The spooky ending of Agatha All Along, explained

Photo: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel/Disney+

Major spoilers ahead the last two episodes from Agatha all the time.

The penultimate episode of Agatha all the time involved a real bait and switch when Agatha, on the verge of letting her ex (Death) take Billy, instead turned around and instead nobly sacrificed her life to allow him to live. It's an interesting move on Agatha's part at this moment. Given what we've learned about Agatha and her long-lost son Nicholas, it definitely reads like it could be real, but… well, there's always one But.

We know Agatha primarily as a selfish woman who is considered a witch-murderer and a thief of power. We know she spent hundreds of years trying to stay one step ahead of death. We're told in the first episode that this is why she had the Darkhold in the first place, to protect herself. So why sacrifice their lives? And if you take a moment to appreciate the show's metatextual sensibilities, why do that in one episode? Isn’t this even the finale? Well, we have the final two Agatha all the time Episodes in two parts, so we know straight away: She's doing it to become a ghost.

The show has already flirted with this concept; In episode five we saw Agatha's mother as a ghost. And we know Agatha will beg, borrow and steal any resource she can to come out on top, including an idea – so why not her mother's? On the other hand, is stealing the comic book version of yourself really theft?

In the comics, Agatha Harkness has two main characteristics: First, she is a caretaker of children, introduced as the governess of Franklin Richards (the child of Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman, soon to be portrayed on screen for the third time). ). Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby) before eventually becoming Wanda's magical advisor and a sort of nanny to Billy and Tommy (Wanda and Vis's twins – oh, you know the story).

The second main characteristic of Agatha is that she is a ghost. She has occasionally recovered from her bouts of death, as is usual in the comics, but she also keeps having new cases, usually at the hands of others – including both Wanda and her own son.

Photo: Marvel

The majority of them Agatha All Along's The final episode is dedicated to the story of Agatha's loss of the same son, who, despite his name, is a simple, innocent child, unlike his comic counterpart. From then on, we finally learn the truth about Witch Street, and she makes it clear How Agatha is really a great opportunist. When she immediately starts pursuing Billy, he immediately returns to her house and tries to banish her, after which we learn perhaps one of the most human things about her: she can't bear to face her son in the afterlife. She is undoubtedly clinging to power, and this is another loophole that keeps her from falling completely into the hands of death. But she's also afraid of what her centuries of back and forth and all those dead witches would mean when she finally sees Nicky again.

It's a compelling piece of character depth that sets Agatha apart and distinguishes her from her more traditional comic portrayal, who often speaks in meaningful proclamations and shows neither humor nor fear. It also raises some interesting questions. For example, we now know that Death is part of the MCU, and we also know that the lowercase version is mostly Finale, apart from ghosts and body-hopping twins. But if there are these gaps, are there others?

Agatha In the first episode, Wanda played his part, giving us a body and a name, but crucially not showing a face – poor Elizabeth Olsen was uncredited and didn't even get a cameo. The show went on from there, and by that point it was clear that wasn't the case around Wanda, despite the shadow she cast over half the characters involved. (You could say it was about Wanda all along.) But outside of it Agatha'Could Wanda still return in the series' narrative? Or could young Nicholas Scratch be (more regular supervillains than the series' vengeful witches) given his role in the comics as a warlock and father of the Seven of Salem? Could he become a villainous foil for both Billy and Agatha as they search for the reborn Tommy? Considering Agatha's fear of a reunion, that would certainly be a compelling character motivation.

The MCU version of Agatha Harkness owes much of her portrayal to newer versions of the comic book character; in 2015 Scarlet Witch comic, she is portrayed as being much more dry and mysterious than in the past, and although she was also generally shown as a white-haired old lady, she was featured in a 2019 series Captain America began the process of aging her, making her much less of a grandma and more physically capable than human, which seems wise considering how often she seems to get murdered. Maybe youth gives her final girlhood status?

Photo: Marvel/Disney+

Whatever the case, the show's maneuver here is a neat narrative trick; Firstly, it retains the more modern character notes and secondly, it allows the character to fill the same role for Billy that she traditionally filled for Wanda in the comics. WandaVision Arrange Agatha from the beginning more as a contemporary opponent for Wanda, and Multiverse of Madness pretty much taken care of it, even If Eventually they manage to patch things up, but it won't last long. On the other hand, by enlisting her as Billy's mentor, she gives the character a much-needed redemption arc and also adds another ingredient to something that's been brewing in the MCU for years: Currently, our list of Young Avengers with MCU appearances is Kate Bishop, Kamala Khan, Cassie Lang, America Chavez, Billy and Tommy and even a small appearance by Eli Bradley in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It is also worth noting that in the Young Avengers In the comics, a teenage analogue of Iron Man known as Iron Lad is actually a teenage Kang the Conqueror, although it's likely that the MCU will continue its rapid move away from the character after all of Jonathan Majors' headlines becomes. Aside from that, Wakanda forever gave us Ironheart, which will have its own six-episode miniseries next summer, and it seems like a teenager in a weaponized mech suit would probably be enough.

Between this miniseries and the upcoming one Captain America: Brave New World, The MCU's plans for 2025 seem to be focused on more traditional superhero things. Given that and the three years in between WandaVision And Agatha all the timeit's hard to say when we'll see Agatha and Billy again. Either way, we hope both series' creator Jac Schaeffer brings it home once again – she's consistently delivered the best that Disney+ has to offer in terms of Marvel shows. Besides, it would just fit: power of three, That's how it can be.