Wanda Maximoff is the most powerful character in the MCU thus far, and Episode 8 only further proves this. 

This heart-wrenching episode starts off with some background on Agatha Harkness, taking us back to Salem in 1693. The Salem Witch Trials look a little different, with Agatha in the middle surrounded by other witches claiming her betrayal. As they fight her with magic, Agatha’s dark purple energy overpowers everyone, including her own mother. 

We know Agatha has had a long history with witchcraft and magic, and her years of experience far surpasses any other witches, but how does Wanda come into play? 

Back in the basement, we learn that Agatha has placed protection spells, restricting Wanda from mind-reading and fighting back in any way. Agatha tells us of Pietro (or “Fietro”) being only her eyes and ears, giving all X-Men fans a sigh of disappointment. So close… 

Agatha tells Wanda that she felt the magic of multiple spells, which is why she showed up in the first place. This proves that Wanda created this reality on her own, and Agatha pushed some buttons to see how far she could go. Agatha casts some spells on a nearby fly (clearly not the Mephisto from all the fan theories) but shows just how shocking Wanda’s powers are. The entire town is under her control but also entirely on its own. Seems chaotic! (Get it? Haha.)

It is clear Agatha wants in on Wanda’s secrets behind the Hex, so, naturally, she takes Wanda back to all the most traumatic moments of her life. They start off in Sokovia with her family preparing to watch American sitcoms, the very ones the past episodes have been based on. With gunfire in the distance, the family sits down to watch The Dick Van Dyke Show. The most heat-warming part is watching the excitement of adult Wanda’s face in the background and the pure joy she feels in seeing her family before tragedy hits. 

And in the life of the Maximoffs, tragedy hits often. The explosion that kills her parents strikes, with Wanda and Pietro hiding, and a nearby Stark Industries missile (Why, Tony, why?) falls but doesn’t explode. Wanda reaches her hand out, but she is pulled back into modern-day Wanda.  

As it turns out, Wanda and Pietro were hiding for two days as the bomb turned out to be defective. Agatha points out how it is no coincidence that the bomb acted in the way Wanda wanted it to act, as she was a “baby witch obsessed with sitcoms.” 

The scene changes to the pre-Age of Ultron timeline, when Wanda and Pietro have volunteered under Hydra. With Loki’s scepter, Wanda is a test subject to the effects of its power. As she gets closer, the scepter explodes from blue to yellow, and the energy surrounds her. We see a shadow, of what appears to be Wanda, as the Scarlet Witch, in a more experienced state. But Wanda collapses.

Agatha explains how the amplified power from the Infinity Stone kept the power she had that would’ve “died on the vine.” Without the stone, Wanda did have powers, but it was the stone that extended them. 

We then move to a post-Age of Ultron scene, where Pietro has died and Wanda sits in her room in the Avengers compound. Vision enters the room, in an attempt to comfort her. One would think that since Wanda has lost her only family member, and Vision is a machine incapable of emotion, they would be unable to understand and empathize with each other. But this scene leads to a powerful quote from Vision: “What is grief, if not love persevering?” This moment brings them closer together.

This breaks modern-day Wanda, as she cannot go any further. But Agatha pushes her more, since they are so close to finding the cause of Vision’s death, and there is no one there to pull her out of her grief, no one left to persevere love for. 

We are now in the SWORD facility following the events of Endgame. Wanda begs to see Vision’s corpse. She storms into Tyler Hayward’s office, where he guides her to see her dead lover’s body being dissected. Wanda wants to take Vision’s body, just to have closure through a funeral, but Hayward argues that her intentions are to bring him back to life.

Even when she denies these claims, Hayward gives no permission to bury three billion dollars worth of Vibranium into the ground. She breaks through the glass, but Hayward lets her through to see the body. As Wanda touches Visions forehead, she whispers how she doesn’t feel him anymore. 

Then she drives away in a Buick. (Wanda Maximoff, a hero who can fly wherever she wants, drives a red Buick. Great sponsorship, Disney!) But that is beside the point, as we can tell here that Hayward’s information is wrong. We know his intentions are not in the right place, because Wanda clearly does not steal Vision’s body and the footage he showed earlier to use against her was inaccurate. Sure she broke some glass, but won’t the $3 billion in Vibranium cover those costs? (Too soon? Sorry.) 

As Wanda drives away in her red Buick, (Buick paid for this advertisement, so we might as well give them some credit!) she heads to New Jersey. In the streets of Westview, before being engulfed in the Hex, we see some notable people, including Mrs. Hart, Herb, Phil, and the mailman, all living very sad-looking lives. Wanda drives through to an unfinished house, with a little letter: “To grow old in, V” inside a heart. 

Just like after Pietro’s death, Wanda explodes. This time her powers go farther, building a house, building a reality, and even rebuilding Vision. We go back to Episode 1, in the 1950’s style. A small detail: the heart on the letter directly changes into the calendar on the show. We thought it was a reminder for dinner with Mr. Hart, but was in realty is was for their forever home. (Editor’s note: Impressive work, Arline.)

Wanda, and ONLY Wanda, created this entire reality. But more of her powers will be uncovered in just a little bit. 

We hear that Tommy and Billy are yelling, and as Wanda runs to find them, we see Agatha with a full face of makeup (She really got ready for the big reveal!) holding back the boys. Agatha tells Wanda she is more dangerous that she thought. Her ability of “spontaneous creation” makes her a myth. Wanda has the power of chaos magic, and this makes her the Scarlet Witch. This is not a surprise, but, wow, it feels good to know the scale of power that she has. 

And in true Marvel fashion, that is not all! A mid-credit scene shows us Hayward working on a project we have not yet seen. The camera pans out to Vision, but not our regular ol’ red Vision. We finally see White Vision. 

We know it was Wanda who created this, we know that Wanda herself recreated Vision, and we know that she is the Scarlet Witch. But what will happen next? Will “recreated” Vision help Wanda fight White Vision? Will Vision die again? Is Agatha going to help Wanda or only use her? And the one I am most anticipating: is Wanda going to be the ultimate villain? Or the hero? 

And that is all from me about WandaVision! Until next time!