Chapter Summaries

Dean and Sam discovered that the Horseman of War was using a silver ring to make River Pass residents see one another as demons and attack each other. Bai Haorui arrived and wounded War’s incarnation, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Dean identified the red Mustang as War’s steed and warned that the apparent demons were illusions, but Roger turned the townspeople against Dean and Ellen, forcing them to escape through a window.
• Bai Haorui exhausted himself repairing Bobby’s spinal nerves, helping Bobby regain feeling in his legs, then learned that Dean and the others were in danger and drove toward River Pass.
• Dean and Ellen entered the demon headquarters, broke War’s hold over Rufus and Joe, and freed Sam, who identified War’s silver ring as the source of the illusions.
• Dean, Sam, Ellen, and Rufus reached the main street, where residents were killing one another and the priest died protecting a young woman.
• Dean and Sam tried to stop War from turning his ring, but he knocked them aside; Bai Haorui arrived and wounded War’s shoulder with his peachwood sword.

Bai Haorui wounded the Horseman of War and helped Dean and Sam cut the ring from his hand, ending the town’s murderous illusions. After Sam left to face his inner darkness alone, he was tormented by a vision of Jessica while Dean tried to bury his grief in hunting.

• Bai Haorui burned a hole through War’s chest with Samadhi True Fire and trapped him in an Eight Trigrams Soul-Suppressing Formation.
• Sam used Ruby’s Knife to sever four fingers from War’s ring-bearing hand, causing the illusions to vanish; War escaped as black smoke.
• Bai Haorui collapsed, and Dean caught him before the survivors rested at the mountain rest area.
• Sam admitted he feared losing control and hurting others, and Dean agreed that they should separate; Sam left in a pickup.
• Sam dreamed that Jessica warned him his darkness would endanger Dean and Bai Haorui, but he resolved to prove he could change.
• Dean hunted vampires in Pennsylvania and tried to keep from thinking about Sam and the apocalypse.

Dean investigated vampire attacks in Pennsylvania while Bai Haorui headed to Tennessee to hunt a witch and planned to look for Sam. Sam tried to leave hunting behind in Oklahoma, but news of a disaster tested his resolve, while Castiel persuaded Dean to help capture the archangel Raphael in Maine.

• Dean posed as an FBI agent and told Detective Anderson that vampires were responsible for the killings of three young women in Harrisburg.
• Bai Haorui told Bobby he had rescued three children from ghouls, then accepted a case involving the witch Agnes Black and said he would look for Sam afterward.
• Sam burned his hunting belongings, took the name Keith, and began working at Hoyt's Bar in Garber, where Lindsay invited him to play darts.
• Sam beat Lindsay at darts, remembered happier times with Dean and Bai Haorui, and struggled with whether to help after hearing about a deadly disaster in Holly.
• Castiel asked Dean to help capture Raphael and interrogate him for information about God, and Dean agreed to go with him to Maine.

Bai Haorui rescued a girl from Agnes Black and her witches at Black Manor, then continued his journey toward St. Louis. In Maine, Dean and Castiel questioned Deputy Framingham about a deadly gas station riot, but Castiel’s explanation nearly exposed their knowledge of angels and demons.

• Dean rejected Castiel’s offer to teleport them and drove with him toward Maine.
• Bai Haorui learned about Black Manor from Jake, then found Agnes Black and five witches preparing to sacrifice a sixteen-year-old girl.
• Bai Haorui killed the witches and Agnes, rescued the girl, and returned her to her parents.
• Bai Haorui bought a milkshake and doughnut before setting off for St. Louis to investigate a haunted prison.
• Dean and Castiel questioned Deputy Framingham about the gas station riot, and Dean tried to cover for Castiel after he blamed angels and demons.
• Deputy Framingham said the riot ended in an explosion and doubted that an underground fuel tank had caused it.

Dean and Castiel learned that Raphael had left Donnie Finnerman an empty vessel, then prepared to trap the archangel with Holy Oil. Meanwhile, Sam confided in Lindsay about his guilt and addiction, but Tim confronted him over Steve’s death and accused him of releasing Lucifer just as Lindsay arrived.

• Dean and Castiel learned that Donnie Finnerman was hospitalized in a vegetative state after Raphael destroyed his consciousness, and Castiel explained that Michael would completely consume Dean if he accepted him.
• Castiel told Dean that he had obtained Holy Oil in Jerusalem to trap Raphael at sunrise, and Dean took Castiel to a strip club, where Castiel upset Chastity by revealing painful truths about her family.
• Sam told Lindsay that his past mistakes had caused people to die, and Lindsay shared that she had been sober for three years and encouraged him to believe he could change.
• Tim and Reggie confronted Sam at Hoyt's Bar over Steve’s death, and Tim accused Sam of releasing Lucifer and causing the disasters before Lindsay entered and saw Tim holding a knife.

Sam refused Tim’s attempt to force him to drink demon blood and defeated Tim and Reggie, but Lindsay recoiled from him and demanded to know what he was. Meanwhile, Bai Haorui freed the ghosts haunting Missouri State Penitentiary before racing to Maine, where Dean and Castiel trapped Raphael, who revealed that he and the other angels wanted to end their struggle.

• Tim threatened Lindsay and tried to make Sam drink demon blood, but Sam refused and knocked Tim unconscious after Reggie shoved Lindsay.
• Sam pinned Reggie against the wall and ordered him to leave town, then approached Lindsay, who stepped away and asked what he was.
• Bai Haorui investigated the deaths at Missouri State Penitentiary, banished the vengeful ghosts in its execution chamber, and received Bobby’s warning that Dean and Castiel had gone to Maine to find Raphael.
• Castiel drew a holy-oil circle around Donnie’s bed and summoned Raphael, while Dean prepared to ignite the oil and trap him.
• Dean ignited the holy oil, trapping Raphael, and challenged his claims about God and the Apocalypse.
• Raphael said God had abandoned the angels and that they were tired and wanted to end everything.

Bai Haorui, Dean, and Castiel confronted Raphael’s claim that God was dead, while Lucifer revealed that Sam was his destined vessel. After Castiel vanished to search for God, Zachariah sent Dean into the future, and Bai Haorui opened a temporal rift to pursue him.

• Bai Haorui arrived at the hospital and trapped Raphael in the holy oil circle, then left with Dean and Castiel after insisting they could shape their own future.
• Lucifer appeared to Sam as Jessica, revealed that Sam was his true vessel, and threatened to bring him back until he agreed to say yes.
• Dean encouraged Castiel to keep believing God was alive, and Castiel suddenly vanished from the Impala to pursue him.
• Dean reached the Century Hotel, where a religious man reported his arrival to someone over the phone.
• Bai Haorui sensed Dean’s life signature disappear, found Zachariah’s temporal rift in Dean’s room, and opened it to follow him into the future.

Dean rejected Sam’s plea to reunite, believing separation would keep them safe from the apocalypse. Bai Haorui arrived five years in the future, where he met a powerful, hardened version of himself and was taken toward a mountain fortress.

• Dean spoke with Castiel about the Colt and arranged to meet him in Kansas City the next morning.
• Sam told Dean that Lucifer wanted him as a vessel and asked to join him in fighting Lucifer, but Dean refused and ended the call in tears.
• Bai Haorui emerged in a ruined Kansas City dated August 1, 2014, and killed a group of people infected with the Croatoan virus.
• Armed soldiers called Bai Haorui their king, and 2014 Bai Haorui appeared and identified himself as Bai Haorui’s future self.
• 2014 Bai Haorui invited his past self to talk, and they rode in an armored vehicle to a mountain fortress.

Bai Haorui confronted his 2014 counterpart about his forbidden methods, then joined him to help Dean after learning Dean was heading to kill Lucifer. Trapped five years in a ruined future, Dean discovered the Croatoan outbreak and Zachariah’s attempt to blame him for the apocalypse, then found a photograph pointing him toward Camp Chitaqua.

• 2014 Bai Haorui showed Bai Haorui the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and explained how Sam and Bobby’s deaths had driven him to seek power by devouring souls.
• A subordinate reported that Dean was leading an expedition to assassinate Lucifer, so 2014 Bai Haorui took up his sword and banner and set out with Bai Haorui.
• Dean woke in a ruined Kansas City in 2014, encountered Croatoan-infected people, and escaped after soldiers attacked them.
• Zachariah revealed that he had sent Dean five years into the future to show him the consequences of refusing Michael, but Dean continued toward Bobby’s house.
• Dean found Bobby’s abandoned home, discovered a photograph of Bobby, Castiel, and Bai Haorui at Camp Chitaqua, and drove there.

Dean saw the ruined future Zachariah had sent him to witness, where the Croatoan virus had devastated humanity and the people he knew had changed. After learning the fates of Sam and Haorui, he explored Camp Chitaqua and found that Castiel had become a disheveled, hedonistic recluse.

• Dean found the wrecked Impala at Camp Chitaqua, but the Dean from 2014 knocked him unconscious and took him prisoner.
• After Dean proved his identity, the Dean from 2014 explained that the Croatoan virus had brought down civilization and said Sam had died in Detroit while Haorui had become a powerful soul-devouring monster.
• The Dean from 2014 locked Dean in a cabin, but Dean picked the handcuffs and slipped out to explore the camp.
• Chuck asked Dean about dwindling supplies, and Lisa angrily confronted him over spending the night with Jane, though Dean had not done so yet.
• Dean found Castiel in a smoky cabin surrounded by women and alcohol, and Castiel recognized that Dean had come from the past.

Dean was brought five years into the Croatoan apocalypse, where his future self urged him to say yes to Michael after revealing that Sam had said yes to Lucifer. As the group reached a hospital to kill Lucifer, Dean discovered that his future self planned to use their friends as bait and was forced to confront how far he had changed.

• The Dean of 2014 shot Yager after claiming Yager had been scratched by an infected person, then told Dean that Sam had said yes to Lucifer in Detroit.
• The Dean of 2014 begged Dean to say yes to Michael when he returned to 2009, but admitted Heaven's angels had abandoned Earth and he could no longer make that choice himself.
• Chuck gave Dean supplies and joked that he should stockpile toilet paper before Dean joined Castiel and the convoy heading for Jackson County Psychiatric Hospital.
• Castiel told Dean that he had become human when the angels left Earth and described relying on drugs and debauchery to cope with his helplessness.
• At the hospital, Dean confronted his future self and learned that the mission was a trap: the soldiers, Lisa, and Castiel were meant to distract Lucifer while the two Deans entered from the back with the Colt.
• The Dean of 2014 defended sacrificing their friends to kill Lucifer, blaming Dean's reluctance to put others at risk for the apocalypse.

Dean returned to the hospital and found Lucifer had killed Castiel and the Dean from 2014. As Lucifer confronted Dean about the future he believed inevitable, both Bai Haorui versions attacked him, and Bai Haorui from 2014 launched a strike at Lucifer’s heart.

• The Dean from 2014 knocked Dean unconscious and sent Castiel, Lisa, and the soldiers into the hospital while Bai Haorui from 2014 urged the younger Bai Haorui to wait until the fighting weakened both sides.
• An explosion rocked the hospital, and both Bai Haorui versions rushed inside as Dean woke and ran to find Cas and Lisa.
• Dean rescued Lisa from Croatoans, then found Castiel from 2014 mortally wounded; Castiel warned that Lucifer was in the garden before dying.
• Dean confronted Lucifer, who revealed he had killed the Dean from 2014 and insisted that Dean’s choices would always lead to the same outcome.
• Bai Haorui from 2014 attacked Lucifer with the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and his black sword, wounding him, while Bai Haorui from 2009 struck with golden true fire.
• Bai Haorui from 2014 poured the banner’s power into his sword and thrust toward Lucifer’s heart.

Dean rejected Zachariah’s attempt to make him accept Michael and reunited with Sam and Bai Haorui, though the brothers remained uneasy as they began a case in Ohio. In South Dakota, Bai Haorui learned that the Horseman of War had isolated a Texas town and set out to rescue the missing hunters, planning to rejoin Dean and Sam afterward.

• Lucifer survived the 2014 Bai Haorui’s soul-detonation, then vanished without attacking the unconscious Dean or the 2009 Bai Haorui; Dean awoke from the future vision and refused Zachariah’s demand to accept Michael.
• Castiel rescued Dean, who called Sam and asked him to return; the next morning, Dean gave Sam Ruby’s Knife and apologized, and Bai Haorui joined them as they pledged to face the angels and devils together.
• Dean and Sam drove toward Canton City, Ohio, to investigate Carl Hopkins’s death, while both wrestled with their doubts about trusting each other again.
• Bobby told Bai Haorui that his old friend Old Joey had reported the Horseman of War in Lone Star Town, where people were being driven to madness and violence.
• Bai Haorui packed his weapons and talismans, accepted lightning-struck jujube wood and a meteoric-iron axe from Bobby, and set out alone for Lone Star Town.

Bai Haorui entered a town devastated by the Horseman of War and used Clear Heart Talismans to free surviving residents from his influence. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean learned that the Porsche was a fake and investigated a second bizarre death, arriving at Professor William Hill's home.

• Sam and Dean questioned Jim Grossman, who said Carl Hopkins had been killed by the supposedly cursed car Little Bastard.
• Dean inspected the Porsche while Sam traced its ownership and found that it was a fake Little Bastard whose previous owners had died natural deaths.
• Bai Haorui entered Lone Star Town, where the Horseman of War's power had driven residents to slaughter one another.
• Bai Haorui used Clear Heart Talismans to restore the minds of attacking civilians and sent them to find shelter before heading toward the town center.
• Sam told Dean that Professor William Hill had died in another bizarre murder, and the brothers arrived at Hill's home to meet Sheriff Carnegie.

Dean and Sam investigated killings linked to apparent ghosts of Abraham Lincoln and James Dean, while their conflict over Sam’s past deepened after Dean blamed him for the Apocalypse. In Lone Star Town, Bai Haorui battled the Horseman of War and wounded him with a flame-infused sword strike.

• Sam and Dean questioned Sheriff Carnegie about William Hill’s impossible death, and Consuela Alvarez said Abraham Lincoln had shot Hill before vanishing.
• Dean and Sam found James Dean’s reflection in Jim Grossman’s footage and discovered that Canton City’s wax museum had exhibits of Lincoln, James Dean, and Gandhi.
• Dean blamed Sam for the Apocalypse during a call with Bobby, and Sam confronted Dean about treating him like a prisoner and said he had left with Ruby partly to get away from him.
• The sheriff called to report that another girl had gone missing, with witnesses claiming Paris Hilton had taken her.
• Bai Haorui confronted the Horseman of War in Lone Star Town and wounded him with a peachwood sword thrust before resisting his counterattack.
• Bai Haorui trapped the Horseman of War in an Eight Trigrams Soul-Suppressing Formation and burned his arm with a sword strike charged with two kinds of true fire.

Bai Haorui destroyed the Horseman of War’s ring and saved Lone Star Town, gaining power from the survivors’ faith before setting out to meet Dean. In Canton City, Dean and Sam discovered that the killer was the forest god Leshi, who captured them and took John Winchester’s form to torment Dean.

• The Horseman of War broke Bai Haorui’s formation, but Bai severed his left hand and destroyed the ring, dispersing the town’s black mist and freeing its people.
• The Horseman of War escaped after warning Bai Haorui that the Apocalypse had begun, and the survivors’ gratitude restored Bai’s strength as he helped them recover.
• Bai Haorui called Dean to say he had handled the crisis, while Dean and Sam investigated a wax museum and realized its apparent ghost was not an ordinary spirit.
• Sam identified seeds from the Balkan forest god Leshi in the victims and explained that Leshi had adopted celebrity forms to feed on worshippers.
• Dean and Sam followed a report of Danielle’s kidnapping, but Leshi, disguised as Paris Hilton, knocked them out and tied them up in the museum’s forest set.
• Leshi explained that humans had destroyed his forest and abandoned his worship, then took John Winchester’s form and accused Dean of failing him.

After defeating Leshi, Dean and Sam reconciled and set out with Bai Haorui to investigate strange deaths in Alliance, Nebraska. They discovered that ordinary prank items seemed to cause lethal effects through the power of thought and went to question the owner of the Magic Temple prank shop.

• Dean broke free of his ropes and attacked Leshi, and Sam decapitated her with an iron axe.
• Dean apologized to Sam, admitted they shared responsibility for the Apocalypse, and handed him the Impala's keys as a sign of trust and equality.
• Bai Haorui joined the brothers on the road, and Sam received Bobby's report about babysitter Amber Greer's gruesome death in Alliance.
• At the morgue, Bai Haorui detected an unusual power and found traces of ground maple seeds on Amber, while the medical examiner confirmed she had scratched herself to death.
• Jimmy admitted that he had sprinkled itching powder on Amber's comb as a prank, and Sam reported that Tom Harrison had died after a coworker used a joy buzzer on him.
• Bai Haorui sensed thought energy in the joy buzzer and explained that belief could make it lethal, so the brothers and Bai Haorui visited the Magic Temple prank shop.

Sam, Dean, and Bai Haorui discovered that Jessie’s beliefs made childhood myths real and learned he was the Antichrist, born after his mother was possessed. When Castiel tried to kill Jessie, the boy transformed him into a doll, and Bai Haorui fought off the demon possessing Julia; the chapter ended with Julia claiming Jessie’s adoptive parents feared him.

• Dean and Bai Haorui questioned a toy-shop owner, and Sam traced the strange incidents to Jessie’s home on Oak Street.
• Jessie revealed that the tooth fairy, itching powder, and other childhood beliefs became real because he believed in them; Bai Haorui sensed that Jessie was half human and half demon.
• Sam and Dean visited Jessie’s birth mother, Julia Wright, who said a demon possessed her throughout her pregnancy and that she had given Jessie up for adoption.
• Castiel appeared and argued that Jessie should be killed, but Jessie turned him into a doll when Castiel tried to attack him.
• Julia, possessed by a demon, attacked Sam and Dean, while Bai Haorui protected Jessie and subdued her with talismans and True Fire.
• Jessie stopped Bai Haorui from purifying the demon and asked whether she was his birth mother; she then claimed that Jessie’s adoptive parents were afraid of him.

Jessie rejected the demon and vanished to protect his parents, while Bai Haorui restored Castiel and divined that Jessie was safe but faced a future trial. The hunters then investigated a Denver case involving people who suddenly aged or disappeared, and Cliff Whitlow's secret emerged as the investigation led to a motel.

• Jessie forced the demon out of Julia, chose to remain himself, then left his parents a note and disappeared; Bai Haorui restored Castiel and sensed Jessie was safe for now.
• Dean, Sam, and Bai Haorui left for Denver after Bobby received a report of a mysterious death, while Bobby insisted on joining them despite his recovering leg.
• At the morgue, Bai Haorui identified ancient contractual magic that had drained Zach Xavier's life force and aged him to death.
• Dean and Bai Haorui learned that Mr. Whitlow had gone missing after his health and appearance improved, then found a motel receipt in his bedroom.
• At room 44, the hunters found Cliff Whitlow with two women, recognized his tattoo, and confronted him about his apparent transformation from an older man into a young one.

Cliff revealed that Patrick, a nine-hundred-year-old Celtic witch, gambled people’s lifespans in a hidden casino. Bobby lost twenty-five years, and Dean lost fifty while trying to win those years back; with Dean physically aged but his soul intact, the group went to break Patrick’s spell and reached the apartment building’s fire escape.

• Cliff told Dean, Sam, and Bai Haorui that Patrick had gambled away years of people’s lives, and Bobby identified him as an ancient Celtic witch.
• Dean, Sam, and Bai Haorui found Patrick’s casino beneath the Old Oak, but Bobby had already lost twenty-five years and rapidly aged.
• Patrick restored Bobby’s years when Dean agreed to gamble, but Dean lost the game and aged into an eighty-year-old man.
• Bai Haorui’s Five Emperor Coins could not penetrate Patrick’s time barrier, and Patrick warned that Dean would die of old age in three days.
• At the motel, Bai Haorui stabilized Dean and the group planned to steal Patrick’s chips and obtain his DNA to reverse the spell.
• Bai Haorui, Sam, and the aged Dean went to Patrick’s apartment building, where Dean struggled to climb the fire escape stairs.