I didn’t make my blog last week about Episode 6 despite it being a big episode but after watching Episode 7 I can’t not write this week because it’s really stepping up, especially with only two more episodes to go! I will touch upon aspects of episode 6 but will mainly focus on 7 in this blog because frankly some of the reveals frame a lot of what happened in the previous episode and the discussion flows across both.
As always, there are of course big spoilers etc etc ahead so come back when you have watched it. It’s okay, I will wait.
SPOILERS AHEAD
That took you longer to watch and come back but it’s okay, I forgive you. After all, there is a lot to digest!
Introducing Agnes Agatha
I’ve always said that something seemed off about Agnes as she is always there when needed and she seemed the most ‘experienced’ at what is happening in Westview and it turns out there is more to her than simply the nosy neighbour. As revealed at the end of Episode 7, she has been manipulating the situation all along although it is not clear to what extent or to what goal. It shows you how she has intervened through=out the series so far but it doesn’t disclose if she was behind the Hex happening in the first place but I imagine this will get brought up next week. I would say though that she has quite the set up in her Witch abode so unless she has done that in the week that the Hex has been in place, it is unlikely that the choice of Westview as Wanda’s little retreat was random.
But lets dial it back and ask who is Agatha Harkness and what role does she play? I will be honest, my experience with this character is limited at best but luckily the internet has come to my rescue. Here you can see her bio from the Marvel Wiki and it is clear that she is a magic user as she mentions in the show (she also addresses Wanda as a magic user which suggests a bit more about the nature of her powers) and she seems to have taken on the mentor and guardianship role of many Marvel heroes. The question that I have now is, is her intention within Wandavision as good? She is certainly being portrayed as a wicked witch who is manipulating the situation but my gut is telling me that she is actually working to aid Wanda or at least to manage the situation. As it seems to have always do, this all ties back to Mephisto as Agatha is the one who wipes the knowledge of Wanda’s sons from her mind when Mephisto reabsorbs them and given that in the show the twins were last seen in her care and are now missing there is a clear connection here. Part of me thinks that she has turned the twins into the rabbit and fly that you see as I am sure I heard Billy crying out for Wanda when it focused on the fly and this could be to protect the children for what Mephisto, the ultimate mastermind of the Hex, is trying to do. Alternatively, if we follow Occam’s razor then maybe she isn’t Agatha and is in fact Mephisto and has already absorbed the boys and the Agatha persona is a ruse. She seemed very keen on splitting Monica and Wanda up to avoid any external influence on Wanda so she clearly has a motive for keeping the Hex up.
It is interesting as well to see that her magic is a purple contrasting to Wanda’s red as it all feeds into portraying her as the antagonist of the show. The dark and dingy basement dungeon that she has screams evil witch but I do think that there is more than meets the eye here. That said, I mean she did kill a dog and that is pretty villainous… But the details of her lair need to be re-watched and revisited to get an idea of what is lurking in the depths and what future implications it has on the future of Wanda and the MCU. I also wonder how this will tie into Dr Strange as she is clearly a powerful magic user who has cast a spell on Wanda, Monica and whatever Quiksilver is, but I can’t imagine he isn’t aware of her? He was quickly aware of when Loki arrived on Earth in Ragnarok so why hasn’t Dr Strange intervened with Agatha if she has malicious intentions.
One theory that I have with zero evidence to back it up as of yet, is that Agatha needs Wanda to keep the Hex up because it is acting as a prison for something within Westview, for example Mephisto. She needs Wanda to keep it up as it stops Mephisto getting out, or even worse, getting in. We know that Director Hayward wants to get in to get Vision but there could also be more to him than we first see. Some people think he could be Ultron who is after Vision’s body meaning that the Hex is therefore stopping Ultron from being able to get back the body he had originally built for himself. Or, Hayward could be Mephisto that is trying desperately to get to Wanda, her kids or the book in Agatha’s charge and therefore Agatha is manipulating the situation to ensure that the quarantine, as it were, stays up. If this show has shown anything, it is that it can twist and turn every episode so I don’t think the reveal we got in Episode 7 gives us the full story yet. A lot of these theories rely on Agatha not being the main antagonist though and upon watching the reveal again it definitely leans into her not being a force for good, at least not in this situation… if of course that is even Agatha in the first place…
Introducing Spectrum
Lots of ‘new’ characters were introduced in this episode, and although Monica isn’t new we saw the birth of her alter ego, Spectrum, as she forced her way through the Hex for a third time. Everyone who knows who Monica is, knew that she was destined for powers down the line but it was great to see her not only get them here but also use them slightly against Wanda. If you need more on who Spectrum is, you can read more about her here. But to basically sum up her powers, she can basically turn herself into pure energy and manipulate energy allowing for her to do stuff like go invisible, move through walls and shoot energy. Very cool and its great to see another super powerful female character introduced into the MCU as she is definitely Captain Marvel and Wanda tier powerful.
Now we are likely to see her play an even more crucial role in Wandavision as we approach the finale although she seems to be in a bit of a bind when it comes to Quiksilver who caught her snooping but more on that in a minute. Monica remains a badass addition to the show, first trying to smash through the Hex wall with the rover before forcing her own way through without it resulting in her receiving her powers. This does beg the question – what is the nature of the Hex and can it grant others powers too? Are we likely to see more people from Westview developing powers? And does this also mean that Monica’s powers stem from the Mind Stone?
We saw her powers a little bit in action and she can clearly see energy on a spectrum which will no doubt help… it may also explain why when approached by Pietro her eyes went purple… maybe she is seeing the magical power that matches Agatha on both Pietro and in the basement… or she is being exposed to the same spell that Wanda is being effected by but that would suggest it came from Pietro… a lot of questions and not a lot of answers!
Some Final Thoughts
Honestly I love this show. One of the best things Marvel has done and it has taken such a great approach to both story telling and world building that keeps me counting down the days till Friday. Darcy and Vision haven’t had much of a mention today because the Agatha and Spectrum reveals were just too big but it is great to see Darcy being the ‘fan girl guide’ to catch Vision up with what’s happened. Their chats as well serve to show that they understand and empathise with Wanda – she has been through a lot and those who are fighting to get to her (Monica, Woo, Darcy etc) haven’t made her the villain yet, despite even Wanda believing that she has fallen off the path. It is nice to see Vision getting to understand the new emotional side of himself while grasping with his complex parentage. After his brush with death and his genuine effort of seeking help at the end of Episode 6, it is good to see that no matter what he remembers he is still driven by the right behaviours and attitudes that make him a ‘hero’.
Tyler Hayward deserves an honourable mention here too because there is something going on with him. I have my theories above that he may be more than we can take at face value too as you can see above but I could easily be wrong and he could just be the ‘hard line Director’ who is making the tough choices, of which the current choice is to bust his way into Westview. It appears that his key motivator is to get hold of Vision and I get why – he is a pretty powerful weapon if he is able to be controlled so it makes sense that S.W.O.R.D would want that in their arsenal. We will see next week what his plans are as he clearly has a route in and it seems it isn’t going to be waving a white flag.
The last few things I want to quickly mention is inventory of Agatha’s house and basement. When I saw the booked I wanted to say it’s the Darkhold, a powerful magical book in the Marvel Universe but this has already been seen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D however that doesn’t mean it can’t be a part of the book but it could equally be an entirely different book that Agatha uses. Needless to say, it is clearly of importance otherwise we wouldn’t have had our attention drawn to it. And what is with the rabbit? I kinda want to guess that it is Mephisto as he has a habit of turning into animals so it could be that he has been there with Agatha and the boys all along. If I am pulling at this thread… to buy into the Mephisto theory I want to also say that he was the stalk in Episode 3 that ‘delivered’ the babies… it would make sense if the boys are fragments of him that he would be present near their birth and then take the form of an animal to watch over his little project. I could go as far to say that he was also Sparky and Agatha ‘killed’ the dog in order to trap him as a rabbit… It is just a thought…
Checkpoint 
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