Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Fandom:
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:
2025-07-18
Words:
3,583
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
2
Hits:
31

A Compendium of Interesting GO Theories - arranged by character/situation/topic

Summary:

About 100 interesting Good Omens theories, arranged by character and/or situation. I think all of these are theoretically possible, but I don't find them all equally convincing. I just think they're fun to read about.
(Cw mention of the N*il G*iman allegations)

Work Text:

Armageddidnt

  • Adam (or somebody) rewrote reality so that the Great War never happened. Possibly this is what killed Satan.

Aziracrow:

  • Aziraphale got the only other out-of-place book (besides Good Omens and the Jeffrey Archer books) in his shop, The Home Planet by Kevin Kelly, for Crowley. (Credit: @mochacoffee on Tumblr).
  • Aziraphale got his license at the same time Crowley got the Bentley because he was hoping one day it would be their car. :)
  • As of the end of Season 1, Crowley no longer identifies as a demon and Aziraphale no longer identifies as an angel.
  • The reason Aziracrow had never had the "can Aziraphale drive the Bentley" discussion is because in the years between Seasons 1 and 2, they'd never gone anywhere without each other. :)
  • Crowley spent the night at the bookshop after finding out about Armaggedon being under way.
  • Aziracrow saved the humans during the flood.
  • Azi and Crowley pledged their love in 1941.
  • Azirael was going to propose at the ball because he'd just found out from Shax that Crowley had a replacement on earth (Credit: Melbatron5000 on Tumblr).
  • Aziraphale miracled the liquor bottles in 1941 to break because he saw an opportunity to rescue Crowley and/or spend more time with him, and also breaking liquor bottles would conveniently make him look good in heaven as well, so it worked out well.

Aziraphale:

  • The reason the archangels listened to Aziraphale when he scolded them in the bookshop was because he was already Supreme Archangel. (AFAIK this theory is original to me).
  • Aziraphale being good at the three-shell magic trick is related to the three-baby swap card scene.
  • Aziraphale found out somehow that he was the Supreme Archangel, before Metatrash told him. (AFAIK this theory is original to me). Presumably it was to his advantage somehow that Metatrash not know he knew - hence guessing "Michael?"
  • Aziraphale guessed that Gabriel's memory loss was his punishment for leaving heaven.
  • Aziraphale picked up right away on the fact that the giant miracle would be something the Metatron would be very concerned about, and had planned all along to promise to stay away from Crowley in return for the Metatron promising to leave him alone. (AFAIK this theory is original to me).

Aziraphale in Heaven:

  • Azi is going to be able to "make a difference" with a lot of the angels just by being compassionate, which will be a huge eye-opener for them.

Aziraphale's trip to Edinburgh in 2023:

  • Aziraphale turned the Bentley yellow as a "bright yellow beacon" to make sure whoever was spying on him noticed it. (Credit: @dunkthebiscuit on Tumblr).
  • Aziraphale and Crowley had the conversation about Aziraphale taking the car out in the street because they wanted anyone who might be spying on them to overhear. (This would also explain why Crowley threw the keys to Aziraphale in front of Muriel).
  • Similarly, they knew Hell would eavesdrop on their radio conversation and so did not talk about anything substantial this way. (This may also be why Aziraphale does not appear to have a cell phone).
  • Aziraphale borrowed the graveyard guy's phone because he knew Hell would be eavesdropping on the Bentley's radio.
  • Aziraphale took the car because it would be harder to steal something from him in the car than on a train. (I believe this theory is original to me).
  • Edinburgh was an excuse for Crowley to take the plant boxes into the shop. (Credit: kayleesfantposts on Tumblr).
  • Aziraphale took something to Edinburgh. (Credit: kayleesfanposts on Tumblr).

The Battle of the Bookshop/Crowley's trip to Heaven:

  • Azi and Crowley planned a large part of the whole break-in-to-heaven situation (using Muriel was probably part of the plan), and Azi opening up the portal was to give Crowley an emergency exit.
  • Crowley chucked the Book of Life down to Azi through the portal during the battle with the demons.
  • Crowley sent Aziraphale information while he was in Heaven.

The bookshop:

  • Aziraphale only has the Jeffrey Archer books in his shop to mask the demon smell. (As far as I know, this one is original to me. :)
  • The bookshop is the Garden, in a way.
  • The bookshop's status as some sort of "embassy" that demons can't get into is dependent on an angel being resident in it (and a demon not); this is why Crowley did not move into the bookshop. It's also why he says "you can't leave this bookshop" at the end. Most likely because there is something important hidden in it that he can't have the demons finding, so he needs to keep them out by having the bookshop continue to be a heavenly embassy. (Credit: Indigovigilance on Tumblr.)
  • Crowley spent the night at the bookshop after he and Azi got drunk together (Courtesy of bebopboom on Tumblr).

The book of Life:

  • The book Jimbriel is reading that begins "It was a nice day" (which may or may not be Good Omens) is the Book of Life. (Credit: the-deviations on tumblr).
  • The Book of Life doesn't exist, but Metatrash has spent a lot of time and energy making everybody think it does.
  • Falling means being erased from the Book of Life, hence why the demons have new names.
  • Being erased from the Book of Life doesn't *kill* you, per se, but erases your memories.
  • The book Crowley is reading from in Before the Beginning is the Booj of Life. 
  • Crowley and Aziraphale together are the only ones who can actually read the Book Of Life besides God, and that's why the Metatron wants to keep them apart - there's some secret in the book, that he doesn't want anyone to know. @goingtobeamazing on Tumblr.
  • Crowley stole the book of life while he was in heaven.
  • Crowley chucked the BoL down to Azi before Edinburgh (the first time he wore the "tactical turtleneck"). This is what Aziraphale's disappearing suitcase is about.

The Chinwag:

  • We are missing something about the Chinwag.
  • Coffee or Death. (I'm not sure who originally noticed this, but @red-sky-in-mourning on Tumblr was among the first.) It was an explicit death threat.
  • Not sure whether this quite qualifies as a *theory*, but I'm convinced Aziraphale merely faked taking a sip of the coffee when Metatron handed it to him.
  • Aziraphale knew the coffee was an explicit death threat. (Metatrash tapped the Coffee or Death logo while holding it out to Aziraphale.)
  • Aziraphale saw the death glare Metatrash gave Crowley. 
  • Metatron said Azi couldn’t tell Crowley that Crowley was in danger if Azi didn’t go back to heaven.
  • The almond in the coffee symbolizes heaven's watchfulness, or atonement, or something like that.
  • There was something in the coffee - NOT a drug that made Aziraphale suddenly want to go back to heaven (after all, Metatrash could threaten him into going back to heaven anyway, so there was no need to drug him), but maybe a drug that made him blurt out something about Crowley, for example.

Crowley:

  • The reason Crowley hated the 14th century was because of the Plague.
  • The reason Crowley looked pale and was holding still and standing stiffly and asking for holy water in the 1860's was because he'd just returned from being tortured by hell for saving Elspeth.
  • Crowley went back to Heaven to get reinforcements to help in the battle (Credit: @paperclipninja on Tumblr).
  • Crowley used to be basically illiterate like the other demons and only learned to write/spell/etc because Aziraphale wanted him to.
  • Crowley can send out lightning bolts, helped make the stars, and arguably taught an ostrich (Gabriel, with the ostrich-feather coat) to run. (No way they paid for that bazillion dollar coat just for a sight gag!) He deserves answers, and he's going to get them!
  • Crowley is faking at least some of his memory loss - the reason being that he was tremendously powerful and it is much safer for him if people think he no longer remembers/has access to those powers.
  • Crowley fell for refusing to fight (this theory is original to me, AFAIK).
  • The reason Crowley hadn't heard of Jane Austen's books was because for much of the period when they were at the peak of their popularity, he was stuck in hell being tortured. (I believe this theory is also original to me).
  • There are two Crowleys, and that's why Crowley appears to sometimes not recognize people.
  • Part of the reason "Crowley" sometimes didn't recognize people is because he and Azi were appearance-swapped at the time.

Crowley (pre-Fall):

  • Crowley either got caught up in the general chaos of the Great Battle/thought he was just go along and be silly and have fun, or he was forced to fight (or he was there but never actually did any fighting) - as opposed to actually meaning to.
  • Crowley fell because he naively invented something that helped hell in the war, not suspecting that they would use it to do harm (I started to suspect this after encountering TP's character Leonard of Quirm, who reminds me *very much* of prefall Crowley, and who is constantly inventing incredibly destructive weapons, unable to believe anyone would use them to hurt another person).
  • God told Crowley about the plan for him to fall, but then had to wipe his memory because She told him. (Credit: insanity-laughs-under-pressure on Tumblr.)
  • Crowley pieced together the Ineffable Plan before the beginning, and so God told him he had to fall and forget, and Crowley agreed to this (Credit: gyrovagus-bibliophile on tumblr).

Edinburgh:

  • Aziraphale isn't allowed to give humans money.
  • The reason Aziraphale was trying to convince Elspeth not to steal the body, and miracled it into sludge, was because he didn't want her to go to hell for stealing it.
  • The statue of Gabriel can spy on people.
  • The graveyard watchmen from 1827 are the two men who confront Aziraphale in the graveyard in the present day.
  • They are trying to get revenge because Crowley sent them to hell. 

The Final Fifteen:

  • Aziraphale took something out of his mouth after the kiss. (Credit: Melbatron3000 on Tumblr.)
  • No nightingales" was a code - a reference to Romeo and Juliet, indicating that Crowley has to leave because it's not safe for him to stay.
  • A&C swapped bodies in the FF. 
  • Aziraphale saying "I l..." was him starting to say "I lied", not "I love you" (Credit: @queer4cryptids on Tumblr.)
  • Crowley was starting to say "And I would like to spend every day with you" in the Final Fifteen (hence the episode title).
  • Crowley passed Aziraphale some sort of records during the kiss (Credit: Melbatron5000 on Tumblr.)
  • Aziraphale is reading something in the elevator at the end. Records? (Credit: Melbatron5000 on Tumblr.)
  • Crowley saw a suspicious look on the Metatrash's face (or maybe Metatrash glared at him or something) and he realized something was up and that's part of why he didn't leave at the end (Credit: commonmexicanname on Tumblr).
  • What Crowley passed to Aziraphale was a bullet, to remind him of how much he trusted her. (This theory is not mine - someone else came up with it - I will put credit once I find their handle).
  • Part of the reason Metatrash pops up all of a sudden is because he finds out about Crowley breaking into Heaven and freaks out. (Possibly he is worried because Crowley found out something significant?)
  • Possibly part of the reason Metatrash separates them is so Crowley can't tell Aziraphale something important. 
  • The Final Fifteen is about Aziraphale telling Crowley he needs to remain Supreme Archangel because as long as he is SA, he can indefinitely block Armageddon 2.0 (as we know, it cannot happen without the go-ahead from the Supreme Archangel), and the two of them being worried that the Metatrash will use Crowley to blackmail Aziraphale into starting it, and Crowley finally saying "you have to spend the rest of eternity preventing it, even if it means losing me".

Gabriel/Jim:

  • Gabriel stole the Book of Life.
  • During the jogging scene, Gabriel was there to meet someone other than Aziraphale (probably Beelzebub). 
  • The "something terrible" Jimbriel was talking about was Armageddon 2.0, not the memory wipe.
  • Crowley and Gabriel have history.

The Giant Miracle:

  • Crowley and Aziraphale didn't actually do a Big Giant Miracle. The Giant Plume of Miraculous Activity was from something else. (Credit: Melbatron5000 on Tumblr)
  • Crowley saying "We're gonna make this the tiniest miracle we can possibly perform" was deliberately misleading. He and Azi meant for it to be a huge miracle.

  • Crowley said "when we do a miracle together, it works a little too well" to hide the fact that Aziraphale was Supreme Archangel, because he didn't want the Metatrash to find Aziraphale and force him back to Heaven to set in motion the second coming (AFAIK, this theory is original to me).

God:

  • God has nipped out for a coffee and doesn't realize how long it's been.

The Great War:

  • The Great War led to disaster conditions and general widespread panic and uncertainty in heaven that made it easy for Metatron to take over with the promise of "strong leadership".
  • Metatrash started the war. 
  • Lucifer (who possibly is Metatrash) misled everyone into having the Great War on purpose. He knew the plan wasn't for the earth to be destroyed in 6000 years.
  • He wanted the earth to be destroyed in 6000 years because he hates humanity. 
  • Aziraphale started the war (he mentions having blown up his halo during the great war!)

Heaven/angels:

  • Gabriel was lying about having ten million angels.
  • Crowley stole the book of life while he was in heaven.
  • Heaven is actually Hell and Hell is actually Heaven. 
  • There are very few humans in Heaven.
  • Muriel has been on earth before and just doesn't remember (this theory is original to me, AFAIK).
  • Muriel is smarter than they appear and was helping Crowley on purpose.
  • Michael had their memory erased as punishment for their backchannel dealings.
  • Michael's memory is mixed up because the Great War now never happened (thanks to Adam) and so they are confused. 
  • The reason the angels don't recognize Crowley is because they have completely forgotten all about him for some reason. 
  • "Looking where the furniture isn't" is somehow connected to the whole thing with Michael not knowing whether Gabriel had a desk. (AFAIK this theory is original to me).

Hell/demons:

  • The (main) reason hell is understaffed is because there are more people in the world, which means more people dying, which means more souls to torture. (Note: This one is all but confirmed true in the book and by Amazon.)
  • Beelzebub were lying about their ten million angels/demons.
  • The reason the demons are illiterate is because they had their memories wiped as punishment for rebelling.
  • The reason demons can't spell is because they don't interact much with humans and human linguistics (credit: bowtiepastabitch on tumblr).

The Ineffable Plan:

  • The characters are never going to know exactly what the ineffable plan is. 
  • God intended for the baby swap to happen. Ergo, She almost certainly didn't want Armaggedidnt to happen, and therefore was not on board with heaven trying to execute Aziraphale for preventing it. (This theory is original to me, AFAIK.)
  • God is testing heaven and hell, not just humanity.

Jesus:

  • The third baby (Greasy Johnson) is Jesus.

Sister Mary:

  • Sister Mary Loquacious adopted Greasy Johnson, making her Mary, the virgin Mother of Jesus. (Maybe she later married a carpenter named Joseph or Josephine Johnson?)

Metatrash:

  • The Metatron used to be human.
  • Metatrash and Satan are the same person, or very closely connected in some way.
  • Metatrash and Satan are colluding.
  • Nina and Metatron know each other. Nina interrogated Crowley about his relationship status in order to report back to Metatron.
  • The Metatron is already pretty familiar with humans (for whatever reason) and doesn't actually need Azi's "expertise".
  • Metatrash is wiping people's memories so they think the Great War did happen (when it actually didn't).
  • Aziraphale (and possibly Crowley) knows something that's useful to the Metatron and that's why he can't just wipe his memory. (Credit: schattenhonig on Tumblr).
  • The Metatrash sent Maggie and Nina to talk to Crowley so he wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on the Chinwag. (Credit: obligateweirdo on Tumblr).
  • Shax and Metatron are colluding.
  • Part of the reason the Metatron invited Crowley back to heaven was because memory wipes can only be performed there.
  • The Metatron needs (or thinks he needs) Aziraphale because he is the angel who sounds the trumpet for the second coming. (Credit: at-the-sign-of-the-fox-n-phoenix on Tumblr.) In Islamic angelology, the angel who is responsible for this is named Israfel.
  • The purported body swap in the FF (Credit: Lonicera on Tumblr) is to prevent this.
  • The Metatron taking Aziraphale to heaven was to blackmail Crowley.
  • The Metatron isn't actually going to give Aziraphale the supreme archangel position.
  • Metatron "offered" to make Crowley an angel again because if he became one, he and Azi wouldn't be able to do any more powerful angel-demon miracles. 
  • The body swap was a Really Big Miracle and the Metatron has been onto Aziracrow for years. (Credit: indigovigilance on Tumblr.)
  • Part of the reason Metatrash wanted Aziraphale to come back to heaven is because he needed to get his employee retention rates up. Losing an angel makes him look bad.
  • Metatron in S2E6 isn't actually Metatron, but someone else, who magically convinced everyone they were Metatron the way Crowley magically convinced Sitis he was a human named Bildad the Shuhite.
  • Metatrash started the great war to cover up that he tried to kill Crowley. (AFAIK, this theory is original to me).

Misc details:

  • Ducks are going to prove significant in some way (theory by @metatronhateblog on Tumblr).
  • The feather we see in the Lockdown Special is Crowley's.
  • The misspelled tattoos are a C-lue.
  • There are different timelines (hence the multiple different Bentleys, and Maggie's record shop sometimes having its name up on the front and sometimes not).
  • There are multiple viewpoints (possibly Season 2 is Aziraphale and Crowley retelling the story of their "exploits" to someone) - hence the different Bentleys and the different versions of Maggie's record shop, etc.
  • The reason the minisodes feel a bit off is because they are Aziraphale's memories. 
  • This is the reason Aziraphale seems so obnoxious in some of them - he is remembering them with a feeling of shame. 

Saraqael:

  • Saraqael was checking whether Crowley remembered them to see if his memory wipe worked.
  • Saraqael specifically chose to send Muriel because she didn't actually want Heaven finding out any more information about the miracle. 
  • Saraqael is pissed off that their nebula is going to be shut down, and so they are on the Husbands' side.
  • "We'll be watching you very closely" was Saraqael warning the Husbands to come up with an explanation for the miracle.
  • They also meant to tell Azi that he and Crowley were able to do a massive miracle - I think they wanted Aziracrow to know how powerful they were.

Tadfield:

  • Greasy Johnson (the third baby), Warlock, and Adam found out about the baby swap, and Greasy Johnson and Warlock decide they want to meet. Possibly they also want to confront Crowley about it. 

Whickber Street:

  • Mrs Sandwich is Mary Magdalene (Credit: yowlthinks on tumblr).
  • The reason Whickber Street looks so colorful and cartoony in S2 is because Adam rewrote reality. (Credit: @deemorris on Tumblr).
  • Nina owning a coffee shop (and Maggie helping her) may be a reference to the "two women will be grinding with a hand mill" prophecy from the Bible (Credit: Bebopboom on Tumblr).
  • Maggie's spelling error is a red herring. It's the kind of spelling error an educated person with dyslexia could still make. It's very different from the demons' nearly-illerate spelling. (AFAIK this theory is original to me).
  • Maggie is working for Heaven and has literal *records* in her record shop. 
  • Greasy Johnson (the third baby's) motorbike was in Whickber Street in S2.
  • Maggie is a record keeper (I didn't think up this part), and her disappearing handbag contained records which Crowley stole from her. These inspired him to break into Heaven. (I did think up this part). Possibly he then passed them to Aziraphale during the kiss, and they're what Aziraphale appears to be reading in the lift at the end.
  • The elevator was installed to more easily allow Heaven and Hell to spy on Aziracrow. 
  • The reason Crowley was living in his car was because if he got a new apartment, it would look suspicious for him to be going out of the bookshop in the early morning, whereas by living in his car he can park near the bookshop and be a lot more sneaky about it. He has effectively been living in the bookshop since Shax took his apartment. This would also explain why Azi didn’t know Crowley was “living in his car” - because he wasn’t really. 
  • Someone (most likely Nina or Maggie, but possibly Saraqael) stole the Book of Life from Jimbriel's box while it was left unattended on the street.
  • The Metatrash sent Maggie and Nina to talk to Crowley so he wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop on the Chinwag. (Credit: @obligateweirdo on Tumblr). 
  • The reason Whickber Street looks so colorful and cartoony in S2 is because of how Adam rewrote reality. (Credit: @dee-morris on Tumblr).

For general awareness: If you don't know already, N*il G*iman has been accused of s*xual as*ault by eight women. It's up to you what you choose to do with this information. But I don't want to risk getting more people interested in his work without also making them aware of this.