Archangel Blade
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| Name | Archangel Blade |
| Manufacturer | Archangels |
| Powers | Can kill archangels, angels, and demons. |
| Location/Owners | Archangels Men of Letters Bunker |
| Episodes | 5.19 Hammer of the Gods 13.13 Devil's Bargain 13.17 The Thing 13.21 Beat the Devil 13.22 Exodus 13.23 Let the Good Times Roll 14.20 Moriah 15.14 Last Holiday 15.19 Inherit the Earth |
You recall the important errand I had mentioned? Word had got back to me that a certain artifact I thought had been lost forever resurfaced. And now it's mine. Beautiful, isn't it? [...] The only known weapon capable of destroying an archangel -- the archangel blade.
Weapon Properties
The primary weapon of choice for archangels, the archangel blade is one of the few weapons in existence with the capability to kill an archangel, but only when wielded by another archangel. Like a standard angel blade, the archangel blade is a small dagger-like weapon, but differentiates with the blade being made of a golden material and having a twisting tri-blade design, with etchings engraved down each side of the blade and a leather grip.
Asmodeus believed that the archangel blades were lost forever, until one resurfaced and came into his possession.[1] While the lore indicates that only an archangel can wield it against another archangel, the blade still proves effective against demons when used by a human.[2] The archangel blade is also effective against archangels when wielded by a human vessel powered by an archangel inside of them, regardless of whether the vessel or the archangel is in control.[3]
When Lucifer is killed with the blade, his vessel Nick survives. Sam theorizes that the archangel blade is designed to kill the possessing archangel while sparing the vessel, with Nick only sporting a healing wound where he was stabbed.[4] This is contrary to what happened to Gabriel in Apocalypse World, where he and his vessel were both killed, but not too dissimilar to what happened with Bobby Singer when he killed the demon possessing him with the demon-killing knife, and barely survived leaving him paralyzed.
Despite how powerful the weapon is against archangels, it cannot break the warding magic on angel cuffs when they're modified to the point of restraining even archangels. Dean tries this after Mrs. Butters handcuffs Jack in a weakened state, creating an explosive pulse of energy as a result of each strike on the chain.[5] When Michael kills a resurrected Lucifer with the blade, the fallen archangel explodes into ashes due to the fact that he was not occupying a human vessel, nor was there any blood left on the blade.[6]
Episodes
5.19 Hammer of the Gods
After casting a blood spell on Gabriel to bind him to her, Kali takes what she believes to be Gabriel's blade and stabs him with it, apparently killing him.
This was merely a trick on Gabriel's part as he was still alive and hiding in the Impala, having planted a fake he had "made out of a can of diet orange Slice." Despite the trick, he Gabriel confirmed that the blade of an archangel can kill him and Lucifer. After a confrontation with Dean, Gabriel stands up to his brother with the blade to try and buy Sam and Dean time to escape the Elysian Fields Hotel with Kali, but gets himself stabbed and apparently killed when Lucifer turns it on him, his wings and halo burned onto the floor and table.
13.13 Devil's Bargain
As Ketch reports back to Asmodeus regarding his failed attempt to kill Lucifer, he says he fears that as good as he is, he doesn't stand a chance against the Devil at full power. Asmodeus agrees and tells Ketch that the important errand that took him away was in regards to an artifact that had resurfaced and he reveals to Ketch the only known weapon that can destroy an archangel -- the archangel blade. Impressed, Ketch still questions the weapon's usefulness, reminding Asmodeus that the lore on the weapon specifies that it is only effective against archangels when wielded by another archangel. Asmodeus proceeds to lead Ketch to a jail cell and introduce him to one of his prisoners, the Archangel Gabriel.
13.17 The Thing
After taking a beating from Asmodeus, Ketch rebels and rescues Gabriel, at the same time stealing the archangel blade and the grace Asmodeus had siphoned from Gabriel. During his escape, he uses the blade to kill a demon. He takes them all to Sam and Dean at the Bunker and relinquishes them in exchange for protection from Asmodeus.
13.18 Bring 'em Back Alive
While reading the story Gabriel wrote in Enochian on the walls of his room, Sam and Castiel learn that the Gabriel stabbed by Lucifer with the archangel blade was, in fact, a double so that Gabriel could fake his death again. Presumably, the blade Lucifer used was also a fake since he turned it on the conjured version of Gabriel when he stabbed him.
13.21 Beat the Devil
After giving Lucifer a magical roofie, Gabriel takes him by blade point with the archangel blade. A depressed Lucifer begs Gabriel to kill him. However, rather than kill or drain Lucifer of his grace, Gabriel knocks him unconscious with the butt of the blade handle.
13.22 Exodus
After Lucifer shows up in Apocalypse World, Dean demands that Gabriel use the archangel blade to kill him. However, Lucifer claims that Gabriel, who is reluctant, is not strong enough to kill him. The argument eventually causes Jack Kline to teleport away, causing everyone to calm down for the time being.
After Michael arrives at the rift between Apocalypse World and the Bunker, Gabriel draws his archangel blade to hold Michael off and buy the Winchesters some time to evacuate everyone through the rift. Michael responds by drawing an archangel blade of his own and engaging Gabriel in battle. Gabriel proves to be no match for Michael, who kills Gabriel with his archangel blade. However, Gabriel's sacrifice buys the Winchesters enough time to evacuate everyone through the rift before it closes, trapping Lucifer in Apocalypse World with Michael.
13.23 Let the Good Times Roll
After Jack learns of Lucifer's deeds and rejects him, Lucifer uses Gabriel's archangel blade to extract Jack's grace, rendering his son human and powerless whilst augmenting his own powers. Lucifer later throws the blade between Sam and Jack and demands that they fight to the death, under threat of death, telling the two the victor will be allowed to live and have a 7-to-10 day timeframe to try and stop Lucifer from unraveling the universe. When Sam is unwilling to kill him, Jack briefly attempts suicide with the blade.
Before Jack can kill himself, he drops the blade when Dean arrives, now the vessel of the Apocalypse World Michael. Armed with Michael's archangel blade and powered by Michael, Dean battles Lucifer, but is quickly disarmed. As Lucifer attempts to smite Dean, Sam tosses Dean the blade up to his brother, allowing Dean to stab Lucifer's heart, killing him. After Michael reneges on his deal with Dean, he vanishes and takes his blade with him, though Gabriel's blade remains in Jack and Sam's possession.
14.01 Stranger in a Strange Land
Sam theorizes to Nick that the reason he is still alive when Lucifer was killed could be that the archangel blades were somehow designed to kill the possessing archangel and spare the vessel, contrasting the angel blades, which kill both the possessing angel (or demon) along with the vessel.
14.20 Moriah
After returning to deal with the threat of Jack Kline, God plays with Michael's archangel blade in the Bunker, commenting that He hasn't seen one for a long time. When He asks where they found it, Sam tells Chuck that they got it from another world.
15.14 Last Holiday
Convinced that Jack is a threat, Mrs. Butters produces an archangel blade, presumably found by her in the Bunker, and tries to get Dean to kill the young Nephilim with it. Dean takes the weapon, but refuses to kill Jack and gets himself locked up in the dungeon with him instead.
Having hung on to the archangel blade, Dean tries to use the weapon to break the angel cuffs restraining Jack, but his attempt to break the chain causes a pulse of energy, pushing Jack into the nearby cabinet. By positioning Jack in front of the door and striking the cuffs again, Dean is able to propel Jack into the door and break it down.
When Dean and Jack go to the boiler room and attempt to lock Mrs. Butters away again, Jack is armed with the archangel blade while Dean arms himself with his gun.
15.19 Inherit the Earth
Michael kills a resurrected Lucifer with an archangel blade, though this time Lucifer explodes into ashes instead of leaving remains behind due to him not inhabiting a human vessel as Nick was already dead. Michael thanks Sam for supplying him with the archangel blade, which doesn't have blood on it either due to Lucifer exploding into ashes.
Trivia
- The blade's design appears similar to that of a Jagdkommando Dagger.
- The blade Gabriel wields against Lucifer, who then swiftly turns said blade against the wielder to stab and presumably kill Gabriel, looks like a plain silver angel blade. However, as it was later revealed that Gabriel purposefully faked his death, this was presumably another fake.[7] Despite this, Lucifer appeared to believe that this was a true archangel blade as he believed himself to have killed Gabriel. Eight years later, when Lucifer discovers that Gabriel is alive, he's genuinely disturbed by the revelation before attempting to flee.
- After Michael took complete possession of Dean, he took his blade with him, though Gabriel's blade remained with Sam and Jack.[3] It was later revealed that after Michael dispossessed Dean, he also left his archangel blade behind.[8][9] Since then, both blades currently remain in the Men of Letters Bunker.
- God's comments in 14.20 Moriah confirm that there is, in fact, more than one archangel blade, as God states that He hasn't seen "one of these" in forever. When Sam states that the blade Chuck is holding came from another world, it implies that when Michael dispossessed Dean in 14.02 Gods and Monsters, he also left his archangel blade behind, or that he left it in his suit after Dean trapped him in his subconscious during the events of 14.10 Nihilism.
