The Cosmic Balance

The Cosmic Balance.

Chuck: There’s a harmony, a balance, in the Universe. Light needs dark. Dark needs light. If you blow one of them up, then, I mean— Lucifer: It wouldn't be a good thing. Chuck: It’d be really not a good thing. Like ‘end of reality’ not good. – God and Lucifer, 11.22 We Happy Few

History

Chuck and I, we're twins. Creation and destruction, light and dark, balance. And when we split apart, all this was created. – Amara, 15.15 Gimme Shelter

According to God, there has always been a Cosmic Balance in the Multiverse, one where light needs darkness and vice versa, and if one of them is removed from the scales, then everything will cease to exist. The Embodiment of Light was Chuck and the Embodiment of Darkness is Amara.

Before the beginning, Chuck and Amara were previously one harmonious cosmic entity encompassing both light and darkness until they spilt apart into two separate cosmic beings who stood only in relation to each other. As a result of their separation, the Big Bang caused the creation of existence itself.

When God and the archangels defeated the Darkness, God decided to lock her away to maintain the Cosmic Balance rather than killing her, thus allowing Creation to happen. To imprison the Darkness, God created a Mark to act as the lock and key of her cage.

When the Darkness was released, Amara planned to make God suffer by destroying everything He created, prompting Chuck to "come off the sidelines" to help the Winchesters stop her from reducing all of Creation to ash. After the attack on Amara succeeds, with her ceding defeat and prepared to die, she uses her remaining energy to attack God, severely and terminally weakening Him.

Amara reveals to Dean that the Sun is "dying" because God is dying. Since God is dying, the scales are tipping away from Light and into nothing. After that, everything will cease to exist, including her. Dean convinces her to put aside her anger and hatred and ask herself what she wants. She summons God and they reconcile after Amara tells God that all she wants is for them to be a family again and Chuck reveals that He wants that as well. Amara heals God, restoring the Sun in the process, and they both depart to have a "family meeting." Thus the Cosmic Balance is no longer in jeopardy.

Sam and Castiel theorize that if both Chuck and Amara are killed at the same time, both sides of the cosmic scales will be empty and a new balance will be established for the universe.

While Chuck begins destroying every other alternate universe in the Multiverse, Jack Kline prepares himself to follow Billie's plan to kill God. However, Sam and Dean are left to wonder what would happen to their universe if Chuck is killed since Amara would still be alive. Dean points out that if both Chuck and Amara were killed, nothing would be out of balance and the multiverse would remain intact. Billie's plan is ultimately revealed to kill them both by turning Jack into a kind of cosmic black hole that, when it absorbs Chuck and Amara, would start a chain reaction that kills all three entities, leaving her as the sole entity in charge of the universe. However, her plans were thwarted when Sam convinces Dean to find another way to stop Chuck, who convinces Amara to fuse together with him and become one once more.

After Jack absorbs God's power, Chuck becomes mortal while Jack takes his place as the new God and the new cosmic embodiment of light. Jack states that he and Amara now exist in harmony, maintaining the Cosmic Balance and allowing the Winchesters' universe to continue operating.

Episodes

10.21 Dark Dynasty

The concept of the cosmic balance is first referenced by Rowena and Charlie. While describing how Sister Agnes experimented on curing curses by inflicting others, Rowena explains that a curse and its cure live side by side in the magic world, as balance is required in any struggle between good and evil: one cannot be without the other. Charlie describes it as a 'binary system'.

11.22 We Happy Few

After God and Lucifer reconcile, they explain to Sam and Dean the concept of the Cosmic Balance. They agree to imprison Amara once again to maintain it. Sam, Dean, God, and Lucifer, along with Crowley, Rowena, Clea and her fellow witches, the angels, and the demons, launch an attack on Amara to weaken her long enough for God to restore the Mark of Cain and transfer it onto Sam. However, not wanting to be imprisoned again, Amara attacks God and interrupts the transfer. Lucifer tries to stop her, but Amara tears him out of Castiel and attacks God with black tendrils of pure darkness. Amara states that God is not dead, but is starting to fade away, but not before He watches all of Creation transform into nothing.

11.23 Alpha and Omega

In the aftermath of the massive attack on the Darkness, they all witness the Sun fading away. Castiel remarks that the Sun is the source of all life on Earth and without it, everything will waste away. They all agree that since imprisoning her will no longer help prevent the Sun from dying, they must kill the Darkness. God reveals to them that Amara's only weakness is light. As He puts it, the amount of light necessary to destroy her would be "ten thousand suns set to supernova." Castiel states that souls are full of energy and light, each equivalent to one hundred suns. Rowena agrees to help them build a bomb made out of the souls they can manage to collect. Castiel goes to Heaven to ask for souls, but the angels refuse to help because they know that God is dying and they are "dying with dignity." Crowley had souls saved up, but the demons raided his stash after Lucifer reclaimed the throne and left him nothing to contribute.

Sam and Dean go to Waverly Hills Sanatorium to collect the souls of vengeful spirits residing within the abandoned hospital using a crystal forged by a spell Rowena read from the Book of the Damned. The reaper, Billie, spots them there and agrees to give them what they need to complete the bomb by raiding the Veil and supplying them with a couple hundred thousand souls. Rowena transfers the energy onto Dean and told him that touching his fingers together will set off the bomb. After visiting the grave of Mary Winchester, God transports Dean to Amara's location. Amara is able to sense the energy resonating within Dean and blows his cover. After exchanging words with Dean, Amara is convinced to talk to her brother. She summons God to her side and they talk. Amara forgives God and decides to allow Creation to prosper and restores God and the Sun. They both depart, but not before God removes the bomb from Dean and Amara revives Mary Winchester as a thanks for Dean giving her what she needed the most.

14.20 Moriah

Chuck says He can't use the Equalizer against Jack as it would disrupt the cosmic balance, since the gun affects both the shooter and the target.

15.08 Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven

Sam, Dean, and Castiel theorize that the key to imprisoning Chuck could be found on the demon tablet, as the tablets were dictated in case He were to become incapacitated. When Donatello questions why they can't just kill Him, Sam explains that God has to exist to maintain the universe, and creation would fall apart without Him.

15.12 Galaxy Brain

While Sam, Dean, and Castiel discuss how Jack could kill Chuck, Sam questions how the universe would remain balanced if Amara is still alive at the time.

Billie explains that when God started creating the various universes in the multiverse, He had to build Himself into the framework of the multiversal quantum construct to ensure that the Winchesters' world would continue operating in His absence. In turn, He created His own greatest weakness: that He would one day die just like everything else, as Death prophesied ten years ago to Dean in Chicago. She reveals that Team Free Will are the ones who will herald God's inevitable death.

15.13 Destiny's Child

Sam and Dean wonder what will happen to the universe if Chuck is killed. They both agree that what's left of the universe will cease to exist if Chuck is killed since Amara would still be alive. However, Dean points out that if both are killed, then the universe would be saved since nothing would be out of balance. Sam also wonders if Jack will take Chuck's place when it's done, but for the moment, they remain doubtful as to what happens next exactly.

15.15 Gimme Shelter

When Sam and Dean meet with Amara to convince her to help them dispose of Chuck, she initially refuses. Amara reveals to the Winchesters that she and God were originally conjoined twins and their separation caused the Big Bang, contradicting what Death said to Dean before he was killed. When Dean confronts her about Chuck's actions and how she's doing nothing to stop her brother, she agrees to think about it.

15.17 Unity

Amara suggests recombining with her brother to exist in Balance while God admits that He can create and destroy, but He can't reset everything without Amara's help. After being betrayed by Dean, a devastated Amara allows her brother to absorb her, but God states that she still exists somewhere within Him.

15.19 Inherit the Earth

As a result of Jack's human soul fusing with his nephilim grace, he became a power vacuum, absorbing life energy from any nearby plant life. He is able to absorb pulses of pure primordial creation when Michael fights with Lucifer in the Bunker, recharging his powers. When Chuck kills Michael and starts whaling on Sam and Dean, Jack absorbs cosmic energy from Chuck (and Amara). Jack uses this to steal Chuck's powers, making him the new God who exists in harmony with Amara, and leaving Chuck mortal. As a result, the cosmic balance is solidified for the Winchesters' world.

Trivia

• The concept of Yin and Yang depicts the balance between Darkness and Light.