Supernatural has confirmed the fate of a character many fans were hoping to see again in a future episode. Currently in its fifteenth season, Supernatural's latest run is confirmed to be its last and this has led to many stirring returns and fond farewells from past characters. Osric Chau's Kevin Tran returned, Arthur Ketch made a brief comeback only to be unceremoniously killed off, the Darkness is back and looking considerably less evil, and a smorgasbord of classic villains have been revived with varying degrees of success. Another character many viewers were expecting to see again was Benny the vampire.
First appearing in Supernatural season 8, Benny makes a reluctant partnership with Dean Winchester while in purgatory to allow both of them to break out. During the course of their efforts, Dean and Benny become firm friends but after struggling to acclimatize back in the mortal realm, Benny returns to purgatory to help Sam and Bobby escape and opts to remain there, putting himself in harm's way to ensure the safety of the younger Winchester brother. Benny has been mentioned and appeared in visions since then, but never made a genuine return. That finally looked set to change in season 15's "The Trap," when Dean and Castiel went into purgatory once more to gather an ingredient needed for a spell against God.
Fans expecting to see Benny back in Supernatural might've felt let down when the vampire was not only absent for the entire episode, but confirmed to have died long ago. While being guided to their target by a captured leviathan, Dean asks about Benny's location, but the creature reveals that the vampire was killed years prior. Regarding Benny, the leviathan states, "Dead. Long time ago. His own kind, they didn't trust him and they ripped him apart." Furthermore, God later confirms that the Benny seen earlier this season in one of Sam's visions was actually from an alternate Earth, ruling out the possibility that the scene was a premonition of the future.
Some might question whether the leviathan is merely lying to Dean about Benny's fate, and while this eventuality can't be ruled out entirely, the claims hold up to scrutiny. Firstly, Dean venturing into purgatory was the perfect opportunity for a Benny reunion, but that ship has now sailed, with Dean and Castiel obtaining the required ingredient and managing to escape before the episode's end. Secondly, it makes sense that the other vampires of purgatory would kill Benny off. The last time Dean's best fanged friend was seen, he was fighting off vamps angry one of their own was helping yet another Winchester. Purgatory is a hard enough existence without attracting the ire of an entire species, so it's only natural that Benny would've been killed after helping Sam.
As with any Supernatural death, it's impossible to deal in absolutes, even with only a few episodes remaining. But with the perfect opportunity to reintroduce Benny passing without incident, it certainly appears that the vampire has met his demise, and while it may not be the outcome fans were anticipating, at least the character's fate is confirmed.
Supernatural season 15 continues with "The Heroes' Journey" January 23rd on The CW.