WandaVision :: The Series Finale

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Note that this recap will include details of the WandaVision finale. Proceed only if you’ve watched the episode and share your thoughts in the comments section below.

These nine weeks seem to have flown by in the blink of an eye, even when the weekly wait between WandaVision episodes seemed interminable. So let’s get one thing out of the way quickly — Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen trolled us good. There was no MCU cameo, and the great actor Bettany teased he’d always wanted to work with was… himself. Of course it was, with the introduction of the White Vision in the previous episode. We’ll get to that in a moment.

‘The Series Finale’ (it was always designed as a single season, but Marvel honchos never say never to a continuation) picks up right where we left off with the escalating battle between Wanda and Agatha, Agatha taunting her adversary to get Wanda to use her powers (‘I’m counting on it’ she teased). Because Agatha, as we saw in the 1693 flashback, absorbs the power from other witches. She sees Wanda as a true threat, stronger than the Sorcerer Supreme (shout out to Dr. Strange), a witch forged, not born. Wanda argues she has no coven, she doesn’t cast spells, no one taught her magic. And that’s the problem as far as Agatha is concerned because Wanda really has no idea what she is — the Scarlet Witch — or how to use her magic. Agatha reveals that the Scarlet Witch is included in that book we saw in her basement chamber — the Darkhold, aka the Book of the Damned. The Scarlet Witch is destined to destroy the world.

Wanda insists she is not that person, but to dig the knife in even deeper Agatha frees the citizens of Westview from Wanda’s spell, revealing they are all fully aware of what’s happening to them, they feel Wanda’s pain. Dottie, who reveals her name is Sarah, just wants her 8-year-old daughter to wake up so she can hug her. The others beg Wanda to set them free … or let them die. Agatha makes Wanda an offer: surrender her power and Agatha will allow Wanda and her family to continue to live in this ‘pathetic corner of the world’ that she created. Knowing she can’t blast Agatha again, Wanda instead tosses a car at the witch, sending them both through the wall of a house. But when Wanda goes to see Agatha’s body, all that’s left are a pair of boots, a la the Wicked Witch of the East after a house was dropped on her.

The White Vision appears and Wanda wonders if it is truly her Vision returned to life. He begins to caress her face but the gesture turns into an attempt to crush Wanda’s skull, White Vision telling her he was told she was more powerful. In the nick of time, Wanda’s Vision swoops in and tackles his counterpart. Agatha has returned, hovering over the scene, cackling about Wanda’s ‘ex and boyfriend at the same party’, asking which one she’ll choose. Wanda apologizes to Vision for not telling him everything, but they agree to fight for their home and family. The battle royale begins.

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Elsewhere inside and outside of the Hex, Monica is being held captive in Pietro’s ‘man cave’. While he makes himself a smoothie, Monica finds … a headshot. This isn’t Pietro, it’s Ralph. Ralph Bohner! Nosy neighbor Agnes always mentioned her unseen husband Ralph, and now we know Ralph is not Wanda’s brother or Agnes’ husband. He’s just an actor, held under a spell by an enchanted choker. Monica snatches it from his neck and releases Ralph from Agatha’s spell. Outside, Hayward has captured Jimmy and reveals that his plan is for people to think the Vision that eventually emerges from The Hex is the one whose body Wanda ‘stole’. Jimmy teases the FBI is on the way and will be there within the hour. Hayward has him taken away in cuffs, but Jimmy uses his own magician’s flourish to escape the cuffs. He also managed to palm a cell phone and calls his buddy at the FBI, asking if they can be there within the hour.

As the battle between the Vision’s rages on, Wanda’s Vision (or the ‘Conditional’ Vision) asks White Vision what his mission is. He replies it is to destroy The Vision. Vision cleverly asserts that he is not truly The Vision he seeks, and tells White Vision that he holds all of The Vision’s memories, but they are being kept from him. Conditional Vision uses the Mind Stone to unlock those memories, and then bamboozles White Vision with the Ship of Theseus paradox (neither of them are Vision, but they are both Vision). White Vision simply says, ‘I am Vision’ and flies away. One problem solved.

Agatha taunts Wanda more as the Westview citizens beg for release. Save Westview or save her family — Wanda actually chooses Westview and begins to break down The Hex. This gives Hayward a chance to get some vehicles into the town, but Wanda also sees that she is also breaking down Vision and her children. That’s too much and the walls go back up. The family unites and Vision tells the boys that their parents never prepared them for this. Wanda says, ‘But you were born for it.’ Wanda tells the boys to take care of the military and mama will be right back. Billy holds the troops in place while Tommy uses his super speed to disarm them. Hayward is still armed and begins firing at the boys. Monica appears and uses her new powers to slow the bullets as they pass through her body and drop to the ground. One does get past her but Billy uses his own power to stop it. Hayward tries to escape but from out of nowhere his truck is T-boned by the funnel cake truck driven by Darcy who says, ‘Have fun in prison.’ Sadly this is the only time we see Darcy in the episode as she blows off the debrief later.

While Agatha watches from the roof of a building, Wanda sneaks up on her and zaps them back to 1693. Agatha is terrified, and Wanda tells her the difference between them is that Agatha did all this on purpose while Wanda was just engaging in an act of self-preservation (okay, come on Wanda, that was also quite purposeful). The dead witches arise but … they turn on Wanda, calling her the ‘harbinger of chaos’. A smug Agatha tells Wanda she’ll correct the flaws in her original spell and they can all live in peace and harmony. Wanda escapes the clutches of the coven and tackles Agatha, sending them back to the sky above Westview. Vision flies in to help but Wanda blocks him. She has to face Agatha alone.

While Agatha continues to taunt Wanda, Wanda unleashes her powers on the witch in a blind rage. Agatha gleefully absorbs the power, asking for more. Some of the balls of energy miss Agatha, hitting the walls of The Hex. As Wanda becomes an ashen husk of herself, her power depleted, Agatha goes in for the kill and … nothing. She tries again and she has no power. Wanda returns to her normal self and reveals the Runes she cast on the walls of The Hex during their battle, reminding Agatha that only the witch who cast the runes can use her power within that space. ‘Thanks for the lesson,’ she says and reabsorbs all of her power as well as all of Agatha’s power back into her body, finally transforming into the Scarlet Witch, costume and all.

Dropping Agatha to the ground, Wanda serves up her punishment: Agatha will remain in Westview in the role of the ‘nosy neighbor’ she created for herself, and transforms the witch back into Agnes. Before returning her to the role, Agatha says Wanda will need her at some point and Wanda says she’ll know where to find her (I hope this means we’ll see Agatha join the MCU at some point. Kathryn Hahn was a complete joy even when she being mean.)

With Agnes restored and the people of Westview freed from Wanda’s power, there is only one thing left for Wanda to do — return home with her family and bring down The Hex. Wanda and Vision tuck Billy and Tommy in for the night, but it’s obvious they know this will be the last time they see them. Wands heartbreakingly tells the boys thank you for choosing her to be their mother. As she turns the lights out in the living room, the Hex walls are closing in on the house, reverting the town to its original dilapidated form, the traveling circus also returned to its true military nature (it’s also daylight). Inside, Vision turns a light back on, saying he wanted to see Wanda one more time, and to share a heartfelt moment.

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Vision says that before he goes, he needs to know what he is. Wanda responds, ‘ou, Vision, are the piece of the Mind Stone that lives in me. A body of blood and bone I created, built of my sadness and my hope. But mostly, you’re my love.’ Vision interjects that he is a memory made real, and wonders what he may be next. As the Hex wall closes in on the house, Vision says, ‘We have said goodbye before, so it stands to reason –‘, and Wanda says, ‘– we’ll say hello again.’ They kiss one last time and the house disappears, leaving Wanda standing in the empty lot where their house was supposed to be built.

Wanda walks back into town, avoiding the glares of the denizens of Westview. There she sees Monica who tells Wanda that these people will never know what Wanda sacrificed for them, but Wanda says even if they did it would never change how they see her now. Monica said if she had Wanda’s powers she would certainly bring her mother back. Wanda says she’s sorry for all the pain she’s caused and assures Monica that she will learn how to properly use her powers, and she flies off into the sky.

The end.

But this week we get not one but two codas. In the first, mid-way through the credits, we see Jimmy is in charge of the town clean up and debriefing of the citizens and military personnel involved (that’s the debrief Darcy skipped), and Hayward is being led away. An agent directs Monica to the movie theater for her own debriefing, but there’s no one else inside. The agent reveals herself to be a Skrull who was sent by ‘a friend’ of her mother’s saying, ‘He heard you’d been grounded, and would like to meet you.’ Monica asks where and the Skrull points upward, as in outer space, as in the last place we saw Nick Fury at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Monica gets a huge smile on her face.

At the very end of the credits, we see a beautiful, mountainous wilderness. A small cabin sits alone, a woman on the porch. It’s Wanda. She goes inside to tend to a whistling tea kettle but the camera continues to move through the cabin. In another room is the Scarlet Witch, poring over the Darkhold, learning all she can about the Scarlet Witch, the sounds of her boy screaming for help in the distance. Cut to black.

Wow. Disney and Marvel took a huge risk with going completely out of the box with its first proper MCU TV series, and I believe it paid off. The finale may not have had everything fans wanted (i.e. that big teased cameo from perhaps Benedict Cumberbatch or Sam Jackson, or John Krasinski as Reed Richards), but it certainly paid off in delivering a true Scarlet Witch origin story that would not have been half as creative or with as much emotional depth as this TV series afforded. It certainly gave us two brilliant performances from Olsen and Bettany (Will Emmy voters even consider a ‘superhero show’ for consideration? They certainly should), and Hahn as well, great writing over the course of the nine episodes, and masterful direction from Matt Shakman. The show had the full force of Marvel behind it — something often lacking in the other TV series like Agents of SHIELD — and every penny spent was on screen. Disney Plus made the brilliant decision to release episodes on a weekly basis, which only helped keep fans on edge, collectively gasping when Evan Peters showed up, something that would have been muted had all nine episodes dropped the same day. From start to finish, it was one of the most brilliant and innovative shows we’ve seen on TV this year … or in many years, and it’s heartbreaking that it has come to an end. But too much of a good thing would spoil it so let’s just savor what we have, rewatch to catch more Easter eggs that may have been missed on first viewing, and hope that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier can live up to the impossibly high bar WandaVision has set for Marvel TV series moving forward.

All episodes of WandaVision are streaming on Disney+.