Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for Agatha All Along.
Many Marvel fans are experiencing something akin to a book hangover after finishing the final two episodesAgatha All Along. For the last six weeks we’ve walked The Witches' Road with an outstanding cast.Kathryn Hahnreturned as Agatha Harkness and was joined byAubrey Plaza, Patti Lupone, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, andJoe Locke. Over the course of nine episodes, Agatha’s main goal has been clear: get her power back, and she did, but almost immediately died afterward.
While speaking with Agatha All Along showrunnerJac Schaeffer, Collider’sChristina Radishasked Schaeffer if that had been the plan “All Along?” Schaeffer says “[f]rom the absolute beginning, we were always gonna land Agatha as a ghost.“At the end of Episode 8"Follow Me My Friend/To Glory at the End” Agatha shares a passionate kiss with Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), knowing it would kill her. When the ninth and final episode “Maiden, Mother, Crone” opens, we find that Agatha is a ghost. The move, as Schaeffer explains, wasn’t a very popular theory (potentially out of pure denial like this author). “I was so tickled that it wasn’t a really big fan theory,” Schaeffer says. “[B]ecause it’s one of the few things that’s directly in the comics.”
In the comics, Agatha waskilled by the Salem Seven, and resurrected as a ghost. “She spends so much time being a ghost,” Schaeffer explains. “[S]o I was waiting for all the, ‘She’s gonna be a ghost! She’s gonna be a ghost!‘And it wasn’t very loud, which was terrific. That was always the thing we wanted.” Agatha’s ghost provides a mentorship of sorts to Wanda Maximoff, in a similar way we see her providing (though initially received reluctantly) to Billy (Joe Locke) right down to the final scene and potentially in future Marvel projects.
‘Agatha All Along’ Is a “Show About Death”
Death, both literally and metaphorically, was a thread throughout all nine episodes ofAgatha All Along. From Agatha’s relationship with Rio, who is the physical manifestation of Death, to references to the countless witches Agatha has killed over the centuries. It’s revealed that it’s largely due in part because Agatha herself is trying to run away from dying for a very specific reason. Schaeffer explains:
“This is a witch who is over 400 years old. The show is about death. We knew we wanted her to die and become a ghost.The messaging of that, the thematics of that, and what the moment of her death was, was all a larger conversation, but the end game was always Agatha and Billy and being his spirit guide.”
Ghost!Agatha was a sight to behold in and of itself (and the look was a little more comic accurate to the eagle-eyed viewers.) It was the same effect we saw in Episode 5 with Agatha’s own mother Evanora, which wasn’t accidental, according to Schaeffer. “If we were gonna land her as a ghost,we needed to have some semblance of rules around that inside of the MCU.” Schaeffer goes on to explain that “we would understand the aesthetic of a ghost, that we would understand that Rio doesn’t like ghosts.” The move, provides a two-fold development: Agatha unable to truly move on, even if she willingly died, and becoming a ghost also furthers her complicated relationship with Rio.
“Ultimately, we liked it being a little more instinctive,that somehow ghosts are beyond Rio’s reach. It’s tied to the idea that a ghost isn’t ready to surrender to death yet. We also liked the idea that Agatha isn’t ready to surrender to death, not because of Rio, butbecause of Nicky.” Agatha’s reluctance to deal with the death of her son,Nicholas Scratch, was an emotional touchpoint implied throughoutAgatha All Along,but it finally was verbalized in the final minutes of the show in argument between Billy and Agatha.Instead of facing her son, Agatha chooses to remain on a liminal plane and offer her mentorship to Billy, who reminds her so much of Nicky.
You can read Christina’s full conversation with Jac Schaefferhere. All nine episodes ofAgatha All Alongare now available to stream on Disney+. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.
Agatha All Along
Agatha Harkness, following the events of “WandaVision,” embarks on a quest to reclaim her lost powers. Teaming up with unlikely allies, including the son of her former enemy, she faces new mystical threats while navigating a complex world of magic and intrigue.
Watch on Disney+
