Let’s set the stage. The day is November 19^th, 2020. The Supernatural finale just aired. You sit in shock in front of your T.V. screen contemplating everything. The weird ending that the show held, the fact that one of the longest-running shows just ended, and the fact that two weeks earlier Castiel confessed his love for Dean Winchester. This is everything that went through the mind of a Supernatural fan as they processed what it was that they just watched.

Now, even three weeks later, the Supernatural fandom still isn’t over the events that have happened on their beloved show. Before we start with all of the drama, we should go into details about Supernatural and how the drama within the fandom started.

A popular ship is known as Destiel, the ship between the angel Castiel and the hunter Dean Winchester became canon, but only on one side. On November 5^th, 2020 the episode, titled “Despair”, gave us Castiel’s confession. At the end of his confession, he tells Dean that he loves him before subsequently dying and sacrificing himself for Dean. That would be the last episode in which we see Misha Collins, the actor who plays Castiel.

On November 19^th, 2020 Supernatural’s final episode aired. This episode, titled “Carry On”, became one of the most badly reviewed episodes in Supernatural and is tied with the Supernatural episode “Bugs”. This episode brought back a vampire from season one and depicted the Winchester brothers’ future. For Dean, that meant dying bloody, on a rusty nail. For Sam that meant living an “apple pie” lifestyle and dying old.

This ending brought many fans into some form of anger. The fact that neither Castiel nor Jack Kline were in that episode just didn’t sit right. It also did not feel right for the fans to have the Winchester brother’s character development disappear and their endings be the same as it would if the show never existed. It didn’t help that the fans knew Jensen Ackles, the actor of Dean Winchester, had to be talked into the ending because he felt it wasn’t the best for the character.

The fandom continued to be divided. Then the Supernatural fandom became even more controversial. A little less than a week after the finale aired, the Spanish Dub version of the Supernatural episode “Despair” (Season 15, Episode 18) was released. Instead of being titled “Despair”, it was titled “The Truth”, and it added something else into Cas(s)’s confession. After Cas(s) confesses to Dean by stating “Te Amo,” (the romantic form of I Love You) Dean reciprocates by stating “Y yo a ti, Cas(s),” (And I you, Cas).

Fans went reeling after Dean spoke his truth. They created the hashtag #TheySilencedYou because they decided that Dean was silenced in the English version. Jensen even admitted that a lot of Dean’s reactions were cut from the episode.  The hashtag #TheySilencedYou started a movement. People started using the hashtags #TheySilencedYou, #TheySilencedThem, #TheySilencedHim, #SomethingtoSay, and #TheyWillNeverSilenceUs. They also started to boycott the network CW but it isn’t just about Destiel. Fans also brought up other characters within the supernatural universe that were silenced for being different such as having a disability or being a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Now we shall dive deeper into the hashtag #TheySilencedYou movement. They are fighting for equality. It is 2020 through this pandemic and uncertainties the fandom is banning together to fight for something that they believe in because no-one should have to live in a world in which who they are, or what they identify as, is treated as some highly guarded secret. The fans are trying to normalize diversity of all kinds into pop culture. It isn’t just about race, although racial discrimination is a big issue that should be addressed within every pop culture company, nor is it just us lashing out about the ending of Supernatural. It is about the fact that people of groups who don’t always get represented such as people with disabilities (Eileen) or members of the LGBTQ+ community (Charlie; Cas; Rowena; Dean; Claire; Kaia; just to name a few) are often silenced and pushed aside because of who they are.

In response to the movement #TheySilencedYou, Misha Collins posted his response on both Instagram and Twitter. He stated that a ‘rogue translator’ was responsible for Dean’s response in the Spanish Dub version of Supernatural and that the fandom could use their imagination to create their own ending. Fans were confused and for good reason. The probability of a ‘rogue translator’ being able to go astray and have his dubbing not be checked over before the episode airs is very thin. They also felt hurt that they had to make up their own ending.

Afterward, Misha posted on his Twitter that he wanted to listen to the fans’ opinion on #TheySilencedYou and the hurt they felt for not having Cas(s) be looked for after Season 15 Episode 18. He got a flood of comments that explained their viewpoint and most of them were similar in words.

I would just like to state my own opinion on the drama within the Supernatural fandom before I come to a close. I do ship Destiel, but that was not the reason I watched the show. I found bits and pieces of myself inside of the characters that is the reason I watched the show. I do believe in the #TheySilencedYou movement because I believe that people should use their freedom of speech to stick up for something they believe in. I don’t believe anyone should be treated poorly and I fight for equality as an ally. I do not blame a single actor for the way that everything unfolded. Sure, I did not enjoy the ending, but I still felt as if the actors gave it all they could for a show that they were leaving after working on for so long. I hope that they got to feel validated in their characters because after portraying these characters for so long that is something they deserve. I don’t believe that there is anyone within the #TheySilencedYou movement that blames the actors for what occurred. Instead, we blame the production company.

Now we are still fighting for equality and hoping that the production company will open up to their views on the topic. We know that Jensen has his own filmed version of Cas(s) confession. We can only wait to see if he releases that footage and what that might bring up. Until then we fight for what we can. We are a fandom that has been together for fifteen seasons and I am proud of how we have now banded together.