WandaVision Episode 8 Explained

This week’s WandaVision was mostly focused on revealing what happened to get this entire series started. However, how this new information will impact the show is yet to be fully seen. Plus, there is still plenty of mystery out there!

Warning: spoilers for WandaVision Episodes 1-8, earlier MCU movies, and general information from other MCU projects follow. Plus, spoilers from a few Marvel comics also follow.

Wanda

To understand anything about this show, it is important to understand Wanda. This episode revealed that Wanda is incredibly powerful, more powerful than any character initially thought, and, perhaps, that she has a larger destiny to fulfill.

We explored one possibility for this in our previous explanation. In the comics, Wanda is a Nexus Being, the center of mystic energy within her reality. A few separate story arcs involve villains attempting to steal Wanda’s power for themselves but they are always defeated. This feels similar to what is happening with Agatha, who is interested in learning how Wanda was able to preform a tremendous feat of magic. Plus, the previous episode include a reference to the word “Nexus” in the episode’s commercial break.

In the comics, Wanda’s specific brand of magic could also hint at her role here. When she was a baby, her innate magic ability was altered by an evil Elder God. This gave Wanda the ability to utilize the dark power of chaos magic, magic that can alter reality itself. The Elder God then tried to use the energy within Wanda as a way to escape his imprisonment but he was stopped before being able to do so. It is also worth noting that this Elder God has a direct connection to a specific book of magic and that an unexplained magic book was seen in Agatha’s basement.

Finally, the comics have also established the idea that the “Scarlet Witch” title is something that is passed down. In the comics, this title is passed down through Wanda’s family, eventually leading to Wanda taking up the name.

So what does all of this indicate? Well, it seems like the show is taking bits and pieces of Wanda’s comic book history and fitting it all together. It is clear that something about Wanda, whether it is her status as a Nexus being or her contact with ancient magic, has given her tremendous power, power which was then amplified by the Infinity Stone. It is also clear that this power was known at some point in the past, earning those who wield it the “Scarlet Witch” moniker. This puts her on a direct course for a confrontation with Agatha.

Agatha

Even after this episode, Agatha is a pretty open-ended mystery. We see her on trial by other witches in the past and then see her kill these witches. However, we do not know what exactly she was on trial for, besides accessing restricted magic, and we don’t know if she intentionally killed her fellow witches, as it may have been an act of self-defense.

It is possible that Agatha’s story directly relates to Wanda’s. If the restricted magic Agatha accessed in the past involved chaos magic from an Elder God or demon, then she may be afraid that Wanda’s power could release an Elder God or demon. This would explain why she appears hostile to Wanda at the episode’s conclusion.

It is also possible that Agatha’s story is thematically related to Wanda’s. Agatha was condemned by her fellow witches for accessing powerful magic. In a similar way, Agatha has condemned Wanda for accessing powerful magic. It may be possible that Agatha will eventually see that she has become just like the witches of her past and, thus, will decide to teach Wanda instead of destroying her, just like she begged her fellow witches to do for her. This would make Agatha more akin to her comic book counterpart, who teaches Wanda the secrets of magic and typically serves as a force for good.

S.W.O.R.D.

On the other end of the villain spectrum is Director Hayward. This episode shows that Hayward wanted to resurrect Vision as a weapon but that he was unable to do so until recently. It also shows that Hayward lied to the rest of S.W.O.R.D., as he edited footage to show Wanda stealing Vision’s body when she actually did no such thing.

This all points to downright evil from Hayward. In nearly all of his flashback scenes, he appears to be pushing Wanda to resurrect Vision. Somehow, he seems to know she can do this. He eventually is able to achieve his goal by harnessing some of the magic from the Hex. This seems to indicate that Hayward knows more about the extent of Wanda’s abilities than he lets on. It could be that he is simply a smart warhawk who does his research, but it could also be that he has some sort of tie to dark magic or that he could even be Mephisto (a character many believed would make an appearance at some point in the show). My personal favorite fantheory here is that Ultron is involved somehow, as we never actually see the final version of Ultron killed, but this is just a wild theory and I have no evidence to back it up. The return of Vision will hopefully answer this question.

Vision

In the comics, there was a period of time where Vision was dismantled and effectively killed. He was eventually rebuilt but when he came back to life he no longer had his former personality or any emotions. This version of Vision was devoid of color and had a pale, white appearance.

This is almost definitely what is referenced in the mid-credits scene from this episode, which reveals that S.W.O.R.D. reassembled Vision. If this is true, this version of Vision may be emotionless and, thus, may be willing to do whatever Hayward orders. This, obviously, points to a conflict between this new version of Vision and the version Wanda created.

It seems possible that all of this could provide a way for Vision to actually come back entirely. In the comics, Vision eventually regains his emotions and has his personality transferred into a new body. It could be possible that Wanda’s version of Vision, which is full of personality but devoid of substance, could merge with Hayward’s version of Vision, which may be devoid of emotion but has substance. However, it seems equally possible that a series based on accepting trauma may not end by simply wishing this trauma away. 

We plan to keep following along and trying to make sense of the WandaVision series as it develops. So make sure you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest or subscribe to ComicBookWire’s newsletter to stay up to date on whats happening!