The Winchesters follows the story of how John and Mary first met, narrated by their firstborn son, Dean Winchester, as he uncovers the mystery behind how his parents fell in love. According to the trailer, The Winchesters is set in the year 1972, beginning after John comes home from serving in the Vietnam War. John meets Mary after getting attacked by a demon and starts living the hunter lifestyle with his future wife. That’s where the problem begins.
RELATED: First Look At Gotham Knights Cast Revealed By The CW
The Supernatural Story
In season 4 of Supernatural, Dean travels back in time to meet his parents before he and Sam are born. During episode 3, John is killed and Mary makes a deal with a demon to bring John back to life. The terms of her deal are that she has to grant the demon permission to enter her home in 10 years time, which she agrees to, to save John’s life. John remains in the dark and is completely unaware that a demon snapped his neck.
Season 4 also established that John and Mary fell in love due to divine intervention, because the angels in Heaven needed Sam and Dean to be born. Dean’s destiny is to be a vessel for the archangel Michael, while Sam’s is to be a vessel for Lucifer. After Michael and Lucifer possess Sam and Dean, they’re supposed to engage in a holy battle that rids the world of Lucifer once and for all. This serves as one of the main storylines for the duration of seasons 4 and 5.
Once season 5 rolls around, Dean travels back in time to protect his parents. Some angels decided they don’t want Michael and Lucifer to have their battle, so they send someone to kill John and make sure the Winchester boys are never born. In episode 13, when Dean revisits his parents in the past, an angel nearly kills John, but Mary saves his life yet again. This time, Mary has to tell John that she was raised to hunt monsters and admit the truth about the evil creatures running rampant in their world. John is angry and upset that Mary didn’t tell him any of this sooner.
In essence, Supernatural says that John Winchester had no knowledge of Mary’s hunter upbringing until the year 1978, when she told him the truth in season 5, episode 13. It’s also repeatedly stated throughout the series that John didn’t take up hunting until after Mary died in 2005, when the demon she bargained with finally entered the Winchester home and killed her.
The Winchesters trailer completely contradicts the story Supernatural spent 15 years building. Not only does the prequel series show John learning about monsters in 1972, 6 years before he’s supposed to, he also started hunting long before Mary’s death in 2005.
Theories And Possible Explanations
Given that Supernatural was on the air for 15 years, it’s entirely possible that the spinoff writers forgot about the parts of John and Mary’s relationship that were already established. The contradictions between the two shows could very well be one of the many plot holes that are bound to appear when a series has over 300 episodes.
Fans are also speculating about the inconsistency online and are already thinking ahead to the end of The Winchesters. Some viewers predict that The Winchesters will end with John losing his memory, completely forgetting about all things monster-related. Supernatural showed fans many times that Mary wanted to keep her husband and kids away from hunting, so maybe the prequel series will conclude with her finding a way to erase John’s hunting memories, without erasing the feelings he has for Mary.
Other Questions
Perhaps the part of the show Supernatural fans are most excited for is that Jensen Ackles will be reprising his role as Dean Winchester. Dean was killed off during a run-of-the-mill hunt in the Supernatural series finale, an ending a lot of viewers and Jensen himself felt wasn’t quite right. So even though people are happy about Jensen’s return, it does seem strange that Dean is the one digging into his parents’ past.
Sam and Dean had virtually no time off during their time spent hunting evil on the small screen. This has some people wondering when Dean managed to find time to uncover John and Mary’s past. Obviously, he couldn’t have done so after Supernatural concluded, because he died, which means his narration comes from some point between the years 2005 and 2020.
Given that Dean was killing monsters, fighting the devil and even taking on God himself, it does seem a bit strange that he found time to research John and Mary’s love story in the middle of the chaos.
The Winchesters premieres this fall.
MORE: Stephen Amell Open To Returning For A Much Darker Take On Green Arrow
