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muffyrock · 9 months

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Aziraphale’s Story Is Perfect

A “Good Omens 2” Essay

Many believe what happened with Aziraphale at the end of season 2 was out of character or ruined his character growth from season 1, but in reality it did the opposite.

It was coming all along.

I have heard multiple people say that those last 10-15 minutes of season 2, episode 6 ruined Aziraphel’s character, but in reality it was perfectly in character for him.

(I know, bold words from some scrub on the internet. I just ask that you all hear me out first.)

To begin with, there are three main factors which deeply influenced Aziraphale’s final decision at the end of Good Omens, season 2. These are purity/naivety, idealism, and love.

One thing many seem to forget about Aziraphale’s character is how pure and naive he is—and how naive angels generally are in this series. In season 2, Aziraphale’s purity/naivety is pointed out by other characters on a few occasions. One happens while Nina is asking Crowley about what is going on between him and Aziraphale, eventually asking if he’s his “bit on the side.” Crowley shuts this down instantly saying how Aziraphale is “too pure” to be anyone’s “bit on the side.” This definitely points out the angel’s purity, but also hints at his naivety considering context. “Bit on the side” refers to having a sexual relationship with someone who is not married to you, which is why Crowley said to Nina that Aziraphale is too pure for that. Sex before marriage is often considered a sin in religion, and Aziraphale being an Angel must follow God as closely as he can. In addition, it is also quite possible he has limited knowledge on sexual pleasure or sex in general, showing not just purity, but naivety. For example, children are not just pure and innocent with little exposure to such topics, but also naive because of being unaware of it.

The second instance was also led by Nina in the bookshop moments before our last 10-15 minutes of disaster. This time, she points out how Aziraphale is the cheerful one who “still believes in magic,” out of the two. Given she is trying her best to tell Crowley the two of them were literally made for each other (which who knows, maybe they were?), it still points out Aziraphale’s purity and naivety.

Children believe in magic, and children are often naive and can make poor decisions because of this. Why are they naive? It is because they lack experience. Experience removes innocence, and in return can destroy purity and naivety. It is revealed through this comment, and previous characterization (from both seasons), that Aziraphale is still childlike. His love of magic shows he is still a child at heart. Why would any being capable of real magic care so much for “fake magic?” The only explanation is because it catches the wonder of his inner child. Aziraphale, despite all his time on Earth, still lacks experience. Unlike Crowley, his trauma did not force him through physical changes and mental agony. Both Crowley’s fall and life with Hell were incredibly unpleasant. That is why Crowley, who suffered a lot worse than Aziraphale is more “mature,” for lack of better words. He has more experience and has lost most of his inner child he once had (shown when he was making the universe) than Aziraphale has. In short, Aziraphale lacks experience.

Overall, this purity and naivety is Aziraphale’s greatest character flaw. When his life first started and we reflect on season 1, he once believed all angels must be as pure as Heaven. That was until things such as Armageddon were planned. Then he was able to have enough experience to know that some angels in charge are not as pure and good as he once believed. This begins to sway his perspective on them, but due to his naivety he still believes that Heaven is innately good and that nothing can change its innate goodness. That is because of what he was exposed to from early creation, Crowley being the only reason Aziraphale made any changes or grew at all. Without Crowly’s influence, Aziraphale may have simply gone along with Armageddon since the almighty plan, that God is in charge of, is the correct one (at least to him).

We see this a bit in season 2 in episode 1. When Crowley is making the universe and Aziraphale reveals it will be destroyed in a few million years, Crowley is greatly upset by this. However, Aziraphale said it casually, making clear he puts full trust into God’s decision because that is how he was “raised.” As an angel, he is to carry out God’s plan/s, no matter how absurd they may seem. This, however, becomes a struggle for Aziraphale since some of these plans are morally wrong.

This moves us towards the next leading factor into Aziraphale’s choice, idealism.

When Aziraphale is offered the spot as archangel, it is clear he was hesitant. However, given the chance to help lead some of Heaven’s greatest decisions and to bring Crowley with him and turn him back into an angel (more on this later) he accepts. However, his choice seems odd with how poorly Heaven has treated Aziraphale, and how they really wanted him dead after stopping Armageddon. At the same time, he sees this offering as Heaven, and in return God, forgiving him. This forgiveness plays into his naivety, reinforcing his belief that Heaven is good. Heaven forgave him for his actions and is awarding him, thus seeing his goodness. This means Heaven must be good too and can understand goodness. Unfortunately for Aziraphale, this belief that Heaven itself is innately good is his ideal version of Heaven. He cannot believe that Heaven, the light, is not innately good, pure, and innocent. So, he sees it as his ideal version of itself for it is the only version that makes sense to him.

In short, his idealism of Heaven drives him towards accepting the offer. As he sees it, an angel as good as himself with such power can ensure that Heaven is indeed innately good. At the same time, if Crowley agreed then he could save Crowly—since Heaven is the “good guys” and everyone wishes they could be there. Finally, on top of this, by ensuring Heaven is good and pure like himself and like Crowley, Aziraphel could solve his greatest challenge: Trying to be an angel who follows Heaven as closely as he can.

His idealism of Heaven and nativity together give him this “identity crisis.” We see this clearest in the minisode of season 2, episode 2. At the end of the struggle with Job, Aziraphale believes Crowley has come to him to take him to Hell. It is clear that Aziraphale fears falling, but in this situation has decided he deserved it for lying to Gabriel. It catches the angel completely off guard when the demon tells him that he is not being sent to Hell. This is when Aziraphale’s identity crisis truly begins.

He realizes he is no longer completely pure and loyal to God since he lied to the supreme archangel. Lacking purity, he should have fallen; he should be punished for his actions; he cannot be an angel now. Those intrusive thoughts begin to haunt Aziraphale, and create this tension. Him believing that Heaven is innately good and that all good, pure people go to Heaven, and that angels are magical beings that must represent this goodness, he finds himself suffering. Since being an angel is his identity, he must fit into the angelic mold. However, with how Heaven does things, some being the opposite of what his Heaven stands for, he fails to do this for it seems wrong. As a result, he begins to wonder if maybe it is him and not Heaven itself. This is why he struggles with his identity. He is struck wondering: Is he an angel if he does the morally right thing to him, or the morally right thing according to Heaven and God?

Realizing he could make these moralities the same when in the supreme archangel position, Aziraphale finds the offer upmost tempting. He can improve the angels around him, he can ensure his Heaven and actual Heaven are the same, and he can rescue Crowly from damnation. As he sees it, he has struck a pot of gold.

That leads to the last factor: Love.

In season 2, love became the main focus with the mystery surrounding a secret love between Gabriel and Beezlebub. Along with this, we watched the ineffable husbands attempt to get Maggie and Lisa together, knowing Maggie has a crush on her. These relationships in the season are present not just to provide a plot, but also to mirror Good Omen’s true story, this being the “forbidden” love between Crowley and Aziraphale.

Aziraphale loves Crowley. This has been clear from the very beginning. However, Aziraphale cannot understand these emotions completely. He knows the other is at least his friend, perhaps his best friend, but that is as far as his thoughts go on the title of their bond. It is through Aziraphale’s actions that we can confirm that he loves everything about Crowley. There are little details such as the glances he exchanges with him, how he says his name, yellow being pretty, how his love language is touch, etc. In short, only someone who is blind would fail to notice that Aziraphale loves Crowley.

Unlike Crowley, Aziraphale never comes to terms with these feelings because the two never talk about it, and he is ultimately unaware of them. This ties into his naivety since he sees it as nothing more than the feelings of a friendship, Crowley being the only friendship he actually has. Without another to compare it to, it is harder for one with more innocence in life than experience to understand what they are feeling. Crowley is lucky enough to have that forced conversation with Maggie and Nina in the bookshop, but Aziraphale did not.

Now, how does love play a role?

It all starts back at the very beginning before the universe. Crowley, as an angel, was filled with that same childish glee Aziraphale can still experience through things like human magic tricks. Since then, Aziraphale has never seen Crowley with that much wonder and joy. Now, loving the other as he does, getting the chance to make Crowley an angel again becomes even more appealing. One thought that likely crossed Aziraphale’s mind was that he could bring that joy back to Crowley by reversing the physical effects of Hell. However, this ignores all the experience Crowley has gained since then by asking questions and being on his own side. Hence, Crowley turns Aziraphale down. This upsets him. He wants to make Crowley happy, but fails to realize making Crowley an angel will not return that joy. He is still too naive and pure to realize that Crowley’s trauma from the fall still haunts him (which is why in season 1 we saw him change the subject every time it was brought up).

At least half out of love, Aziraphale took the Metatron’s offer. He thought it would solve not just his issues, but Crowley’s issues as well. However, it instead led to a massive fight between them, leading to a sudden kiss just before Crowley storms out of the bookshop.

Aziraphale is now a mess of emotions. Not long after, the Metatron arrives to see how it all went. Of course, Aziraphale reveals how Crowley took it very poorly. We then see that Aziraphale clearly hesitates to leave with the Metatron right away. He is clearly nervous, and tries his best to find an excuse to stay. For example, he asks who will take care of the bookshop, to which it is revealed Muriel will. Only once Aziraphale runs out of excuses does he leave for Heaven. Why? It is all because he loves Crowley. He tried his best to find some excuse to buy him time or turn the Metatron down. If Crowley was not part of the offer, he could have argued he had to keep an eye on the demon. Then he might have gotten himself off the hook.

Truthfully, there is no way Aziraphale went up that elevator to Heaven without feeling any guilt. His issue is that he is too nice, too pure, and too naive. He could not turn the Metatron down because he would feel bad for doing so. Furthermore, he may have felt like he had lied to the Metatron since he already agreed. However, at the same time, if he goes he knows he will hurt Crowley even more.

Finally, a small detail is his actions before stepping into the elevator to Heaven. Before Aziraphale 100% commits himself, he asks what the plan is. When the Metatron says it is called “the second coming,” Aziraphale instantly loses his smile. We then see him look back at Crowley before putting on a fake smile and stepping inside the elevator. He knew what the Metatron meant, and since he and Crowley never talk, he assumes that Crowley has no clue about this “second coming.” So, out of love, he decides he must go to Heaven to put his foot down and stop this plan. It was a challenge to stop the first Armageddon, so this time Aziraphale plans to stop it before it starts.

Hence, Aziraphale goes back to Heaven, giving us our painful ending to season 2 with the ineffable husbands going separate ways. However, it was always a great possibility considering the complexities to Aziraphale’s character. He is naive and still believes in innate good, he wants Heaven to be his idealized version, and he loves Crowley and wants to see him happy. These traits naturally contradict each other, giving Aziraphale a constant struggle that leads him to take his new position. In short, Aziraphale’s story is perfect. It sticks true to his character, shows what would happen if the chance to change everything and anything came to him, and proves that his character is more complex than what appears to the eye.

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