Castiel's Best Death On Supernatural, According To Misha Collins

Supernatural has put pretty much all its characters through various wringers, and many of them have died and come back to life at least once. The angel Castiel has been particularly unlucky on that particular count, dying and coming back over and over again ever since he first appeared back in Season 4. Sometimes he's sacrificing himself for the Winchester brothers, while other times he just got himself too deeply into trouble. Actor Misha Collins recently spoke with CinemaBlend about all things Supernatural, and he had this to say when I asked which of Castiel's many deaths was the absolute best:

Best death! What a bizarre question to be able to answer! I feel like the Season 5 finale death was the best for two reasons. One: it was really graphic. Lucifer, with a snap of his fingers, disintegrated Castiel into just little chunks of meat, just bloody meat. The other thing that I like about that death was that it was very fleeting. He was resurrected by God within minutes. I think that one is my favorite. And it was right on the heels of one of Castiel's most classic lines, which was, 'Hey, Assbutt!'

Out of seven seasons of deaths, resurrections, and unlikely comebacks, Misha Collins went with Castiel's death via irritated Lucifer back in the Season 5 finale as the very best. At the time, Castiel had only died once, and we didn't actually see it happen, so we had no reason to be desensitized to the poor guy biting the dust. His explosive death marked the moment in that finale when Team Free Will really passed the point of no return, and it showed everybody yet again that there were really quite few limits to Lucifer's power. If you show up and light his brother on fire, he's going to snap his fingers and explode you into a million pieces. That's a good thing to know.

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Luckily, Castiel was only very briefly dead. God brought him back from his disintegrated state by the end of the episode, restoring his power enough that he could heal the badly beaten Dean, who was convinced for a few moments that Cas himself was God. That was not the case, as we know now that Chuck was God, but it was a sign of how quickly good old Cas popped back into existence again. In case you've forgotten Castiel's disintegration into chunks of meat, prepare yourself for a very bloody blast from the past:

Note to self: don't dick with any archangels in front of their brothers. Given that Castiel survived and went on to die (and come back) several more times in subsequent seasons, I think we can all agree that his explosive death in "Swan Song" was pretty hilarious. Supernatural certainly didn't hold back on the gore factor.

Warning: spoilers ahead for the Season 12 finale, "All Along the Watchtower."

Less hilarious is the fact that Lucifer seems to have actually succeeded in killing Castiel for keeps, seven seasons after he was first thwarted by God. In "All Along the Watchtower," Team Free Will and Crowley pulled out all the stops to try and trap Lucifer in an alternate world away from them and his nephilim son. Unfortunately, the plan went rather drastically sideways, and Crowley died at his own hand mere minutes before Lucifer managed to stab Cas with an angel blade from behind. The Winchesters did successfully trap Lucifer away, but the success came at a high cost. Misha Collins wasn't kidding when he said that the Season 12 finale would mix things up for Season 13.

Supernatural will return to The CW (with or without poor Castiel) in the fall. Misha Collins will keep busy over hiatus with his enormous GISHWHES -- that is, the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen -- charity scavenger hunt extravaganza. Registration is currently open, so be sure to check it out!

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Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).