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Gil McKinney is reprising his role as Henry Winchester in The Winchesters. It brings up questions about what happened to the character in Supernatural.

If we’re honest, we’re not expecting The Winchesters to stick to any of Supernatural’s canon at this point in the story. Maybe there will be a way to fix the problems, but there are a lot of them. It’s probably best to pretend that this series is in some sort of alternate universe right now. At least alternate universes are established canon in the OG series.

In the pilot episode, we found out that Millie knew all about her husband’s dealings with the Men of Letters. Yet, in the OG series, John believed that his father was a deadbeat and just left. Well, it turns out in the prequel spin-off, John has received a letter (and a key) from his father. He now believes his father to be dead, and yet, somehow, McKinney is going to return.

What happened to Henry in Supernatural?

So, back to the OG series. What happened to the Winchester patriarch? Is it possible for McKinney to come back?

In Supernatural* Season 8, Sam and Dean learned about the Men of Letters. They learned that their grandfather was a member of the society. It was all thanks to Henry coming to the future to protect the key after Abaddon killed all the elders of the Lawrence chapter.

Henry ended up dying in the future, in Sam and Dean’s arms. After decades of not knowing, Sam and Dean finally learned what had become of their grandfather. Yet, John would never learn the truth.

But will he? The key is supposed to be with the brothers in the future. Yet, right now, John has the key to the bunker in 1972. It was in the letter from Henry. How is that possible? The Winchesters will need to explain it.

There are a few ways to connect to canon. It is possible that it’s come from somewhere else in the future, maybe after Sam and Dean die. Magic is real so could Sam have figured out a way to get the key back to the past without completely destroying the timeline? Then there’s the fact that this is an alternate universe, so we’re not following SPN canon at all.

McKinney is showing up in Episode 7, which happens to be the same episode Tom Welling appears as Samuel Campbell. We’ll find out what’s going on then.

MORE: Do you need to watch Supernatural to understand The Winchesters?

What did you think of Gil McKinney returning as Henry Winchester? What do you think of The Winchesters so far? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Winchesters airs Tuesdays on The CW in the U.S. and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada.