I believe Sacha answered it perfectly. In the hopes that Dean was important because he is Dean Winchester, not just because he is Sam Winchester’s big brother. There are two characters, two leads. Fro cripes sakes, Desperate Wives has four characters that each have their own story and their own personalities outside of each other, yet all four are tied together, and Kripke still can’t manage to make a story about individual brothers? If Dean is nothing more than just Sam’s big protective brother, then Dean is really nothing more than an extension of Sam. Dean only exists because Sam is so important that he needs a body guard and Dean is it. Pft.

A story of two brothers should make them both equally important. Obviously, Kripke doesn’t agree.

After tonight’s episode, if I hear that Dean was taken from hell because of Sam, which tells me that not even God sees Dean important for himself, but only for what he can do for Sam, then yes, I will be leaving. I’ve seen this story for the past three years, I don’t need the same story for another two. I will watch it once in a while, probably in the Dean/Castiel heavy ones, but frankly, I’m pretty sick of the Sam Winchester and his sidekick brother Dean story.

Not to speak for someone else but in my case it was for the slim hope that he would get to be an individual who is important in and of himself for the story, unrelated to anybody else.

“I’m excited that Dean was tied into the mythology ‘cus otherwise he was just sort of floating.”

But if he plays the exact same role he has always played, how was he tied into the mythology? What has changed that he now no longer is floating? In the end it doesn’t really matter if John or God says “save or kill your brother”. So I’d say nothing whatsoever has changed.

Which probably means it’s time to stop hanging in and hoping it will.

But I can tell you that both Kripke and Jensen admitted that Dean had no place in the mytharc and now he does. Granted, it doesn’t seem like things have changed for Dean, seeing as Kripke still has a problem making Dean into someone just as important as Sam without being attached to Sam. But, maybe I’ll give him kudos for thinking about it.

If the story is truly about both brothers, then both should be important because of each other and separate from each other. They are individuals.

As for Sam’s powers, we are being shown that Sam will further his powers. What’s Dean going to do in a war where Sam, demons, and angels have powers and he is a lowly human that will get squashed as soon as someone gives him the wrong look? How is he to help Sam if Sam can just flatten him against the wall?

I really don’t want a Big Yellow Crayon Speech with Dean wibbling his love for Sam and Sam caving in because he loves Dean. Sam’s not Willow and Dean’s not Xander and it’s a stupid insult to both to make them that way.