While the revelation that the Trickster is really an angel was a big shock on Supernatural, I was just as mesmerized but a much smaller moment earlier in the episode. When Sam and Dean were trapped in the Japanese game show the host asked Dean “Would your Mother and Father still be alive if your brother was never born?”

It’s a disturbing question because, in many ways, the birth of Sam helped start Azazel’s master plan to open the gate to Hell, free Lilith and get the ball rolling to free Lucifer. Dean’s answer in Japanese was “Yes,” which was the correct answer, but is it really?

The argument against it is fairly easy to make. The Trickster’s entire objective with his TV parody game was to get Sam and Dean to accept their roles and turn against one another. Sam’s question was about the time he abandoned his brother, so Dean’s question was also about trying to force a wedge between the brothers.

Obviously in the Trickster’s world, Dean saying “Yes” is the correct answer because it shows that he resents Sam’s existence. But was that all there is to it?

I’d like to think that Supernatural does nothing by accident, and this question is so potent and omnipresent that there has to be a reason for it beyond the obvious. Will this become a possibility, another Genie-type episode with an alternate reality where Sam was never born? Or will this be the way Lucifer or the angels convince Sam and Dean to accept their vessel roles?

I have no idea what Eric Kripke and his writers are doing on Supernatural, and that’s the way I like it. But given how complex the show’s mythology has gotten, I’m not taking anything for granted, including a harmless Japanese game show parody. Who knows, maybe Shrimp Chips are a clue too.