brightly_lit

You have some pretty reasonable insights here, especially the part about Dean as 'mom having to let go'--which he had no concept of how to do that. And yet I think it is extremely important to recognize that he DID let sam go at the end of Swan Song--and like you point out, he had time to come to grips with the decision, as opposed to having to decide instantly, when Dean always opts for 'keep Sam alive."