Agatha All Along’s latest episode revealed how Billy Maximoff survived the Hex in WandaVision. Last week, fans were shocked to learn Joe Locke’s Teen was actually the Scarlet Witch’s son. With that knowledge in-hand, Agatha All Along took us on a trip down memory lane this week. Spoilers beyond this point from this week’s episode, “Familiar By Thy Side”! Read on only if you really want to know!
The episode opens with a flashback but it’s not to “Teen” as we know him. Instead, we’re taken to the bar mitzvah celebration of William Kaplan. Amid the party, which has a magic theme, he visits a palm reader who turns out to be Lilia Calderu. Lilia sees that William’s life will split into Billy’s. Before sending him back out to his party with reassurances about the future, she slips a rune in his pocket on which she has placed the sigil. However, the party soon stops as the “anomaly” around Westview is changing. The next we see his family driving near Westview as Wanda’s Hex was breaking down. The distraction causes an accident that kills William Kaplan but at that moment, Billy’s soul is teleporting from that little boy inside of Wanda and Vision’s house and becomes bonded to the older teenager. William Kaplan survives, but now he’s Billy Maximoff… in William’s body. That’s how he’s been able to survive in this world without a “container” for the wayward soul. It’s a certifiably wild development, and one fans are going to discuss into the ground in the ensuing days. This is amongst so many more mysteries that are still on the board for the show.
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For a refresher, Wanda Maximoff created the Hex after losing Vision in Avengers: Infinity War. The two were supposed to live in Westview, New Jersey and begin their lives together. However, after the synthezoid was out of commission, she used her chaos magic to warp reality to a sitcom where Vision and her boys were alive and well. Agatha Harkness realized what Wanda was doing and conspired to take her powers for her own gain. Wanda, Vision, Billy and Tommy ended up being able to stop her. But, in the end, holding all those people hostage wasn’t very heroic of Scarlet Witch. She freed all of them and they still hold resentment for that experience, as we saw earlier in Agatha All Along. (If we really go back to Westview at the end of the series, how will they react to another supernatural showdown within the city limits?) It feels like the trouble is just getting brewing.
Billy and Agatha have a stern confrontation at the tail end of Agatha All Along’s fifth episode. It’s clear that both sides have been hiding a bit of information from each other. The more mature witch knew that her young familiar was actually the son of the Scarlet Witch this entire time. Meanwhile, Billy has been playing coy about his identity and power level for a while as well. That cute little spellbook was basically misdirection. Fans had been wondering about his identity for weeks now. Every Darkhold mention and Nicolas Scratch Easter egg created just a sliver of doubt among the viewers. But, now there is no doubt. Billy Maximoff lured these women onto The Witches Road. He said it was for power, but clearly there’s more to gain here as he’s got some scary abilities just like his mother.
Agatha All Along Hid Wiccan In Plain Sight
For weeks now, Agatha All Along has been playing in viewers’ faces. Billy was the most logical reveal for Joe Locke’s Teen. But, last week confirmed it. It’s a delicate dance with a show featuring a major mystery to balance that surprise with fan expectations. Some people are interested because a Marvel Comics favorite is here. Others, argue that the reveal should have been out in the open from the word go. Director Jac Schaeffer is understanding of all of these elements. She told Entertainment Weekly, Billy’s identity was not something they were trying super hard to misdirect from. Instead, how Agatha Harkness reacts to that information is far more interesting. Also, what does this boy want from her and The Witches’ Road in general? All things to ponder as we continue towards the finale.
Schaeffer argued about the sigil weeks ago, “This is what I would say: That’s not the first place I’d look. It’s not entirely irrelevant: But there are other places to look.”
“I don’t like hiding things from the audience, just to then be, like, ‘Boo!’ There’s no artistry to that,” Schaeffer mused. “So when we talked about obscuring who he is, the first question is, why? What is the utility of that? The answer is, it’s about the effect that his mystery has on Agatha. What does that do to her? How does it motivate her? How does it hit her emotionally?”
What do you think about this change from Billy’s comics origin? Is it something else? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!