man yeah, obviously i am super biased, but Castiel is just the most extraordinary example of the themes of choice and free will to me
what’s especially fascinating, actually, about godstiel for this very reason (you know as painful to watch as it was i’m surprised they only sustained that for one episode? lol season 7 pacing), is how it is such a lesson for Castiel in free will. because yes, he ascended and aspired to godhood on the premise that he would facilitate a better world for everyone. but when you say you give people choice and then only offer them “flee or die”, how much choice have you really extended? how much are you imposing your choice on someone else? “just because you can do what you want doesn’t mean you get to do whatever you want”, Dean warns him, and how relevant a warning this would be. Castiel realises this fairly quickly, although too late to stop some disasters, and he comes back to the Winchesters, those who taught him choice, and asks help to fix it. it’s his journey from how do my choices affect me (how do i understand the world? how do i understand god, humanity, and my relationship to them by the choices i make?), to how do my choices affect other people? (castiel has learned free will, now he must learn the limits of free will)
