The end is almost here. With only one episode of WandaVision left, there are high expectations for an unforgettable series finale. Last week’s reveal opened the story up to so many possibilities however we will just have to wait and see what lies ahead. This is your spoiler warning if you still have not seen WandaVision.
Episode Eight:
This episode opens in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1693. A coven of witches are escorting Agatha Harkness to her death. The accused Agatha is defending herself and pleading that she has not practiced a special type of magic. The coven begin to cast a spell attempting to kill Agatha but she uses her own magic to overpower them. Agatha escapes their magical clutches, pleading that she can be good. One more attempt is made to try and kill Agatha but once again she over powers the leader of the coven, her own mother. As their bodies lay around her, Agatha stumbles towards her mother and steals her broach.
Back in Westview, we return to the moment Agatha reveals her true identity to Wanda. Agatha is holding her pet rabbit Senior Scratchy in her hands. She lifts him up to her ear and acts as if he said something. A distressed Wanda tries to read Agatha’s mind. The newly revealed Agatha informs Wanda she cannot access her thoughts. Wanda asks where Tommy and Billy are and attempts to use magic to get her answer. Her magic does not work in this lair and Agatha uses her own magic to entrap Wanda. Agatha explains how she conjured up a “Fake Pietro”. She is trying to get Wanda under her spell but Wanda is resistant of everything Agatha is throwing at her.
Agatha needs Wanda to explain how she created Westview. Wanda answers saying she doesn’t know how she did it. Demanding answers, Agatha throws Wanda against the wall but she isn’t telling her anything. Agatha is left with no choice and begins to take Wanda through the traumatic moments in her life. Once again, Wanda refuses to give into Agatha’s magic. Agatha then reminds Wanda the she has captured her children.
Through the door, Wanda walks back into her childhood home in Sokovia. A shocked Wanda sees her mother happily embracing her father who is carrying a suitcase. Inside the suitcase there are a number of boxsets including titles such as I Love Lucy, Bewitched and Malcolm in the Middle. A young Pietro runs in, hugs his father and then calls his sister. Agatha gestures Wanda into the scene and we see her as a little girl. Mr. Maximoff tells Wanda it is her pick for TV night but her pick isn’t in the case. Wanda’s father pulls out a boxset of The Dick Van Dyke Show and she requests to watch Season 2, Episode 21. As the Maximoff family are enjoying the sitcom shenanigans, there is an explosion.
A frightened young Wanda wakes up to see her home destroyed and her parents aren’t there anymore. As Wanda and Pietro are hiding from the destruction, a Stark Industries missile lands in front of them. Out of the corner of her eye, the television is still playing The Dick Van Dyke Show. Wanda iterates that by the “end of the episode” she will realise “it was all a bad dream”. As young Wanda is about to reach for the missile, she is then dragged out and is now grown up Wanda. Agatha begins to question if Wanda stopped the bomb using her powers. Wanda explains the bomb was defective but it still doesn’t answer Agatha’s question. Agatha then conjures up a new door into Wanda’s past.
Agatha begins to question why Wanda joined an anti freedom terrorist organisation in her teenage years. Set around the time of Avengers: Age of Ultron, we see another version of Wanda testing for an experiment involving Loki’s Scepter. Wanda’s magic then releases The Mind Stone from the scepter and a figure appears to her. Back in her cell, Wanda is watching The Brady Bunch and appears distraught. Agatha is beginning to put the pieces together but needs more information.
A new door is conjured up and Wanda walks right into a flashback set after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Agatha asks where they are now and Wanda answers saying they are in the Avengers Compound, the first home she shared with Vision. In the scene, Wanda is sitting on the bed watching Malcolm in the Middle. She calls for Vision and he walks through the wall. Wanda gestures for Vision to sit beside her.
As they sit together, Vision questions what he is watching and tries to understand what she is feeling in the aftermath of Pietro’s death. She says the only thing that will bring her comfort is seeing her brother again. In her grief, Wanda explains how she is feeling and Vision gets through to her. He laughs at the television and Wanda explains that it is okay to laugh, as the show they are watching is funny. Agatha begins to recap on the events that affected Wanda’s actions and wants to know how she brought Vision back.
A new door opens up to a memory of Wanda’s. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Wanda storms into S.W.O.R.D headquarters demanding to see Vision’s body. She is finally granted permission and uses her magic to open the doors. As she barges her way into Director Hayward’s office, she exclaims that she wants to take Vision’s body. Director Hayward shows Wanda, Vision’s now dismantled body. A shocked Wanda, questions the actions of S.W.O.R.D and informs him she just wants to bury her husband. Hayward believes Wanda possesses the power to bring Vision back to life and can’t give him to her. Wanda wants to say a proper goodbye, she breaks the glass and stands by her husband’s side.
She uses her magic to try and connect with Vision’s body but says she cannot feel him. Wanda gets in her car and drives to Westview. As she pulls into what was meant to be their home, Wanda opens a property deed in which Vision wrote “to grow old in”.
In a grief stricken outburst, Wanda screams and creates what we now know to be “the hex”. Her grief also caused her to create another version of her soulmate. A shocked Wanda, creates a 1950’s Dick Van Dyke Show style set, as seen in Episode One and casts herself in the lead role. 1950’s Wanda smiles as she sees her soulmate and they snuggle up together on the couch. As they kiss, present day Wanda notices all the stage lights and the set is now in technicolour. From an audience seat, Agatha gives her a round of applause.
Agatha disappears and Wanda hears the sounds of her children in trouble. As she runs through the stage door out onto the street, Agatha appears to have Tommy and Billy in some sort of magical chokehold. The evil Agatha, informs Wanda of how dangerous she truly is. Wanda is demanding that Agatha let go of her children. Agatha relays on all of the things Wanda has created in Westview and describes her actions as “chaos magic”, making Wanda the Scarlet Witch.
In a post credit scene, a S.W.O.R.D agent informs Director Hayward that the team is ready for launch. Director Hayward relays that they have taken this weapon apart and put it back together many times. He then goes onto say that all he needed was energy from the Westview anomaly to create this new weapon. The energy from the missile that went into Westview, is then transported to a separate machine which contains a brand new version of Vision.
Wanda the Scarlet Witch:
In true Marvel fashion this episode gave us answers but left us with more questions. The first thing that grabbed the attention of audiences is Agatha’s interaction with Senior Scratchy. Agatha holds this rabbit up to her ear as if it is talking to her. In the comics, Agatha Harkness has a son named Nick Scratch. This could be nothing or it could be a major plot point in next week’s season finale.
A question that has been lingering over fan’s heads is why this world is based around different sitcoms. In this episode we learn that The Maximoff family watched sitcoms to learn English however it appears Wanda enjoyed them the most. In relation to Wanda’s favourite sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, the episode she watches takes place in a bad dream. Obviously this is regarding the tragic death of her parents but could also describe the dream like state she has created for the people of Westview.
Director Hayward has been a talking point of the entire series. He has raised many questions the main one being, What does he want with Vision? In a previous episode, Director Hayward informs his agents that Wanda broke into S.W.O.R.D Headquarters and stole Vision’s body. This was not the case as Wanda was granted admission into S.W.O.R.D to see Vision’s body. Hayward lied to protect himself and judging by the post credit scene, we now know his intention was to re-weaponize Vision.
In last week’s episode, Vision questioned what form he was taking within the Westview anomaly. We learn that in a grief stricken state, Wanda overtook Westview and when doing so, created a new version of Vision. Elizabeth Olsen delivers this scene with such emotion and has proved herself to be a major part of the MCU throughout this series. Wanda and Vision were always going to settle down in Westview according to the property deed. Their endgame was always Westview and Wanda made sure that happened one way or another.
A small reveal in this episode came in the form of Pietro. Agatha revealed that Pietro was a conjured up image to confuse Wanda. There has been a lot speculation around this character. Fans have theorised that this character could be Mephisto, he could be X-Men Quiksilver or a S.W.O.R.D agent. However this confirms, he is just a conjured up image and does not play a bigger part in Agatha’s plan. However, we will see what happens next week in his scenes with Monica and maybe this will lead us into the multiverse.
This episode is more than just a continuation of WandaVision, it is the official origin story of The Scarlet Witch. In the scene where Wanda sees the figure of the Scarlet Witch, it was foreshadowing her destiny. Wanda was always meant to be The Scarlet Witch from that moment on. Before Agatha referred to Wanda as The Scarlet Witch, she informs her this world she has created is a result of “chaos magic”. Although the term is not exclusive to Marvel Comics, in witchcraft terms it refers to the mastery of spells capable of warping, manipulating and/or reconstructing reality, the very fabric of existence and can cause total chaos and destruction to the world. The witchcraft influences in this episode although light prove to be present more than ever throughout the entire series.
With only one episode left, fans are going to miss the world of Westview in these trying times. Marvel have a jam packed 2021 schedule so as we say goodbye to Westview next week, there is still so much chaos magic ahead.
WandaVision is now streaming on Disney+. The final episode will be released on March 5th.
