WandaVision‘s finale episode has arrived, and there’s a lot to unpack. The episode pitches Wanda Maximoff against Agatha Harkness and ends in Agatha calling Wanda more powerful than Doctor Strange, aka the Sorcerer Supreme.
We get some pretty substantial clues to how WandaVision sets up scenes in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The episode verifies one running theory enclosing the series, as we learn that Agatha has the Darkhold. That supernatural book also played a big part in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Runaways.
Episode 8 ended with Wanda facing down Agatha, who had both Tommy and Billy entrapped. Now that Agatha has figured out that Wanda is the Scarlet Witch of legend, her ultimate goal is to suck away Wanda’s power for herself, as she’s “someone who knows what to do with it.”
In this week’s finale episode, Wanda somehow manages to take her down temporarily with some help from a telekinetically powered flying car (in a Wizard of Oz homage). But while she takes advantage of the short break to tell her boys to go inside, White Vision arrives with a directive from his new S.W.O.R.D. Masters, that is to take Wanda out and kill Vision.
Fortunately, the color version of Vision arrives just in time to attack his doppelganger. Vision manages to engage with White Vision on a classic “identity metaphysics” question: The Ship of Theseus. (A thought experiment very relevant to their respective situations, as two recreations of the same entity.) Vision uses this as a chance to reactivate the “data” that White Vision contains, flooding memories that cause White Vision to lay off his attack.
With White Vision flying away, Agatha tangled again in her nosy neighbor persona, and the FBI in control of S.W.O.R.D.’s unlawful shenanigans, things are pretty much wrapped up. Now it’s time for Wanda to set things right and say goodbye to her family.
Wanda and fam go home, and they tuck their sons into bed as The Hex outside grows ever closer. Final goodbyes are exchanged and Wanda is left standing in the same plot on which she projected her dream home.
After losing Vision for a second time, Wanda walks away with her grief to a quiet cabin in the woods. In the post-credits sequence, we see Wanda’s physical form relishing her peaceful solitude while her astral form feverishly researches the book for direction on how to bring Billy and Tommy back to life.
That psychic speedreading strategy is identical to the one used by Stephen Strange. Wanda may turn to Strange to better understand her powers and find the key to reviving her sons. Certainly, the Sorcerer Supreme has come to know what went on in Westview, and he may feel that Wanda is extremely risky if her powers aren’t appropriately tutored and directed.
We may see Strange serve as a mentor to Wanda. But there will be tons of tension in that relationship, especially as Wanda tries to suppress the power of the Darkhold, and Strange advises her to respect the laws and norms of the magical world. Relying on how the movie evolves, Wanda could end up fulfilling the role of the true villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
About WandaVision
WandaVision is a Disney+ MCU miniseries created by Jac Schaeffer featuring the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision. Cast members include Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris, Randall Park, Kat Dennings, Evan Peters, Debra Jo Rupp and Fred Melamed.
The series takes place three weeks after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Wanda Maximoff and Vision are living an idyllic suburban life in the town of Westview, New Jersey, trying to conceal their true natures. As their surroundings begin to move through different decades and they encounter various television tropes, the couple suspects that things are not as they seem.
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