Agatha All Along: did episode 1 hint that Wanda is alive?

When Agatha All Along opened with episodes 1 and 2, one piece of wordplay at a crime scene struck me as pretty clever. To me it signaled that the Scarlet Witch was not dead. Around that, the first two episodes laid down a trail of clues about Agatha's past, her son, and the coven she needed to reach the Witches' Road.

Agatha All Along (2024) stars Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, alongside Aubrey Plaza and Joe Locke. The full season was released by October 30, 2024, but what follows is how the first two episodes looked to me when they arrived, and the theories I had at the time.

Where WandaVision left Agatha Harkness before Agatha All Along

Going into episode 1, you need the ending of WandaVision. Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, goes to Westview, New Jersey, and puts the entire town under her control. She creates Vision and her two children. Agatha Harkness was living inside that town and knew about Wanda all along.

In the final episode, Wanda defeated Agatha in a big battle and took her powers. Instead of locking her up or handing her to S.W.O.R.D., Wanda put her under a spell. That spell made Agatha believe she was Agnes, the made up character Agatha had created herself. Then Wanda left her there.

Agatha had warned Wanda that she had no idea what she had awakened and that she would need her. Wanda replied that if she did, she would know where to find her. Wanda also had the Darkhold by then, which played out in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The "most sincerely dead" exchange suggested to me that Wanda was alive

Episode 1 opens in Westview with Agatha driving and humming a song. We later learn it is one of the chants to get onto the Witches' Road, so some of her memory was seeping through despite the spell. In Multiverse of Madness, Wanda apparently died, and that could have weakened it.

Agatha is now a detective at a crime scene. Herb, from WandaVision, describes the victim as a Jane Doe, the term police use for an unidentified woman. We know who it is: Wanda. Herb says the cause of death was blunt force trauma and that she was crushed by something big and heavy. That points to Wundagore Mountain, which Wanda brought down at the end of Multiverse of Madness and was seemingly crushed by. A red light glowed when that happened, and Kevin Feige told us to take note of that light, which I read as him telling us the Scarlet Witch is not dead.

The scene then plays on that. Agatha says she didn't die here but asks whether she is dead, which is the question audiences had been asking. Most of us believed Wanda was still alive. Herb answers that "she's really most sincerely dead." They could have said she's certainly dead, but they chose "sincerely," and I think that was intentional, a response to fans insisting Wanda survived. Then Agatha says "you never know" and winks at Herb. It felt like Marvel Studios winking at us. I thought that wordplay was clever, and it told me the Scarlet Witch was not dead.

Agnes of Westview turns the spell into a crime show

Agatha finds a brooch at the scene, one she wore in WandaVision and wears in the comics, so small things start reminding her who she is. Herb tells her she doesn't seem like herself. She believes she's a detective, but things are starting to come through.

Then came something I thought was clever: an opening styled like a crime show, listing the Westview residents from WandaVision. Agatha's detective persona appears alongside Phil Jones, Norm, Dottie Jones, Herb, Dennis and Mrs. Hart. It even claims to be based on a Danish series whose name is a play on WandaVision, under the title Agnes of Westview.

Most of the episode is Agatha moving through the spell while odd things happen, slowly coming out of it with help. At the library, a book she had checked out turns out to be stolen, and its section looks burned, as if hit by a magical blast. Someone says every last copy was destroyed in a fire. The show leans into cop clichés too: she steps out of the car eating a donut and mouths off to her superiors, the detective who doesn't play by the rules. That fits Agatha's real personality, since she doesn't let anyone push her around.

Eastern Europe, Wundagore and the arrival of Rio Vidal

Phil tells Agnes the soil under the Jane Doe's fingernails came from Eastern Europe, not where she was found. That is where Wundagore Mountain sits, in Transia, the country of origin for the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. The show kept referencing Wundagore, and I believed it would probably come into play, maybe at the end of the series, but definitely in the future of the MCU.

Because the soil came from another country, the FBI gets involved, which brings in Aubrey Plaza as Rio. Rio knows Agatha is under the spell. When Agatha accuses her of taking control of the investigation, Rio says that if she wants to be in control, she can be. I took that as an attempt to spark something, because if Agatha realized it was a spell, she was strong enough to break out. Rio also asks whether this is really how she sees herself.

Rio notes there were no tracks to show how the body got there, as if it appeared out of thin air like magic, which again seemed meant to nudge Agatha. The two clearly know each other, but Agnes only seems to remember negative feelings.

The brooch, Maiden Mother Crone and the Darkhold code

Norm, who apparently works at a pawn shop, dates the brooch to the late 17th century. Agatha has lived a very long time, so she could have had it all along. It does seem slightly different from the WandaVision version: that one seemed to carry the Grim Reaper, while this one shows the triple goddesses, Maiden, Mother, Crone.

In episode 2 we find out that Maiden, Mother, Crone is in the lyrics of the song to enter the Witches' Road, in the part that goes "Blood and Tears and Bone, Maiden Mother Crone." At that point it was our big connection to the road, and I was sure it would come into play later.

Then something important happens. Looking at evidence, Agatha spots the phrase dialogue and rhetoric known history of learning and debate, and realizes it's a coded message: the first letters spell Darkhold. The Darkhold was destroyed in Multiverse of Madness, but she used to have it, and this was apparently the stolen book, with the library's other copies burned. When she spells out D, A, R, K and then H, she gets shocked, because she knows what it is. Phil, her boss, sends her home.

Nicholas Scratch and the Salem Seven from the comics

At home, we learn this fake character has a son who passed away, and we see awards with the name Nicholas Scratch. In the comics, Nicholas Scratch is indeed Agatha's son, though not the best son. They lived in New Salem, Colorado, until Agatha left to become nanny to Franklin Richards, son of Reed and Sue Richards, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four.

Her son was angry. He became leader of New Salem and led the community to believe Agatha had betrayed them through her dealings with the outside world. He is also directly related to the Salem Seven, who were after Agatha too. When Agatha trapped Nicholas in the Dark Realm, the Salem Seven tried to free him by capturing the Fantastic Four and Agatha, but failed.

Episode 2 confirmed the Salem Seven were in the show and after Agatha, so I had a feeling Nicholas Scratch might be an important factor later on.

Rio's visit, Teen and the body of Wanda Maximoff

Rio shows up with a pizza and asks questions that unsettle Agnes: where she has traveled, and whether she remembers why she hates Rio. Agnes can't answer, and Rio tells her she's only lying to herself. Then the character we come to know as Teen breaks into her house. Agnes chases him, and Mrs. Hart accidentally hits him with her car. He isn't in the system and won't say who he is, and episode 2 reveals that he can't.

Under interrogation, Teen says he is searching for the road and that she, of all people, should know it. The crime scene photos turn into flowers, and the glass she looked through at Rio becomes a painting. She locks Teen up and heads to the coroner, saying she knows she's not crazy. The spell is breaking, but she thinks she's losing her mind.

She describes the woman: late 20s, green eyes, 5'7". That is Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Wanda. With her eyes closed she says these things, and when she opens them a body is on the table. She mentions hair the color of scarlet, and the tag on the toes finally reads W. Maximoff. Asked how she died, Rio responds: "wrong question perhaps the right question could be how will she return." Rio also says the witch is gone, not dead. All copies of the Darkhold are gone too, because Wanda destroyed them at the end of Multiverse of Madness.

Agatha breaks the spell, and Rio says she cannot kill her

Agatha breaks out, peeling off clothes to reveal costumes from WandaVision, including spandex reading naughty. She ends up in her real home, showing that what we saw was in her mind. Walking out naked, she finds Herb, who says she has mostly kept to herself. She has spent about three years under the Scarlet Witch's spell. In the basement where the Darkhold once was, she finds her pet rabbit, Señor Scratchy in WandaVision and now Mr. Scratch. Since Nicholas Scratch is her son, perhaps he was turned into the rabbit, a theory from the WandaVision days, and it looked like the series would probably give some answers on that.

She finds Teen locked in her closet. Herb says she had been different lately, as if she had a true crime bug, so she did capture Teen, just not as she saw it. Based on what we know, Teen and Rio, who bursts through the door, were the only real things she experienced over those days, and instead of arresting him she kidnapped him.

Rio attacks. She says Agatha had the Darkhold a long time but is now vulnerable, implying it once protected her, and Agatha now has zero powers. Why Rio wants her dead wasn't clear, but early rumors stated the two were once in a relationship, so this could have been a quarrel between exes. Rio says she can't kill her, and Agatha agrees, because it's not allowed. To me, that pointed to magical rules or a bond on one or both of them. Rio also doesn't want to kill a powerless Agatha, because it wouldn't mean anything. When Rio offers her power, Agatha says that would kill her, apparently, probably due to some magical bond. Then Rio warns that the Salem Seven are coming. In the comics, Nicholas fathered the entire Salem Seven with different mothers, making them Agatha's grandchildren, and they run New Salem, a community populated entirely by magic users. I imagined her son would be part of it.

Episode 2: Teen, the Witches' Road and the spell hiding his name

Episode 2 picks up with Teen taped up. Agatha is leaving, wishing him luck with the Vengeance Seekers, when he gets the tape off and says take me to the Witches' Road. She claims it isn't real, but she has walked it and survived, according to her because she was exceptional. Teen says he has read all about her, a famous witch, and that he broke her out of the spell. She asks why he needs the road if he can break a spell by the Scarlet Witch, and he explains he has read a lot but has no power. I thought the incantation he was chanting probably broke the spell, combined with Rio showing up.

When Agatha asks his name, magic stops her hearing it. My theory was Mephisto. If Teen is Billy, the reincarnation of Wanda's son, they might have been following the comics, where her original children were souls of Mephisto, who took them back. They were later reincarnated as Billy and Tommy, Wiccan and Speed, who realize they are the Scarlet Witch's children and reunite. Interviews had confirmed Mephisto would be name dropped in episode 3, so if the twins were reincarnated but originally created by Mephisto, he might have cursed Teen. Teen says he's 16, and she calls him Teen since she can't learn his name.

To walk the road you need a coven, and Agatha has none, since she killed hers in WandaVision. Passing what is left of Wanda's house, she sees evil witch written on the foundation, because Westview knows what Wanda did. In the car, we learn Teen has a boyfriend who wasn't named. In the comics, Billy's boyfriend is Hulkling, a character patterned after the Hulk with shapeshifting abilities, so some people wondered whether this was him. We also learn a witch rule: within a three mile radius there will be witchy enough people to form a coven. Agatha isn't happy, since witchy enough is nowhere near her level, and she says another witch like her doesn't exist.

Building the coven: Lilia Calderu, Jennifer Kale and Alice

The first stop is a psychic reader, where they meet Lilia Calderu, who seems to know exactly who Agatha is. After proving she is a real witch, she declines, saying any witch would be crazy to join Agatha's coven. Agatha's reputation is not good: apparently she has eaten babies and found them delicious. Agatha needs a divination witch, one who can see the future or uncover hidden knowledge. Lilia calls the road a death wish and worries Agatha will steal her powers. Agatha explains she can't unless she is blasted with that magic. Lilia has little power and is about to be evicted, and she seems possessed at times. Something takes over and writes names for the coven, including her own.

Next is Jennifer Kale, a potion witch who clearly has a past with Agatha. A binding spell took her magic, and since the end of the road gives you what you desire, she could get it back. She calls Agatha a witch killer, and we saw Agatha kill witches in WandaVision. Teen discovers Jennifer faces 800 counts and perhaps life in prison, so they argue that with her powers back she could make it go away.

Then comes Alice, a blood witch, meaning the child of a witch. Her mother was a famous singer who wrote one of the most famous versions of a witch ballad, and might have been lost to the road. Alice says the road isn't real, but Agatha has been there and back, and when Agatha says she can find out what happened to her mother, Alice leaves, though she turns up later as the protection witch. Agatha keeps seeing crows and mice and believes the Salem Seven are watching, since in the comics they can transform. She was right to be paranoid, and it told her time was short.

Rio as the green witch, Sharon Davis and the door to the road

In the car, Teen talks about his life, but Agatha can't hear it. The spell covers anything personal about him. She tests it by turning up the radio, which she hears fine, while his voice stays muffled. I was guessing he was probably Billy, and the question was who cast it: Mephisto, the Scarlet Witch, or something else. Back at Agatha's house she sees a wolf, and the Salem Seven are due at sundown, as Rio said.

The coven lacks a green witch. Lilia says the fourth name she wrote was a black heart, which recalls episode 1, when Agatha told Rio she had no heart and Rio said she did, and it's black. The trailers showed Rio as the green witch, explained as probably the most important for the road. Agatha didn't want Rio, so she lied and recruited Sharon Davis, the woman Wanda had made into Mrs. Hart, inviting her to a party. Sharon is a regular human who doesn't know what's going on. I love Debra Jo Rupp, and I was so glad she was in this.

They sing The Ballad of the Witches' Road, the sacred chant version according to the subtitles, but no door appears. Upstairs, Teen fends off the Salem Seven and does a decent job. Agatha insults the others hoping they'll blast her so she can steal their power, but Lilia sees what she is doing. Sharon notices the door has appeared, and Teen runs straight in, with everyone following to escape the Salem Seven. On the road, Agatha takes off her shoes and the others copy her, and I wondered whether we would find out why. What was interesting, though, was that the Salem Seven showed up when Teen picked up the white rabbit, Mr. Scratch, which made me think again that the rabbit could be Nicholas Scratch, maybe turned into a rabbit or maybe transformed himself, because the Salem Seven have that ability.