It’s finally here, the Season 12 premiere of the longest running genre show on television, Supernatural! At Nerds and Beyond we will be celebrating all day with various articles about the show, leading up to the premiere tonight.
In one of the final scenes of the Season 11 finale, Amara tells Dean that because he gave her what she needed most (God–her brother), she wanted to do the same for him. This materialized in her giving him the gift of his mother. In the final moments of the finale he comes across his mom dressed in the same white nightgown that she died in, and we hear Dean heartbreakingly and quietly say “mom” before the screen goes dark.
There are some bombshells in store for Mary when she enters the world in the twenty-first century. Not only are her children now adults, but she will learn about their lives as hunters and Men of Letters. She will be confronted with everything from new technology, to entirely new aspects of the supernatural. As seen in the Season 12 preview, she will also be meeting Castiel who has become a cherished figure in her son’s lives. In our interview with Robbie Thompson, he talked about some of the things he is looking forward to with Mary’s return.
Supernatural fans are excited to see how she develops during the course of the season. Family is a central theme in the show that serves both as a source of strength and a liability. Our hope is that her character and relationships are fully fleshed out, and add to a successful season.
In honor of Mary Winchester’s return, with a significant amount of help from Supernatural Wiki, we compiled a few facts we know about her, as a refresher:
Name:
Mary Winchester (neé Campbell)
Age:
Mary was killed by the demon Azazel at the age of 28, just a month before her 29th birthday—6 months after Sam was born. This makes her younger than both Sam and Dean when she returns at the end of Season 11.
Family History:
Mary was the only child of Samuel and Deanna Campbell who raised her in the hunter lifestyle. Later we find out that the Campbells have been hunters for several generations. Mary resented being raised in a family of hunters. She actively expressed her frustration to her family. She had a desire to one day have a family of her own in which hunting did not factor into their lives at all.
Mary met and fell in love with John Winchester, of whom her father explicitly disapproved of. Mary was not honest with John about her experience with hunting.
On the night that John proposed to Mary, Azazel attacked and killed John and her parents. She made a deal with Azazel to resurrect John. In exchange, Azazel asked Mary for permission to visit her house in ten years. This is the night he kills her in the notorious scene in which she is set aflame and pinned to the ceiling of Sam’s nursery.
Dean is four years old, and Sam is six months at the time of her death. Her death devastated John and served as the impetuous for him becoming a hunter, and bringing the boys into that lifestyle.
Notable Moments and Trivia:
- Mary has appeared in 16 episodes of Supernatural
- Mary is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, as exhibited in her fight with Dean when she notices he is tracking her and John during a date. She also shows her fighting prowess when defending herself against Anna Milton.
- She met grown-up Sam and Dean on several different occasions when they travel to the past for various reasons—including in 1978 when they traveled back in time to prevent the angel Anna Milton from killing John Winchester, in an attempt to prevent Sam from ever being conceived in order to prevent the future apocalypse. Mary battled with Anna revealing her fighting abilities to John, this is when he finds out that she was brought up as a hunter.
- John Winchester always portrayed his relationship with Mary to be nearly perfect, but in the episode “Dark Side of the Moon”, it is revealed that this wasn’t the case. During a fight with John, young Dean comforts his mother. In this same episode, she feeds Dean pie.
- She used to sing “Hey Jude” to comfort Dean when he was a young child.
- Mary wore a charm bracelet with different Supernatural symbols, including the ‘Men of Letters’ crest.
- Young Mary is portrayed by the actress Amy Gumenick, older Mary is portrayed by Samantha Smith. Samantha Smith reprises this role in Season 12.
- A full list of all of Mary’s episodes can be found on our favorite website, Supernatural Wiki.
Are you excited to see Mary back?
Oh yes indeed! I’m on pins and needles for the premier tonight!
I cried through the entire opening scene between Mary and Dean. So many feels.