Sympathy for the Devil (Supernatural)

Following the release of Lucifer from his Cage, Sam and Dean are mysteriously transported onto a plane flying overhead. Sam is also clean of the influence of demon blood. Confused by the turn of events, the Winchesters visit Chuck the Prophet who tells them that Castiel was killed by the archangel who had showed up to stop him. At that moment, Zachariah arrives with two angels to force the Winchesters' compliance with Heaven's plans, but Dean uses a blood sigil Castiel taught him to banish the three angels. Sam later creates hex bags to hide them from the senses of both angels and demons.

As the Winchesters work on finding a way to stop Lucifer, Chuck sends them a message about a vision he received on the location of the Michael Sword, the weapon the archangel Michael used to defeat Lucifer the first time. With the help of Bobby Singer, the Winchesters figure out the weapon is in their father's lock-up, but Bobby is revealed to be possessed by a demon loyal to Meg, the Winchesters old demon enemy. After being ordered to kill Dean, Bobby manages to stab himself and kill the demon possessing him instead, allowing the Winchesters to kill Meg's other demon minions with Meg herself fleeing. After taking Bobby to the hospital, the Winchesters rush to the lock-up to find the Michael Sword.

At the lock-up, the Winchesters are confronted by Zachariah and his angels who reveal the whole thing was a trap for the Winchesters. Dean is the Michael Sword: his one true vessel on Earth to combat Lucifer with. When Dean refuses to give Michael permission to possess him, since it is required, Zachariah begins horrifically torturing the brothers to force Dean's cooperation. Unexpectedly, Castiel appears and kills Zachariah's two angels. Castiel implies that the same being that rescued the Winchesters from the convent resurrected him and forces Zachariah to heal the brothers and leave. Castiel brands the Winchesters with sigils that will protect them from angelic detection and warns them that Lucifer is close to gaining a vessel. Before leaving, Castiel confirms that he was dead, but refuses to tell them how he came back to life.

At the same time, Lucifer visits a man named Nick who recently lost his wife and child. After tormenting him with hallucinations, Lucifer visits Nick in the form of his dead wife and convinces Nick to allow Lucifer to possess him.

After the encounter with Zachariah, the Winchesters visit Bobby who survives his wounds but is left paralyzed from the waist down. Dean gives a rallying speech about fighting both the forces of Heaven and Hell to stop the Apocalypse but privately admits to Sam it was only just for Bobby's benefit. Sam choosing Ruby over Dean has also damaged Dean's trust in his brother and he doesn't know how to get over it.

• Official website
• "Sympathy for the Devil" at IMDb