Agatha All Along Episodes 1 and 2: Wanda's Black Fingertips, the Darkhold Library Card and Possible Mephisto Hints

Episodes one and two of Agatha All Along bring Wanda Maximoff's body with blackened fingertips, a library card that spells out the Darkhold, clocks frozen at 3:33 and a boy whose name is magically hidden. I believe several of these may tie to Mephisto, the Darkhold and a coven built on The Wizard of Oz. I was so happy when the series finally arrived, because I had been waiting years to find out what Agatha had been up to.

Wanda Maximoff's Body Turns Up in Agnes's Westview Crime Scene

Episode one, titled Seekest Thou the Road, opens with a new Marvel Television logo and Agatha Harkness humming a tune while driving to a crime scene. We later learn this is The Ballad of the Witches' Road, hummed without her even knowing it. Agatha is not Agatha here, but Agnes O'Connor of the Westview crime scene unit. She meets her neighbour Herb from WandaVision, apparently named Herb Feltman according to the true crime opening credits. Agnes, on forced leave after apparently punching a suspect, is assigned a case that apparently only she can solve after being told her hibernation is over, an interesting choice of wording considering Agatha has been trapped in a prison of her own mind in Westview for three years.

Herb says the victim suffered blunt force trauma from a mysterious heavy object, and the black fingertips and feet reveal the victim is Wanda Maximoff. That crushing trauma refers to the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where Wanda dropped Chthon's Darkhold castle onto herself to destroy every copy of the Darkhold across reality. When Herb says Wanda is definitely dead, Agnes replies that you never know, which I took as a reference to how Wanda's fate under the rubble is still up in the air.

Why I Think the Darkhold Turns Fingertips Into Dark Matter

We know from WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness that blackness forms around the fingertips of those who dabble too much in the Darkhold, as with Agatha, Wanda and Illuminati Strange. What I found peculiar is that the chief later says a microbial sediment found only in Eastern Europe was under Wanda's black nails. To me, this could only refer to the dark rock of Mount Wundagore, home of the destroyed Darkhold castle. In the comics Wundagore sits in Transia, Wanda and Pietro's home country, and Sokovia is the MCU's adaptation of Transia, so there is a pretty high likelihood Wundagore is in Sokovia.

If I had to guess, this sediment is probably a form of dark matter, which I have theorised the whole mountain is made of. In Marvel Atlas #1 from 2007, Chthon's influence infected the entire mountain while he was imprisoned inside it. I believe Chthon's red chaos magic did something similar in the MCU, much as Odin explained in Thor: The Dark World that Malekith tried to use the red Aether to convert all matter into dark matter. I feel we can see this when Wong's dagger would not stick in the rock in Multiverse of Madness.

So I believe fingertips turn black because the chaos magic inside the Darkhold is slowly converting the holder's fingers into dark matter, feeding on its host much like the Aether fed on Jane Foster. Theoretically, overuse it long enough and that blackness would spread across the whole body, creating a demon, which I believe happened to the Doctor Strange variant whose universe was flooded with darkness. To me, the Darkhold is just as much its own sentient being as the Aether was.

Agatha's Search for Who She Is Echoes Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz

At the sight of Wanda's hands, Agatha starts pulling at her clothes, her first subconscious attempt to claw out of the illusion. She then finds her brooch, the locket her mother wore before Agatha drained her. I love how her reflection shows the brooch already on her body, a slight bit of symbolic foreshadowing of Agatha reclaiming herself. When Herb says she does not seem like herself, Agnes asks who that is exactly, which I called "a fantastic line in my opinion" because I think the series will be about Agatha discovering who she is on the Witches' Road, much like Dorothy.

The true crime credits parody shows like True Detective and The Killing, following yellow caution tape through the forest to evoke the yellow brick road, while a true crime version of the ballad plays. The credits also list the neighbours: Phil and Dottie Jones, really Harold and Sarah Proctor; Norm, really Abilash Tandon; Herb, really John Collins; and Mrs. Hart, really Sharon Davis. A scoreboard shows the Westview Blue Devils against Eastview, first mentioned by the Eastview cops in WandaVision episode four. The Blue Devils name could nod to Agatha's Salem coven, who chiefly used blue magic and were seen as agents of the devil.

The Darkhold Library Card and the Burned Shelf Raise Questions

At the library, Dottie tells Agnes the checkout card came from a book stolen three years ago. The first letters of its title spell Darkhold, and the last borrower was Wanda Maximoff on October 13th. Chthon wrote the Darkhold and has never gone by Andrew, so the author's name is not a Chthon reference, but Andrew typically means strong and the surname apparently means mind or spirit. That is kind of what the Darkhold is: a strong mind and spirit that pulls people into darkness.

The other copies sit charred under an under repair sign, representing Wanda burning every Darkhold in Multiverse of Madness. Could the sign hint that the Darkhold will return, or that Wanda herself is under repair? It could just be a sign, but there could be more to it. Also, how does Agatha's dream world know every copy was destroyed when she could not leave Westview? It could be Rio Vidal trying to wake her, or the Darkhold being burned out of Agatha's memory, since a memory of the Darkhold is kind of still a copy. Dennis the mailman then pops out to creepily say every copy was burned.

Clocks Stuck at 3:33 and the Triple Goddess on Agatha's Brooch

Rio Vidal suggests Wanda's body could have been placed by magic, and Agnes says to stick to reality, which I found ironic since I believe chaos magic is the same energy as the Reality Stone. The station clock reads 3:33, half of 666, and the interrogation room clock later reads 3:33 too. "Coincidence I think not." With Mephisto rumoured at the time to appear, played by Sacha Baron Cohen, these clocks could be teasing him, or they could relate to the triple goddess. The unchanging time could also show Agatha stuck in a dreamlike reality where time moves slower, much like Inception.

Norm dates the brooch to late 17th century New England and says its three women represent the maiden, the mother and the crone. The maiden is the youthful, adventurous phase, the mother is the prime of life, and the crone represents death and wisdom, tied to clairvoyance. I believe Teen is the maiden, Agatha the mother still grieving her son Nicholas Scratch, and Lilia Calderu, played by Patti LuPone, the clairvoyant crone. In Wicca there is also a horned god of the wild, and I feel Rio fills that role: she is adorned in green, her name means river of life, and she is a green witch, reminiscent of Hela's life giving green flame in Thor: Ragnarok. Since the horned god ushers souls to the underworld, Rio is kind of Agatha's Grim Reaper, and the two will likely be opposites forced to work together.

Nicholas Scratch's Bedroom and the Salem Seven

Inside the locket is a bundle of hair, probably her son's if I had to guess. Agatha reluctantly enters Nicholas's empty bedroom, where a drawing is signed Nicky, next to a first place award for vocals and a rabbit statue nodding to Senor Scratchy. Nicholas Scratch debuted in 1977's Fantastic Four #185 and became an evil sorcerer ousted from the coven of New Salem, Colorado. He fathered the Salem Seven, several themed after animals: Brutacus the goat, Gazelle, the fish man Hydron, Reptilla and the spiky Thornn, alongside Vakume and the powerful witch Vertigo.

Rio then arrives with pizza, joking Agnes would turn into a pumpkin if she left Westview, a Cinderella reference. Teen breaks in, Agatha falls onto her lawn beside the basement Monica Rambeau found in WandaVision, and Mrs. Hart hits Teen with her car. In interrogation, Agatha calls him Edward Scissorhands, and he says he wants the respect of peers and a fulfilling home life, which angers Agatha because she lacks both.

Rio Vidal Messes With Agatha Before Breaking the Spell

When Agatha shows Teen photos of Wanda's corpse, he sees only flowers, and Rio has vanished from behind the glass, implying she altered them, messing with Agatha the way Agatha messed with Wanda. The mirror becomes Agatha's painting, a variation of Francesco Zuccarelli's work of Macbeth and the three witches. In the original, Macbeth accepts the prophecy with open arms, but here he recoils in fear, which fits Agatha's past trauma of being hunted in Salem.

At the morgue, the clock finally reads 5:53 a.m. Wanda's toe tag is the library card, her name written in red. Rio tells Agatha Wanda is gone, and Agatha rips off layers: a purple sweater, the sweatpants from WandaVision episode six, workout clothes from episode five, the outfit from episode three and the black and white look from episode one. Her name then appears in purple next to January 21st, presumably when she got the Darkhold, though it could also reference the Feast of St. Agnes, honouring Agnes of Rome, who was apparently sentenced to death on January 21st, 304 at 13, and whose body reportedly would not burn. When Herb says she looks powerful, that fits my years long view that Agatha's purple magic is the same absorptive energy as the Power Stone, part of what I call the Marvel trigger theory.

Rio's Black Heart Line Could Hint at Blackheart

Agatha's robe shows a purple snake around green vines, which I love because it captures her dynamic with Rio, two people who apparently dated. "I'm getting hardcore ex-girlfriend vibes here," especially when Rio tries to stab her out of revenge for something Agatha did in the past, likely murder or maybe she forgot an anniversary, I don't know, but "Agatha was a big fan of murder back when she was slurping up everyone's inner magic energies for herself." Rio is not allowed to kill Agatha, possibly due to a bond or contract, and warns that the Salem Seven are coming, though any MCU link to Nicholas Scratch remained to be seen.

Rio says her heart is black and beats for Agatha. I am not saying Rio is Mephisto, but the line makes me think she could be connected to Mephisto's comic son Blackheart, who debuted in 1989's Daredevil #270 and was the villain of the 2007 Ghost Rider film. Since Rio does not act like Blackheart so far, I am not as inclined to think it yet, but the possibility is there. Rio then heals Agatha's cut by licking it, the second magical healing in the MCU after Ajak in Eternals, if we set aside Aldrich Killian's Extremis.

Teen's Hidden Name and a Possible Mephisto Deal

Episode two, Circle Sewn With Fate, Unlock Thy Hidden Gate, continues the pattern of titles drawn from the ballad. Teen begs to walk the Witches' Road. In the comics, introduced in 2016's Scarlet Witch #3, it is a spiritual plane outside time, where Wanda met a younger version of her mother. Teen wants blasts, shields and levitation, all possible with blue dark energy, the Tesseract's energy, used for blasts, shields and flight by many MCU heroes, and I said at the time I guaranteed it would be at the core of the Fantastic Four's powers.

For me, the most interesting part is when Agatha asks his name and magic writing like a cursive M covers his mouth, another possible Mephisto tease. Jennifer Kale later asks if he is another child Agatha plans to sacrifice, which I believe chastises her for possibly sacrificing Nicholas. If Teen is secretly Nicholas, Agatha could have traded her son to Mephisto for power, much like Mephisto ended Peter Parker and Mary Jane's marriage, with Nicholas given a new life and both losing their memories, until fate brought them back together. That is a wild theory; the M could also stand for Maximoff, the remains of Wanda's spell, and it was much too early in a nine episode season to say.

Lilia, Jennifer and Alice Join a Coven Built on The Wizard of Oz

Leaving, they pass Wanda's old lot, spray painted with evil witch and a crossed out Maximoff M. Lilia, who debuted in Marvel Premiere #12 in 1973, apparently loves to mask herself as an old crone in the comics, so part of me wonders if this version is secretly younger. She was also tricked into marrying Baron Mordo, who stole a powerful book her family guarded. Teen pays by card, so it is weird Agatha never checks his name. Lilia, apparently disturbed after around 450 years of prophecy, makes me wonder if post He Who Remains branching affects her sight. Outside, a crow on a red A could allude to The Scarlet Letter.

Jennifer Kale, from 1972's Fear #11, connected with Man-Thing and joined the Midnight Sons in Marvel Zombies 4, but here she is a lawsuit facing scammer who needs her magic unbound. Alice Wu-Gulliver works at Hot Topic and is the apparent daughter of rocker witch Lorna Wu. In the comics her mother was a sorceress guardian of Hong Kong killed by a demon, and Alice became a cop called the Wu. With no earth witch, Lilia reveals she only drew a black heart, very likely pointing to Rio, but Agatha recruits Mrs. Hart, who reveals her husband died. Her joke about not doing drugs felt like a fun nod to That '70s Show.

Agatha's Betrayal Opens the Witches' Road

Agatha sends Teen upstairs before tricking the witches to take their powers, which I see as her trying to spare him, a sign she cares. Alice's fist is apparently glowing a chaos magic red like Wanda Maximoff, while Lilia's glows quantum yellow, which theoretically should let her interface with minds like Janet van Dyne. Agatha calls Alice a failure, Jennifer a fraud and Lilia a coward, which I think maps them onto Oz: Lilia the lion needing courage, Jennifer the Tin Man needing a heart, and Alice the Scarecrow seeking closure about her mother.

When the Salem Seven attack, the road's door opens. Blue roots line the stairway, echoing the purple roots in Agatha's basement in WandaVision, and everyone removes their shoes to connect to the earth, just as a book page in the credits instructs.

Do you think Teen's hidden M points to Mephisto, or is it just the remains of Wanda's spell?