Christians say the Antichrist is one that will oppose Christ and substitute himself in his place. Other groups think he comes with great power and disguises himself as Christ. Others say he’s a human man walking among us. Most agree he comes from evil, is a man of sin, and tie the appearance of the Antichrist with the apocalypse. There are so many texts and prophecies out there about who or what the Antichrist is that Kripke could invent any version he wants.
Since we’ve already had concrete signs of the apocalypse in “Are You There God…” the timing of the rising of the Antichrist seems right, and all clues point to the definitely possibility of that being Sam’s role. The angels don’t know for sure, that’s likely what Dean has to find out. We’ll find out when he does.
Mythology From A Blender
The female hunter in the beginning of “Are You There God…” was reading The Secret Teachings of All Ages. The mere presence of that book shows the mixed bag we’re dealing with when it comes to mythology Kripke style. That book is a huge encyclopedia of mystical teachings involving the Qabbala, alchemy, tarot, ceremonial magic, hermiticism, neo-Platonic philosophy, mystery religions, the theory of Rosicrucianism, and Freemasonry. Throw in ancient Hebrew texts like the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud, the numerous apocryphal texts, the many interpretations of the Christian Bible, plus movies like Constantine and Star Wars, put it all in a blender, and there’s no end to where this version of the Apocalypse will go.
We got a good indication that the show was going to follow its own rules when Bobby said of the Bible, “The widely distributed version is just for tourists.” Judging by the old book in Hebrew he was reading, there’s way more out there than anyone can imagine. An Internet search on “rising of the witnesses” doesn’t come up with much, but rising of the dead in general is a mentioned is several prophecies. The show is taking some creative liberties, but we don’t mind.
Sixty-six is an interesting choice for the number of seals. Sixty-six is a master number in numerology, although a rarely used one. Derivatives of that number, 11 and 22, are master spiritual builders. There are 66 books in the Bible and 66 was mentioned in the Bible twice. Sixty-six can also be taken from 666, which is the number of the beast of the Apocalypse in The Book of Revelations. The number means a multitude of things, but it’s also possible someone is just messing with us, kind of like that Angel of Thursday thing.
Article comments
1 - cassi
Hi, Alice!
Are you a mind reader because after these 3 episodes, I really needed something like this! thanks! After reading your article I feel so much better now!
SPN season 4 has been a hell of a ride. Of course, it has been an enjoyable experience and Kripke even managed to make me a fan of his angel idea due to Misha Collin's great performance. If you had asked me during the summer break what was the worst thing I could imagine for the show, I would have said without any hesitation "angels". I'm still not the happiest camper about the whole end of the world, Anti-christ and angel thing but so far it's better than I imagined. Like you I was ignoring the hints in Faith or House of the Holy, simply because I didn't want or at least hoped that the show wouldn't go into this direction.
The whole "no demon deal for Dean's soul" still makes no sense to me because if Lilith really feared Sam why would they have given Dean a chance to save his brother. I don't get it. That's why "In the beginning" was not the big revelation episode for me. I want to know what's going on with Sam, Lilith and Ruby, so far Sam has shown no sign why Lilith would or should be scared of him. NRFTW was scary for Lilith but not really dangerous. And Ruby could be good but I still have my doubts about her. So when Kripke answers these qestions (I think I wil have to wait until the season finale), this will be the true revelations for me.
2 - Beth
Thank you for making your own brain hurt to put this together for the rest of us. :) You have analyzed most succinctly what I've been struggling with since last season. Sam being the Anti-Christ hadn't occurred to me, but it seems like a reasonable possibility. And I'd much rather Dean be the one to save Sam, rather than *stop* him. One implies redemption, and the other...well, I'd rather not go there.
3 - Tigershire
What did you have in your morning coffee??? What a lot to think about. But it's not like I mind any more than you or the rest of the fans do. GRIN.
I did see a post somewhere, where a fan suggested that perhaps Supernatural should go 6 seasons because, at 22 episodes per season, that would be 66......
Since there seems to be a trend with that number....
Thank goodness it's Thursday.