This entry contains spoilers for “Agatha All Along” and Marvel comics.
When Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) is cast as a no-nonsense detective in the noir first episode of “Agatha All Along,” it's Teen (Joe Locke) who helps her realize that something is wrong. The presence of this teenager, whose identity has been considered a mystery since his first appearance in Westview, leads to intriguing changes in Agatha's views as she sets off on the Witch Trail with a hastily assembled coven. Yes, Agatha is still able to manipulate events to her advantage and instinctively seeks power like a drug (often at the expense of others), but the Teenager's presence gives her a warmer, more motherly character as the journey along the Road becomes more and more dangerous.
However, old habits die hard, and people are often shaped by painful pasts and seek out the same cycles of destruction that shaped them. This sentiment runs throughout episode 5, aptly titled “Darkest Hour, Awaken Your Power.” AND plot what happens here is when Agatha finally gains the powers she desperately wanted at a terrible cost, incurring the wrath of a pissed off teenager whose identity is revealed via a musical cue that is the opposite of subtle, but perfect nonetheless. His hands burst with electricity as he takes over the minds of Jen (Sasheer Zamata) and Lilia (Patti Lupone), who plunge a shocked Agatha into quicksand-like mud before suffering the same fate themselves. When the camera shows Teen's face, he is seen wearing a crown very, very similar to someone who once wielded immense power: the Scarlet Witch.
Those familiar with Marvel Comics won't be surprised to learn that Locke's Teen Joe is none other than Billy Kaplan/Maximoff, son of Wanda Maximoff. Billy, also known as Wiccan, appears to have broken the seal placed on him, either prompted by his righteous anger over Alice's (Ali Ahn) death or Agatha's taunt that he is just like his mother. But who exactly is Billy Kaplan according to the comics, and what could his presence mean for the series?
A look at the history of Billy Kaplan/Wiccan comics
You may remember the twins Wanda and Vision, Billy and Tommy from “WandaVision,” and how the deaths of these children in Reality Fueled by Chaos and Magic Westview directly influenced the events of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” The twins are not real in the traditional sense, but exist thanks to Wanda's power to alter reality – a truth Agatha realized in 1989's “Avengers West Coast #51”, where she notices the twins disappearing every time Wanda does. doesn't. Don't actively think about them. Some time later in the Marvel Comics timeline, the twins are kidnapped and taken to Hell by the Master of Pandemonium, a servant of – wait for it – Mephisto, who claimed that the soul fragments used to create the twins came from himself, prompting him to (supposedly) erase the twins from existence.
There are conflicting versions of what happened next, with “Avengers Disassembled” and “Avengers: The Children's Crusade” primarily offering different explanations for the twins' existence, but one aspect is clear: the soul of Billy (called William in the comics) is reborn in Billy Kaplan's character, while Tommy (Thomas in the comics) is reborn as Tommy Shepherd. Somehow, the twins managed to survive thanks to the intricate nature of Wanda's magic, allowing the lost sons of Vision and Wanda Maximoff to chart their own trajectory when it comes to proving their worth as superheroes to a new generation.
Billy, aka Wiccan, boasts a number of impressive powers, and his main skill is manipulating reality (like Wanda), which earned him the nickname “the bringer of chaos”. He is also adept at elemental manipulation, manifesting primarily in electrokinetic powers, as referenced in episode 5 “Agatha All Along” when he exercises mind control and blows up other witches. During his comic book appearances, Billy/Wiccan used ice and fire generation, hydrokinesis, and light-focused powers, and also possessed mastery of flight, healing, astral projection, and power manipulation (which he uses in an episode intended to influence and control others). In terms of power scaling, Wiccan's abilities are considered S-tier, shaping his valuable (and often reality-altering) contributions to the Young Avengers and ultimately the New Avengers.
What do Billy's legacy and motivations mean for Agatha All Along?
“Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power” raises the stakes quite unexpectedly, as the one-trial-per-episode narrative pattern is abruptly interrupted by a shocking death and character reveal. The trial – Agata's trial – is still ongoing, and its goal is to determine what the teenager is NO Nicholas Scratch, Agatya's son, emphasize that the titular witch's hunger for power results from her mother's views, which shaped her need to use ruthlessness as a defense mechanism. Agatha is still an antagonistic character who, with her innate selfishness, led to the death of innocent people, but this episode helps us understand Why she's so wired. “You were born evil,” her late mother declares, and it is no surprise that Agatha took this belief and embodied it, seeking refuge in cruelty and the addictive thrill of taking what is not hers.
When Agatha unintentionally causes Alice's death and realizes that Teen cannot be her son (as Nicholas cries out during her power trip, begging her to stop), it is not difficult for her to piece together Teen's identity. The teenager is devastated by Alice's death and repulsed by Agatha's nonchalance, which deepens when Lilia and Jen also see the tragedy as a side effect of following the path of witchcraft. By revealing his true identity, Billy sets himself apart from them by punishing all three of them for their callousness, which adds an intriguing twist to his motivations.
Is it possible that Billy placed the seal on himself to hide his true motivations, or was it someone else? What could be his ultimate goal in the context of the Witches' Way, and does he secretly have ill intentions towards Agatha because of her history with Wanda? The episode's title may be a clue as to why Billy chose this moment to reveal his identity: the death of the coven's most caring member, received with apathy by her own coven, broke something within Billy, shattering the seal and awakening his true abilities. Or he could have been making fools of them all this whole time.
New episodes of “Agatha All Along” will premiere on Wednesdays on Disney+.
