Go2 Spoilers - Tumblr Posts

The nightingale reference JUST KILLED ME.... Crowley, you are truly a drama queen 😭😭

Aziraphale’s I forgive you....

I’M AFRAID I DON’T KNOW ENGLISH BECAUSE WHAT DOES IT MEAN??

GOOD OMENS 2 spoilers!!

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In case you didn't understand this season let me explain it to you with these pictures, please.

SO ... good omens season 2 was:

and

It's all like Neil said!!! so quietgentleandromantic that my heart stopped 💔

me, looking at Crowley in that last scene: poor, poor boy, you would like right where you left me by taylor swift

If anyone needs me I'll be in hiding, recovering from Good Omens 2 for the next 5 years. And if Season 3 doesn't happen I'll never be seen again.

Crowley and Aziraphale are the two who made me believe in love again, and now they are the same two that have shattered my heart and made me believe that love will always hurt you in the end, no matter what happens. The irony I just-

As much as we're all wounded from Good Omens 2, please don't forget that watching it as much as possible will help in hopefully getting season 3. Just...mute it and step away during Those Last 15 Minutes.

Aziraphale’s Story Is Perfect

A “Good Omens 2” Essay

Many believe what happened with Aziraphale at the end of season 2 was out of character or ruined his character growth from season 1, but in reality it did the opposite.

It was coming all along.

I have heard multiple people say that those last 10-15 minutes of season 2, episode 6 ruined Aziraphel’s character, but in reality it was perfectly in character for him.

(I know, bold words from some scrub on the internet. I just ask that you all hear me out first.)

To begin with, there are three main factors which deeply influenced Aziraphale’s final decision at the end of Good Omens, season 2. These are purity/naivety, idealism, and love.

One thing many seem to forget about Aziraphale’s character is how pure and naive he is—and how naive angels generally are in this series. In season 2, Aziraphale’s purity/naivety is pointed out by other characters on a few occasions. One happens while Nina is asking Crowley about what is going on between him and Aziraphale, eventually asking if he’s his “bit on the side.” Crowley shuts this down instantly saying how Aziraphale is “too pure” to be anyone’s “bit on the side.” This definitely points out the angel’s purity, but also hints at his naivety considering context. “Bit on the side” refers to having a sexual relationship with someone who is not married to you, which is why Crowley said to Nina that Aziraphale is too pure for that. Sex before marriage is often considered a sin in religion, and Aziraphale being an Angel must follow God as closely as he can. In addition, it is also quite possible he has limited knowledge on sexual pleasure or sex in general, showing not just purity, but naivety. For example, children are not just pure and innocent with little exposure to such topics, but also naive because of being unaware of it.

The second instance was also led by Nina in the bookshop moments before our last 10-15 minutes of disaster. This time, she points out how Aziraphale is the cheerful one who “still believes in magic,” out of the two. Given she is trying her best to tell Crowley the two of them were literally made for each other (which who knows, maybe they were?), it still points out Aziraphale’s purity and naivety.

Children believe in magic, and children are often naive and can make poor decisions because of this. Why are they naive? It is because they lack experience. Experience removes innocence, and in return can destroy purity and naivety. It is revealed through this comment, and previous characterization (from both seasons), that Aziraphale is still childlike. His love of magic shows he is still a child at heart. Why would any being capable of real magic care so much for “fake magic?” The only explanation is because it catches the wonder of his inner child. Aziraphale, despite all his time on Earth, still lacks experience. Unlike Crowley, his trauma did not force him through physical changes and mental agony. Both Crowley’s fall and life with Hell were incredibly unpleasant. That is why Crowley, who suffered a lot worse than Aziraphale is more “mature,” for lack of better words. He has more experience and has lost most of his inner child he once had (shown when he was making the universe) than Aziraphale has. In short, Aziraphale lacks experience.

Overall, this purity and naivety is Aziraphale’s greatest character flaw. When his life first started and we reflect on season 1, he once believed all angels must be as pure as Heaven. That was until things such as Armageddon were planned. Then he was able to have enough experience to know that some angels in charge are not as pure and good as he once believed. This begins to sway his perspective on them, but due to his naivety he still believes that Heaven is innately good and that nothing can change its innate goodness. That is because of what he was exposed to from early creation, Crowley being the only reason Aziraphale made any changes or grew at all. Without Crowly’s influence, Aziraphale may have simply gone along with Armageddon since the almighty plan, that God is in charge of, is the correct one (at least to him).

We see this a bit in season 2 in episode 1. When Crowley is making the universe and Aziraphale reveals it will be destroyed in a few million years, Crowley is greatly upset by this. However, Aziraphale said it casually, making clear he puts full trust into God’s decision because that is how he was “raised.” As an angel, he is to carry out God’s plan/s, no matter how absurd they may seem. This, however, becomes a struggle for Aziraphale since some of these plans are morally wrong.

This moves us towards the next leading factor into Aziraphale’s choice, idealism.

When Aziraphale is offered the spot as archangel, it is clear he was hesitant. However, given the chance to help lead some of Heaven’s greatest decisions and to bring Crowley with him and turn him back into an angel (more on this later) he accepts. However, his choice seems odd with how poorly Heaven has treated Aziraphale, and how they really wanted him dead after stopping Armageddon. At the same time, he sees this offering as Heaven, and in return God, forgiving him. This forgiveness plays into his naivety, reinforcing his belief that Heaven is good. Heaven forgave him for his actions and is awarding him, thus seeing his goodness. This means Heaven must be good too and can understand goodness. Unfortunately for Aziraphale, this belief that Heaven itself is innately good is his ideal version of Heaven. He cannot believe that Heaven, the light, is not innately good, pure, and innocent. So, he sees it as his ideal version of itself for it is the only version that makes sense to him.

In short, his idealism of Heaven drives him towards accepting the offer. As he sees it, an angel as good as himself with such power can ensure that Heaven is indeed innately good. At the same time, if Crowley agreed then he could save Crowly—since Heaven is the “good guys” and everyone wishes they could be there. Finally, on top of this, by ensuring Heaven is good and pure like himself and like Crowley, Aziraphel could solve his greatest challenge: Trying to be an angel who follows Heaven as closely as he can.

His idealism of Heaven and nativity together give him this “identity crisis.” We see this clearest in the minisode of season 2, episode 2. At the end of the struggle with Job, Aziraphale believes Crowley has come to him to take him to Hell. It is clear that Aziraphale fears falling, but in this situation has decided he deserved it for lying to Gabriel. It catches the angel completely off guard when the demon tells him that he is not being sent to Hell. This is when Aziraphale’s identity crisis truly begins.

He realizes he is no longer completely pure and loyal to God since he lied to the supreme archangel. Lacking purity, he should have fallen; he should be punished for his actions; he cannot be an angel now. Those intrusive thoughts begin to haunt Aziraphale, and create this tension. Him believing that Heaven is innately good and that all good, pure people go to Heaven, and that angels are magical beings that must represent this goodness, he finds himself suffering. Since being an angel is his identity, he must fit into the angelic mold. However, with how Heaven does things, some being the opposite of what his Heaven stands for, he fails to do this for it seems wrong. As a result, he begins to wonder if maybe it is him and not Heaven itself. This is why he struggles with his identity. He is struck wondering: Is he an angel if he does the morally right thing to him, or the morally right thing according to Heaven and God?

Realizing he could make these moralities the same when in the supreme archangel position, Aziraphale finds the offer upmost tempting. He can improve the angels around him, he can ensure his Heaven and actual Heaven are the same, and he can rescue Crowly from damnation. As he sees it, he has struck a pot of gold.

That leads to the last factor: Love.

In season 2, love became the main focus with the mystery surrounding a secret love between Gabriel and Beezlebub. Along with this, we watched the ineffable husbands attempt to get Maggie and Lisa together, knowing Maggie has a crush on her. These relationships in the season are present not just to provide a plot, but also to mirror Good Omen’s true story, this being the “forbidden” love between Crowley and Aziraphale.

Aziraphale loves Crowley. This has been clear from the very beginning. However, Aziraphale cannot understand these emotions completely. He knows the other is at least his friend, perhaps his best friend, but that is as far as his thoughts go on the title of their bond. It is through Aziraphale’s actions that we can confirm that he loves everything about Crowley. There are little details such as the glances he exchanges with him, how he says his name, yellow being pretty, how his love language is touch, etc. In short, only someone who is blind would fail to notice that Aziraphale loves Crowley.

Unlike Crowley, Aziraphale never comes to terms with these feelings because the two never talk about it, and he is ultimately unaware of them. This ties into his naivety since he sees it as nothing more than the feelings of a friendship, Crowley being the only friendship he actually has. Without another to compare it to, it is harder for one with more innocence in life than experience to understand what they are feeling. Crowley is lucky enough to have that forced conversation with Maggie and Nina in the bookshop, but Aziraphale did not.

Now, how does love play a role?

It all starts back at the very beginning before the universe. Crowley, as an angel, was filled with that same childish glee Aziraphale can still experience through things like human magic tricks. Since then, Aziraphale has never seen Crowley with that much wonder and joy. Now, loving the other as he does, getting the chance to make Crowley an angel again becomes even more appealing. One thought that likely crossed Aziraphale’s mind was that he could bring that joy back to Crowley by reversing the physical effects of Hell. However, this ignores all the experience Crowley has gained since then by asking questions and being on his own side. Hence, Crowley turns Aziraphale down. This upsets him. He wants to make Crowley happy, but fails to realize making Crowley an angel will not return that joy. He is still too naive and pure to realize that Crowley’s trauma from the fall still haunts him (which is why in season 1 we saw him change the subject every time it was brought up).

At least half out of love, Aziraphale took the Metatron’s offer. He thought it would solve not just his issues, but Crowley’s issues as well. However, it instead led to a massive fight between them, leading to a sudden kiss just before Crowley storms out of the bookshop.

Aziraphale is now a mess of emotions. Not long after, the Metatron arrives to see how it all went. Of course, Aziraphale reveals how Crowley took it very poorly. We then see that Aziraphale clearly hesitates to leave with the Metatron right away. He is clearly nervous, and tries his best to find an excuse to stay. For example, he asks who will take care of the bookshop, to which it is revealed Muriel will. Only once Aziraphale runs out of excuses does he leave for Heaven. Why? It is all because he loves Crowley. He tried his best to find some excuse to buy him time or turn the Metatron down. If Crowley was not part of the offer, he could have argued he had to keep an eye on the demon. Then he might have gotten himself off the hook.

Truthfully, there is no way Aziraphale went up that elevator to Heaven without feeling any guilt. His issue is that he is too nice, too pure, and too naive. He could not turn the Metatron down because he would feel bad for doing so. Furthermore, he may have felt like he had lied to the Metatron since he already agreed. However, at the same time, if he goes he knows he will hurt Crowley even more.

Finally, a small detail is his actions before stepping into the elevator to Heaven. Before Aziraphale 100% commits himself, he asks what the plan is. When the Metatron says it is called “the second coming,” Aziraphale instantly loses his smile. We then see him look back at Crowley before putting on a fake smile and stepping inside the elevator. He knew what the Metatron meant, and since he and Crowley never talk, he assumes that Crowley has no clue about this “second coming.” So, out of love, he decides he must go to Heaven to put his foot down and stop this plan. It was a challenge to stop the first Armageddon, so this time Aziraphale plans to stop it before it starts.

Hence, Aziraphale goes back to Heaven, giving us our painful ending to season 2 with the ineffable husbands going separate ways. However, it was always a great possibility considering the complexities to Aziraphale’s character. He is naive and still believes in innate good, he wants Heaven to be his idealized version, and he loves Crowley and wants to see him happy. These traits naturally contradict each other, giving Aziraphale a constant struggle that leads him to take his new position. In short, Aziraphale’s story is perfect. It sticks true to his character, shows what would happen if the chance to change everything and anything came to him, and proves that his character is more complex than what appears to the eye.

my father just came in to my room asking If I was ok cuz I was crying really loud saying "why god why" and then with lots of tears and running nose I said It with a straight face that It was fault of a terrible series finale i just see it

i was the good omens 2 finale.

doodle pages of them (somebody sedate me)

Aziraphale's favorite color is yellow

Life does not always have a fairy tale ending. It rarely ever does.

The end of the new season broke my heart and it was beautiful. It was exactly the sort of thing that I needed above all else and I felt it to my bones.

Just because it does not comfort one person, does not mean that it can’t comfort another. Some of us need to know that other people are out there feeling and growing from those sad things too.

Besides- sometimes the only way a scared and anxious partner can truly grow is when they realize that they are losing or have lost the one person in the world to truly love them. Maybe Aziraphale needs to see what he’s lost. Maybe Crowley needs to see that what his values really are and take a stand for those values. Maybe they’re just a couple of fictional characters that are just reflecting our own, very human heartbreak back at us in a safe story where we can learn from them and start our own healing journey.

Either way, love art for what it is and honor it by making more of your own. After all, art is supposed to make us feel.

Hi, Neil

Just quick reminder, in case you've forgotten: TV shows are supposed to save us from hurtful reality, and S2 had a genre hurt/no comfort.

I really hope S3, if it ever happens (or a book maybe?), will take away all no-s, and transform them into yes-s. I refuse to embrace cruel reality of the end of Ep6. I even wrote a fix-it on Ao3.

Your heartbroken, saddened, crying 😭 fan,

Lots of love and respect though, always,

Helen

I'm sorry. I thought that anyone who had seen Crowley and Aziraphale split up in the Bandstand and again on the Soho street, and the bookshop burn down and Aziraphale discorporate, in Season 1, had already experienced bad things happening to characters they love, especially at the end of act 2.

And no, I didn't ever think that I was only making comfort viewing. I was making thinking and feeling viewing too.

I love that it's making people write fix-it-fictions. That's always the best response to art: making your own.

This is, objectively, the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on this website.

Hey Neil,

So, mid season, Crowley suddenly changes his glasses and for one episode has a turtleneck

Will this be explained in season 3, has no explanation or can you give a reason?

Just curious! And I support you on strike

He changed his clothes that day.

me for the last three days:

I’m rather sure we needn’t worry because even if Amazon says No to season 3, I’m absolutely certain Michael Sheen and David Tennant are willing to act out an alternate ending in their back yard and put it on YouTube.

Am I the only one stressed about how, with this new ongoing trend of streaming platforms removing low or under performing shows, you could just wake up one day and your comfort show or movie is just gone forever and you have no way of (legally) watching it anymore because they don‘t make DVDs anymore either?

Nice explanation ! I wanted to add something else to your thought. Another crime from the Metatron is to show Azi how much Crowley hates Heaven, and by metaphor again, showing how much he hates angels from there. But Azi is an angel, so he's maybe just hearing "I hate Heaven and angels ! I hate YOUR nature ! I hate EVERYTHING about YOU !", because Azi always refers himself as an angel through the whole series. If Crowley refuses to work with him, Aziraphale wouldn't have another answer about why Crowley do that : since Before the Beggining, they were working together several times without this to be a barricade between them. But now, Metatron give him the offer to become Supreme Archangel and a leader of the next biggest decisions. If Crowley doesn't like him because of being Supreme Archangel, it means he has never liked Aziraphale at all because he is an angel who obbeys Heaven, and by extension, he never really liked Aziraphale. The scene where he's saying "I think you don't understand what I'm offering you" sounds condescending, but maybe it means "If you liked what we did before by saving the world, why would you want to stop me when I will be able to change everything for good with you on my side ?" Crowley's answer is insulting and not complete at all. And then, the kiss. Aziraphale was already confused by Crowley's refusal, and the kiss added a lot of confusion. At first, Aziraphale is surprised, but the second he understand what's happening physically, we can see he's hesitating between pushing himself against Crowley or pushing Crowley away from him. As the battle inside his head ends, he makes up his mind : Crowley's trying to make him stay on Earth, to make him stay here at the lowest as possible by risking Aziraphale's safety, while he could fall just by wanting to stay with Crowley. Crowley seems selfish by doing that, while Aziraphale wanted to work to make things better. This is not the first time Crowley show selfishness. In the book, (SPOILER TIME !!!!!!) when Adam defeated the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Satan is coming. Instead of staying there, Crowley runs to a Jeep around there, with the aim of fleeing elsewhere before trouble comes. Aziraphale comes to him and explains that there is nowhere to go, nothing to lose by facing Satan, and Crowley finally agrees and stays. In the series, Crowley ask Aziraphale to leave Earth with him a lot of times before the Appocalypse, and then at the end of Season 2. There is one time Crowley tries to face his problems : this is when Hastur and Ligur comes to him to kill him, and then he succeeds to kill Ligur and to flee Hastur. He did that because Aziraphale gave him Holy Water. When Aziraphale is here, Crowley usually doesn't feel the need to go away. When Aziraphel is not with him or do not agree with him, Crowley alone is a coward or a runaway. And the only thing that could lead Aziraphale to abandon him to his doom was brought by Metatron. Aziraphale finally leaves Crowley on Earth, alone so not able to fight anything without his angel, and Aziraphale has the taste of bitterness because of Crowley's way to want him not go back to Heaven in a selfish way, wanting Aziraphale with himself only and not on the Up Side, where Aziraphale thinks he'll be capable of anything to make the Universe better.

Metatron is a masterpiece at manipulation, at understanding how people works, at knowing the weakness of each one. Metatron is the biggest ennemy since Season 1, and he succeeds at tearing appart the "us" Azi and Crowley had just for some years only. Being able to read the Book of Life (even without being able to interact with it) is a big help for Metatron to do that, as he seems to be the narrator when we can see all the flashbacks. And as always, I recall that those are only my thoughts about a story I love.

Aziraphale doesn't drink coffee

My friends, it feels obvious now, but I finally managed to put my fingers on what was bothering me about this specific exchange of lines:

If you think about it, this exchange doesn't make sense. Aziraphale says:

"But I… I don't want to go back to Heaven. Where would I get my coffee?"

and the Metatron answers:

"You know, as Supreme Archangel, you would be able to decide who to work with."

What does being able to decide who to work with have anything to do with coffee?

At first, like many of us, I had interpreted the scene as Aziraphale using the coffee as a metaphor for expressing his love for Earth and earthly pleasures, and the Metatron slyly throwing the Crowley's restored angelic status card on the table to force him to change his mind, as if Crowley was the one important thing that could make Aziraphale forget all other things on Earth.

But here's the thing - and I don't know why I never noticed it before: as far as we know, Aziraphale doesn't drink coffee.

If I am not mistaken, there are only three explicit coffee references in the two seasons: the "six shots of espresso," the espresso cup that sits in front of Crowley on the table at the Ritz in s1ep1, and the two mugs in s1ep2 when Aziraphale and Crowley stops at a sort of dining place to discuss how to find the lost Antichrist. Now, unlike with the expresso cup at the Ritz, where we have an above shot that clearly shows traces of coffee, we don't see what's inside the two mugs here. But I don't think Aziraphale's one contains coffe: he's not even aware that caffeine is definitely does not "calm people down," it's very clearly not his thing.

Furthermore, we do know what his things are: little restaurants, sushi, classical music, old bookshops, tea, crepes, French wine… not coffee.

When the Metatron asks him to become Supreme Archangel, he could say "where would I get my sushi?" or "where would I get my books" or "where would I get my records" which is an actual line that he pronounced earlier while talking to Maggie.

Instead he says "coffee."

And then it struck me: Aziraphale is never associated with coffee. But Crowley is.

That's what he's saying, probably unconsciously: when he says "where would I get my coffee?" he's not expressing his love for Earth, he's expressing his love for Crowley.

He could even be doing this without realizing it, as a form of involuntary codification (codification like in Freud's or Matte Blanco's theories of unconscious mind: where something seated deep inside you hooks onto some minor detail outside and starts speaking through your words as if on its own accord). After all, this particular morning, after the emotional strain of the ball, the demonic attack during the night, and the unexpected revelation of Gabriel and Beelzebub relationship, seems to me like the sort of moment in which some amount of brain fog is to be expected, even for an angel.

But the Metatron sees straight through him, possibly even more clearly than he sees through himself, and gives an answer that ignores the superficial codification and address directly the deep meaning. He doesn't say: "as Supreme Archangel you would be able to pop down here whenever you want and have as much coffee as you like." He immediately sees that "where would I get my coffee?" means "how could I be together with Crowley?" and makes his dirty move of dangling the idea of restoring Crowley to his former angelic status in front of Aziraphale's face because he knows that this is the one and only point.

And now I really, really, really hope that in s3 we will see Supreme Archangel Aziraphale sending someone on Earth to get him some coffee - maybe a big cup with six shots of espresso in it and nothing else - and then grabbing the paper cup with a pain, strenght, and desperation that nobody else would understand.

“I’m a demon. I lie” - Neil Gaiman after telling us this season is “quiet, gentle, and romantic”

Neil Gaiman writing season 2 (I love you, Neil)

Those ineffable idiots won't leave my mind (ignore the 3 different styles, i'm working on it)