul was what left the mark.

I suppose I could watch it again.

I've found one Balthazar/Castiel and one Dean/Balthazar/Castiel, but neither were particularly interesting.