Jennifer Pitt

Supernatural: The Impact of An Amulet

If you watch “Supernatural” then you know that Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester) and Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) aren’t the only stars of the show. There are some non-human stars on “Supernatural”. You know what they are: The 1967 Chevy Impala, the colt, the Ruby-dagger, the anti-possession symbol, Sam’s laptop, Dean’s leather jacket and Castiel’s trench coat.

There is one non-human item that “Supernatural” fans seem to have a very fiery passion for and that is, what’s lovingly been nick-named the “Samulet”. From the early days of the series Dean Winchester was nearly always seen wearing a small bronze coloured amulet around his neck on a leather cord. It’s got an Egyptian feel to it, with a large-eyed figure with horns. There’s a tight spiral design on the being’s forehead (representative of the Golden Mean or the rule of thirds). While it defies accurate categorization in terms of belief-system, there’s no doubt that it’s designed to resemble a symbol of protection or magic.

The first real focus on the amulet on-screen was in a flashback. During episode 8 of season 3, “A Very Supernatural Christmas”, there were a number of flashbacks to when Sam and Dean Winchester were young. While John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is away on a hunting trip he has left his boys to fend for themselves in a shabby motel room. He’s told his sons he will be back to spend Christmas with them but Sam is doubtful.

In an emotional discussion between the brothers many issues are brought up: their mother, monsters and the veracity of Santa Claus. Dean opts for telling his little brother the truth. Even though the cruel reality of the world shocks young Sam, it renews his trust in his big brother. Young Sam got the amulet from Bobby as a gift for John: it was destined to be Dean’s. Sam gives Dean the amulet and says, “Dad lied to me. I want you to have it.”

A young and frightened Sam gives the amulet to his big brother in “A Very Supernatural Christmas”. (©The CW)

The amulet has been Dean’s constant companion since it was given to him. There have been various times when the amulet has been absent or visible at the wrong times but most of that can be explained.

In Hell? When Dean Winchester is chained up and suffering in Hell the amulet is clearly visible against his t-shirt. Is the amulet there? Or is Hell an environment conjured up for Dean’s tortured soul? Either way, when Dean crawls out of his grave in “Lazarus Rising” he doesn’t have possession of the amulet. Sam has been wearing the amulet for the four months Dean was gone and returns it to his brother almost immediately upon seeing him.

Alternate Timelines? While hunting a Djinn in “What Is and What Should Never Be” (2.20), Dean is captured and kept in a dream-like state in which he lives out a life of “what if…” In this dream world Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) is still alive, John Winchester died an “ordinary” death and Dean is wearing a different medallion. That makes sense. If Dean had grown up living a life that never involved hunting then he wouldn’t have needed a protection amulet.

In episode 4 of season 5, Zachariah (Kurt Fuller) sends Dean to 2014 so he can see first-hand the results of saying “No” to the archangel Michael.  In the bleak future Sam is possessed by Lucifer and is destroying everything.  The Dean of 2014 is not wearing the amulet, perhaps having long ago given up on Sam ever being saved.

When Sam and Dean were on the outs? At the end of Season 4 Sam thinks he’s making the right choice by working with Ruby (Genevieve Padalecki) and he and Dean have a violent fight. Dean tells Sam that if he leaves he can stay gone. Even after that angry encounter Dean is still seen wearing the amulet in the days following.

Angry and hurt, Dean is still wearing the amulet even though he’s not on speaking terms with his brother at the beginning of “Lucifer Rising”. (©The CW)

In season 5, episode 2 “Good God, Y’all” the amulet had a starring role. While the Winchesters are visiting Bobby (Jim Beaver) in the hospital Castiel (Misha Collins) drops in. The angel tells them he’s come for an amulet that is “Very rare. Very powerful. It burns hot in God’s presence. It’ll help me find him [God].” The amulet Castiel needs is, in fact, Dean’s amulet.  Initially reluctant Dean finally hands over the amulet with the warning, “Don’t lose it.”

Castiel doesn’t lose the amulet but it proves to be a false hope. It doesn’t help Castiel find God and he returns it to Dean in “Dark Side of the Moon” (5.16). Dean is clearly feeling hopeless and doesn’t believe the world can be saved. He pauses on his way out of a motel room and drops the amulet into a trash can. Sam watches on sadly but the scene ends before we see what he does.

Sam watches sadly while Dean trashes the amulet in “Dark Side of the Moon” (© The CW)

Many fans think that Sam would never have let the motel room without first retrieving the amulet from the trash. It could have happened. When filming a show like “Supernatural” it seems wise to end such a pivotal scene with some questions unanswered. But if Sam had the amulet – would the unsentimental, emotionless Soul-less Sam of Season 6 have held on to it? This is just one of many questions that viewers have regarding the amulet.

Throughout the series there has been a theme of “protection”.  The hunters protect unsuspecting humans, Dean protects Sam, symbols and charms ward off demons and other big nasties.   For many people the aptly named “Samulet” represents the relationship between the brothers and the way they have each other’s backs.  Family is an ongoing theme for the Winchesters and Dean often says how important it is.

The amulet was like a symbol of the bond between Sam Winchester and his older brother.  If it’s gone does that mean that their relationship has changed?  Sam is certainly less reliant on Dean that he once was and season 7 left many viewers with a feeling that Dean was beginning to unravel due to the constant pressure and loss he has faced.

There is one hopeful piece of news.  The new “Supernatural” show runner Jeremy Carver wrote “A Very Supernatural Christmas”.  Food for thought.

Speculation & Questions

It’s been suggested that the amulet could be a “key to Purgatory”; maybe Sam will bust it out if he’d been hiding it all this time.

It was originally intended for John Winchester.  Bobby knew what John was hunting demons when he gave the amulet to Young Sam.  Does the amulet have something to do with Demons?

Was the loss of the amulet the beginning of Dean losing everything?  Writers stated that Season 7 would be “stripped down”.  The Winchesters lost most of their support system and friends, their advisors, their hide-outs, Sam’s laptop, the car and even their identities.  Was the loss of the amulet an early precursor to all the death and destruction that was to come?  Only the writers of “Supernatural” can answer most of these questions.

What do TPTB say about the amulet?

– “There are no plans to return the amulet.  It’s doing a guest shot on One Tree Hill.” – Eric Kripke (TV Line), youtube

– “The amulet never really had a definitive purpose starting out. In choosing Dean’s look, in the very beginning, Eric Kripke and myself agreed that Dean would have accouterments about him; things that he’d picked up along the way – medallions or trinkets to ward off ghosts or keep his soul intact and all that stuff. The writers built the story that the amulet came from Sam at an early age, which I thought was cool, because it gave it some purpose.” – Jensen Ackles, Superwiki

– “The thing was heavy…it’s a solid piece of brass. I would forget to change it out with the rubberized one every now and again when I was doing stunts and I’ve lost chips of my teeth from the horns hitting my mouth. After four seasons of wearing it around my neck I was glad to get rid of it.” – Jensen Ackles, Official Season 5 Companion, Via Superwiki

– “I can say that you won’t be seeing the amulet any time soon, but I can’t necessarily say you’ll never see it again.” – Sera Gamble, Zap2It

Sources

Drawing of amulet by Merisha – originally posted here
TV Line ArticleSupernatural Wikia & original article
Jensen Quote: Season Five Official Companions via Supernatural Wiki
-Knight, Nicholas, “Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 5”, Titan Books, 2010

67 thoughts on “Supernatural: The Impact of An Amulet

  1. So much food for thought! I really had hoped that Sam had retrieved it in Dark Side Of The Moon but the fact he’s been to Hell and soulless since then leaves me with not much hope. Maybe he can buy a new one!

    1. I like to think that soulless Sam would have kept it – I suppose (if I get really optimistic) he might have thought that it would have some purpose and kept it?

      1. I got to wonder what Dean gets out of it. I don’t see much discussion about what Dean gains from it, only what Sam gets out of it. If you’re trying to sell the amulet coming back, you’re not doing a good job explaining what Dean fans would get out of seeing it again.

        1. I’m not trying to sell anything. I was writing an article about the huge number of fans who would like the amulet back. I didn’t actually put my opinion in the piece.

          What would Dean “get” from the amulet being brought back? Depends how the writers brought it back, I suppose. A renewed brotherly bond &/or trust, a key to get out of Purgatory, a nice piece of jewelry.

      2. All I see is a whole bunch of people who want Sam to be the center of Dean’s world again and that’s something that should have been thrown away with the amulet. I think naming the Samulet is very obvious where the emphasis is: Dean wearing something of Sam and constantly thinking of him in a way that’s beyond brotherly.

        Sam has made it very clear that his idea of heaven does not include Dean, he can and will leave whenever he feels like it and that he got something from Ruby he didn’t get from Dean and that he will hold a grudge against Dean over a man-eating monster.

        The amulet is actually a lie. There’s nothing to feel good about how it was given, what it symbolizes and what Sam did to make Dean feel disgusted enough to throw it away. Way, way too much baggage.

        As I’ve said, have Sam find something new that actually symbolizes respect and choosing Dean over others if you must have a token of his regard but no more of this misplaced nostalgia.

        1. I saw a few comments from people who seemed to want the brothers to be a united front again. I’m not sure that even Sam fans would say they wanted him to be the centre of Dean’s world. Sam seems to have been far more peaceful and happy since he became more independent.

          Again, speaking for myself only, the amulet never represented Dean constantly thinking of Sam in “a way that’s beyond brotherly.” In terms of canon for the show – that doesn’t even make sense.

          I don’t know why Sam’s heaven SHOULD include Dean. They’re siblings. And – arguably – he did get something from Ruby he didn’t get from Dean – she said she trusted him. That’s all clear in the scripts of the episodes.

  2. “There is one hopeful piece of news. The new “Supernatural” show runner Jeremy Carver wrote “A Very Supernatural Christmas”. Food for thought.”

    Oooh, I hadn’t thought of that! That does give me hope.

    I would think that the amulet would mean so little to Soulless Sam he wouldn’t have bothered with it enough to throw it out. I doubt he gave it any thought, and it was just left wherever Soulful Sam had put it. But then I have to wonder what happened to Sam’s stuff when he was in Hell? Did Dean keep it? Has anyone noticed if Sam still wears the same clothes he had before he went to Hell? I don’t notice these things.

    In any case, if the writers wanted to bring it back, they can just decide it was never thrown out. Nothing stopping them.

    1. heh I haven’t noticed if he’s got the same stuff – I remember wondering that when he was working on his own for a while. When he left Dean all he had with him was one small backpack.

      You’re spot on with the writers. If Carver wants the amulet back they can really say whatever works!

  3. Personally, I think Soulless!Sam would have held onto the Samulet… if for no other reason than seeing it as a puzzle piece. It obviously meant ALOT to both Sam and Dean, and I can see the soul-less version trying to puzzle out exactly why, now that he can think without those pesky emotions welling up inside.

    1. Yes, that’s a good point – I can also see him trying to puzzle it out. He did seem curious about some of the things he knew he wasn’t “feeling”

  4. I hate that Dean threw it away. I think that Sam did retrieve it and it will be needed in a future episode. I was kinda hoping that Sam buried it with his Dad’s dog tags at his mom’s grave. I know that there is not hint of that in the show, but it sounds like something that Sammy would do.

    1. I hadn’t thought of that! It would make sense that Sam might have made some preparation in case he didn’t come back. Kind of like when Dean boxed up his stuff before he thought he was going to say yes to Michael!

  5. Great article, I really hope it will turn up again. There is just no way that Sam didn’t pick it up out of that trashcan.

      1. They didn’t show him taking it out and if he was going to give it, why not before he jumped into the cage. I think it’s safe to say it’s gone.

        I think that it would actually be worse if Sam shows up with the amulet now. I’d wonder why he kept it for so long and why he’s giving it now. I think you’re just asking for a Pandora’s box to open that will not simply make Sam look better.

        I think that if you really want Sam to get more cred, then he just has to earn it by trying to get Dean out of Purgatory by studying various avenues and not giving up after a couple weeks and NOT having a magical doohickey do all the work for him.

        I think what I’m seeing is people nostalgic for how much regard Sam used to have by Dean fans. If they really want people to care, he’ll just have to be shown sweating and working hard and not giving Dean junk meant for other people.

        1. Only the writers know if it’s gone 🙂

          I think it would be interesting if the writers came up with a way for the amulet to come back.

          I don’t think Sam does need more credibility. From my perspective – he’s got it. He jumped into Hell to save the world. That’s a winning move in my book.

          I’m not nostalgic at all for Dean fans having “regard” for Sam. It’s never been my experience that Dean fans had all that much regard for Sam to begin with. But my experience could be limited

  6. Thank you, thank you and thank you again for taking the time to write about the amulet, its story and the issues evolved around and through the amulet. A friend of the internet sent me the link to this article and she even doesn’t watch SPN anymore!
    I really believe Sam pulled it out from the trash, and didn’t show Dean the amulet anymore since their trip to heaven, because he must have felt that he is not worth it to give the amulet any meaning anymore (and so didn’t give it back to Dean). He said about himself that he is the least of any of them after the incident with the amulet. I believe he still thinks that of himself, so he wouldn’t open up to Dean that he kept it all the time.
    I imagine further that Sam ..knowing that he soon would die by jumping into the fiery pit, imprison Lucifer again and so destroying himself to save the world…. would have put the amulet at a safe place in the impala. So the amulet would be near Dean but Dean wouldn’t know!! There are places in that car where Sam could have hidden it, for example under the seat!!! And while he was without his soul, Sam wouldn’t have thought further about the amulet.
    It would be a great season opener for me if we see Sam remembering the amulet searching for it (if not in the impala, it could be in a safe in a bank) or he did hide it at Bobbys place. Now this place is burned down, but I could see Sam trying to find it there again, if he finds out that this amulet could be a way to find his brother or bring Dean back from purgatory. It would be a great story for me regarding the brothers and their relationship, because for me this was missing in S7 and also partly in S6! Maybe Jermey Carver wants to rebuild this brothers dynamic again and wouldn’t it be great if he decides to bring back the brothers front and center in reintroducing the Samulet?
    I understand the problem Jensen had with the heavy thing hitting at his teeth, but even Dean could have had those problems then and if Sam really picks the amulet up and gives it back to his brother Dean could say that he wants it back too but hanging it on the mirror in the impala!
    It would certainly strenghten Sam’s importance in SPN again, if Dean acknowledges that he regrets to ever have thrown it away, and that he shows Sam he cares about him and appreciates Sam as his brother and close family member. I feel like Dean is numb inside and his engine is only “fixing” Sam, but not in a human, emotional way! I miss the brothers dynamic tremendous as you see in my comment!
    I take dark Dean or dark Sam if it means we get that dynamic duo again!

    1. It’s certainly going to be an interesting season! I do hope that Carver brings back some of the brotherly vibe he’s written before. I always enjoyed his episodes. I love your idea about hanging the amulet from the rear view mirror!

  7. Well, how the amulet survived Soulless!Sam isn’t as pressing a question as ‘how did it survive Sam jumping in the cage?’. He knew he was going to say yes and that either way he wasn’t coming back. So it’d be likely Sam took measures to store the amulet somewhere safe beforehand. Many fans have built up headcanons about Sam giving the amulet to Bobby to keep safe. But there are many other options too. Maybe he made a safety deposit box just to keep the amulet. Or, my personal favorite, that he took a quick trip to Mary’s grave and buried it with John’s dogtags before taking the swan dive. Nowhere would it be guaranteed to be more undisturbed than at a gravesite. Plus it’d make a really touching scene to call back to the original 2.04 scene when he finally digs it up again.

    Regardless, I have faith we’ll see it again. You just can’t end a show without following up on Dean trashing his most prized gift from his brother. In my mind, there’s no way to ‘fix’ the brothers without some resolution from that. SPN fans are a pretty hardy bunch, but there’s not one moment that singularly crushed them more than the amulet trashing moment. That shows you how much the narrative needs to readdress it at some point. I appreciate it as an ace writers are holding in their pockets. I just hope they realize the longer it goes on unaddressed, the more suspense builds and expectation for the resolution grows. 😉

    1. I really like the idea of him burying it with the dog tags. I was just saying to someone else that I can see him putting his personal effects somewhere. It’s always been more difficult to tell with Sam because, other than his laptop, he hasn’t really had anything in particular that I’ve noticed him with.

    2. I totally agree that the Samulet needs to reappear. If it causes problems in action scenes it can become a key chain for the Impala or just have it hang from the rear view mirror. Or Jensen can wear the lighter one.

      I agree that having the Samulet survive the Cage is more problematic than Soulless Sam keeping it, but I also think Sam stashed it somewhere before he took his Swan Dive, possibly while going after Dean during PONR. Dean’s farewell tour would possibly included Mary’s grave and Sam could have put the amulet next to John’s dog tags.

      I don’t think Soulless Sam would have thrown the amulet away. Yes, it had no sentimental value, but Bobby had said it was valuable, and Bobby would not have any reason to think it was a God Finder. So Soulless Sam would have kept it just in case. I suspect if you are a practical hunter you don’t dump potentially valuable artifacts, especially ones that are small and easily portable. So as long as the amulet survived the Cage, I think Soulless Sam would not have thrown it away. He at least would have put it some place he could find it if he ever figured out what it did and then he needed it.

      I really hope that it works to get Dean out of Purgatory.

      1. Funny, how it’s Sam that would have the magical key to break into Purgatory. So basically it’s just a set up for Sam to be able to do another thing that Dean can’t and to further make Sam the savior instead of Dean actually having a storyline that’s about him. No thank you.

  8. Great article, although it sort of misses the point of exactly WHY Dean threw it away. It wasn’t because it was useless to Cas in his hunt for God, or even that Dean was beginning to feel hopeless about their ability to stop the apocalypse. It was because of how deeply and painfully hurt he was by the memories of Sam’s that he had been shown — that some of Sam’s happiest memories didn’t include him. THAT’s what was really behind it. Him thinking that their relationship had never meant as much to Sam as it had to him, and the amulet symbolized that relationship. That was really him giving up on Sam.

    Now, to be fair, Dean only got to see a couple of Sam’s best memories, and it’s very possible WHICH ones were chosen were being manipulated by Zachariah for that very reason, and many many more of Sam’s top moments WOULD have included Dean….including all those flashbacks brought forth in the final moments of Swan Song when Sam managed to latch onto those memories and used them to find the strength to fight back against Lucifer. (And also to be fair, the one memory of Dean’s that Sam got to see from when Dean was little didn’t include him, either.) Oh well…just some food for thought.

    1. And you’ve clearly busted me! I did miss out that entire piece from that episode. I got side tracked by trying to track the amulet through all the different episodes.

      That was so very sad. I do think that Sam and Dean had different childhoods but I also think they saw them through different eyes. I think Dean’s always seemed to try and be happy with what he had – family – Sam seemed to always want more.

      I did wonder if it meant he was giving up on Sam. I think maybe I blocked that out hehe

    2. I was just going to say this, but you said it beautifully. Dean saw that Sam’s heaven was “not Dean”, while his own “was Sam”. He threw the amulet away, believing that what it represented – Sam’s love for Dean – was an illusion or lie. Dean even said lines that implied: “Your heaven is my hell.”

      You also said a profound thing, when you mentioned Swan Song. Those memories of Dean, which were strong enough to break Lucifer’s hold on Sam, were also the very moment when Sam himself realized how much Dean meant to him.

      Let’s face it, Sam spent his whole life trying to run away and be someone different, which included Dean. His heavenly memories were genuine, and without Dean. It was only in Swan Song that Sam stopped running and became the real Sam, when he saw that Dean was everything worthwhile to save. If he goes to heaven now, I think Dean would be his heaven as Sam was Dean’s.

      As for the amulet, I think it’s 100% certain Sam saved it out of the trash can and kept it out of love. Even if he doesn’t give it back, he knows that in Dean’s mind, it represented Sam’s love for him. And Sam would keep it, because it was real.

      If I remember, Kripke said the amulet was going to be the key to getting Dean out of hell, until the writer’s strike changed that and the angel story was born. At JIB con, Jared mentioned revisiting an opportunity that they had lost in the past. I think this is what he meant – that Sam will be the one to get Dean out of purgatory. [He better be the one!]. And the amulet could be the key to do it. If Carver is as smart a writer as he seems, then this is a perfect, powerful storyline, that will heal all the lingering conflict of the brother’s fighting.

  9. Naming the Amulet, Samulet, totally describes that the amulet is all about Sam and it isn’t anything about Dean. It was never about brotherly bond, but about Sam being pissed off at John and giving Dean the amulet out of sheer spite for John and nothing to do with Dean. I hope Carver never brings that piece of crap back, and I hope he gets away from the “special snowflake” story that’s been shoved down my throat for 7 years. I’d like to see something for Dean for once, not something about Sam that Dean has to hold dear because it’s about his specialest brother in the whole univers. Blah.

    I also want Dean and Cas to find their own way out of Purgatory, with the help of Sam, not Sam being, once again, the sole hero of the show. If Carver is smart, then he will do to SPN what he’s done for Being Human, making all the leads heroes, not just one.

    Come on Carver, give us what Gamble refused to give us, Dean centered storylines that are about Dean himself, not about how Dean is Sam’s brother and that’s the only reason he’s even alive.

    1. I totally agree that it does show that the emphasis about wanting it back is all about Sam and not about Dean in the least. The last thing I want to ever see again is that vile thing.

      It’s also funny how there’s no distress that Dean’s amulet didn’t turn out to have any plot value for DEAN. I don’t see any push for Dean being able to use it. All I see are ways to make something of Dean’s work magically for Sam while Dean the owner is utterly powerless again. Dean wears it but only Sam can use it. How would this possibly interest a Dean fan who wants a more active role for said character? It absolutely does NOT.

      Also that thing is not Sam’s. It’s Dean’s piece of jewelry. God knows Dean doesn’t have much that he can call his own in terms of plot/powers/abilities. And for it again to be given to Sam again so he can magically show how much better and stronger he is than Dean? Come on.

      Also I find it utterly disgusting the idea that Souless!Sam prized a trinket way more than he did his own brother, who he cheerfully let turn into a vampire with the high probability that his brother would die a monster. That actually makes me think less of the relationship than I already do.

      1. I can’t speak for anyone else but I think it’s perfectly in character for Souless Sam to have held on to a pendent he suspected had, as yet, unrevealed possibilities. Everyone knows that with no soul he didn’t care about Dean – Sam admitted that. It makes perfect sense, however, that he would hang on to the amulet just in case it turned out to have some value or benefit to him.

      2. @charkinzie Sam hasn’t been souless for a while. I think it would make Sam look like a total jerk to have kept it without telling Dean then saying “OK, NOW you deserve this because you hadn’t deserved it back until now!”

        And to put it bluntly, all this blame at Dean for throwing it away, I think it says a lot that Sam didn’t buy anything new to symbolize a brand new relationship with a gift that was bought for Dean and only Dean in mind instead of something that was meant for someone else because Sam was mad at John so he did it not out of love but spite.

        The amulet is all about forcing Dean to be Sam’s father and to take on all the blame that should rightfully be placed on John’s shoulders but shifted on the next available target. For shame!

        1. I don’t think that Sam would hold on to it because Dean didn’t “deserve” it back. Dean didn’t want it. If I were in Sam’s position I wouldn’t give it to him again either. He doesn’t have the benefit of watching the show heh – so from Sam’s perspective all he sees is that Dean threw it away.

          I didn’t blame Dean for throwing anything away. I simply said he “did” throw it away. He did. I think it would be completely out of character for Sam to buy something new for Dean – particularly jewelry. They’ve never given each other gifts except for motor oil and skin mags.

          Sam didn’t force Dean to “parent” him. John did it – and Dean has carried it on.

    2. ITA Silver. For the first couple of years of the show, the amulet appeared to be related to Dean and there was always lots of hope and speculation that it would lead to an interesting backstory for him.

      But instead the show made it all about Sam and his unhappiness with his family life. The fact that Dean used to wear it is incidental as seen by the way certain parts of the fandom dubbed it the “samulet.”

      I believe Dean tossed it because he finally realized that he had idealized Sam and their bond to an unrealistic degree. Sam said it himself, he never saw family the way Dean did and he really hasn’t said anything to suggest his feelings have changed. Yes, he stays with Dean but he seems to do it out of habit and because neither of them have anyone else to turn to. So for me, the “sam”ulet has become a symbol of the uneven nature of the so-called brotherly bond and bringing it back would not ring true for me.

    3. I thought that the Angel story line was very Dean-centered. But I think we all see the show differently depending on which characters we favour.

      1. Colin Ford is a great little actor and if he wanted to convince me that he was giving the amulet to Dean out of pure love and gratitude to his brother, then he would have. Instead, that scene was all about Sam’s anger at his father. I felt like Sam simply gave it to Dean because he was there and he didn’t want to give it to John. Like he would have given it to the hotel cleaning person if he or she had been there.

        It just happened to be Dean and the sad thing is that the kid was so starved for affection that he was so pathetically grateful or even this kind of petulant gesture directed at him.

        Incidentally, these last two years have been crap but up until the end of season 5, I found plenty to keep me interested besides Sam. thank you very much.

        1. okay – no need to be rude … I’m just restating what I wrote in the article. You think one thing, I think another. It does happen.

      2. I thought we were talking about the amulet which became a completely samcentric symbol, not the overall mytharc, which had parts that were more focused on Dean but which turned out to be a big red herring anyway since it all came down to Sam being Lucifer’s vessel with Dean sitting on the sidelines. As for the amulet, fans such as yourself certainly seem to find in samcentric since you only talk about it in relation to Sam. Again, Dean is only relevant in that he is on the receiving end of whatever the “Sam”ulet symbolizes to Sam.

        1. I’m not sure what mytharc you’re talking about – my article is about objects that most fans wanted back. I didn’t speak about the amulet only in relation to SAm, you’re wrong.

    4. I think it was absolutely about the brotherly bond. It’s all interpretation. Sam giving that amulet to Dean instead of John spoke to how it was only ever Dean who told him the truth about things.

      Sam didn’t get Dean out of Hell – Castiel did – I think you’re remembering things a bit selectively! I think when one is able to look at the show objectively the storylines have been pretty evenly split. Dean has good and bad qualities, as does Sam. It’s one of the things I like about the show after seven years.

      And man, you’ve got way more staying power than me if you’re able to watch a storyline you don’t like for seven years!!

      1. Unfortunately the reply button on your blog does not seem to post properly.

        I was replying to your comment about the angel storyline being deancentric while I was talking about the backstory for the “sam”ulet.

        As for my being rude, again, responding to your comment about my apparent staying power in watching a show for 7 years if I didn’t like one small backstory that made one of my previously favorite symbols. Again, putting words in my mouth, which I consider rude.

        1. Oh that wasn’t rude I was merely expressin my surprise that people watch TV shows that seem to bother them! Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂 We’ve had a lot of views from the post on your board!

  10. Yes it may be true that Sam saw Dean throw it away, but Sam has seen Dean apologize twice since he threw it away (in both Swan Song and Point of No Return). He watched as Dean went against every fibre he had and supported Sam’s plan. He had a front row seat when Dean showed up on the battlefield to make sure that Sam didn’t die alone. He learned that Dean did his very best to honor Sam’s dying wish for him. He was the only one that even noticed that something was wrong with Sam. Sam knows that Dean risked his life to get Sam out of the cage. Sam also experienced the fact that Dean never once held anything RoboSam said or did to him against him, even though getting vamped was a big part of his break up with Lisa.. He was way more supportive of Sam after the wall broke than Sam ever was to him after hell. Dean’s not perfect, and he did kill Amy, but in DYL, Sam also had a front row seat as Dean was willing to let Osiris kill him rather than have Sam find out something Dean knew would hurt him.

    Sam either saw all that, or knows about it. In the end, Sam also admitted Dean was right about the Amy situation. So yes Dean did throw it away, but if Sam did fish it out of the trash, I’m curious as to what more Dean has to do to earn back the amulet, if Sam does have it? What exactly does Dean have to do to prove to Sam that he might be worthy? What exactly is he holding on to it for?

    Given everything Dean has said and done for Sam, the return of the amulet now will not seem like a beautiful brotherly moment but will only make Sam seem like a very petty person.

    Also it was Sam himself that the relationship never worked for him (Falllen Idols) and that he didn’t see family the same way Dean did (DSOTM). Both things were said free and clear of grief, supernatural influence, supernatural poison, demon blood, jonesing for a demon blood fix or manipulation by a supernatural creature. Both were said of Sam’s free will. Why would Dean a symbol of a relationship that Sam himself played a large part in devaluing?

    Given all that, I’d rather the amulet stay gone.

    1. I don’t think Dean has to earn the amulet back. As I said to someone else – if someone threw away a gift I’d given them I probably wouldn’t offer it back to them again. I also didn’t say Dean would want it back. I’m merely exploring possibilites. It seems that most fans I’ve encountered would like it back.

      1. I wouldn’t be so sure about “most” wanting it back.

        If Dean threw it away then why should Sam have kept it? It really makes no sense.

        If the show really wants people to “get over it,” then the last thing it should do is dredge up something that reminds them of the big bad past.

        if you’re talking about things I’d want back, I got to say I want Rufus back. I want someone who respected Dean and didn’t demand Dean treat him with kid gloves. There are a ton of other things and people I’d like back way before I’d even think of the amulet.

        1. As I said before – this article was just “my experience”. My experience is that most of the fans I spoke to wanted the amulet back one way or another. To some people it makes perfect sense that Sam would keep it.

          The article was about innanimate objects that meant something significant to fans.

    2. I would also think that this past year would have been the time to return the amulet to Dean, if Sam was going to, because he seemed to think Dean was suicidal. If the amulet was supposed to be this great symbol of Sam’s regard for Dean, then what better way to give his brother something to hang on to during his depression?

      So that suggests to me that Sam didn’t keep it, which then suggests that the amulet didn’t mean much to him after all, since he left it in the trash.

      1. Great theory 🙂 equally as good as some of the ones I outline in my article. Guess we’ll have to see what the writers coem up with.

    1. I didn’t say it meant something to all fans – I said most of the ones I had interacted with. THAT is an accurate statement. Clearly the three of you who are repeatedly commenting here feel differently.

  11. OMC…chill pill Deangals…it is an acceptance of the differences in us that makes us a complete human being. Sam has redeemed himself…Dean has a solid story line..
    #SPN is about two brothers and their fight and their bond…U cannot demean one without demeaning the very premise of show:)

  12. I dislike the amulet and IMO it was a symbol of everything that was wrong with Dean and Sam’s relationship after the backstory it was given in the Christmas episode. Dean gets a cast of second hand gift because Sam was pissed off at it’s original intended recipient, John. So I’d be fine with it if that Amulet never appeared again. There is no reason for it appear again. People move on, Dean’s moved on, I hope, and can find worth and meaning for other reasons than the dysfunctional relationship he had with the father who forced him to take on heavy adult responsibilities much too young and because of that with the brother he was forced to parent.

    I wouldn’t mind Dean picking up a new amulet or some new piece of jewelry, something that symbolized something about himself and his own experiences.

    1. I have to agree with this. I’d rather it just stay in the trash, too. It had it’s day, but the relationship that it symbolized for both of them is long gone now. Sam stated in Fallen Idols that he didn’t want that relationship back, and Dean realized in Dark Side of the Moon that he’d put too much stock in trying to be a surrogate father to Sam when Sam very clearly didn’t want that any longer, and possibly never did. Dean made Sam the center of his world and Sam didn’t want that-not for himself, and not for Dean either. If this is untrue, I’d rather Mr. Carver simply show us that through better writing and storytelling concerning the brothers’ relationship/bond than what we’ve been shown of it from his predecessors since mid S5. Less of the grand gestures, and more simple and genuine caring and respect from Sam as regards Dean and Dean’s feelings would work great and is what I’d like to see. We’ve been given the opposite in spades for seven seasons now, IMO. It’s past time that they switched that aspect of the show up, again IMO.

      1. Thanks for reading and commenting. And thanks to whoever posted the link to our article over at “to hell And back”!! Great promo!

  13. Yes, you should be pleased with all the hits since I had not heard of your site before this. Though it seems the Sam girls knew of it so I guess that is the part of fandom you usually cater to.

    1. We’re only even existed for about a month! haha. I’m sure no one has “heard of us”. I’m not sure why you’re so argumentative. I wrote an article about an amulet. It’s not really life-threatening or anything. Our blog is actually about “entertainment” – mostly music and books so far! Feel free to read other articles

      1. “I’m not sure why you’re so argumentative.”

        Perhaps because you make digs like this with posters you obviously disagree with?

        1. But you are being argumentative.

          I’m not making digs. I’ve just been restating the same things over and over. It’s pretty clear how you feel about the amulet.

          Have a nice weekend!

  14. To @Oh, No Not Again and @Danni,
    I usually tend to keep to myself on things like this…..unless I get REALLY PISSED OFF!!!!

    To Oh, No Not Again and Danni- Your negativity is TOTALLY out of line! What’s so wonderful about this show is all the outlandish and highly unexpected plots it throws at us. What the HELL do u have against the amulet that would cause you to openly BITCH out someone who spent a lot of time writing this and living in the idea of one of the best shows throwing yet another exciting twist our way! You obviously enjoy crushing people’s passion and hard work. It’s not wanted here or in this fandom.

  15. Yep! I’m sorry for having to call u both out, but your opinions are getting a little out of hand. I mean, who friggin CARES if u, or anyone, agree or disagree with what this article says…it really wasn’t ment for opinions anyway! Haven’t u ever heard of the term, “If you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all.” ??? It’s quite obvious that Charkinzie cares enough about the subject to write this article, so it just infuriates me that people are bashing! A simple, “I feel differently about what the amulet represents.” or “Interesting thoughts.” would have been just fine. So yes, “Seriously.” UGH!

  16. I highly doubt that the amulet is gone forever. Isn’t one of “Supernatural”s main themes bringing back things that seemed to be lost? In the words of Jim Beaver, “Anything’s possible”. The fact that it is out there actually provides a pretty awesome safety net for the writers in case they get into a scrape that they cannot get out of. They now have that ace up their sleeve (as well as the Colt – – – which is WHERE exactly?)

  17. What about Dean’s other jewellery? Where’s his ring and bracelet? I miss them – looks so much better with a bit of flash.

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