Unfinished Business Recap

Central City, Colorado
In an alley behind a liquor store, we see a man drinking from a liquor bottle. Suddenly, the man hears his name (Fenrir Odensbain) and he turns sharply toward the sound of the person speaking. Gabriel emerges and Fenrir recognizes him. After a hostile exchange, Gabriel reveals his weapon, which appears to be a wooden sword, and challenges Fenrir to a fight. When Fenrir sees Gabriel’s weapon, we briefly see his true face, which looks like an animal (perhaps a wolf). The two fight, and Gabriel is injured, but manages to kill Fenrir.

Gabriel pulls a slip of paper from his pocket. We see that the paper contains 3 names – Fenrir, Narfi, and Sleipnar. Gabriel crosses Fenrir’s name off of the list (using his finger dipped in his own blood) and leaves the alley.

EPISODE:

DEAN AND SAM
(Motel in Central City, Colorado)
The episode opens with Dean and Sam, who have just checked into a motel room in Central City. Dean is on his cell phone talking to Castiel, who is apparently on his way to Amarillo, Texas and will call the Winchesters when he arrives.

After Dean hangs up, the Boys discuss their plan. We learn that Rowena has used a tracking spell to locate Gabriel. She was able to narrow his location down to Amarillo, Texas or Central City, Colorado, so Castiel is searching in Amarillo, while the Winchesters look in Colorado. The brothers are frustrated because they’ve been looking for Gabriel for two weeks, and are worried about how much time their search is taking, and how much longer it will take to return to the alternate universe (AU) to rescue Mary and Jack. They are also concerned that trying to find Gabriel will be a longshot.

As they’re talking, Gabriel shows up at their door, bleeding from his fight with Fenrir and in need of help. As the Winchesters treat Gabriel’s wounds, they talk about their situation. Gabriel says that he sensed Rowena’s tracking spell as soon as she started it, so he knew exactly where to find the brothers. He asks the brothers if they have any more of his grace left, and they report that they used it all and it’s all gone. Gabriel apparently used a significant amount of energy killing Asmodeus and making his way to Colorado. He says his grace will recharge eventually, but until then he’s vulnerable. He tries to leave, but is in too much pain, so he rests on the sofa and falls asleep.

(Back in alley in Central City, Colorado)
In the alley behind the liquor store, two men arrive and discover Fenrir’s body. They lament that he is dead, and notice blood on the ground that doesn’t seem to be his. One of the men tastes the blood and recognizes it as archangel blood. The other man says they’d better “call father”, at which point he uses his cell phone to make a call.

DEAN AND SAM:
A short time later, Gabriel wakes up and prepares to leave again. The Winchesters try to convince him to stay and help them, but he refuses. He says the only reason he came to them was because he thought they’d have his grace, but now that they don’t he’s got no reason to stay.

As Gabriel prepares to leave, the two men from the alley kick in the door. They announce that they have come for Gabriel. As they’re talking, we see their true faces – one man (Narfi) has the face of a skeleton, and the other (Sleipnir) has the head of a horse.

The Winchesters ask Gabriel who the men are, and he tells them that the two are Norse demi-gods. A fight breaks out and Gabriel kills Narfi, but Sleipnir runs off.

Gabriel says that he’ll go after Sleipnir, but Dean produces a pair of Enochian-warded hand cuffs and tells Gabriel that he’s not going anywhere.

Dean and Sam leave Gabriel alone briefly to destroy Narfi’s body. When they return, they question Gabriel. The Winchesters learn that the demi-gods are after Gabriel because he killed their brother (Fenrir). Gabriel goes on to reveal that after he faked his own death (season 5; "Hammer of the Gods”), the three demi-gods helped him disappear. He ended up in Monte Carlo with them, living a lavish lifestyle. However, the demi-gods betrayed him, kidnapped him and sold him to Asmodeus, who tortured him every day for years and fed off of his grace. Now he is hunting them down and wants to kill them all for revenge.

Gabriel also tells them that Loki, the demi gods’ father, had a role in his betrayal, too. When Gabriel initially ran away from heaven (during the angel wars), he found Loki (who was being held prisoner). Gabriel freed Loki, and in exchange, Loki let Gabriel assume his appearance and identity, so he could masquerade as the Trickster. Loki resurfaced in Monte Carlo centuries later and helped betray Gabriel.

The Winchesters try to talk Gabriel out of his plot for revenge, but they are unsuccessful because Gabriel feels that he suffered too much and for too long to let go of his revenge – especially when Loki is so close.
The Winchesters agree to help Gabriel defeat Loki and Sleipnir if he’ll agree to help them with the Lucifer/Michael/AU situation.

MARY AND JACK:
In the AU, Jack and Mary are walking through an encampment, and Jack is updating Mary on what has been happening. He tells her about how he has been fighting angels and successfully killed Balthazar. Jack also tells Mary that Bobby will be returning to the camp in a few days, with 30 people they managed to save.

Mary expresses concern that they’re already running out of space and supplies. And now with 30 new people coming to the camp, things will get more difficult. As Jack and Mary are talking, another soldier, Jacob, approaches. He reports that the angels seem to be leaving. Mary and Jack exchange incredulous glances, as they wonder aloud whether it’s true and if so, why the angels would leave.

Later, Jack is using his.astral projection abilities to mentally search Michael’s camp. He finds the place deserted and reports to Mary and the others that there are a few angels guarding the perimeter, but the place is otherwise deserted.

Jack thinks that Michael fled because he’s afraid of him. He tries to convince the rest of the group that they should take advantage of the situation to search Michael’s camp to see if he left anything behind that can tell them where he’s going. Mary tries to convince Jack that it’s probably a trap, but Jack insists that he can keep everyone safe.

Later, Jack, Mary, and a small group of rebels arrive at Michael’s base. They easily enter, but don’t find anyone. On a large table, the group finds a map that seems to show Michael’s armies on the move. As Mary and Jack are looking at the map, the other rebels arrive with Kevin Tran, whom they found in one of Michael’s dungeons.

The group accuses Kevin of being a traitor against humanity, but Kevin pleads that he had no choice. He says that he never used to believe in anything, but then the apocalypse happened and everyone he loved died. He says Michael told him that he wanted to save the world, but when Kevin couldn’t perfect the spell Michael wanted, he was thrown into the dungeon. When Mary asks Kevin what Michael is planning, the prophet says that Michael is heading south, to a place where the wall between worlds is thin. Once he’s there, he’ll use a spell from the angel tablet to open a rift and march his armies into the other world.

Later, the group is looking over the map Michael left behind. Jack wants to follow Michael, because he believes he can kill him. Mary thinks it’s a trap and Michael left the map as bait. She urges the group to wait for Bobby, but the group argues about how to proceed.

Mary and Jack continue talking, but Mary is unable to convince Jack to abandon his plan to go after Michael. Jack is sure that he can win, and he won’t accept Mary’s warning that Michael is probably trying to trick them. Jack assures Mary that he knows what he’s doing and will be alright. Before Jack can leave, Kevin announces to the group that he can’t let Jack leave. Then, Kevin opens his shirt and we see one of the angel self-destruct sigils carved into his chest. Kevin tells the group that Michael ordered him to wait until Bobby and the rest of the group was all together before detonating himself, but he can’t wait now. Mary tries to talk Kevin out of detonating the sigil and killing himself, but Kevin replies that Michael promised him he’d get to see his mother in heaven if he’s obedient. As Mary and Jack continue trying to talk Kevin out of his task, Jack tells Kevin that detonating the sigil won’t kill him. Kevin knows that and tells Jack that Michael doesn’t want to kill him; he wants to break him by killing everyone else.

Kevin tearfully apologizes and detonates the sigil. As it’s exploding, Jack uses his wings to protect Mary from the blast. When it’s all over, Kevin and everyone else in the room is dead except for Mary and Jack. Jack is distraught and feels very guilty because he let himself be tricked into bringing his friends to Michael’s camp, which lead to their deaths. He also failed to protect them after promising them they'd be safe. Mary tries unsuccessfully to console him.

DEAN AND SAM:
At the motel, Dean, Sam and Gabriel prepare to go face Loki and Sleipnir. Gabriel tells the Winchesters that the two are in a nearby hotel. He has known where to find the demi-gods for some time, but he didn’t go after Loki because he wanted to kill his three sons first. Dean thinks the plan is stupid, but agrees to participate. The trio agrees to kill Sleipnir first, then go after Loki, who is probably in the hotel’s penthouse.

Later, we see Sleipnir arriving at the hotel with his bodyguards. Dean, Sam and Gabriel stealthily follow them in, taking the elevator to the floor where they saw it stop. On the way upstairs in the elevator, Gabriel tells Dean and Sam to kill the bodyguards, but to leave Sleipnir and Loki to him.

Dean doesn’t agree to the plan, but before he and Gabriel can argue further, the elevator doors open. Sleipnir and his goons see the trio, and a gunfight breaks out.

In the melee, Dean and Sam kill both bodyguards and Gabriel kills Sleipnir. Before Gabriel realizes what's happening, Dean heads off alone to face Loki. Gabriel and Sam rush after him, but Dean finds Loki first.

Dean and Loki have a hostile exchange during which Loki tells Dean that he blames Loki for the death of his father, Odin. Dean tries to tell Loki that Lucifer is the one who killed Odin, but Loki insists that Odin wouldn’t have been at the Elysium Hotel (Hammer of the Gods, season 5) if it hadn’t been for the “family drama” between Gabriel and his brothers. Loki also tells Dean that part of his agreement with Gabriel was that in exchange for allowing Gabriel to assume his identity, Gabriel promised to avoid the violent, confrontational acts his family was involved with. Gabriel broke that promise during the conflict between him and Lucifer, and that cost Odin his life, so Loki also holds Gabriel responsible for that betrayal. Loki sold Gabriel to Asmodeus to punish him for Odin’s death.

As Loki is talking, Dean stabs him with one of the wooden swords Gabriel brought along for that purpose. But when Dean stabs the demi-god, the image shimmers and Dean realizes he’s been talking to an astral projection. Unfortunately, the fake Loki can still punch and injure Dean, but Dean’s weapons are useless, so he can’t defend himself. Loki takes his time beating and punishing Dean. Sam arrives in time to save Dean. But meanwhile, outside the room in the hotel’s corridor, the real Loki confronts Gabriel. After a protracted fight, Gabriel kills Loki.

Outside the hotel, Gabriel thanks the Winchesters for helping him, and asks about their plan for dealing with Michael. The Winchesters seem surprised that Gabriel plans to keep his word, but he tells them that he will. Sam asks Gabriel if getting revenge really made him feel better. Gabriel says it does, but it seems that he’s lying and they both know it.

EPILOGUE:

Back at the bunker, Dean and Sam are talking. Sam tells Dean that Rowena is studying the demon tablet, and Castiel is helping Gabriel get settled in at the bunker, so that once Gabriel’s grace has rebounded, they should be able to work the spell to open the rift.

As they’re talking, Sam asks Dean why he charged upstairs alone to face Loki, and why he went through the rift the first time without him. At first, Dean is dismissive, but eventually he admits to Sam that he did those things to protect him. Dean reminds Sam that the last time they battled Lucifer and Michael to save the world, Sam died and went to hell. But this time, the apocalypse isn’t looking for them, so it’s different. Dean tells Sam that he doesn’t care about his own safety and he never has. All he wants to do is protect Sam.

Sam replies by telling Dean that they will go into this battle together and if they both die, they’ll do that together, too. Then he leaves the room, leaving Dean alone with his thoughts.