Warning: spoilers ahead for The Winchesters episode 7.
A big villain detail in The Winchesters may prove a popular theory that purports to explain how the spinoff is connected to Supernatural. Never afraid to bend the rules of reality, parallel universes became integral to Supernatural's narrative in later seasons, with the introduction of Apocalypse World, hipster Sam and Dean, and numerous other alternate dimensions created by God as a means of living out his sickest Winchester fantasies. Although God nixes these splinter universes ahead of the Supernatural season finale, the multiverse concept remains well-established in Sam and Dean's fictional mythology.
Less well-established in Supernatural mythology is The Winchesters, which appears to rewrite John Winchester canon by making him a hunter long before Azazel kills his wife, Mary. Small lore retcons were always inevitable in Jensen and Danneel Ackles' Supernatural prequel, but young John Winchester hunting monsters represents a fundamental change to Sam and Dean's backstory, and The Winchesters is yet to explain this glaring discrepancy. Jensen Ackles has repeatedly reassured fans that an explanation is forthcoming, and a detail in The Winchesters season 1, episode 7, "Reflections," may confirm an early theory was correct all along.
The Winchesters Could Be In A Different Universe To Sam & Dean
Thanks to a cameo appearance from Henry in The Winchesters episode 7, the John and Mary Winchester Scooby gang learns that the spinoff's main villains, the Akrida, originate from a parallel universe, and possess the ability to invade other worlds. Sam and Dean only began dipping their toes this deep into the multiverse later in their Supernatural journey, so picking an alternate world big bad is a strange choice for The Winchesters season 1. Introducing an early parallel dimension element through the Akrida could, however, prove that The Winchesters and Supernatural take place in completely different universes, confirming a popular theory, and explaining the spinoff's many canon changes.
Back in The Winchesters episode 1, Ada Monroe hinted that the Akrida are interdimensional in nature, but her phrasing was drenched in ambiguity. Ada only claimed the Akrida were "not of this world," which in the wacky sandbox of Supernatural lore has a variety of possible meanings. The Winchesters episode 7 all but confirms suspicions that the Akrida hail from Supernatural's wider multiverse. Since no record of the Akrida attacking Sam and Dean's world was referenced in Supernatural, despite the brothers sitting on a pile of Men of Letters records, it becomes increasingly likely that the dimension the Akrida have been targeting in The Winchesters is entirely different from Supernatural's.
The Winchesters Teases A Door To Supernatural's Universe
Intriguingly, The Winchesters episode 7 not only supports the theory that Supernatural and its John and Mary spinoff take place in different universes, it paves the way for a crossover. The monster-killing box the Scooby gang discovered in The Winchesters episode 1 is named as the Ostium, and rather than killing monsters, it actually opens a portal between dimensions and transports them. Henry Winchester implies that the material used to power the Ostium dictates which universe it opens a doorway into. If The Winchesters' young John and Mary get their hands on an item from Supernatural's universe, therefore, the Ostium could create a bridge between each show.
That scenario, if it actually comes to pass, would offer The Winchesters the best of both worlds. On one hand, the Supernatural spinoff series can continue playing canon contortionist as it sees fit; on the other, the potential to interact with storylines and characters from main Supernatural continuity is available. One might even suggest that the very fact The Winchesters introduced a gateway to the multiverse in its very first episode proves the spinoff is happening in a reality quite apart from Supernatural.
The Winchesters returns January 24 on The CW.