Throughout the seven years of Supernatural thus far, The Winchesters have prevented the apocalypse, battled demons, angels, monsters, encountered God himself, Lucifer, lost more than a few notable allies only for some to return, and last but not least literally going to hell/heaven and back. Now, Season 8 is a big one for the series as it finally trades the Friday death slot for a Wednesday spot while also taking a different direction under new showrunner Jeremy Carver.

But what exactly are we in for this time? The plot ahead has been very much kept under lock and key for the time being as we know that we’ll open with Dean emerging from purgatory while flashbacks throughout the season will detail the one year time gap. Today, the first promo for the new episodes have been revealed and the goal this season is a major one that could change the entire show as we know it.

Via Zap2It:

Kevin Tran back and playing a major role this time around has always been on the table as the prophet deciphers the word of God, which this time around states a plan to shut the doors on hell forever. So what happens when everything evil in the world (hopefully) goes quiet? Well that’s just it…what else canhappen?

At eight years strong it wouldn’t be unusual for the series to call it quits this far along but with The CW strong supporters behind the show with an enormous fanbase as well, it’s clear that this won’t be Supernatural‘s last hurrah. But this ultimately could be the beginning of an even larger endgame. What could following closing hell? That’s a question to tackle another day.

As for other questions that remain very much in tact: where is Castiel after a year in purgatory? What will Crowley amount to in order to stop the Brothers’ shut down of hell? And just what happened to both Sam and Dean after the year-long gap?

The answers will begin their reveals when Supernatural returns Wednesday October 3rd at 9PM on The CW.