Yes, I am aware that my articles have become solely about “WandaVision,” but every episode is so insane that I can’t not write about them. In this article, I’m going to recap episode 7 “Breaking the Fourth Wall,” and talk about what it means for the show and what it means for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) overall.
The Recap
In episode 7 of “WandaVision,” we see a lot happen. For one thing, Vision doesn’t know what happened in the MCU before “WandaVision” began. I think this is an important thing to highlight because before I thought Wanda was just blocking his memories, but now, we learn that he actually doesn’t remember. This fact raises a lot of questions, but I think it could also relate to how Vision might be able to survive outside the Hex. For one thing, the “WandaVision” Vision’s soul stone in his head leads to a lot of questions, like was Wanda able to replicate an infinity stone (an ability that would mean she is so much more powerful than we ever anticipated), or, if it isn’t a replicate infinity stone, could it not be connected to who he is as a character? We know that Vision couldn’t live without the soul stone because it gave him sentients. I think, because Vision doesn’t remember what happened, it could mean that Wanda was somehow able to give him sentients without the stone, and he can’t remember because that’s not actually the stone that was giving him life before.
The next huge thing that happened is that Monica Rambeau became Photon. Every Marvel fan knew that, at some point, Monica would get powers, but we didn’t know when it was going to happen. Obviously there is going to be time devoted to Monica realizing she has powers as she hasn’t seemed to have figured it out yet. There will also most likely be time spent on her learning how to use her powers, but this news is giant because there is officially a new superhero in the MCU.
Okay, we all know the big thing I’m avoiding. The baddy with a slapping theme song. The one and only Agatha Harkness. Was it a surprise that Agnes was Agatha Harnkess? If you were watching YouTube theories endlessly like I was, no. It was kind of obvious because Agnes takes her name from the Marvel witch (Ag(atha) (Hark)nes(s)), and in the Halloween episode, where all the characters dressed in their classic Marvel outfits, Agnes dressed like a witch. Were we still all blown away and super excited? Yes. Very much so. We now know who was calling all the shots (Did you notice that when Vision broke Norm’s trance, he kept talking about “her,” and we all assumed it was Wanda? Never trust Marvel’s vague pronoun use). I’m so excited to see where Marvel is going with this development because there are only two or three episodes left, and there’s so much left to learn.
The last big thing that happened (the literal last thing) was the end credits scene. If you haven’t seen the end credit scene, go watch it! If you’re panicking that you missed them in earlier episodes, don’t worry, there weren’t any. I think the end credit scene was important for two reasons. The first was the technical aspect. This was the seventh episode and the only one (so far) with an end credit scene. I believe this is because “WandaVision” is officially a Marvel show. Yes, it’s always been a Marvel show, but before it was a Marvel show disguised as a sitcom. I believe that now, the sitcom aspect is done, and since we all know that Marvel movies have end credits scenes, this is the proof that we’re moving to a more MCU-style show. It’s also important because we see Pietro (who we know is controlled by Agnes) catch Monica snooping and we see Monica’s eyes turn purple, meaning that Agnes is now in control of her. This means that Agnes controls everyone in the Hex except Vision and Darcy.
Now, let’s answer some questions!
Who is Agatha Harkness?
In the comics, Agatha Harkness is a witch, like in the show, but unlike the show, she isn’t necessarily evil in the comics. She was much older than Agnes and almost like a mentor for Wanda in some storylines. In other storylines, she’s been more nefarious, including a popular one where she wipes Wanda’s memories of the twins (Billy and Tommy) once they get absorbed into Mephisto (more on that later). She’s also been linked to Mephisto in the comics. They’re definitely playing up her evil aspect much more in this show, so I’m excited to see where it goes. Also, “It Was Agatha All Along” is the best thing to come out of “WandaVision,” which is saying a lot given what an awesome show it is. This is your sign to listen to it again.
What happened to the twins?
As of episode 3, Wanda has twin boys, Tommy and Billy. There are a lot of questions about Billy and Tommy, including about their superpowers (both boys developed powers in the Halloween episode), how Wanda magically got pregnant with them and how they were able to age themselves up. However, the biggest questions about the twins at the moment is: where are they? We know they went over to Agnes’s house (I am going to keep calling her Agnes for now, just for the sake of consistency), and then they vanished. In fact, Wanda was looking for them when she discovered Agnes’s witch lair. What I think happens follows one of Wanda’s most famous storylines and could easily work in this context. The storyline was that the twins didn’t exist to begin with; they were just figments of Wanda’s imagination with slivers of Mephisto’s life essence for souls. After Wanda lives in delusion with them for a little bit, Mephisto absorbs them back into him. I think that, if they were reabsorbed, the most plausible theory given how they completely vanished, that would prove that Agnes is working with/for Mephisto.
Who is Mephisto?
Mephisto, to put it simply, is Marvel’s devil. He’s very evil and linked most often to Dr. Strange. There have been theories that he’s been behind everything since before “WandaVision” ever came out, but his connection to Agatha Harkness and the twins makes it even more likely. The fact that the shape of Wanda’s forcefield is a hexagon also helps this theory as the hexagon is often associated with Mephisto. My favorite (and current) theory is that Tyler Hayward, head of S.W.O.R.D, is actually Mephisto. I believe this for two reasons, one because of the hexagonal shape of his diplomas in his office, and secondly because he has evil vibes. Yes, I know vibes aren’t particularly convincing, but he also tries to remove Monica when she is defending Wanda, thus showing that he wants Wanda to be the villain. Why would he care if Wanda was right or wrong if he didn’t have an ulterior motive?
Another theory, courtesy of Annika ’21, is that Ralph is Mephisto. We know that Agnes’s husband is named Ralph and she mentions him in every episode, but we’ve never met him. Before it wasn’t that weird, but now that we’ve been to Agnes’s house and still haven’t seen any sign of him, it makes Ralph look a lot more sketch.
My final theory is that Mephisto has been taking the form of animals to keep an eye on Wanda, because there has been an animal in every episode (the lobsters, Señor Scratchy-who is Agnes’s rabbit, so sketchy-, the stork, Sparky and Señor Scratchy again). I’m not sure if there was an animal in episode 6, the only hole in this theory, but I could have missed one.
This theory has more traction than just the animals, because we know that the stork wouldn’t disappear when Wanda tried to magic it out of existence. That could be blamed on the fact that she was in active labor and her magic was on the fritz, but it could be something more. For one thing, Agnes had a part in all the animals. She gave Wanda the lobsters, Señor Scratchy is her rabbit, she found (and we now know killed) Sparky, and, this one is a bit of a stretch, but when the stork flapped away Wanda’s red smoke, it turned kind of purple (the color of Agnes’s magic) and Agnes didn’t appear in the episode until this scene, when she was suspiciously standing outside Wanda’s house. Señor Scratchy is the most important part of this theory. We know he’s Agnes’s bunny, so he is probably nefarious somehow, but did you know that Mephisto has gone by “Nick Scratch” and “Jack Scratch” in the comics? Or that Agatha Harkness has a son in the comics named Nicholas Scratch, who’s also a sorcerer? If Señor Scratchy is Mephisto, who had just reabsorbed the twins, it would make sense that, while Wanda was looking for the twins, the camera panned to the rabbit, nibbling on something. I’m not saying he ate the twins, but is it possible? Yes.
How can this affect the MCU?
We know that “WandaVision” is leading to the second Dr. Strange movie, “Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness,” because Wanda will be in that movie, so there will need to be a connection in the next two episodes. I think that since Mephisto is a recurring Dr. Strange villain, he will be revealed as the villain behind this whole show and will also be the villain in “Multiverse of Madness.”
This episode also changed my theory on how mutants will be introduced to the MCU. Before, I thought Wanda brought Pietro, but now it looks like Agnes brought him, a development that changes how mutants will be introduced. I believe that this point will also connect to “Multiverse of Madness” and that movie will be when mutants will officially be introduced to the MCU, either through Wanda or through Mephisto and Agnes.