***SPOILER ALERT: This article includes major spoilers for Good Omens season 2.***
Good Omens fans are not doing okay after that season two finale. What happened at the end to make everyone so miserable?! Well, the entity Metatron (Derek Jacobi) offered Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) Gabriel’s (Jon Hamm) old job in Heaven, with the agreement that Crowley (David Tennant) could have his old position there reinstated too. Aziraphale was over the moon, thinking he could finally fix everything wrong with Heaven, but Crowley was less than pleased. He didn’t want to go (sorry, accidental Doctor Who reference there) but Aziraphale did, and … that was that. Not even a kiss could mend the rift between the ineffable duo. It was truly devastating, and all the more so because fans face a long wait for season three.
Season 2 has been out less than a week, but fans have already pored over every single detail of that climactic scene. And they’ve turned up something very interesting. Was the Aziraphale who left his soulmate for the sake of Heaven the exact same Aziraphale we (and Crowley) have come to know and love? Or is there some manipulation at play?
Is Metatron mind-controlling Aziraphale?
Fans have dubbed this “the coffee theory” because it centers on that oat milk latte with almond syrup Metatron gives to Aziraphale. Almonds, as you may know, emit exactly the same smell as cyanide, so was there actually cyanide in the coffee? It wouldn’t kill Aziraphale (since he’s an angel), but it sure might make him act strange. And we’ve seen before what happens when angels and demons ingest poison—a scene in episode 3 shows Crowley drinking laudanum, which makes him act quite unlike his normal self. Is that why that scene is there in the first place, to get fans on high alert for possible poisons? And don’t forget, the coffee shop where Aziraphale’s drink came from is called Give Me Coffee Or Give Me Death.
And Aziraphale definitely seems off during the conversation between himself and Crowley.
That’s not all, though. Others are convinced they can hear the sound of a miracle being performed during the scene between Metatron and Aziraphale. No attention is drawn to it in-show, but this might be something we’re all going to look back (on once season three finally debuts) and shout, “OF COURSE”?
What if Aziraphale really did just make the wrong decision?
The coffee theory is controversial at the moment. Don’t forget, Aziraphale has been through a lot. He’s got a whole apocalypse’s worth of trauma over Heaven and their treatment of him. Bearing that in mind, maybe he really did just choose the prospect of making Heaven better over the prospect of a life with Crowley, no mind control needed. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love him, just that he’s still processing everything that’s happened.
Would the presence of coffee-based manipulation mean Aziraphale was losing out on character development, and lots of delicious angst that could be explored in season three? Some think so.
But one thing is certain: whichever way it goes, we’ll be getting some amazing fanfiction.
(featured image: Prime Video)
