The Sam Theory 2.0

[the_ladylark]

(Posting again because I think I did something strange with the settings on the previous version, making it hidden)

I've been meaning to write this up for about nine months, since the bones of it emerged in our Book Club Slack channel for discussing Down to Agincourt. It will mean absolutely nothing if you haven't read Down to Agincourt (you should, it's fantastic!).

Over the past year-ish we've been doing a chapter-per-week reread, and while we were rereading A Thousand Lights in Space there was discussion that resulted in what started as a crack theory but ended up being remarkably plausible.



It will also be somewhat confusing if you're not starting with the basic idea of the Sam Theory, that Kay and I came up with several years ago. This posits that Sam is not only still alive as Lucifer's vessel, but that there is an active force preventing Dean from worrying about him, and that Sam will serve a key role in the story and may have been instrumental in making the contract.

For the record, this is still reaching considerably, and quite probably not accurate. But it's certainly fun to explore! It all comes down to the 'cold box' which Alison says is the impression she gets when she tries to read Dean.

The hazel eyes unfocus. "A box," she murmurs dreamily. "Bigger than it looks, smaller than what it holds, and it holds everything. What goes in there is never coming out again." [Dean] only realizes he's started shaking when he almost bites his tongue. "It's cold in there." Abruptly, she blinks, the distant look dissolving into confusion cut with frustration. "Sorry, that's the best I can do. I got the feeling getting closer was a bad idea. I'm not very good at this yet."

But here's the thing; the one strange bit about this is the description of it as *cold*. This gets mentioned multiple times, I’m not going to quote them all here. But Cas isn't cold, everyone agrees!

"That's nothing like him." Dean pauses at the thready sound of his own voice and swallows hard. "He hates being cold, I mean. Sleeps with three blankets and a couple of pairs of socks. Why would--what makes you think it has something to do with him?"

Cas too, has issues with the cold aspect.

"A cold box," he corrects her acidly before shutting his eyes, appalled. "I had no idea it bothered me this much."

But he does breeze past it the first time he hears about it, which means perhaps he hasn't thought through all the implications if it's not metaphorical:

"Since I'm not literally a six sided storage container, we can assume the cold is also metaphorical," Cas answers impatiently.

Cas explains that the description of the ‘sliding’ effect is because of contamination – it’s the same thing that happens with the wards because as far as reality is concerned, Dean doesn’t exist independently of Cas.

"So you're saying psychics can't read me even when I'm not in the cabin? Because of the contamination thing?"

"If her description of it as 'sliding to a box'--"

"Cold box."

"--'cold box'," Cas agrees, and yeah, that's definitely an edge, "then no, she can't. I assumed the sigils in the wards were entirely responsible for the mental component, but it seems that contamination itself causes that." To Dean's surprise, Cas's mouth curves in a faint smile.

However, Cas wasn’t aware of the probe, and doesn’t seem to think this is odd, which means he can't tell if it was actually him being probed at all: "Excellent decision on her part: at this distance, and being unaware of what she was doing, I'm not sure if I'd even be able to sense it or be able to stop her before she was injured."

Alison is pretty sure that this box, whatever it is, is stopping her from reading Dean, and Cas confirms her description of 'foldspace', the vastness associated with angels. Alison’s conclusion that she’s sensing an angel seems sound, and we’ve established the effect is most likely caused by Dean being contaminated.

"I'm saying the first and only person I can't read happens to be involved with a Fallen angel," she answers, cocking her head. "Could be a coincidence."

Could be, but since she doesn't believe it is, he's pretty sure she's got more to go on than correlation equaling causation, and he'd really like to know what it is.

And i'd like to know what else she's going on, too. And perhaps she's right and it is *a* Fallen angel. But what if it’s not... that one? We don’t associate cold with Cas, at all. But there’s someone else who we definitely do, who is established in canon to be unexpectedly cold. Lucifer.

Why would Dean be affected by contamination with Lucifer? Why would Lucifer be protecting Dean’s mind? (and how would be be protecting him from… himself?) Well, he wouldn’t. But there’s someone else in the picture, someone who is currently very closely associated with Lucifer.. Sam.

We know that Sam is still alive as Lucifer’s vessel, as established in the Sam Theory. We’ve been speculating that he might be a signatory on the contract, maybe even the contract holder. What if he’s the one that brought Dean over, using Lucifer’s power, and has thus contaminated Dean? Is this then why Dean’s mind can’t be read? Is Lucifer the cold box, and Sam the vessel within it, inhabiting it?

"You told Dean I was like a box. Infinity is a very long time, and that's still a new one to me."

"It's much bigger on the inside, trust me." she says after a moment, grinning when he rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I figured you'd get the reference. Dr. Who fan, not a surprise. Did Dean mention--"

"The cold, yes, several times." Her mouth twitches before she brings it under control. "Folded space and fury, an eternally burning sword, infinite justice, chaos incarnate, perhaps even a storm of vengeance and righteousness, but…"

"A box." She cocks her head, fighting a reluctant smile "You're offended?"

"I'm a being of infinite--" He sighs, sinking more deeply into the ragged upholstery. "I don't know. An infinite being who is also a box."

"Maybe you're in the box?" she offers mischievously"


There is a lot of mentions of Sam in the chapter where the concept of the cold box is introduced. And we're reminded at least once about some of Sam's other capabilities:

"Jesus, that must have sucked," he says without thinking, but the surprised expression on Alison's face tells him that for the first time since he met her, he might have actually said the right thing. Pam and Missouri were born doing what they could do, but Sam's powers came a lot later, and he never made the mistake of assuming just because Sam was willing to use them meant he liked them or what they did to him. Looking at Alison now, he can see the same resigned strain on her face he sometimes saw on Sam's before he learned to hide it better; like a lot of things in life, sometimes it looks a lot better on paper. "I'm sorry."

There's also this cryptic idea/message which Alison relays:

"I'll tell you what I told Dean--I saw a cold box, and something about time--buying time, maybe, and it'll be enough." She shrugs. "I call 'em as I see 'em."

Is Sam the one who’s buying time? Is this something to do with why he said yes to Lucifer in the first place? Did he, with his legal knowledge, and his psychic tendencies, create the contract?

So if we’re suggesting that it’s Sam, and not Lucifer that is causing the contamination, we can reconcile Cas’s conclusion that the description of a box fits the combination of a vessel inhabited by an angel but not necessarily one with Grace.

"What she said--it fits how a human might perceive me now. A human psychic can't read an angel's mind, even in a vessel; our true form makes that…."

"A shitty idea," Dean finishes for him, remembering Pamela with a wince. "But you don't have Grace now."

"Which is why she wasn't physically injured," Cas tells him.

Though I do think Cas is underestimating Alison’s ability to handle infinity, seeing as he shows it to her later. So he could just be plain wrong about this!

And then there's this:

"A box," he says before he can stop himself. "Is that--all you sense when you see me?"

"A cold box," she corrects him with a hint of lingering malice, then wrinkles her nose. "Well, not the cold part, at least not in person. Very different than from what I picked up through Dean, though." She snorts at his expression. "Did I mention I'm kind of new at this?"

So, a cold or perhaps not box: this has been enlightening.

Confirmation that Alison can tell the difference between Cas and what she senses when she tries to read Dean!

So, to summarise: If we take as the starting point that Cas is a box, but not a cold one, then perhaps Lucifer – another angel – is the cold box, and Sam is what is within it. The box is smaller than what it holds; we know that humanity is too large to be encompassed by a divine being, as described when discussing Sudha's baby. Conclusion: Sam is the cause of the contamination in Dean, and is protecting his mind from being read by those who should not currently be privy to information about the contract. The contract that was made to bring Dean over from another world, reassure him that Sam was safe and well, and enable him, and thus them all, to win the apocalypse and beat Lucifer.