Supernatural’s Most Confusing Demon Rule Still Doesn’t Make Sense 18 Years Later

by

When Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles first played the Winchester brothers, no one knew the show would become so popular. Genre television wasn’t always a sure thing at the time. But despite their noticeable height difference, audiences easily accepted Padalecki and Ackles as believable demon-hunting brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester.

Many shows don’t last, but Supernatural stood out thanks to the incredible connection between the actors and its richly developed world. The series began with a heartbreaking moment – the death of Sam and Dean Winchester’s mother at the hands of a demon. Their father then raised them with a strict, military-style upbringing, focused on finding and punishing the one responsible. This initial tragedy sparked a complex backstory involving demon hunting and exorcisms, though some of the early lore surrounding a key artifact was later dropped.

The Demon-Killing Knife Simplified Supernatural Lore

Like all great shows about the supernatural, Supernatural built a creative and consistent mythology. It primarily explored the world of demons through the lens of possession, similar to what was seen in films like The Exorcist. The first season focused on the difficult challenge of battling these evil beings, one demon at a time.

In the TV show Supernatural, demons can’t physically exist on their own. Instead, they take over human bodies to cause trouble. At first, almost anyone could be possessed, and rescuing the person’s soul was incredibly difficult. But despite the odds, Sam and Dean Winchester always tried to help.

The goal was to save Meg Masters’ human spirit from the evil force controlling her. Sam and Dean worked to protect her inner self, but her physical body was a different story. When a demon possesses someone, it makes them incredibly strong and resilient. However, if the body suffers too much damage or dies, it’s actually the demon’s power keeping it functioning.

Meg survived a fall from a building, even though a demon was still possessing her. While the demon could control her body during the fall, once it was gone, Meg was left critically injured and near death. Sam and Dean went to great lengths to try and exorcise the demon, but in the end…

The brothers always felt strongly about protecting people, so failing to save others weighed heavily on them. Before a certain tool was introduced, exorcisms were difficult. In Season 3, a demon named Ruby arrived with a knife specifically designed to kill demons, which made the process much simpler.

Unlike traditional exorcisms, the blade didn’t just banish demons—it completely killed them. This eliminated the complicated and lengthy exorcism process, saving Sam and Dean a lot of time. After getting the blade, they quickly started killing any demon they encountered, which was much faster. However, this new approach created a difficult moral dilemma for the Winchesters and .

The Winchesters are No Longer Concerned About Saving Souls in Supernatural

Season 3 of Supernatural was a period of change. The WB and UPN networks were combining to form The CW, and the 2008 Writers’ Strike significantly disrupted television production schedules. As a result, Season 3 was shortened to just 16 episodes and featured a noticeably darker tone.

At the conclusion of Season 2, Dean sacrificed his soul to resurrect Sam after making a deal with a Crossroads demon. This deal meant he would be taken to Hell after one year and eternally tormented. While Sam desperately searched for a loophole, Dean resigned himself to his fate, believing it was his responsibility as the older brother to protect Sam, and he felt he had fulfilled that duty.

A feeling of sadness hung over the entire third season, knowing Dean’s fate. That season also introduced Ruby, who surprisingly began aiding Sam and Dean. She gave them a special knife that allowed them to easily kill demons, but they didn’t worry about the souls of those demons being destroyed in the process.

It’s clear this new approach was more effective. Large-scale exorcisms aren’t always possible, particularly with Lucifer’s forces growing stronger. While the Winchesters have tried them before, using them repeatedly as a plot device wouldn’t work well. Viewers would quickly grow tired of seeing the same solution over and over.

The introduction of the demon-killing knife actually simplified the narrative in Supernatural. However, it also showed the Winchesters in a less favorable way. The show heavily emphasized the brothers’ guilt regarding Meg’s death, highlighting that it wasn’t simply an unavoidable event, but a direct result of their failure to help someone in desperate need.

Meg played a key role in the Winchesters becoming demon hunters, and her influence later haunted them during the fight to protect the 66 Seals. After they started using the demon-killing knife, Sam and Dean became more willing to do whatever it took to win. They also realized that sometimes, performing large-scale exorcisms just wasn’t practical.

Things weren’t always like this. Later in the series, the brothers repeatedly used the knife on regular people without considering if it was right. This tarnished their heroic image, but eventually, it just became a common part of their actions.

Supernatural Has a History of Ethical Quandaries

Older shows in this style, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The X-Files, usually made sure their main characters stayed mostly good people. While Buffy had a difficult time in Season 6, she ultimately grew from it. The show never lost sight of its characters’ humanity, even when facing tough challenges.

Sam and Dean often sacrifice their own well-being in their pursuit of victory. This was particularly evident in Season 5, which highlighted just how far the brothers were willing to go to save the world. Sam’s alliance with Ruby is a prime example of this self-sacrifice.

While Dean was trapped in Hell, Ruby persuaded Sam to learn a way to banish demons using only his mind. Sam reluctantly agreed, even though it meant drinking demon blood. This quickly led to an addiction, setting him on a dangerous course for the rest of the season.

Sam continued to rationalize his actions, attempting to believe he was still doing the right thing by setting conditions. He was horrified when Ruby returned, having taken control of someone’s body without their consent. Ruby resolved this by inhabiting the body of a person in a coma. Sam made a series of poor choices while working with Ruby, and their relationship deteriorated when she revealed her malicious intentions, ultimately leading to a devastating outcome.

She turned out to be dangerous, leading the Winchester brothers to unite and kill her. This contributed to the show Supernatural‘s problematic portrayal of women. Ruby was depicted as a manipulative and evil character, and the Winchesters readily killed her because of it.

Even though Ruby was killed, it was a little less awful because the person she possessed was already brain-dead. The show Supernatural often explored the grim side of fantasy television, and wasn’t afraid to show its heroes struggling with difficult and unsettling issues. This was usually intentional; Dean, for example, dealt with the pain of a distant father long before facing even worse challenges in the Pit.

During his time in Hell, he began to torture others, a horrific act that deeply damaged his own soul. This kind of trauma is irreparable. Other elements of the show, like the Winchesters’ sometimes careless attitude towards human life, are more puzzling. After fifteen seasons, it’s understandable that some compromises had to be made.

Read More

2025-12-08 02:08