Supernatural Theory: Amara Is The Key To Making Season 16 Possible

In a world of revivals, Supernatural will be one of the less surprising TV returns when it eventually happens. From the awkward mid-pandemic finale to Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki each sharing how they'd approach Supernatural season 16, there's no real reason to avoid revisiting the Winchester brothers within the next 10 years.

The trick will be figuring out how to facilitate a new story with Dean dead, Jack as the new God, and Sam's future all but confirmed by some flashforwards and an unconvincing wig. Strangely, the key to unlocking the story for Supernatural season 16 could be villain-turned-ally-turned-villain, Emily Swallow's Amara, otherwise known as the Darkness.

Amara's Ending In Supernatural Season 15 Didn't Completely Make Sense

Life came at Amara fast in Supernatural's final season. As the Winchesters and Chuck went to battle, Amara started by staying neutral on the sidelines, then threw her lot in with Sam and Dean, but was ultimately convinced to join her brother ahead of the climactic battle, affording Chuck his full, undiluted god powers.

After Chuck is defeated and replaced by Jack as the "new God," Supernatural explains that Amara now coexists peacefully with her great-nephew(?), allowing the world to maintain its cosmic balance. Upon closer examination, this all feels too easy. Amara had joined Chuck's side willingly after feeling betrayed by Dean, and bought into her brother's vision of tearing the old universe down to make a new one.

Supernatural's ending suggests Jack somehow talks Amara down and makes her "good" again offscreen. That's not entirely implausible. Earlier in Supernatural season 15, Amara had shown a fondness for Jack and wished they could know each other better. The audience is perhaps meant to assume it's this softness between the characters that leads Amara to accept Jack as the new God without kicking up a fuss.

Still, that's a lot of emotional baggage to be checked offscreen. Amara's brother becoming a mortal, the survival of the universe, her lingering resentment against Dean - Jack must be one hell of a therapist to resolve all of it with such apparent ease.

Is Amara Still Secretly A Villain When Supernatural Ends?

This is where Amara could become pivotal in making Supernatural season 16 happen. It's possible that the Darkness is secretly still aligned with her brother and has taken advantage of Jack's naive innocence to restore Chuck's powers. When Supernatural ends, it appears that Amara exists within Jack, just as she had previously within Chuck. As the two cosmic beings at the center of the universe, however, Amara and Chuck will always retain a special link.

Between Supernatural seasons 15 and 16, Amara may gradually siphon Jack's grace back to where it came from: Chuck, who is still living as a mortal back on Earth. Not only would this explain Amara's suspiciously convenient face turn in Supernatural's ending, it also makes sense that Jack would be spread so thin serving his function as God, he wouldn't notice Amara slowly draining his grace and giving it back to her brother.

Amara's duplicity could even be part of a bigger masterplan cooked up between her and Chuck. Sam and Dean defeated God with unusual ease at the end of Supernatural, and Jack's ability to absorb Chuck's grace came almost out of nowhere. Supernatural season 16 could reveal that using Amara as some undercover agent was a necessary step in Chuck's true plan.

Perhaps allowing Jack to temporarily become God was the only way Chuck could truly restore his full power, or maybe there was a step to the scheme Chuck could only carry out as a mortal.

Amara & Chuck Working Together Against Jack Solves Two Problems For Supernatural Season 16

If Supernatural returns, season 16 will face two significant story problems. Fortunately, Amara being bad resolves both of them.

For starters, it's clear that if a Supernatural revival ever happens, Jack could no longer continue with the God gig. He's simply too powerful and too friendly toward the Winchester brothers for Supernatural season 16 to have any sort of stakes. Revealing Amara has sinister intentions would be a neat way of taking Jack out of the game when Supernatural's next chapter begins.

Another Amara/Chuck collaboration would also solve the dilemma of which character to make the villain of Supernatural season 16. It's difficult to find a bigger threat than God, so bringing Chuck back feels like the obvious solution. At the same time, Supernatural never fully committed to a full-scale Chuck and Amara vs. Sam and Dean sibling showdown. Finally taking that route could make Supernatural's revival the most epic run yet.