The Winchesters has made Mary Campbell’s Supernatural death even more tragic. Mary’s death in Supernatural was one of Sam and Dean’s greatest motivators throughout the series, as killing the demon that murdered their mother launched their career as a full-fledged hunting duo. Unfortunately, becoming prolific monster hunters was the last thing Mary wanted for her family.
The Campbells come from a long line of hunters. While this came with some prestige in the hunting world, Mary resented the lack of freedom and normalcy she grew up with. While she would eventually find happiness, settling down with John Winchester and giving birth to their sons, Supernatural‘s Sam and Dean, her peace does not last long before her death. There are many unfortunate comparisons between Mary’s upbringing in The Winchesters and that of her boys — parallels she surely wouldn’t have wanted for her children. Her hope in searching for her father is that she’ll be able to leave hunting behind for good, but knowing she finally finds the peace and happiness she so desires and enjoys it only so briefly before her death, makes the fact that Sam and Dean become hunters all the more tragic.
The Winchesters Explains Why Mary Started Hunting Again
Much like her sons, The Winchesters‘ Mary Campbell has a strong sense of duty to her family. So, when her father goes missing, she makes the plunge back into the world of hunting in order to bring him home. While she despises hunting, Mary still returned to it after she was resurrected in Supernatural because she believed there was simply no escaping it — something passed on to Sam and Dean. As much as she hates hunting, Mary doesn’t know what her life would be without it. While she eventually found meaning in life with John and their sons, being a hunter is simply who Mary is. It’s all she’s ever known, and with John gone and her sons already knee-deep in the life, it’s no surprise she easily returned to it.
The Winchesters Makes John’s Hunting Choice Worse
It’s no secret in The Winchesters that Mary resents how she was raised and everything that comes with the hunter life. John’s parenting choices after Mary’s death were already questionable enough, but knowing she hated being raised as a hunter with an absent father and a lack of autonomy in her life makes them even worse. Mary’s regrets are mirrored in Sam’s desire to run away and embrace his own life, her sense of familial obligation found in Dean’s sacrificial nature. It’s unknown if John remembers the events of The Winchesters, given the discrepancies with Supernatural canon, but if he does, it brings into question why he would make choices that so clearly go against the wishes of his beloved late wife.
While Mary so desperately wished to leave her hunting life behind, John has begun to thrive in it. Unlike Mary and his sons, however, John wasn’t raised in this life — this may explain why he didn’t understand Mary’s resentment and made the choice to raise their sons the way he did. Whether John consciously knew he was acting against Mary’s wishes, it is still tragic that Mary got to live out her dreams for such a short time, only to see her sons raised in her nightmare, especially after all the work she did to leave her old life behind. Mary’s death in Supernatural was already tragic enough, but now The Winchesters is managing to truly rub salt in the wound.
