I'm watching Hemlock Grove, and they used the word catabasis, which they defined as "the lowest point of a trial" but I can't find a definition that matches that. It seems to be like doppleganger or lycanthropy, a word I'm basically good with translating literally, but it's not really required to have a supernatural component. It could be a nadir, but also, in the arts, a visit to the underworld as part of a hero's journey.

Anyway, it seems to apply to Sam doubly this season since he went to hell on a trial¹, but it could cover either his cage dive or Dean's time downstairs. And, tidily, a catabasis must be followed by an anabasis (which is the return) which makes it a) different from death and b) applicable to our boys.

I just need to draw a picture worthy of the cool term.

t /random vocab lesson

"Catabasis" sounds weirdly familiar.

I have anxiety about next week. And then the dread of the long, hot Winchesterless summer.

I'm familiar with the term katabatic for describing glacial winds - I guess it's cool air sinking when it reaches the point where the ice pack falls off?

Ooh, I forgot my footnote:

¹: It is fair to say that only one finale has killed the boys, right? So hoping that neither of them die, for a change, at the end of the episode is kinda silly? I mean, hope they don't get separated, because that's happened as often as not, but Dean didn't even get close to dying the first time until way into the episode.

Any finale predictions? I figure at least these things are up in the air:

• who dies?
• who rules Hell?
• who is separated at the end of the episode?
• whose nature is radically changed?

My predictions: 100% RAINBOWS AND KITTENS AND UNICORN TEARS.

Right? RIGHT?

As long as neither Sam nor Dean (nor Cas, actually) is permanently damaged or has his "nature radically changed" (why did you even give me that to worry about?), I'll be happy.

Well, as happy as I can be before hiatus.

I don't predict, but I want Cas to finally make the choice to listen to Dean (he started out that way when he first turned his back on Heaven). Or, maybe not listen, but to say "hey, I'm in this shit position and I don't like it even though the ends seem like the right thing, the means are skeeving me out. What do you think? Help".

If Sam completes the trials, and Hell closes, we lose the demons, but still keep all the other boogeymen, and maybe the amount of ghosts increases if one or both gates get closed, so the future of the show will still have interesting antagonists and victims.

I want Sam to complete the trials and get purified, I want him to be the "demon" that is saved, and have that taint wiped from him forever.

I want Heaven to get it's doors closed, but by Crowley's hand, and for Cas to get cut off from Heaven, and turn human.

But alas, I have absolutely no predictions, other than none of my wants coming true.

On the other hand it would be good story telling for Sam to close the gates of hell, and Cas to close Heaven (which would trap him with all the other angels). I'd miss Cas but...

That would eliminate an awful lot of plot possibilities. Routine salt and burns and the occasional werewolf would get pretty stale if that's all they had to do.

My take on the closing of the gates of eitger Heaven or Hell is that whomever is on Earth-side at the time stays there. So we could still have Crowley and minions, might get Naomi and minions, but all else are out of the picture, and Naomi seems to be be a very top-side angel. But time will tell.

My ultimate read on this is that if Heaven's gates do close, Cas is totally on the non-angelic side when it happens, be that due to his physical position or angelic status or as the weilder of the garage door closer. We'll get to keep Cas, because, ya know, fanpocalypse.