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amaranthhiding · 1 year

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Samwena in 10x19 The Werther Project

This scene from 10x19 The Werther Project is a classic for obvious reasons, but it has taken me until today to think more deeply about this.

Sam doesn‘t go, “Can you do the spell for me?” or “What’s the Cabirian Invocation?” No, all he says about the topic is, “Great, thanks.” This absolute nerd either already knows the Cabirian Invocation or is at least entirely confident that he knows exactly where to look it up and that he will be able to cast it on his own.

That is the moment when Rowena is suddenly far more affected by this call than before.

Obviously, she thinks it’s hot as hell that Sam can do magic, too, but there’s more to this. She has been expelled from the Coven. Earlier in this season, in 10x07 Girls, Girls, Girls, Rowena was shown trying to recruit those girls as students, with... very limited success.

It’s painfully obvious this is so not going to work, neither for the girls, nor for Rowena.

But hilariously, this scene is not the first time Latin is mentioned in this same episode. No, the first time was this little gem here:

It was even made clear that while the translation for the spell’s name was on the website, Sam looked up thoughtfully and just casually translated it on his own in his head.

I must have been blind never to notice the purposeful contrast between Sam and the girls before, but I seriously never paid attention to this detail until today. And that even though I’m a linguist. Pff.

(And yes, I do believe this contrast is completely intentional. Both 10x07 Girls, Girls, Girls and 10x19 The Werther Project are Berens episodes, and he does give loving attention to detail and parallels.)

Even though she probably wouldn’t admit it, Rowena craves the companionship of joint spellcasting. She’s been lonely ever since she has been expelled from the Grand Coven. She craves a kindred spirit she can nerd out with.

Enter the dude who calls her just to chat about a spell, and who can match her own intelligence and thirst for knowledge.

Sam’s initial reaction to this proposal kind of gets me, lol.

He’s a very intuitive guy with finely tuned senses. He absolutely heard how sultry her voice had become.

He declines (much to his own disadvantage, as the episode later shows. Things would have gone so much better for Sam had he taken Rowena’s offer!)

But, er... what is his face doing? This weird little smile that flares up for just a second, half tormented and half... something else, before he goes back to a far more neutral expression again.

Know what this reminds me of? This moment from 4x09 I Know What You Did Last Summer where Ruby is trying to seduce Sam while he’s desperately trying (and failing) to resist.

And here’s a casual reminder that Ruby, too, was a witch.

Even these profile shots are mirrored (and I can’t for the life of me tell if this mirror was done on purpose, or if it was a coincidence. If this was done intentionally... man.)

The positions of Sam with Ruby and Sam with Rowena are inverted, though, and I love that considering the fact that Sam’s involvement with Ruby and the demon blood and freeing Lucifer are some of his biggest regrets, and even his deepest hurt because it’s what makes him feel tainted and unworthy.

(That heavy swallow Sam does as Rowena says “dark magic” never fails to get me.)

So of course he’s trying absolutely everything and anything to keep himself from going dark side ever again. Little does he know at the time that this connection doesn’t end with him going dark side. It ends with Rowena joining the good guys! She’s his big success. She’s the deeply needed validation for his willingness to see the world in more than black and white. She’s the cure to that deepest hurt and his feeling of unworthiness.

But, erm, back to 10x19 The Werther Project and a timeline where none of that has happened so far:

Suddenly those sexually charged Rowena hallucinations he has later in this episode are making even more sense to me than they ever have before... as does the fact that he declined Rowena’s help when having a seasoned witch around who offered her help freely sure would have seemed like the more sensible choice here.

That he hallucinated her calling him “Sammy” when that’s something he always got mad about when it was done by anyone other than Dean is... certainly something.

I very much read the “It’s opening” not only in reference to the Werther’s Box, but also as Sam’s desire that’s woken up in full here.

And I don’t even mean that in an exclusively physical way, it’s also his desire for magic and knowledge and a kindred spirit and connection and being seen and appreciated for who he is and what he can offer, much like what Rowena herself craves after a life filled with rejection and never fitting in.

Yep. He is so gone on her.

And yes, I also see “it” very much as a placeholder for both of them.

Not even to mention the fact that he 100% trusted whatever this hallucination was telling him, no matter what.

Even if it was to make a blood sacrifice of himself.

To bring this full circle, let’s not forget that he also hallucinated Rowena being impressed by and appreciative of his knowledge of Latin, which... is so painfully ironic with regard to the beginning of this post, I want to bang my head against the desk.

Sam, buddy... you realize you didn’t have to make this shit up, right? You could have had the real one. She wanted exactly the same things you did. She actually appreciated your knowledge of Latin. You both could have been your sapiophile selves around each other all day long to your hearts’ delight.

No? Okay then.

To silence the box, slake its thirst... I mean, seriously. Come on.

And yes, I absolutely see the box as a metaphor for Sam’s deepest wishes. Which takes Rowena’s fondling of the inscription to a whole new level.

Then there’s also the little fact that this is what Benny said to Dean in Dean’s hallucination of Purgatory that was happening at the same time:

And guess what?

Dean woke up on his own.

Guess who didn’t?

Sam didn’t.

Dean actually slapped him, and Sam attacked Dean with a knife for trying to break him out of the illusion.

And even through all of this, even after Dean bandaged Sam’s bleeding wound and began to sacrifice his own blood instead, the Rowena illusion still persisted until the box was opened.

Oh well, indeed. And when Sam next met the real Rowena at the end of the episode, he put her in shackles in a desperate attempt to keep control this time around. Because he had already gotten dangerously close to losing all restraint, just like with Ruby.

I... rest my case.

(Who am I kidding? I’ll never rest my case.)

(Can’t believe they went so far as to even have a similar background in both 10x19 and 15x03 when Sam and Rowena were holding hands like this. Both scenes feature dark gray stone walls with rays of light falling in through a curved window. And Rowena is wearing an iron chain around her wrist in 15x03 to ward off the ghosts when everyone else was wearing the iron chain around their neck. Was this sheer coincidence or done on purpose up to the smallest detail? I feel like I’m losing my mind here. Again all of these are Berens episodes.)

On a side note, when I used the Werther’s Box inscription repeatedly in my Samwena video, I also very much had that metaphor in mind and saw it as them growing closer and closer. In case you haven’t seen the video yet:

https://youtu.be/H0BJ-94EukE

#samwena #samwitch #sam x rowena #sam and rowena #rowena and sam #rowena #sam winchester #rowena macleod #supernatural #spn #10x19 #the werther project #amaranthmeta

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dyed-red · 1 year

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I love your takes on things! So I wanted to ask your opinion on some things that to me all kinda intertwine. Sam as a witch, or at least using spells (without the demonic power part, although we know Sam has/had demonically boosted powers-where did they go?) because I always head cannoned Sam with an affinity for magic; Sam’s relationship with Rowena (colleagues, frenemies, friends?); and also Sam in 14.01 “There will be no new king of hell…” quote.

hrnnn i love asks like these, they feed me on such a deep level okay. yes.

For starters, as much as I'm into "sam does magic" I'm not (personally) into "witch!Sam" as like... an identity or trait or anything. I fully get why people are, but there's a few reasons why I'm not.

One of the core reasons is that Sam is not the only magic user in the series, not anywhere near in fact and not even the only hunter who uses magic, without being a 'witch', and I find it slightly suspect that people are so quick to label late-seasons Sam a witch based solely on his -- as you noted -- affinity for magic.

One of the key magic users in the series I've never once seen named a witch? Fucking Bobby.

Everything from working with Ruby to magic the colt bullets to work to using a location tool and spell to find Lilith to having magic artefacts on hand (like the amulet that he gives to Sam to give to John which eventually goes to Dean) to his knowledge and use of sigils to just... all of it. Bobby is constantly looking up spellwork in the background and is comfortable using certain spells to achieve specific aims, within a circumscribed set of rules.

What sets Bobby's use of magic apart from witches'?

In later seasons we learn that witches can come into magic either through birth, through demon patrons, or through study.

Bobby (and Sam) are clearly in the last category here -- they did not acquire a capacity to use spellwork through their genes nor gifted to them by a demon (although Sam's other powers in early seasons had demonic origins, obvy), but through an application of understanding and belief. They know the incantations and what they mean and the role that each ingredient and aspect of the spell or potion is playing, and further they even know and understand how those ingredients and aspects interact with each other, and interact with whatever incantations etc are also in the mix. This understanding, alongside the faith and belief that "yes this spell will work, I trust in magic" is, imo, what allows them to be proficient magic users.

(I also suspect that these things would enable any magic user to be more proficient, whether by birth or through demonic gift, but that those who have their power by birth or gift don't need a detailed understanding of how the magic works nor even faith that it works in order for their spellwork to take hold.)

So - what does this mean for witch!Sam? Mostly that I think the identity label "witch" doesn't apply to Sam and that he'd never feel comfortable using it. Witches and magic users would be different, to him, than hunters who use spellwork under specific applications. I suspect he'd view "witch" as someone with magic by birth and by demonic gift, and neither of those apply to him. I figure he'd also feel the word applies as an identity to anyone who wants to claim it as one, someone studying magic for the purpose of becoming a witch, connecting with a coven or engaging in the world as a magic user.

But Sam's reasons for using magic aren't that. As early as the Kripke era, Sam makes hex bags to hide them from angels, a skill taught to him by Ruby, but that doesn't make him comfortable or interested in identifying as a witch himself, and it's not a label he ever expressly takes on or accepts.

Which means that the material difference in spellcaster vs witch is really just the difference between the behavior vs. the identity. Are all spellwork users witches? If so, most halfway capable hunters are witches. If not, what's the dividing line? Something in and around source (of the magic) and intent (of the skill development and application), I would say. To Sam, magic is a skill he applies as a hunter, a means to an end rather than an end in and of itself.

So what does this mean about his relationship with his powers and his relationship with Rowena?

First, Rowena is The Witch. And that great meta about Sam and Rowena and him being the ideal pupil for her and their delicious dynamic highlights Sam's affinity for magic and his ability to be a full-fledged fantastic witch if he so chose, one of the best. But Sam never really goes down that path? He uses spellwork but again, doesn't expressly claim the identity of witch, and prefers to leave the spellwork to people who do claim that identity, relying more and more on Rowena for competent spellwork as the late seasons continue.

This doesn't undermine their relationship (I think actually reinforces it, including her respect for his ability) and leads her to leave him her spellwork etc after her passing, although I think that has a secondary aim of being a "fuck you" to all the other witches who shunned her and her attempt to create the Mega Coven over the years, and a tertiary aim of ensuring that her spells and lab don't fall into the wrong hands (because despite being a cold hard killer, her change of heart over the late seasons really goes to show that she does in fact care about people, and knows that other witches will not care at all about the harm her spells and lab etc would wreak).

When it comes to his powers though - to be entirely honest, I think that's totally unrelated except where this intersects with his identity.

His powers were 'psychic' powers with demonic origin, but ones he never asked for, making them very different from magic, which requires intent to cast, and in the case of demonic origin, isn't something you can come by accidentally or have forced upon you. Much like innate and demon-patron magic though, his psychic abilities could be wielded without needing to understand exactly how they worked or why, being something that he could tap into through force of will and desire, rather than through knowledge and learning.

For that reason, I think his powers vs. his spellwork are very very different experiences for him. His use of spellwork has always been purpose-focused and intentional, and something he came by originally through hunting, especially from Bobby and/or books in Bobby's library. Something specifically human, if at times monstrous.

Where I think they combine for him is that his sense of being different, other, a 'freak', in relation to his psychic powers and just his general sense of otherness growing up, are factors that would have drawn his interest in witchcraft. It's also part of what connects him empathetically with many of the other 'freaks' and 'monsters' they confront in canon. But Sam draws really clear lines around intent -- he keeps his empathy for things that "can't help" being monstrous if they are actively trying to do no harm or have not yet done harm, and absolutely spares none for things that enact pain and suffering on others, even if they do so as a result of their own negligence.

Which means he really treats witches differently depending on what they've done or are doing with their magic, and would see his own spellcasting in that light of what goes into it and what it accomplishes.

(Note: he is similar with his S4 arc and demon blood! He is drinking from Ruby, who is in an empty vessel so he's not actively hurting a person inside, and he's saving lives and minimizing suffering. It's not until he begins to be corrupted by the blood and becomes more unhinged and violent and starts hurting possessed people that this sours.)

Also, in general Sam likes to apply himself to study -- he likes to read the lore, sort out a problem by checking sources and combining disparate pieces of information into a more cohesive picture through a combination of logical leap and informed hypothesis. This is what makes him a competent to exceptional spellcaster.

And this is something to feel proud of, I think for him, unlike the feelings he has in relation to powers that were thrust upon him. Doing a spell effectively because he took time to study and learn is something he did, something he can contribute because of his choices, and not something that makes him a liability or which corrupts him or which he didn't earn. And again, having Bobby (and potentially others) as role models in this regard, of what safe and contained magic use looks like, would be helpful for having shaped that relationship.

(Why that point doesn't apply with other psychics is something I struggle with -- I never fully understood why Sam didn't try to engage Missouri or Pamela more in relation to his psychic abilities. I mean, I know the answer is that he's uncomfortable with those powers and how othering they are and how they make him feel like a freak, especially once he learns their origin, but given that psychics aren't inherently evil, I do wonder sometimes about this point).

Okay to your point about "there will be no future king of hell" omgomgomg that line is so sexy. And of course made all the sexier because it turns out to be accurate and there is no future king, only a future queen. Ahhhh.

I'm still disappointed, ultimately, that the late seasons didn't do more to acknowledge the boyking storyline and the fact that demons might have petitioned Sam to be ruler after Crowley died. I actually think that that scene in S14 should have been that, instead of whatshisname just trying to forge a broad acknowledgement from Sam / the Winchesters of a similar 'deal' as they had with Crowley. Just like, would have been way sexier if it was "so we know you were once in the running and uh, we need a ruler, and you're qualified and your brother is currently taken by an archangel, wouldn't you like an army to help save him?"

But I digress.

I do think that line sort and the scene more generally sort of implicitly acknowledges Sam's role as hell-regent-adjacent and the fact that Crowley was ruling at least slightly via Sam's implicit consent to do so, and that barring this consent, there is no ruler. Sam allows Rowena to rule and is pleased with this outcome because he trusts her and they have this bond (much like she trusts him with her spells and lab and therefore legacy). That mutual trust is what has the "there will be no future king" subverted, not just by virtue of Rowena's gender but by Sam conferring on her (implicitly but very real) the right to rule (in his stead).

So this relationship is sort of a - Sam's powers confer on him this very special relationship with hell, and Rowena's magic confers on her this very special relationship with the most powerful of spells and witchcraft. And through the development of their mutual trust and bond, this allows both of them to adopt the other's initial legacy. Sam having full control over Rowena's spells and lab and Rowena having full control over hell. Each of them gifting the other with what they did/didn't want or what they had to give.

It's beautiful. Chef's kiss.

That's all I've got. Thanks for this ask <3

#sam #meta #samwena #rowena #long post #thanks for asking #spn meta #sam and rowena #rowena McLeod #witches

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