Supernatural Season 15 Episode 3 Recap: Rowena Dies, and So Do Two More

This week’s Supernatural pulled no punches, delivering a deeply emotional hour that felt like something out of Game of Thrones. The episode, titled “The Rupture,” found Team Free Will backed into a corner as more ghosts escaped from hell.

Rowena (Ruth Connell) attempts to strengthen the barrier that’s keeping the demons contained with a spell, but she is knocked to the floor after seeing a vision of all the trapped ghosts. They’re too strong and she can feel them all desperately trying to escape. They need a game plan and, conveniently enough, Belphegor (Alexander Calvert) already has one. They can rid the demons from Earth with Lilith’s crook, a device that would supposedly call the escaped souls back to the underworld. Everyone’s on board, including Rowena, who appoints Sam (Jared Padalecki) as her assistant. It makes sense that she would choose the floppy-haired Winchester since he’s the most experienced witch of the bunch (and they share a special bond). Meanwhile, Castiel (Misha Collins) and Belphegor travel to hell to retrieve the crook, and Dean (Jensen Ackles) waits by the rift to help seal it once the spell is completed. Airtight plan, right? Not exactly. Let’s break it down.

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Part 1: Cas and Belphegor

Under any other circumstance, this would have been a fun, buddy cop team-up. However, Cas can’t stand to look at Belphegor, who’s currently parading around in Jack’s body. They make their way to Lilith’s chamber and find a chest that seems like the perfect place to hide the crook. Cas tries to no avail to open it with some monotonous chanting in Enochian. It’s not until he uses his angelic voice to sing the ancient language that it finally opens. Just when they retrieve the crook, a demon who did a very bad thing — we’ll get to that later –shows up and confronts them. She knows exactly who Belphegor is and warns Cas that he’s not who he says he is and wants to rule hell. Before she can elaborate, though, Belphegor kills her, because that isn’t suspicious at all. But Cas catches on, questioning Belphegor’s motives, and the latter finally reveals his true motive. The crook isn’t so much a horn as it is a siphon that Belphegor plans to use to consume the souls of the escaped demons and make himself all-powerful. He plays the horn and it begins.

Alexander Calvert, Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins, Supernatural

Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW

Part 2: Dean and the rift

When he was not taking his pent up anger out on Cas, Dean spent most of this episode chilling in the graveyard with his gun and ammo waiting for Arthur Ketch (David Haydn-Jones) to show up. Unbeknownst to him, Ketch was murdered (RIP) in the hospital by the same demon who tried to warn Cas of Belphegor’s true intentions.

Part 3: Sam and Rowena

Elsewhere, Sam and Rowena begin the spell to strengthen the barrio. But as they perform the incantation, Belphegor also calls the souls back with Lilith’s crook so it looks like the spell is working. Dean, also believing that everything is going according to plan, even tosses the crystal bomb into the rift. Then everything stops. Did it work? Not exactly. Rowena realizes something has gone wrong and that there’s virtually nothing they can do except for one thing, but Sam’s not gonna like it. In order to return the ghosts to hell for good, she’ll need to perform one last spell. Cutting her resurrection satchel, she reveals the cost of the magical solution: her life. That’s right, Rowena has to die and Sam is the only person who can do it. It’s all part of the prophecy that’s been looming over their heads up until the point. But Sam can’t bring himself to do it until Rowena convinces him otherwise.

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“I know we’ve gotten really fond of each other,” Rowena says with teary eyes. “But will you let the world die –your brother die — just so I can live?” Sam says no and they embrace, both brimming with tears. He then stabs her, completing the prophecy and kicking the spell into high gear. Rowena walks out of the tomb, Sam following closely behind, as she absorbs the souls from hell. This is her moment and everyone’s just taking it in. As she reaches the edge of the rift, Rowena turns around to deliver her final words. “Goodbye, boys,” she says before falling into the rift. Her sacrifice essentially undoes the damage Chuck (Rob Benedict) inflicted, and things returns to normal. The souls are gone and the Winchesters can finally take a breath.

Jared Padalecki, Supernatural

Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW

Rowena’s death is devastating for Sam, who’s mourning her alone in his room at the end. Dean checks in on Sam and attempts to comfort his little bro by reminding him he had no other option, that Rowena had to die. Though Sam agrees, it does little to quell his troubled mind.

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That leaves us with Dean and Castiel. To say that there’s been tension between the two is an understatement. Dean’s been testy with Cas since Mary’s death, and now that the Chuck situation has been handled, he’s ready to let it all out. Dean starts another argument by confronting Cas about not sticking to their original game plan, and Cas is ready to push back, refusing to continue being a punching back for Dean’s frustrations. Cas cuts to the root of the problem, relaying what we’ve suspected for a while: The elder Winchester blames him for Mary’s death. Dean doesn’t have a witty retort, and Cas knows there’s nothing left say, so it’s time to leave. For good. “Jack’s dead. Chuck’s done. You and Sam have each other. I think it’s time for me to move on,” Cas tells Dean. Is this really happening?

Dean does nothing to stop Cas, and that’s where we end the episode. Harsh.

Memorable quotes:

“I’m not freaked, I’m pissed. This sloppy ass ghostpocalypse? That’s his ending? I’ll be dammed if I let some glorified fanboy get the last word.” – Dean Winchester