How is Gabriel still alive on Supernatural?

Supernatural fans were shocked with the return of that certain archangel and now there are lots of questions about how he’s back.

Asmodeus showed Ketch the archangel blade; the only way to kill an archangel blade. Well, it’s one of the quickest ways. After all, Castiel was able to kill Raphael when he sucked in all the souls from purgatory. The archangel blade is clearly going to become a major plot device moving forward, since there are now three (yes, three!) archangels about in the Supernatural universe.

You know Lucifer and Apocalypse Michael, but Asmodeus also shared that he has another one around: Gabe. Yes, our sweet trickster Gabriel is still alive. But Lucifer killed him, didn’t he? How is it possible that he’s still alive and has been captured by Asmodeus this whole time?

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Didn’t Lucifer use an archangel blade?

Gabriel certainly looked dead when the Winchesters got back to his body in Season 5. He had the wings and everything on the ground and it looked like Lucifer had used an archangel blade. It honestly is a surprise that our own Gabriel could come back.

But then a lot has happened since Season 5. Chuck has brought back multiple characters and we’ve found out that Castiel was able to annoy his way out of the Empty. And remember that dead doesn’t always stay dead on Supernatural, even though sometimes they should do (Ketch, anyone?).

The biggest theory is that Chuck resurrected Gabe before he passed into the Empty, just like he’d done with Castiel before. Another theory is that he was somehow awakened in the Empty and annoyed the Cosmic Entity. Chuck knows that Gabriel is annoying enough to do that.

Of course, there is the possibility that it wasn’t an archangel blade Lucifer used. Gabriel was a trickster. He enjoyed making people think one thing but the reality being another. Look at Sam stuck on the same Tuesday over and over again. Gabriel may have known he wouldn’t have been able to kill Lucifer, so didn’t actually have an archangel blade. When Lucifer stabbed Gabe, it was a normal angel blade that just hurt a little. Gabe just made the Winchesters believe he was dead, so the world would think he was dead.

Is he Apocalypse Gabriel?

Another theory is that he’s the Gabriel from the other world. That Gabriel wouldn’t have had the push from the Winchesters to help stop the apocalypse, so he would have remained in hiding. Once the apocalypse did happen, he may have decided to get out of there as soon as he could, since there’d have been no more sweet things to eat!

Once he learned of a rift, he could have made his way through, only to be accosted by a group of demons. After all, Asmodeus seems to know everything that’s happening!

Gabriel has been around for a while

It certainly looks like Gabriel has been alive for some time. Asmodeus seems to have captured him in secret and tortured him to get as much information as possible; then sewed his mouth shut to make sure he couldn’t call out for anyone. He’s been to Hell and back…well, he’s still in Hell!

Well, maybe sewing his mouth shut was just a way to shut him up! Again, he could really annoy people.

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The bad thing for Gabe is that nobody knew he was around. Everyone has assumed that he’s dead, so nobody expected him to be imprisoned. How will Castiel and the Winchesters feel when they learn he’s still alive?

We’re going to have to wait a few weeks to get the answers to our questions. Supernatural is taking a three week break and even then we might not get to know just how Gabriel is still alive. Hopefully Ketch will have the sense to tell the Winchesters as soon as possible so the poor archangel can be saved.

There are high chances that Gabriel had never been killed though. Remember the eyebrow raises in that special Season 9 episode?

Next: 9 dead characters we want back on Supernatural

How shocked were you to see Gabriel still alive? How do you think he is still alive? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Supernatural returns Mar. 1 at 8/7c on The CW.