Lily Sunder is pissed.

Turns out, she has every right to be.

Once upon a time, back in the day, Castiel and some of his fellow angels went to go and kill themselves a Nephilim. Angels do not like Nephilim, you see, as they are abominations. This was before Cas had his own battalion, and the leader of this flight was Ishim. But here’s the thing, Lily’s daughter was human, and Ishim was a controlling, obsessive dick.

Even though Dean is still cranky about Cas killing Billie, Sam convinces him that they should accompany Castiel when he goes to meet his former leader, after the news of Benjamin’s murder comes through angel radio. And while I hate it when my boys bicker, especially when they pick on poor, well-meaning Castiel, it all did lead to these three chuckleheads sharing one side of a diner booth, which was all kinds of hilarious.

Anyhoo! As Sam and Dean are wont to do, they insert themselves into someone else’s drama, and while Ishim is insulting Castiel as they hide from Lily’s wrath, Sam and Dean track Lily down at some hotel and try to talk her down. The story she tells has just enough earnestness for the boys to sniff out some truth telling, and Dean heads back to fill Cas in on the deception.

The look on Castiel’s face when Dean tells him the truth. That Ishim killed an innocent child and angel because he didn’t get his way, basically. Poor Castiel. He is the saddest little angel tonight!

Of course, Ishim walks in just at the wrong time, and fighting ensues. For once, Dean’s sneaky angel sigil trick is called out and not employed. Ishim beats the snot out of Cas, and then threatens to take out his weakness, which is clearly Dean.

I have not been one of the many SPN fans who harbor a yen for Dean and Castiel to finally just kiss already, as I know that men can have close friendships without it being sexual, but I do get cranky when you threaten one of my beautiful boys. And to do it to exact pain on another, well, that is just not acceptable. What I am saying is, all bets are off, for all of us, once Isham threatens Dean.

Lily and Sam show up to join the struggle, and Lily shoots some Enochian magic from her magic eyeball(?), and holds Ishim back, struggling to keep him at bay. And even though Castiel is at low power after healing Ishim, he finds the strength to angel blade his former commander in the back, making this the second episode in a row where Castiel kills a celestial being by stabbing them in the back. Not that Ishim didn’t deserve it, but this is becoming a thing, isn’t it?

This is one of those episodes where we get callbacks to the deep history of the show, and it is fun to see and feel the journey Castiel has made from his first moments back in season four, to how empathetic and loving he has become. He even offers Lily his life if she finds that she can’t live with him still kicking. It is classic sweet little angel Cas, and I can’t help but feel for the guy. He has had a rough go ever since he came to Earth.

Even back in the bunker, talking with the beautiful brothers about what to do with the actual Lucifer Nephilim that will soon be running among us, you can see Castiel carries the weight of every angel death on his shoulders. And much like Sam and Dean, I hope he finds some kind of relief or comfort from all his guilt and grief, because it kills me to see that pain in his eyes.

Next! Once again, The CW jettisoned the preview for next weeks episode in favor of the moody, emo Riverdale pimping. Luckily, we have the internet for our promo fix! It looks funny!