As the final season of Supernatural approaches, let’s take a look back at how archangel Gabriel died during season 13. Played by Richard Speight Jr., trickster archangel Gabriel made his Supernatural debut in season 2 and quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his mischievous but noble nature. Gabriel initially posed as the Norse trickster god Loki and was a regular, but often hilarious, thorn in the Winchester brothers’ sides, once sticking them in an infinite time loop in which Dean constantly died (Season 3’s “Mystery Spot”) and another time forcing them to live out various TV shows (Season 5’s “Changing Channels”).
In Supernatural season 5, Gabriel’s archangel identity was revealed and he helped Sam and Dean take on Lucifer. The heroic act seemingly cost him his life, however, when his big brother stabbed and killed him with his own archangel blade in “Hammer Of The Gods.” Fans were hopeful he might return but bar a faux comeback in season 9 thanks to Metatron’s trickery, Gabriel stayed dead… for a while.
Supernatural fan theories positing Gabriel had somehow survived were finally proven true when he made an official return in season 13. It turns out the ‘Gabriel’ Lucifer killed in season 5 was a duplicate but – on the downside – the real Gabriel had been captured and tortured by Asmodeus sometime later. Since this is Supernatural where characters dying doesn’t necessarily mean they're gone for good, Gabriel’s return wasn’t too surprising but a bit of shock as it’d been eight years since his last appearance.
Nevertheless, Gabriel’s return was welcomed by the fandom with open arms. Unfortunately, his Supernatural season 13 return would literally prove short-lived. After escaping Asmodeus, Gabriel teamed together with the Winchesters once again and died while helping them evacuate Apocalypse World survivors. It was a similarly heroic demise to his season 5 ‘death’ except this time Gabriel died at the hands of his other older brother Michael - albeit the alternate Apocalypse World version - after he stabbed him in the gut. And unlike season 5, Gabriel’s death seemed more permanent this time around.
That said, Gabriel is a trickster known for faking his death and given Supernatural’s tendency to resurrect characters from the dead on a regular basis, there’s a possibility his season 13 death wasn’t all it seemed. With what promises to be an epic final season of Supernatural just around the corner, fans could well see Gabriel make yet another improbable return despite his seemingly permanent season 13 death.