WandaVision is nearing its finale, so the episodes are getting intense. But, WandaVision Episode 8 is one of the best episodes so far. It has got all the elements. It gives a detailed background of how Westview happened. Let’s dive into the details.

Agatha’s Origin

Agatha Harkness is the original witch. But how did she come into existence? WandaVision Episode 8 takes the audience back to 1693 in Salem, Massachusetts. Almost everyone knows that Salem was famous for its witch trial. Here, Agatha is being kept as a convict for practicing magic higher than her age and station. It’s a heinous crime, and she deserves to be punished. Agatha denies the charges, but slowly, you see a devious smirk on her face. She says that she only bent the powers a little.

The queen of the coven and Agatha’s mother ordered the other witches to punish her. As they begin their chant, a blue light emerges from them, penetrating Agatha. Unfortunately, Agatha was so powerful that she absorbed all the magic and retaliated with purple energy that left all the witches dead. Her mother also suffered the same fate. Thus, this is how Agatha Harkness was born.

Stages of Wanda’s Grief as explained in WandaVision Episode 8

Agatha infiltrated Wanda’s energy field to learn her secret. It takes years to master a single illusion. And then there is Wanda who has kept an entire town captive and under her whims. Agatha wants to know how she harnessed this much power to create this miracle. Wanda tries to access her magic, but in Agatha’s abode, no other magic works. Moreover, with her twins in danger, Wanda agrees to dive deep into her memories to understand how this happened.

The first place Agatha and Wanda go is back in Sokovia when Pietro and Wanda were just kids. Wanda sees her mother waiting for their father. It’s movie time when the entire family sits down to watch amazing shows and practices their English. Wanda picks up an episode of the Dick Van Dyke show. We also see DVDs of the other classic shows whose resemblance was seen in the previous episodes of WandaVision.

Suddenly, a missile blows up her household, and her family gets blown off. Surprisingly, Wanda and Pietro survive as they hide under a piece of furniture. At that moment, Wanda sees a missile of the Stark Industries. From a very early age, Wanda harboured a lot of hatred for Tony Stark. Her traumatic childhood events explain how everything began.

The second-place Wanda goes to is the HYDRA lab. She became a volunteer and let HYDRA experiment on her. We see that Wanda is in a closed room with Loki’s spectre. Every other volunteer for this experiment so far has died. With Wanda, things were different. The Infinity Stone didn’t give her magic rather, it amplified her powers and made her immensely powerful. It is sad to see how Wanda and Pietro were brainwashed and tortured by HYDRA. The grief of losing her parents along with HYDRA’s experiments did amplify Wanda’s abilities but it didn’t trigger her magic. So, Agatha moves on to third place.

We now find Wanda and Vision in the Avengers compound. Wanda was still grieving for Pietro. Vision comes in to comfort her. Wanda was all lonely and sad and longed to see her brother. She was knee-deep in grief when Vision came in to lift her mood. We see a heartwarming bond develop between Wanda and Vision. This is where a beautiful friendship bloomed into a potential love equation.

Endgame Aftermath

After coming back, Wanda went out in search of Vision. She wanted to bid him goodbye and bury him. She wanted to arrange a funeral for him. When she goes into S.W.O.R.D’s headquarters, Hayward tells her that she has the potential to bring him back online, rather, make him alive. But that isn’t what Wanda is here for. She wanted to bid him goodbye. She blasted into the lab and touched Vision’s corpse, and left the building.

Hayward forged the video of Wanda stealing Vision’s body. She never intended on harming anyone let alone Vision. It was Hayward who wanted to bring back the most advanced weapon. Throughout, he has been painting Wanda as the criminal when he is the one behind this chaos.

WestView’s Existence

Wanda drives straight to New Orleans from the S.W.O.R.D headquarters. We see all the people as residents of Westview who are now trapped in Wanda’s world. Wanda goes to an empty plot where she and Vision envisioned a future. She looks at the map which Vision left for her. The grief was too overpowering for her. The loss of her parents, Pietro, and lastly, Vision left open a hole in her chest, and power surged out of her body. The entire town immediately changed into the 1950’s style, as we have seen earlier.

Yellow energy surges out of Wanda. We see Vision getting reconstructed from scratch. WandaVision Episode 8 gives a full circle to the fans. This episode gives a detailed background of what happened in the reality. The Vision we have seen throughout is a manifestation of Wanda’s memory, a person she created out of her grief and emptiness. It was this very feeling that gave her the power to overwrite Westview’s reality. The real Vision is lying dismantled in S.W.O.R.D’s headquarters.

So, it was Wanda all along behind Westview. After Wanda’s journey through the past, the scene ends with the very first episode of the WandaVision. Wanda and Vision all together in the 1950’s set up. She didn’t want to harm anyone. She just wanted a moment where she is not all alone.

The Scarlet Witch

Wanda wakes up from her memory journey only to find her children being almost strangled by Agatha. Agatha realises that Wanda was supposed to be a myth, a creature so powerful that she can instantly create a new reality. Wanda is too powerful and too dangerous that explains why Thanos almost gave in. Agatha calls her “The Scarlet Witch.” This is the first time anyone has referred to Wanda by her comic book name. No wonder Wanda is considered as one of the strongest Avengers.

Fietro and the Post-credit scene

Agatha admitted that she created fake Pietro aka Fietro, only to get close to Wanda’s mind. Wanda almost gave in all the details to him, but it wasn’t enough for Agatha. She wanted to get to the roots of Wanda’s powers.

Meanwhile, outside Westview, Hayward is ready to launch an attack on Wanda. With the energy he gathered from the drone which Wanda threw out, he brought back Vision online. This is the real Vision that Tony and Bruce had built. But he isn’t the same anymore. Instead, he is all blue and almost impossible to recognise.

The upcoming finale

The finale of WandaVision is going to be raunchy and nerve-wracking. WandaVision Episode 8 was too heartbreaking for the fans. It showed the amount of trauma and grief that Wanda had suppressed all these years. But, it also laid the foundation of a very exciting finale. The new Vision will surely attack the Vision created by Wanda. Who can win? Moreover, how will Wanda save herself from the clutches of Agatha?

Deep down, Wanda knows that she has to clear her name in front of everyone. She has to own up to her actions. But, she can’t let Agatha win. She has to beat her all as well as expose Hayward’s villainy. It’ll be interesting to see how Monica comes in this scenario. The fans also want to know the depth of her powers. Looks like we have to wait for a week to get a fitting conclusion. Moreover, we also have to see how WandaVision ties up to the Multiverse of Madness and if Mephisto makes an appearance.

Here is a clip from the upcoming finale –

Yes, you do hear the voice of Doctor Strange. As stated earlier by Marvel, there is going to be a huge cameo in the finale episode. This clipping kind of confirms it. Though they’ve used previous dialogues, this gives the fans a much needed ray of hope. Only he can save Wanda from this huge mess.

This is the first time the MCU has plunged into Wanda’s background story as well as Agatha’s. With WandaVision Episode 8, the MCU is taking a very dark twist on Wanda’s agony. Wanda’s entire childhood and adulthood trauma and heart-wrenching journey evolved itself into the sitcom world that we were seeing. All her tragic triggers manifested themselves into this alternate reality. As Tony Stark said, “Part of the journey is the end.” We’ve to wait for WandaVision’s end.

While you wait for the finale, check out the newly released movie I Care a lot – https://sleck.net/i-care-a-lot-highlights-raw-power-play-in-a-gender-reversal-dark-and-delightful-comedy/