Road Trip: Marvel’s Agatha All Along Season Finale

The Agatha All Along double-episode season (series?) finale packs an emotional punch. Full disclosure: this is one of my top three favorite Marvel live-action series, along with WandaVision and Loki. I love the magical/mystical elements of the MCU.

Agatha All Along has been a blast from start to finish. “Follow Me My Friend / To Glory at the End” and “Maiden Mother Crone” are a solid closer to this fantastical, often surreal narrative journey.

---

Follow Me My Friend / To Glory at the End

We open the penultimate episode with Alice after Agatha kills her. Rio strokes her face, waking her. Alice rises slowly to her feet, only to discover her corpse on the ground. Alice refuses to believe the truth. She broke the family curse, after all. Alice deserves to live. Rio reminds Alice that it’s her time; it’s Rio’s job to oversee the balance of life and death. Alice walks through her door with Rio.

Meanwhile, Jen bangs on the door after Lilia sacrifices herself and takes out Salem’s Seven with her. Agatha reunites with Rio, who’s grateful for the opportunity to rack up her body count. However, it isn’t all skeletons and corpses for Rio. She points out that Agatha distracted her from Billy, an “abomination.”

---

The Abomination

Agatha learns Rio can’t “take” Billy, though. He must go willingly. The mechanics of death get tricky when a soul seizes control of another fleshy vessel. Agatha offers to push Billy in Rio’s direction in exchange for never seeing Rio again. She must stop pursuing Agatha. And when it’s time for Agatha to go, she doesn’t want to see Rio’s face. Rio agrees to these terms.

Elsewhere, Jen and Billy process the bombshell that Rio is Death. Jen explains that Green Craft is “about the cycle of all living things” and “growth and decay in constant flow.” Rio broadcasted who she was from the get-go.

---

Down, Down, Down the Road

After Rio departs, we see Jen and Billy return to the Road. Jen wonders why Billy is so loyal to Agatha. He tells her that, for him, it’s all analytical. Billy knows full well that Agatha loves to ride solo. She’ll never be anything but a “coven-less witch.” Agatha overhears him.

Next, our remaining trio continues to walk the Road. However, they wind up where they started, where they ditched their shoes at the start of their journey. Agatha insists they go again, but Jen understandably doesn’t want to submit herself to all the trials and tribulations a second time.

Billy makes a choice by putting on his shoes. This act sends them to what looks like a combination of a grow room, Agatha’s basement, and a morgue. All three wake up in body bags.

---

Take It Back

Jen wonders if they’re supposed to grow something for this particular trial. Billy uncovers his spell book, its pages burned and blackened. Agatha dons her signature brooch.

Next, Jen discovers that the doctor in Boston didn’t take anything from her 100 years ago; it was Agatha who bound her. She’s spent the past century without her magic because of ole Aggie. Jen rips out a lock of Agatha’s hair and binds their wrists with it. Then, Jen recites a spell to free her from the binding spell.

“You hold nothing,” Jen says repeatedly. It’s an empowering moment, watching a Black woman take back her power and bodily autonomy. The spell works – Jen’s finally free, with her powers fully restored. She vanishes.

---

Think of Tommy

Then, Agatha informs Billy about why Rio is in such a tizzy over his existence. Tommy’s soul isn’t in a body yet, but Billy can make it happen. She urges Billy to close his eyes and think of his final moments with Tommy. We hear Wanda and Vision’s voices. Billy claims he and Tommy were about to go to sleep before the Anomaly collapsed. They were so connected that their breathing was in sync.

After this, Agatha pushes Billy to focus on his and Tommy’s breathing. Once Billy does this for a couple of minutes, Agatha instructs him to focus on finding a vessel for Tommy. She seems to imply that Tommy’s soul is already inside Billy but needs a separate home.

Billy doesn’t like the idea of killing a boy to make way for his brother. However, he watches as two kids drown a teenage boy – one who doesn’t have a family. “Am I killing this boy so my brother can live?” Billy asks, overcome with emotion, as the boy in question rises from the water after his drowning. A crack appears on the floor as Billy, like Jen, disappears.

---

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Now, it’s only Agatha. She opens her brooch and pulls out a lock of her son Nicholas’ hair. Underneath it is what looks like a dandelion seed. Agatha plants it in the soil protruding from the crack in the floor. A dandelion quickly sprouts. Suddenly, the grow lights flicker off as debris and rubble rain down on her. Thankfully, she passes the trial, emerging from her basement (well, Mr. Bohner’s house).

Then, Agatha faces off against a cackling Rio. The residents of Westview watch as the sky turns dark green. They wonder if “it’s happening again.” Rio is furious because Agatha didn’t fulfill her end of the bargain. She let Billy go instead of bringing him to Rio. So, Rio decides to kill her ex-girlfriend. I guess that’s what happens when you date Death…

---

Wiccan

Billy saves the day, though, dressed in his comic book-accurate attire. He gives Agatha some of his powers but urges her not to drain him dry. Agatha breaks free of the restraints Rio placed on her, regaining her witchy form, complete with the look she sported in the WandaVision finale. Rio flings Billy aside. He falls through the ceiling of a greenhouse.

After this, Agatha and Rio fire away at each other. Now, it’s a more even playing field. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. How do you beat Death? Billy emerges from the greenhouse. Rio informs them that she’s walking away with one of them. It doesn’t matter who. Billy offers to go, but Agatha won’t let him.

Well, until she betrays him in her Agatha way, declaring that Billy will accompany Rio off this plane.

---

What a Way to Go

Billy protests as Agatha walks away, claiming she’s always been a “coven-less witch.” However, Billy asks a question that floors Agatha. He wonders if this is what happened to Nicholas. She stops in her tracks before whirling around and kissing Rio. It’s the literal “kiss of death.” Agatha dies, falling backward onto the grass. She quickly becomes part of the earth, with mushrooms and flowers growing on her grave. It’s strangely beautiful.

The sun rises. Billy grabs Agatha’s brooch and glimpses Rio’s true face. Death tells him to leave. Side note: I love that Rio Vidal’s name translates to “River of Life.”

---

Returning Home

Later, Billy returns home to his worried parents, who claim he’s been missing for 24 hours. Once inside his room, Billy pieces together the greatest mystery of all: Was the Witches’ Road real? He spies his Lorna Wu poster. Then, his Wizard of Oz figurines (this show always gave me those vibes). He picks up the Wicked Witch, who represents Agatha.

He recalls certain conversations and interactions with Agatha that indicate he might play a larger role in all this than he originally thought.

Additionally, he gazes at a tree figurine that looks an awful lot like the ones on the Road. His painting of a beach is reminiscent of the location of the first trial on the Road. Then there’s the Ouija board from the ’80s summer cabin trial. What really seals the deal for Billy are the shoe figurines on his shelf. We flash back to when the coven removed their shoes to commence their journey.

He created the Road.

Suddenly, a voice shouts, “Boo!” behind Billy, scaring the daylights out of him.

---

Maiden Mother Crone

Now, we begin the season finale with a flashback to 1750. Agatha is very pregnant and about to give birth. She has intense contractions. Suddenly, Rio appears. Agatha knows what this means. She begs Rio to spare her child. She wants more time. Rio reveals that Agatha’s son will eventually leave this world, but our titular witch won’t know when.

Rio departs before Agatha births her son, Nicholas. Later, Agatha and a crying Nicholas stumble upon a coven in the woods. The head witch removes the protection spell encircling her coven, allowing Agatha to seek shelter with them. However, Agatha kills them, draining them of her powers.

---

Six Years Later

Next, a six-year-old Nicholas steals a trinket from a witch. He draws said witch and a few others to Agatha’s home. Agatha proceeds to murder them for their powers. After this, we see Agatha and Nicholas walk through the woods. Nicholas leads their pet goat (or lunch or witchy sacrifice – it could go either way). Nicholas asks his mother why she kills fellow witches. Agatha claims it’s for survival. My guess is she hopes to accrue enough power to save Nicholas from Rio.

Nicholas belts out lyrics to a song he made up on the fly. The lyrics deviate slightly from the version of “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” we know and love. However, this proves that Nicholas is the creator of this toe-tapping tune. Agatha sings along with him.

Later, they sit in a clearing in the woods. Nicholas states he’s hungry. He asks her to use her powers to make food materialize. She explains she can’t do that. To his delight, she demonstrates her “purple,” as he calls it (her powers).

---

She Comes at Night

One day, Nicholas performs “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” at a pub. We hear him cough after his performance. He’s supposed to lure witches for his mama to kill. However, he flees after one witch offers to feed him. Agatha follows him into the woods. Nicholas promises they can resume their scheme tomorrow. He coughs a few more times. Uh-oh. His skin looks pallid.

That night, Rio appears with a torch lit by a green flame. She is the OG Green Witch, after all. Rio leads Nicholas across a bridge. When Agatha awakes the next morning, she discovers Nicholas’ corpse. RIP.

---

Finding a Coven

After Agatha buries Nicholas, a young woman approaches him. She asks Agatha to show her the Witches’ Road. Nicholas’ song has taken root among the witches of the world, transforming from a mere legend to a potential reality. Agatha sees this as another con. So, she and this woman assemble a coven.

One day, they stand in a circle and hold hands while singing the song. When the Road doesn’t appear, though, the witches turn on Agatha. She absorbs their power and turns it back on the witches, killing them.

A montage occurs, and we see Agatha pulling the same trick on other covens over the centuries. Each time, the witches realize that Agatha is full of it and try to kill her. However, she always gets them first.

Finally, we return to the end of the second episode, when Agatha, Jen, Alice, Lilia, and Mrs. Hart (erm, Sharon) sing the ballad. Naturally, Agatha is shocked when the entrance to the Road materializes. Billy urges them to descend the stairs since Salem’s Seven is on their tail.

---

It Was Billy All Along

Now, we’re in the present. As it turns out, the one who shouted “Boo!” in Billy’s bedroom was Agatha. She’s a ghost. Billy acknowledges the truth: He created the Witches’ Road. Agatha admits that the song never meant anything. It was always a con to lure witches to their doom and take their powers. In fact, she had planned to kill Jen and the others that night, but the door to the Road appeared.

Billy realizes that Alice, Lilia, and Sharon died on the Road because of him. He thinks he’s a murderer. Agatha reminds him that he actually saved a life. At this moment, we see Jen emerge from the ground outside Westview. She pulls a Scarlet Witch and flies away. To where, we don’t know.

---

The Scene of the Crime

Later, Billy returns to Agatha’s basement. Agatha wonders what they’re doing there. He draws a pentagram over the door and positions some black candles over it. Then, he sits in the center and recites a spell from his book while holding Agatha’s brooch. He’s attempting to banish Agatha. She laughs at him. She reaches for the brooch repeatedly.

At one point, Agatha knocks the brooch out of Billy’s hand. She reveals she “won’t die” because she can’t face him – her son. Agatha kneels on the floor and picks up her brooch. She’s already learned a few neat tricks as a ghost.

---

When One Door Closes

Billy uses his powers to close the door to the Witches’ Road. In the wake of its closure, we see Lilia, Alice, and Sharon’s names etched into the basement floor. Agatha and Billy wonder if they could be a coven of two. Perhaps she could be his mentor. When one door closes…

Suddenly, another door opens. Bright light spills into the basement. Agatha claims they should find Tommy. They step into the light together.

---

What did you love most about the Agatha All Along finale?

Join the conversation with other Marvel fans over at Sideshow Social Network or in side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!