Bring out your handkerchiefs it is time to say goodbye to WandaVision. I really love this show and it has a special place in my heart. At the end of the day, after you peel away all of the layers, this is a show about grief. Sure it doesn't deal with it like ordinary people will, but I think that a lot of people can relate to how Wanda is feeling. I already miss this show. Although a good chunk of this episode is mostly action.
Obviously spoilers for WandaVision and all of the MCU
This episode starts off right where the previous one ended. Agatha Harkness is in the air and she has Wanda Maximoff's twins on magical leashes. For a moment Wanda looks terrified and then she remembers that her powers work outside of the magical circle. But considering what we saw in the previous episode of how Agatha sucked the magic and life out of her entire coven, maybe it is not a good idea for Wanda to attack her. When the kids try to break free and the leash pulls them back, Wanda fires at Agatha. Wanda sends the now free boys to their rooms. It's best for them not to be useful here. Wanda fires again and we see it. Agatha has Wanda's red powers in her hands, while Wanda's hand dies. Agatha says that she takes power from the undeserving, but I think Wanda is deserving. But yeah, Agatha wants Wanda's powers. We don't know what for, but we do know that Agatha is smart and cunning.
But Wanda is also smart. Instead of attacking with her powers, she throws a car at Agatha. Just like she did to Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War. It is a bit funny that Wanda is fighting in her depression sweat suit. Wanda goes to the destroyed house and sees shoes without Agatha attached to them. Clearly a homage to the Wicked Witch of the West from the The Wizard of Oz movie.
Then surprise surprise white Vision shows up. Wanda doesn't know what to make of it. I mean, it is an all white Vision, but for all she knows, that is what it took to bring him back. She asks if it is really him and that's actually an interesting question. There is fake Vision which she created, but this Vision isn't real either, not like the previous, original Vision. Vision puts his hand in a loving manner on Wanda's chick and she puts her hands on his hand and it almost looks sweet. But as soon as his other hand reaches her face we know that he means harm. As soon as he has both hands around her head he starts to crush it. She is saved by fake Vision, who is very much real inside of the hex and better then the white imitation that is for sure.
It's time for a small chat in the middle of battle. Wanda wants to tell Vision everything, but Darcy already told him so there is no need. He says that he knows why she created this world and she interrupts him and says that she can fix it. Fix it how exactly we don't know yet, but we know what it can't possibility end well. Wanda says that this is their home, so Vision replies that they should fight for it. And fight for it they shall. Vision will fight against white Vision and Wanda against Agatha.
Then we switch to Monica Rambeau and Quicksilver. Rambeau sees Wanda flying towards Agatha and she bangs on the window, but Wanda doesn't hear her. The house is magically sound proof. From some reason Quicksilver is playing a guitar, but he also watches Rambeau like a hawk. When she tries to run for the door, he gets there before her, and stops her with his powers. He just touches her with his finger and the force of the speed throws her into the couch. It is so Days of Future Past Quicksilver, but we know that he is a fake of some sorts.
Vision and white Vision are fighting. Vision wants to resolve things in a peaceful manner as he always wants to do, but the new Vision is not having it. I have to say that the physical fight between the two is very impressive. I have never seen Vision using his powers like this. It's great that there is new ways in which to use Vision.
Now we switch to our most hated character, Director Tyler Hayward. Or director asshole as I prefer to call him. He has full control of the new Vision and he has Jimmy Woo in handcuffs. Because Wanda canceled her show, director asshole thinks that there is no proof that there is more than one Vision. Plus, no one will care too much after he will save the town from Wanda and recover Vision. He is stupid enough to offer agent Woo to be a part of his victory. But in the meantime Woo steals a cellphone so we know that he has a plan. Director asshole makes the pun that Woo needs to have more Vision. But Woo tells him that he is convinced but his friends from Quantico that are on their way will probably be less convinced. Director asshole thinks that Woo is bluffing and so do we. But agent Woo is the man with the plan. When he is thrown alone we see that he also stole a paper clip and he uses it to open his handcuffs. Looks like he really was super impressed with Ant-Man's tricks and studied them well. He says flourish when he opens them, probably a nod to the fake magic show in episode two when Wanda and Vision were flourish and illusion. He calls his friends at the F.B.I. and tells them to arrive within an hour to help him with his problem. He is the man with the great plan.
Then we go back to Wanda in Westview. She lands in some main street where no one pays her any attention as they are all trapped inside of her illusion. She feels paranoid and she is right. Agatha shoots her from behind. Wanda gets up and sees Agatha standing on top of a building. She says to Wanda that there is an entire chapter devoted to her in the Darkhold. The Darkhold! Agatha calls it the book of the dammed. It is funny that there is a commercial for cleaning material behind her. Using the power mother earth to help clean. Witches are sometimes associated with mother earth, but not in this show. Then Agatha reads from the Darkhold. The book explains that the Scarlet Witch isn't born, but that she is forged. Wanda still doesn't believe that she is a witch and doesn't believe that she has magical powers. But Agatha also reads that the Scarlet Witch has more power than the sorcerer supreme. So that's going to complicate things for Dr. Strange in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Also, according to the Darkhold Wanda is destined to destroy the world, but "world" can be interpreted in so many ways that I wouldn't worry about it too much. Agatha is not enough to prove to Wanda that she is a witch.
So Agatha gets creative and uses the people of the town. Basically she cuts Wanda's strings and frees the people from Wanda's spell. Apparently Dotty is Sarah and she misses her eight year old daughter who, like Quicksilver guessed, is endlessly asleep in her room. Sarah actually refer to her daughters' life as a storyline as she is used to being stuck inside the Wanda show. As all of the people are released they all converge on Wanda and you can see her panic rising. Wanda never expected to deal with the consequences of her actions.
Then we switch to Rambeau and Quicksilver and the most disappointing reveal of the show. Rambeau is nursing her pained shoulder because that's how much an attack from one finger from Quicksilver hurts. It looks like he is living inside of this tiny room while Agatha does her thing. Rambeau looks through his stuff and realizes that this is his house, this is the famous Ralph that Agatha keeps talking about. No multi-verse Quicksilver, the joke is at the viewer's expense in this case. Rambeau knocks him down and uses her powers to see the magic around her. She sees that his necklace has the same purple color like Agatha's powers and she rips it off, setting Ralph and herself free. This is just super disappointing.
While all of that is happening, Vision is still fighting white Vision, a fight which clearly no one will win. Billy and Tommy watch them fight from the window until they disappear. Then Billy sees a vision of his mother in trouble and also losing control of herself and her powers, so he tells his brother that they have to go and help their mother. All of the people converge on Wanda and complain about their situation and she is overwhelmed. Norm explains that despite Wanda's claims that they are all fine, when they go to sleep, they all have her nightmares. We know that that is true because that is how Rambeau knows how Wanda is feeling, she had visions of Wanda's breakdown and pain. They feel her pain and her grief and they don't empathize at this point, they think that she is poison. She thinks that she has kept them safe and at peace. Clearly she was wrong. These people are clearly suffering.
This confrontation does not go well. When they all endlessly beg her to let them go Wanda breaks down. She starts crying and her powers are unleashed and they start to strangle all of the people. Just like Billy saw in his vision. Then Wanda realizes what is happening and stops her magic, which is clearly linked to her emotions. Wanda apologies, but no one cares at this point. Mrs. Heart says to Wanda if she won't let them go then she should kill them. I don't think that they are all so eager to die. Wanda says that she will let them go. Agatha says that she should do it now as real heroes don't torture people. She is right you know. Wanda uses her powers and starts lifting the hex and she tells everyone to get out now. How nice of her to simply cast everyone out of their homes. But I think that at this point she still wants to town to herself to keep the illusion going.
Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished. Director asshole sees that the hex is lifting and decides to go in. that clearly won't end well. For him and Wanda. We also sees that fake Vision is starting to malfunction when the hex is lifting. Like he started to die when he tried to get outside, this is bad news. When Vision lands we see this escalates and this happens to her twins as well. They start to disappear painfully piece by piece. Agatha says that Wanda tied her family to the hex, they can't exists without it. Looks like we are getting the less creepy version of house of M. No Mephisto. The twins will just actually disappear in the end without any creepy addition. Wanda has to choose between saving her family and saving Westview. As she hears the screams of her children calling for her help, she chooses her family and closes the hex back up. How unhero of her, but understandable.
But the party is just getting started. The twins and Vision run to comfort and help Wanda. But they only have a few seconds of joy until Agatha attacks. Wanda uses her magic to block her, but that still counts and it makes Agatha stronger and Wanda weaker. Now both of her hands are dead black. Then White Vision shows up and the military. Enemies all around. They look like the Incredibles in their fighting poses. In a very X-Men line the Vision and Wanda tell the twins that they were never taught to be prepared for this, but they were born ready.
Then comes the part we didn't expect, the philosophical debate between Vision and white Vision. Vision asks white Vision why is he doing this? And white Vision replays that he is programmed to destroy the Vision. Now comes the question: who is the Vision? They talk about the thought experiment, "the ship of Theseus" in the metaphysics of identity. If you replace all the parts of the ship with new parts is it the same ship? Is white Vision the real Vision because he is made from the parts of old Vision or is the new Vision the actual Vision because he is more similar in personality to the old Vision who died? For the first time white Vision realizes that he is being manipulated by director asshole. He has no memories, so he will be a weapon that is easier to control. Then Vision restores white Vision's memories. His eyes change and now white Vision which looked emotionless and psychotic, looks more human. He knows that he is Vision and he flies away. He will probably return to rejoin the Avengers at some point in the future.
Back at Wanda vs. Agatha fight, Agatha almost bonds with Wanda. Agatha literally lifts all of the military soldiers to drop them and harm/kill them. She tells Wanda that there will always be torches and pitchforks for ladies like them. That is the first time that she refers to them as a team or part of the same group. But Wanda catches all of the soldiers before real harm can happen. She's still a hero. Then Wanda asks the twins to handle the military, which is hysterical because they are 10, or 3 days old, depends on how you count. But yeah, they were born with powers and they can use them. Billy freezes everyone through mind control and Tommy uses his speed to steal their guns and he steals a pair of glasses and a cap which makes him look similar to his comic book self. But then director asshole loses his shit and decides to take action. He literally shoots at the kids. You can't get any more generic evil then shooting at kids. Rambeau intervenes and it seems like she runs with super speed to catch the bullets with her own body. Then her powers turn the bullet into useless objects. You can see her eyes glowing yellow like the color of the bullets and they leave her body powerless and she is left unharmed. Although it seems like the director was firing between the twins mostly. He fires one bullet straight at Billy who catches it with his powers. Pretty cool stuff. But director asshole isn't done yet. He gets into the car intending to run over them, but surprise surprise Darcy shows up. She runs into him with her giant ugly van and even though she has only one line in this episode it is a super cool one: "have fun in prison". I hope he will rot in prison. I wish we had more Darcy in this episode. But that is the end of this version of S.W.O.R.D.
But it's time for some Agatha vs. Wanda action. Wanda flies into the air near Agatha and she uses Agatha's trick of disappearing. Wanda is a fast learner. Agatha watches the twins happily reunited with their father. She does not look happy. But then Wanda returns to her Age of Ultron tricks that we have not seen in many years. She sneaks up on Agatha and uses her powers to give her a real nightmare. Agatha looks frightened when she realizes she's been tricked. She is tied to a stack and the corpses of her coven which she killed raise. Wanda also says that there is a difference between them, she didn't mean anyone harm, it was all an accident, but Agatha did mean to cause harm. Agatha's fear leaves her pretty quickly. She's an experienced witch. The corpses start to hunt Wanda and call her a witch, the Scarlet Witch. They tie her to the stake and the Scarlet Witch headpiece appears in a holographic form. It's coming. Agatha says that if Wanda will surrender her powers to her she will correct her original spell and she can live with her fake family in this fake town happily ever after. She promises Wanda a life free of pain. And Wanda is seriously considering it. Then she break the illusion. It is time to return to the real world. I think Wanda is starting to realize that she is going to have to give up her fake life.
It is also time for the last round between Agatha and Wanda. Wanda says she will give her powers away as she doesn't want it and she attacks Agatha who absorbs her powers. But if you look closely, you can see, that occasionally, Wanda misses and hits the walls of the hex. Even Agatha is confused by it. Wanda is starting to look like a corpse. Then she floats lifelessly in the air as her children cry and Vision looks concerned, but she blocked them away with her powers so they couldn't come near. Then Agatha admits that she lied, a spell cannot be changed after it has been cast. Westview and the fake would will always be broken, just like Wanda. Agatha wants to attack Wanda with her powers, but nothing happens. Then Wanda suddenly looks like her old regular self and she uses her powers to reveal what she did. She cast runes on the walls of the hex. Only she can use her powers now. Wanda is a very fast learner. She tells Agatha that she doesn't need her to tell her who she is. And we see the holographic headpiece and Wanda uses her powers to take back all of her magic from Agatha, take some of Agatha's magic by the look of it and gain some new powers as well. She becomes the one and only Scarlet Witch.
It is glorious. She has a new look and costume and Elizabeth Olsen looks amazing in it. The ruffled hair, the headpiece which manages to look not ridicules. Her outfit looks amazing and not overly sexualized. Now Olsen can be happy that she is not the only actress with a cleavage and she still looks even hotter in my opinion. This is cosplay goals in my opinion. Agatha is horrified at what Wanda has unleashed. But Wanda just slowly lowers her to the ground. She tells Agatha that her punishment will be to become a character, the nosy neighbor like the role she choose for herself. Agatha calls her cruel, but I think she earned her punishment. If Wanda will need Agatha, she knows exactly where to find her and I have a feeling we are going to see Kathryn Hahn a lot more in future MCU projects. Wanda even says I'll be seeing you Agnes. This fight is over, the show is over, but there is no happy ending.
Wanda is at last reunited with her family. Her boys run to her, they are worried and she gives them a loving hug. Vision says that their dream home has suffered serious damage, but Wanda will set everything right. Just not for them. Wanda agrees, not for them. I'm already crying. It is time. They are going home one last time. Wanda even gives Rambeau a nod, implying that now she will end it. As Wanda, Vision and the twins walk towards their home, we see the hex pulling back and things starting to return to normal. Its super cute when Wanda and Vision walk into the house they use magic to change clothe into comfy house clothe.
Now it is time for the sad goodbyes. First to the children. Wanda and Vision tuck the twins in, each in their own bed, and each is sitting with their favorite twin. They have trouble finding the right words, but they do. Vision says that they are very proud of both of them, and Wanda seconds that with tears in her eyes. The saddest part of the episode is the fact that Billy can read minds, so he probably knows what is coming, but since he is a good guy through and through he doesn't say anything about it. It's for the greater good. Wanda then repeats what she said in episode 5, that family is forever, they could never truly leave each other. Which I guess foreshadows the return of her sons. I mean they are part of the Young Avengers which are coming. And they did disappear and come back in the comics. Somehow Billy seems calmer, maybe because he is a better actor. Then they switch children to say goodbye to them. They say a finale heartbreaking goodnight with Vision and Wanda on the verge of tears as they see the lines of the hex coming closer and closer. Then Wanda says: "boys, thanks for choosing me to be your mom." I'm not crying you're crying. It was heartbreaking. Plus, that makes it sound like she knows that they were and will exists somewhere before and after this, yet they will forever remain her children. Then they go to sleep. I guess it is better to die in your sleep, this is just too sad. I know that they are not real, but they also are real. I am invested.
The hex continues to roll back and you know that the end is near. We see Wanda looking at a picture of her family, her Vision and the twins and in a way she did grow old with Vision like he wrote to her. They spent decades together and raised children together, they had an entire life. Not perfect or real, but Wanda got to live it. That was very expensive and problematic therapy. Wanda goes around and turns off lights, maybe she was trying not to say goodbye to Vision, but he won't let her. He makes her have a real goodbye, one which will help her recover. They hold hands as they look at the hex folding and erasing everything fake. He knows he cannot stay, but he wants Wanda to tell him for herself what is he? And she tells him, long story short, he is a memory made real and a part of Wanda. He is her love, her love for Vision. They kiss goodbye, but it is not the end. He is optimistic, he says who knows what he might become next, but there is another Vision out there, so there is that. It is not their first goodbye, so maybe they will meet again. That is some brilliant and moving goodbye. I basically cried from the moment they started walking towards the house until the end of the episode. The post credit scenes made me stop crying from the shock.
The hex comes for the house. Vision and the house start to disappear, until Wanda is left alone in an empty plot. She stands there alone, in the same outfit that she did when she created the hex, but she looks more peaceful now. She is alone, all alone, but she is ready to move on. She puts on a hoody and walks away. Westview is a pretty ugly looking suburbs without the hex. The people are still mad at her, but no one will make a move against her after she strangled them. It is Wanda's walk of shame, she could have just disappeared, but she is dealing with what she did, sort of.
Wanda approaches Rambeau and I am pretty disappointed in their exchange. Wanda is so cold towards the woman who tried to save her. Rambeau says that these people don't know what she sacrificed for them. But what she sacrificed wasn't really real and she did a terrible thing to them. Although it was accidental. Rambeau doesn’t hate Wanda, she said she would have done the same, but we know she wouldn't. Wanda says that she is sorry and she will learn to understand her powers. How about thank you for trying to help me and believing in me? Apparently not. As the F.B.I. shows up Wanda changes into her new amazing Scarlet Witch outfit, now complete with a hoody for travel and flies away. This outfit is amazing. Wanda stops at the edge of town and looks back the town for a moment and flies away towards her future. Her future away for suburbia. Man this was such a good show.
We have a mid-credit scene for Rambeau. Agent Woo is now in charge of evidence collection, hopefully to put director asshole in jail. Rambeau is asked to go to the theater where the F.B.I. agent turns out to be a Skrull. She says an old friend of her mother sent her, he heard she was grounded and he wants to meet with her. Up in space. Looks like Rambeau will not only be part of Captain Marvel 2, but also part of the Disney+ Secret Invasion show. Excellent. Teyonah Parris really did nail her part.
The post-credit scene is the really big important one. We see Wanda in a cabin in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains. It is probably Wundagore Mountain or Mountains. A place associated in the comics with the Darkhold and Elder God Chthon. So there is a good chance that he will be the big bad of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. We see Wanda peacefully drinking tea as she is taking in the view, when he tea is done she goes inside to pour herself some more tea. But then the camera moves to a different room and we see that it was all an act in case someone is watching her. Just like Doctor Strange, she uses astral projection to do something else. Although he was dying and was using this form to communicate. Now while Wanda is drinking tea, in reality she is in her Scarlet Witch outfit, her eyes are glowing red and she is studying the Darkhold. Then she suddenly hears her children calling for her for help. I think that she is going to crack open the multi-verse to save her children from Chthon. He must have them and maybe he even created them. She has the face of I am going after them to save them. It's a great cliffhanger to end the show on.
This show was amazing. I still haven't gotten over it. I know it was not really supernatural or connected like some people wanted, but I enjoy this smaller telling of stories. Only Quicksilver disappointed me. That and the fact that the showrunner, Jac Schaeffer admitted that she wasn't familiar with the comics. I think that Olsen who is really familiar with the comic plots should have updated her. Still, I knew they weren't even going to touch Mephisto because of China and at some point I think I knew that Wanda did this all on her own. Which is even more impressive in my opinion. Plus Covid really did put a damp on things. It's not so simple to fly over for a cameo when you need to quarantine for two weeks in each country. But the show did set up Wanda going forward and the children returning. The show was beautiful, inventive, crazy, well directed and acted. It was just a magic to behold it. I miss it so much.
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