Doesn't negate the fact that Sam's soul and body went into the cage, and then Cas went and got his body while his soul remained behind. If Sam's body was elsewhere (somewhere in the dirt of Stull Cemetery) and Cas went to the cage to retrieve him, Cas wouldn't have come back with the body.

Which begs the question: how was Cas able to retrieve anything from the cage, and how did Sam's soul become separated from his body.

If your point hinges on the fact that Sam's body was in Hell for a long time--how long was it down there? How long did it take for Cas to rescue him? Do we know that there was no eating, if eating was required? And do we know that Purgatory follows the same rules as Hell?

Ah, I see my flaw. If I remember right (which I probably don't), didn't Cas pretty much go to rescue Sam the second he flapped out of Dean's car after the peace/freedom conversation? Which could still translate to a bit of time in Hell years (a week or so? Who's good at hell!math?).

That said, we know nothing.

It just bothers me that a place of death, be it for monsters or human souls, would require sustenance (I do realize that I'm still banging my head about two instances of fannon, and will have to wait to see Shows take on it). And then again, I'm back to there being actual physical undead bodies in a place of death. If Dean dies there, does he go to heaven or is his soul stuck in purgatory? Will we ever know where angels go when they die?! (Not that I want to find out with Cas!!).

And there's also the question ficwriters seem to be juggling--if they're attacked in Purgatory and they slice off a vampire's head--what happens to the vampire? Does it Die die? Or disappear for a couple secs? Or not much at all? Since it's already where it goes.

Ugh. I just read a D/C with Daphne in it that made me feel quite dirty. It was pretty much an anti-Daphne story, dressed up as getting inside Daphne's head--her commenters seem to be reacting like we're getting her side of the story in a good way, instead of it making her look like an unsympathetic harridan. Basically it's Daphne realising she was silly to think this man could ever have loved her, he was really meant for Dean. I'm sure it's like many stories were written about Lisa a year or so earlier.

The author, though--she's clearly spellchecked, which is good, but she can't spell, which is bad. brakes are breaks, but best of all, more often than not, beer is bear.

Castiel referred to the monster souls preying on each other forever, so since all the ones ever created seemed to still be there when he first opened the gate I assume "death" is merely a temporary inconvenience to them at best. No idea though if they slowly reassemble themselves, recover instantly from any harm, or pop up whole somewhere else to start over like chracters in a videogame.

Dean's torture in hell was endless. Every time Alastair ripped him to shreds, he found himself reassembled in the morning for the next round. I assume the same would be true in purgatory, although I'm not sure how that makes it much different from hell.

I assume the same would be true in purgatory

I agree with this.

But will the same be true for non-dead, body-having Dean and Cas? If Cas' vessel is disassembled, will his celestial wavelength self survive? It's not like they have angel-swords down there.

Does Cas have an angel sword down there? What does kill a human down there? I mean, if you're assuming he doesn't eat, then hunger doesn't kill him, why would stabbing him in the heart do it?

Yeah, Cas would have his sword. I've always assumed that they were manifested when needed (so would they then go poof once that angel gets killed?) so it's not something he would misplace or leave behind.

if you're assuming he doesn't eat, then hunger doesn't kill him, why would stabbing him in the heart do it?

Excellent point.

Yay, Dean gets to die repeatedly! Again!