WandaVision‘s sitcom formula spiraled into beautiful chaos Friday, as episode 8 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe show landed on Disney Plus. Turns out the witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) was responsible for pretty much all the weirdness we’ve seen so far, and she’s got Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) trapped in her ludicrously creepy basement.
Outside the house, newly superpowered SWORD agent Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) was confronted by Pietro Maximoff (Evan Peters), who’s seemingly been under Agatha’s control since arriving from the X-Men universe. Also, astrophysicist Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) filled in Wanda’s husband, Vision (Paul Bettany), on the past he’d forgotten, and he’s on his way home.
I didn’t think this show was that complicated, but it kinda is. We’re up to the penultimate episode, and it’s called Previously On. Time for dem SPOILERS.
The Scarlet Witch
This whole episode is basically Agatha trying to figure out exactly what Wanda is, since her power is off the charts. After running through pivotal moments in the Avenger’s past and acting as a pretty mean therapist, Agatha realizes she’s wielding Chaos magic and is capable of “spontaneous creation,” before uttering the thing we wanted to hear.
“And that makes you the Scarlet Witch.”
This isn’t a name we’ve heard previously in the MCU, but it’s been her code name since her first appearance in X-Men No. 4 in 1964.
Given what we saw earlier in the episode, it seems like Wanda had some latent ability to tap into this magic and it was enhanced by the Mind Stone. Agatha presumably wants to control this power, but to what end?
Agatha also has Wanda’s magically created kids Billy and Tommy on creepy magic leashes, which really isn’t OK.
The doppelganger
In a midcredits scene, it’s revealed that acting SWORD director Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) had Vision’s body all along. He couldn’t reactivate the synthezoid (who was made with stupidly valuable Wakandan vibranium), but used a drone to absorb the chaos energy surrounding Westview. Since that energy was derived from the Mind Stone that originally brought Vision to life, it gets the body back online.
The Vision we’ve been seeing in Westview has actually been a magical construct, created by Wanda.
Agatha’s past
The episode’s initial flashback brings us back to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1693 (the real-life Salem witch trials happened in 1692-93), when Agatha’s coven accuses her of tapping into forbidden dark magic.
“I did not break your rules. They simply bent to my power,” she replies, awesomely.
Led by Agatha’s mother, Evanora (Kate Forbes), the coven prepares to end her. She turns their power on…
Read More: WandaVision episode 8 recap: Marvel show dives into Wanda’s painful past