Agatha All Along finale: Young Avengers easter eggs explained

The last two episodes of Agatha All Along (2024), starring Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke and Aubrey Plaza, finished the series, for now at least. They left behind one final set of Easter eggs, many of them pulled from the Young Avengers comics. I want to walk through what the show took from the comics, the flower language hidden in the finale, and what those choices could set up.

The short version: the finale borrowed from the comics, with Young Avengers 2013 echoed in its plotting, comic details in its costumes and the Young Avengers comics in its emotional beats. It also ended on a line that, at the time, gave me hope we would get the Young Avengers on screen.

Rio Vidal, Lady Death and Breaking the Fabric of the Hex

Rio Vidal is Death, and her name translates to the River of Life. That plays into the role of figures like Charon the ferryman or the Valkyries, who lead people to the afterlife. It's the same vibe, even though Rio is Lady Death herself.

After the argument between Agatha and Rio, Rio rips through the backdrop of the set. That backdrop stands for the fabric of reality, or the fabric of the hex. It relates to something that happens a couple of times in the comics, specifically with Loki. In Young Avengers 2013, Loki hops between the comic panels to go and rescue Wiccan. Rio's moment feels very much like that same breaking of reality.

Jen's Unbinding Spell and the Magic of Hair

The unbinding spell Jen uses on Agatha is interesting because it reminds me of a piece of magic Loki did in the comics with Valkyrie. They used their own hair and Jane Foster's to bind their fates together.

In witchcraft itself, you use your own hair to undo a spell or a hex, because you don't usually know the person who put it on you. One traditional belief is that owning a lock of hair from somebody's head gives you magical power over them. Maybe the show will pick up on that in the future with Agatha.

Props to Jen, too, for being a final girl here. Her crawling out of the dirt is very Halloween, very much like Ready or Not or The Menu. It's very final girl.

Billy's Guilt and Tommy Shepherd's Sad Comic Backstory

When Billy and Agatha sit down to try to find a body for Tommy's soul to reside in, it's heartbreaking. As somebody who loves the Young Avengers comics, I caught what Billy says about the boy: there's no one there to love him, he's got no one. That's a reference to how Tommy Shepherd grows up. His parents are divorced, he's in and out of juvie, and he ends up in actual jail as a teenager. Tommy has a very upsetting backstory, especially compared to his twin, who seems to have it so easy.

Billy has to come to terms with killing throughout the series, especially in these last two episodes. He asks whether he's killing this boy so his brother can live, and he finds out he was the reason Lilia, Alice and Sharon died. That's very reminiscent of the guilt he carries when Cassie dies in the Young Avengers comics. It makes him stop being a hero for a while because he feels so bad. It's interesting to see that same Wiccan guilt in this character, just in a different way.

Agatha's Dandelion and "Sometimes Boys Die"

When Billy leaves and Agatha is alone, she says "sometimes boys die." That's very telling for her character. She's finally coming to terms with the grudge she has held for hundreds of years, and with the fact that it wasn't Rio's fault her son died. It was just the way things are.

I love flower language. When Agatha finally finishes the trial for the Green Witch, she grows a dandelion. Dandelions usually symbolize resilience because they can grow in the worst conditions, like concrete. They carry a symbolic meaning of emotional healing and new beginnings, and when they're yellow they also represent optimism, growth and good luck.

In her fight against Rio, Agatha uses spells and tricks she learned from her coven. To me that proves she would thrive in a coven. It's just that the way she grew up told her she doesn't deserve one.

Wiccan's Suit Is One of the Most Comic Accurate in a While

Wiccan's suit is maybe one of the most true to the comics suits we've gotten in a while. The cosmic side paneling is taken from the comics. The runes and paneling details come from WandaVision and are sprinkled throughout his outfit, connecting him to Wanda.

The inside of his cape carries Vision's pattern. That means his father isn't so far away, even though Billy hasn't talked about Vision much.

Agatha Plays Loki's Role From Young Avengers 2013

I found that Agatha was filling some of the roles Loki plays in Young Avengers 2013. When she takes some of Wiccan's powers and Wiccan tells her not to take all of it, it plays through the same plot as that comic run, which was cool to see.

Then comes the heart to heart between Agatha and Billy. She reassures him that he isn't bad and runs her fingers under his chin. That's very reminiscent of how she shows affection to Rio and to her son. She definitely loves this boy, even if she won't say it.

We also get the Agatha and Rio kiss. It isn't there to save Billy. It's there to close the book on this chapter and this grudge with Rio, and to settle that it wasn't Rio's fault she took Agatha's son. That's just the way life is.

The Flowers Rio Planted on Agatha's Grave

Because I'm a sucker for flower language, I looked over Agatha's grave and picked out what I could identify, since Rio was the one who planted these over her grave. Blue daisies mean trust, loyalty and long term commitment. Lupines can represent new life and a new direction.

Blue roses are often given to lovers to express their feelings for each other, and they can symbolize deep affection, admiration and respect. Lavender is often associated with love and devotion. Mushrooms stand for spiritual growth, enlightenment and rebirth.

Rio's connection between death and flowers is also reminiscent of an earlier moment where she was taking pictures and Billy said those were just flowers. It was in our face the whole time.

The Changed Line Behind Rio's Skull Face

Earlier, when Agatha says she doesn't want to see Rio's face in death, the line was originally supposed to be that she would like Rio to retire this face. Rio then says that this is the face Agatha fell in love with. They changed it to Agatha simply saying she doesn't want to see Rio's face anymore.

That's probably why Rio immediately switches to her skull face and stops showing that face. It also makes me wonder why she wasn't in the skull face when she took Alice's soul. Was it because Alice tried to protect Agatha, so Rio was being more human? There are many things to think about.

Westview and a Possible Mother Parallel for Young Avengers

Billy heads home after the fight, and all the people of Westview are framed behind the car. This isn't an Easter egg, but if Marvel does use Mother as one of the villains for Young Avengers, there are many comic frames where the parents Mother takes over crowd around in just that way. The parallel between that and the scene with the Westview citizens is so good. Marvel, please give it to me.

Nicky's Ballad, Greensleeves and Agatha Watching Over Teen

We get Agatha's backstory with her son, and we see that Nicky is the one who made the ballad. The song's lyrics are the opening of the first episode, so it has been under our noses the entire time. Brilliant, amazing, outstanding.

It has been pointed out that Rio emphasizes "my" love while Agatha emphasizes the "love" part of it. That's very telling, and it hurts my heart.

The song sung by the witch from the first coven killed in the flashback is Greensleeves. It's essentially a sad song about falling in love with somebody who rejects you. It's also heartbreaking on a rewatch to realize that because Nicky died in his sleep, Agatha stayed up and watched over Teen while he slept when he was hurt. She had already lost a son that way and was scared of losing Teen like that.

Agatha's Killing Montage and The Craft

We get the montage of Agatha killing over the decades, and the victims are women dressed in the stereotypical rebel outfits of their time. The 1990s one is based on the goth grunge outfits of The Craft. That's cool because The Craft is in the end credits as well, and the show is very much like that movie.

Ghost Agatha's Costume Blends Her Comic Looks

Back in the present day, we find out Agatha is a ghost, and I'm obsessed with her outfit. It takes the good things from several of her outfits across her run as a comic character. We get the old silhouette from when she was a ghost in the comics, and we also get the tree pattern from the underside of her cape on the reincarnated version, which is the current version of Agatha. It's cool to see those blended together.

I'm also excited to see her become Billy's mentor. With Wanda, they end up like an old married couple who bicker, while Agatha still gives her good advice. With Billy, we should see a motherly figure, which would be very much like the governess role she plays in the comics.

Billy Created the Witches' Road as a Hex

Billy finds out that he created the Road as a fabrication of his reality warping, and that it is a hex. That explains why the other witches couldn't use their powers until Billy wanted them to. Agatha knew the whole time that it was part of Billy's fabrication.

That makes it funny to rewatch. She says the Road suits him and that it was everything he had ever imagined, and she's like, yes, of course it is. When he says he wants to go home, her face says, well then, let's go home, you're driving the bus here. I highly recommend rewatching.

This is also something Billy struggles with in the comics. He comes to understand that he'll never be 100% sure what is real and what is his reality warping. That will be interesting when we get Hulkling, since my understanding is that it has been confirmed his boyfriend in the show isn't Hulkling. Billy would then meet a boy who is the perfect person, with a name similar to the boy he was dating in Eastview, and who was already nice. I think it'll be fun to plant those seeds going forward.

My Dream Scenarios for Bringing the Young Avengers Together

The show ends with "let's go find Tommy," which at the time meant I was hoping we'd get the Young Avengers in the future. I had a little dream scenario planned out, based on a few things that were rumored or, as I understood it, confirmed. My understanding was that Riri Williams would be one of the next Young Avengers. She might end up taking Iron Lad's place. They aren't the same character by any means, but I could see her filling that space, especially since we didn't know the future of Kang.

We could get America Chavez and Riri Williams becoming friends through Zelma Stanton. Zelma is besties with Strange, works at the Sanctum Sanctorum, and has been an apprentice to every Sorcerer Supreme who has resided there. She also makes sure Strange Academy functions. If she has any connection to Strange, she could have a connection to America Chavez, which could get that side of the Young Avengers going. Any Vision related setup would have to come after Wonder Man and the reestablishment of Vision as the one we know, based on Wonder Man's brain waves.

We could also get Tommy in a prison in Jersey City, where Ms. Marvel, Kamala, also lives. That could put many of these heroes in the same place. The only catch is that Cassie Lang is still in California. But if her dad got called in for a New York mission because of some veiled threat on the horizon, everybody could end up around New York and New Jersey, and that's how we could get the Young Avengers.