First Born

Season	Episode	Overall
9	11	183

Series

Supernatural

Airdate

January 21, 2014

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Road Trip	Sharp Teeth

First Born is the 11th episode of Season 9. It aired on January 21, 2014.

Summary

There was something about being there... It felt pure.

This episode summary is an official CW press release. It may contain errors.
DO NOT CHANGE!

Looking to reclaim his place as King of Hell, Crowley (Mark Sheppard) asks Dean for help finding "The First Blade", the only blade that can kill Abbadon (guest star Alaina Huffman). Knowing he owes Crowley a favor for helping Sam, and also wanting Abaddon dead himself, Dean reluctantly agrees and the two set off on a road trip. However, Dean and Crowley are completely unprepared when they find out who has the blade - Cain (guest star Tim Omundson), the first son. Meanwhile, Sam is back at the bunker with Castiel who notices there is some leftover grace inside Sam. If they can extract it, they can use the grace to track Gadreel. The only problem is the procedure may do permanent damage to Sam.

Plot

Cain hunting in 1863. — Cain hunting demons in 1863.

In 1863, a group of demons guard a shack in Jasper Springs, Mississippi when Cain arrives and slaughters them. He then pulls out a weapon made of a bone and makes his way into a back room.

Dean and Crowley sitting next to each other at a bar, several empty bottles around

A forlorn Dean sits belly-up to a bar, several empty bottles around. Crowley suddenly appears on the neighboring barstool and Dean immediately goes for his blade, reminding Crowley that he said he'd kill him the next time they met. Crowley manages to calm Dean somewhat, and then asks to hunt with him to search for the First Blade, the only weapon that can kill a Knight of Hell such as Abaddon. The only clue he's aware of is that John Winchester exorcised a demon who worked for Abaddon who had knowledge of the First Blade. Using information from John Winchester's Journal, they find information on the hunt in John's Lock-Up which points them to a hunter named Tara who John worked the case with.

Meanwhile, back at the bunker, Sam enters the room to find a frustrated Castiel trying to enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Castiel explains that he enjoyed PB & Js whilst he was human, but that now that he's an angel again, they only have the disgusting taste of molecules. He laments that he will miss PB & J. Sam and Castiel discuss the former's healing process, and Cass proceeds. Castiel finds some of Gadreel's grace left behind in Sam. After some research, they discover a Men of Letters' extractor theory, a seemingly painful process which they were never able to prove without a guinea pig. Sam then volunteers for the procedure.

Dean and Crowley find the hunter Tara to ask her about the case

Dean and Crowley find Tara to ask her about the case. Dean introduces himself as John's son and confirms he's Dean after she asks which one. Tara is immediately smitten with Dean, but keenly aware of Crowley. They convince her that the only reason they are working together is to obtain the First Blade. She reveals that she's chased the Blade all over the world, but has only found a location spell for which she could not find one missing ingredient: Essence of Kraken. Crowley claims he has a stockpile of it, but that Tara will have to release him from the devil's trap she's laid in order for him to retrieve it. She reluctantly agrees but tells Dean that John would be disappointed in him, indicating a sexual relationship between the two. Dean reassures her that he will deal with Crowley later, but Abaddon has to be stopped as she is "way worse" than Crowley. When Crowley returns with the ingredient, the three cast the spell which points them to a location in Missouri. Crowley invites Tara to join them, but while she likes the idea of working with Dean, she refuses to go anywhere with Crowley and stays behind, wishing Dean good luck.

Back at the Men of Letters Bunker, while extracting the grace from Sam, Castiel figures out that the extraction might have regressive effects onto Sam and volunteers to stop. Sam, however, forces Cass to continue, since the extraction is the only way of finding Gadreel.

Cain teleports behind Dean and Crowley much to their shock

After leaving Tara, Dean and Crowley come upon the location of the First Blade and finds a beekeeper. Surprisingly, the King of Hell trembles at the very sight of him and tells Dean that he is the Father of Murder, Cain. Dean is surprised at this, as Crowley states they need to get a world away from him but the latter prevents them from leaving by teleporting behind them, to their shock. Meanwhile, Tara is murdered by a demon sent by Abaddon to find the First Blade. The demon then leaves to find Dean and Crowley.

Cain shows the Mark given to him by himself. — Cain shows the Mark given to him by Lucifer himself.

At Cain's house, Crowley sits nervously and tells a confused Dean that Cain is blocking off his powers and informs him about Cain's history after killing his brother and became a feared demon before he disappeared. Cain then serves them tea before he speaks to Dean and Crowley, revealing his knowledge of them before he refuses to give Dean the First Blade and leaves, but not before telling them that he created the Knights of Hell and something that only Abaddon knows: the Archangels didn't kill the Knights of Hell, he did. When he's gone, Dean and Crowley search his house for the First Blade, discovering he was married but finding no sign of the Blade. Cain returns, but a group of demons arrive, having gotten the location from Tara.

Castiel decides to stops the grace extraction process and sympathizes with Sam

Back at the bunker, the grace extraction continues, which seems to be killing Sam. Cass suddenly stops and sympathizes with Sam, talking about how he's screwed up more than Sam has, and how sorry he feels. He heals Sam and the duo leave with the grace.

Cain sits and watches as Dean takes on of Abaddon's demons

Meanwhile, Cain lets four demons into his house and sits back and watches as Dean single-handedly takes on three. Crowley kills one, but just watches the rest of the fight. Dean kills the demons all by himself, impressing Cain. Afterwards, Dean demands if Cain will help now, believing the fight to be some sort of test.

Cain explains to Dean about why he really killed Abel in the first place: he wasn't talking to God, he was talking to Lucifer. To save his brother, Cain made a deal with the Devil: his soul in Hell in exchange for Abel's in Heaven. Lucifer agreed if Cain killed Abel himself. Cain did with the First Blade and was transformed into the first Knight of Hell and trained the rest. He was the best at being the worst for thousands of years until things changed.

Eventually, Cain fell in love with Colette Mullen and left the Knights for her. All she asked of him was to stop killing and he retired. However, the Knights didn't accept this and kidnapped Colette in an attempt to force Cain back into his old ways. Enraged, the Father of Murder picked up the First Blade once more and slaughtered all of the Knights in revenge until he got to Abaddon. Upon finding her, Cain discovered that Abaddon was possessing Colette to try to seduce him and get him to return to her. When Cain refuses, Abbadon begins crushing Colette from inside. Cain tries to kill her, but Abaddon flees Colette, causing Cain to accidentally kill his wife. While he wanted revenge on Abaddon, Colette made Cain promise not to go after her and end the killing, a promise which he kept.

Cain travels to his wife's grave and tells her he can't keep his promise to her anymore

Dean feels sympathy for Cain's loss, but still demands the blade to defeat Abaddon, stating that Cain may be done killing, but he is not. Cain proves completely immune to the demon-killing knife and refuses to help and leaves again as more demons arrive. Dean and Crowley notice headlights outside-Abaddon's soldiers have arrived. As Crowley and Dean look out the window at the arriving army, Cain travels to his wife's grave and tells her he can't keep his promise to her anymore and returns home.

While unwilling to kill Abaddon himself and break his promise to Colette, Cain agrees to give Dean the First Blade. However, in order to power it, Dean also needs the Mark of Cain, the source of the Blade's power. He can transfer it to someone worthy which Dean is, but warns that there is a great price to wielding it. After learning that it can enable him to kill Abaddon, Dean agrees without learning the price and Cain transfers the Mark. He then tells Dean and Crowley he dropped the First Blade to the bottom of the deepest ocean to keep the temptation away from him. Cain makes Dean promise to kill him after the latter has killed Abaddon and then transports Crowley and Dean to safety as he takes on a massive swarm of demons alone. From outside Dean and Crowley watch the carnage, they note the demons are all locked in the house with Cain. After leaving the area, Dean tells Crowley that he knows that the latter set the whole thing as a trap and vows to go after Crowley after Abaddon.

Back at the Men of Letters' Bunker, Castiel and Sam try to locate Gadreel but the attempt fails as the grace turns out to be insufficient.

Castiel and Crowley realize the dangers of facing Metatron/Gadreel and Abaddon alone and try to reunite the brothers but Sam and Dean shun the reunion.

Characters

Main Cast

Recurring Cast

Guest Stars

Mark Sheppard as Crowley

Co-Stars

Timothy Omundson as Cain
Anna Galvin as Colette Mullen and Abaddon (flashback)
Rachel Hayward as Tara
Ryan Alexander McDonald as Bar Demon

Featured Supernatural Beings

Angels (Castiel)
Archangel (Lucifer, mentioned only)
Crossroad Demon (Crowley)
Demons (Abaddon's Demon Army, Abaddon's Demon Guards, Bar Demon)
Knights of Hell (Abaddon and Cain; Several unnamed others, mentioned only)
Kraken (mentioned only)
Primordial Entity (God, mentioned only)

Continuity

When Sam accuses Castiel of being a terrible liar, the latter defends himself by pointing out how he had previously tricked and betrayed the Winchesters. This refers to the entirety of Season 6, where Castiel continuously lied to Sam and Dean without them realizing.
Dean and Crowley meet Cain, the first born son of Adam and Eve. In the Season 5 episode The Song Remains the Same, it was revealed by the archangel Michael that the Winchesters are descended from Cain and Abel. This is not acknowledged in the episode, however.

Trivia

The CW's official summary for this episode mistakenly does not cite Mark Sheppard as a guest star, and also abbreviates Timothy Omundson to Tim Omundson.
While searching John's notes in search of information on the First Blade, Crowley asks Dean if "they didn't teach note-taking at Hunter Hogwarts". This is a clear reference to Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series.
The file that Castiel references is entitled, "On the Inner Workings of Angels" and was filed by James Haggerty. He was introduced in the episode Slumber Party.
Cain reveals Abel wasn't talking to God but Lucifer.
Dean doesn't understand what Crowley means when he says Cain "became a demon," even though it's been established since Season 3 that souls sent to Hell get turned into demons. (Presumably, Dean did not understand how Cain became a demon because Cain left out the part where he died. Cain described it as if Lucifer transformed him on the spot.)
This is the first episode since Free To Be You and Me in which Sam and Dean do not share any scenes. In both episodes, the brothers are separated because one of them left after making a terrible mistake, and in both episodes, the brother who remained spent his time with Castiel.

Deaths

Knights of Hell (mentioned only)
Cain (Human, mentioned only)
Abel (mentioned only)
Abaddon’s Guards
Colette Mullen
Demons
Tara
Bar Demon

Featured Music

Just Another Night by Ian Hunter

Quotes

Crowley: Let's go check out Daddy's man cave?

Crowley: This bar is a bust. That waitress is trouble with a capital V.D.

Castiel: When I was human I had to eat constantly. It was kind of annoying.
Sam: A lot of human things are pretty annoying.
Castiel: I enjoyed the taste of food, particularly peanut butter with grape jelly. Not jam. Jam I found unsettling.

Sam: You're a terrible liar.
Castiel: That is not true. I once deceived and betrayed both you and your brother.

Crowley: I've been inside your brother, we're practically family.
Dean: We are the furthest thing from family. You got that, dick bag?
Crowley: What do you call this décor anyway? Rustic obsessive? Paranoid deco? Didn't they teach note-taking at Hunter's Hogwarts?

Tara: You are as handsome as John. And as dumb, too, if you're looking for that old relic.

Dean: Look, I get it, you're retired. And we're not here to get between you and the demon A.A.R.P.

Crowley: Dean, we need to be a world away from here, from him.
Cain: You're not going anywhere, Crowley.

Cain: You have quite a reputation, Dean. I see the part about being brave rings true. Since when does the great Dean Winchester ask for help? That doesn't sound like the man I've read about on demon bathroom walls.

Castiel: Sam, may I ask you a question?
Sam: You just did.
Cass: Can I ask you another question?
Sam: Well, technically you... yeah, go ahead.
Castiel: Why must the Winchesters run toward death?

Castiel: When I was human I died, and that showed me that life is precious and it must be protected at all costs, even a life as pig-headed as a Winchester's. Nothing is worth losing you. Being human didn't just change my view of food, it changed my view of you. I can relate now to how you feel. The only person who has screwed things up more consistently than you is me. And now I know what that guilt feels like. And I know what it means to feel sorry, Sam. I am sorry. Old me, I would've just kept going. I would've jammed that needle in deeper until you died, because the ends always justified the means. But what I went through, that PB&J taught me that angels can change. So who knows, maybe Winchesters can too.