What does Billie’s return mean for the other Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Supernatural?

Billie appeared in Supernatural this week, with the news that when one incarnation of Death dies, a reaper will eventually take that place. Does that work for the other Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

When Supernatural focused on the apocalypse in Supernatural Season 5, the Four Horsemen were introduced. The Winchesters spent their time collecting the rings of War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death, with the aim to unlock the gate to Lucifer’s Cage. The only one to make it out alive was Death, who freely gave his ring.

In Season 10, Dean killed Death with his own scythe. Cue lots of questions about this, since technically Death will always be around. Season 13 has answered the questions, making it clear that it took the death of a reaper to take up the scythe and become the other reapers’ boss. This makes sense, as Death cannot technically be killed. It will always be around.

That same logic applies to the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse. War, disease, and famine are still around, especially when you consider famine doesn’t necessarily link to food. If they are still around, their Horsemen must also be incarnations like Death: when one goes, something else takes their place.

Will we see the other three Horsemen return to get rid of Lucifer once and for all? Will specific demons be able to take up the position of these Horsemen in a similar way to Billie becoming Death?

One thing working against this theory is that the Horsemen aren’t actually dead. The Winchesters took their rings, which was the source of their power. This suggests that they are certainly incarnations of the heads of their areas, but they’re no longer powerful. Removing their rings turned War and Famine at least into withered husks.

Billie did show that she had Death’s ring. This could suggest that the four rings used to open the doorway to Lucifer’s cage have now separated and returned to their rightful owners. The rings may have returned the power to the other Horsemen, as it was never confirmed or denied that their rings wouldn’t work that way.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are still out there. Could they return to Supernatural Season 13? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Supernatural continues on Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.

• Published on 11/11/2017 at 6:00 PM EDT
• Last updated on 11/11/2017 at 6:00 PM EDT