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aaronontherun · 15 hours

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Replying like this, because my answer is too long for a comment 🥲 You're right, he didn't look happy at all during that conversation. But considering the joy he expresses when he tells Crowley about it, there *was* a point in the conversation where he changes his mind. And it very much looks like that point was when Metatron offers him to be able to work with Crowley. He looks so uncomfortable, he is set in his ways, he is not looking to go back to heaven, but why? Because he would have to "leave the bookshop" as he says, but what it also means is he would have to leave Crowley.

And he is so, so excited when he tells Crowley "you could come back to heaven and everything. It would be like the old times, only even nicer."

He is willing to give up the bookshop if he wouldn't have to lose what is most important to him (Crowley) and that makes him suddenly consider all the options they would have if he did take up the offer.

And the doing good part indeed was not mentioned by the Metatron, but he didn't need to. Because intrinsically Aziraphale just wants to do good or be good. We can see it when he answers to Crowley telling him they are better than that and they don't need a team to rejoin (because the whole point is that neither team is better than the other):

"Well obviously you don't want to go back to hell, you're the bad guys. But heaven! It's the side of truth, of light. Of good."

Crowley is flabbergasted, telling him that "when heaven destroys life on earth it will be just as dead as when hell ended it."

And Aziraphale immediately goes "But if I'm in charge..." *bad things don't have to happen, we could do good, we could see to it that nothing bad ever happens*

Severely overestimating the power he would have 🫠 The corporate world doesn't only work on leaders, it also works on all the people blindly following the *system*, the *rules* (see Michael and Uriel) and you don't just snap a finger and stop a war that has been coming for centuries and that both sides crave with their entire existence.

But you are right, watching the scene back, the Metatron doesn't tell him that he is kind. He just says "he is the only candidate that makes sense. He is a leader, he is honest, not just telling people what they want to hear." I guess there I was sloppy and just generalized from my own experience, because these toxic bosses just want you to feel appreciated, telling you about all the qualities they see in you before ripping you to shreds with their own plans.

And that is also what happens in the last part of the episode. Like, Aziraphale has agreed to the plans without knowing them, simply for the possibility of getting back Angel!Crowley and being able to make a difference when he gets to know what the plans exactly entail, but it is too late now to back out.

And what I also forgot to mention in the original post, all of this obviously only works when we take Aziraphale literally. I know there are soooooo many theories out there that speculate whether he was playing a part here to fool heaven, which might very well be true. I just found it super interesting to explore the possibility of no hidden agendas and just the literal meaning of what happens. I don't want to offend anyone and any theory is welcome. Always, always happy to discuss where I might be wrong.

@nice-little-omens

Okay, there are two things about the ending of GO S2 that I cannot get out of my head after finishing the rewatch:

1. Gabriel's descent to earth

2. Aziraphale's reaction to the offer of Metatrash

(The rest under the cut)

The thing about Gabriel's descent to earth is that when he comes down to earth, he has not been fired yet. He decides to come down.

What's interesting about this is that in the last few minutes of the last episode Gabriel says his original plan was to leave heaven to go to hell, to join Beelzebub.

The quote goes:

Beelzebub: "Silly, silly angel. Why?"

Gabriel: "I was coming to you, but I... I forgot."

So... he had not been fired yet (because he left heaven before Michael and the lot could get a hold of him again). And he had originally planned to go to Beelzebub ("oh, you're sending me to hell, aren't you?" -> he was kind of counting on that). But after hearing he will lose his memory and go down to earth, he decides to ditch that plan and make himself forget all of it to go to earth (where he did not really intend to go in the first place) to give a box to Aziraphale that says "I am in the fly", that he knows will make him remember.

Why?

My working theory is that since he was the highest ranking angel, he knew about the plans of heaven. He knew about the second attempt at Armageddon of course and he did not want that to happen, because of his love for Beelzebub and the war that would break out. But I reckon he also already knew about the Second Coming.

And by wiping his own memories, he deleted that knowledge for all of heavens associates. But by storing it in the fly and transporting that to earth instead of hell, he brought it to the safest place he knew.

"The Second Coming will be a fearful, mournful time for the wicked, but it will be a day of peace for the righteous."

I don't know if I am reading something into it here, but to me it also sounds like a clue. The only other pair that kind of unites the powers of heaven and hell like Gabriel and Beelzebub is Aziraphale and Crowley. And we know that connection to be quite a strong one (as seen by the "teeny tiny miracle" that ended up sounding every god damn alarm bell in heaven). Crowley is a fallen angel and does not particularly care for heaven or hell and Aziraphale is still an angel and also does not conform with everything that heaven does. And Gabriel knows that.

BUT as far as we know, neither Aziraphale nor Crowley have had contact with the fly or the memories. For now we only know Gabriel kept his memories out of heaven by going to Aziraphale and that he probably knew more than he let on.

The question is, does the fly still exist or did it get destroyed when it went into Gabriels eye?

Also, given the CLUE that takes up almost half an episode - the part of the song that we don't really get to hear is this:

"Everyday seems a little longer,

Every way, love's a little stronger"

Everything we have seen points to an ending where you don't have to choose a side. Where there is no need to categorize into black and white, but to just accept shades of grey. Which is obstructed by heaven (the big corporate agenda, that needs people to think in black and white) and hell (which holds the outcasts that could not keep up with the agenda, but still cling onto it in their own competitive way).

Okay and this is the perfect transition to Aziraphales reaction to the Metatrons offer.

Because after years (or millennia in Aziraphale's case) of being oppressed and silenced and having to be careful around everything he says, I think Metatrons offer to put him in charge of heaven is in Aziraphale's eyes the only perspective of ever getting out of his misery while still doing good.

He *could* have given up heaven and fallen like Crowley, joining him that way, but instead he takes the route of trying to take Crowley with him to the very top of heaven.

Which, in my eyes, is a very very clear sign of the abusive relationship he has with heaven.

I don't think he realises that he is still just a pawn in a big chess game, also and especially as archangel of heaven.

As both Beelzebub and Gabriel said: "As if we make the rules..."

That is not how it works.

(I also find it very interesting, that the voice of god (basically the manager of heaven) asks if anyone ever "asks for death" (I mean, come on) whereas god, talking to Job, is genuinely fascinated by him and his goodness.)

I don't know if I can put this thought process into proper words, but I feel like the problem is that Aziraphale is still clinging to the whole concept of "doing good" and preserving his own status in the organisation. I don't think he is going up there to "change it from the inside" with a wicked plan in mind. When the Metatron made the offer, he told him that he would be "such a good leader, kind and honest", "be able to make a difference, be put in charge of everything". Which is exactly how they get you. He did not tell him he would be in charge of the second coming right off the bat. He lured him with being able to make everything better for everyone (which is all Aziraphale really wants) while keeping and continuing to receive approval from above (which Aziraphale is so afraid of losing).

Which is also what he tells Crowley about. The trust he is being given, the opportunity to make a change, the opportunity for Crowley to regain validation from heaven.

And only when he has accepted the offer, the Metatron specifies the details of the deal and that "doing good for everybody" means initialising the Second Coming, that has already been well planned (and that is everything Aziraphale never wanted to be a part of, but he won't disappoint them by saying no now).

"We could have been us" feels so powerful in that context, because I feel like what it really meant was "we could have been us without the approval of anyone". Without the need to justify their actions, think about right or wrong in the sense that heaven or hell would have categorized them. The freedom to work as a team, as the shades of grey they naturally are, containing both "good" and "evil" in a way that they balance each other, not desperately trying to put one of them out. (Also worth noting here, that throughout the seasons Aziraphale *has* done "evil", but only if he could somehow twist it to be "good" (see the episode with Wee Morag, right?), which showcases the pointlessness of categorizing again).

"I forgive you" from Aziraphale is such a heartbreaking line here, too. Because it is not him speaking, really. It is him already speaking in place of the organisation he is going to work for. "I forgive you for not regaining approval. I still love you."

"Don't bother", Crowley says and his whole posture drops. "For me it was never about that."

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #good omens fan theory #good omens meta

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