Agatha All Along Confirms the MCU's Death and Spotlights the Show's Biggest Problem (2024)

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Agatha All Along Confirms the MCU's Death and Spotlights the Show's Biggest Problem (1)

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Agatha All Along Confirms the MCU's Death and Spotlights the Show's Biggest Problem (2)

The following contains major spoilers for Agatha All Along, Episode 7, "Death's Hand in Mine," now streaming on Disney+.

The seventh episode of Marvel Studios' Agatha All Along came with yet another major reveal for the series. The previous two episodes confirmed Joe Locke's Teen was actually Billy Maximoff, the son of the Scarlet Witch, revealing how he survived the collapse of Wanda's Hex over Westview. Now Episode 7, "Death's Hand in Mine," has featured the debut appearance of the MCU's iteration of Death -- or, at least, the first appearance of Death in her true form. As many fans had predicted, Death has actually been a part of Agatha All Along since its very first episode, hidden among the coven.

In Marvel's comic continuity, Death has often been presented as a female character, most infamously known for being the love interest of Thanos. However, when Thanos was introduced to the MCU, his comic-book love interest was excluded from his story, despite an early tease of his desire to "court Death" in 2012's The Avengers. The character has remained absent from the MCU, until now. Agatha All Along has finally introduced the embodiment of Death, confirming she was disguised as one of the witches of Agatha's coven. As many fans had predicted -- and as some leaked Agatha All Along Funko Pops had suggested -- Aubrey Plaza's Rio Vidal is Death.

Agatha All Along Reveals Aubrey Plaza Is Death

Rio Vidal's True Identity Came to Light Through Lilia Calderu's Tarot Reading

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"Death's Hand in Mine" saw Agatha and Billy reuniting with Lilia Caldaru and Jennifer Kale at the next trial on the Witches' Road -- a divination trial, built around Tarot. Lilia and Jennifer reached the trial after being sent into the subterranean realm beneath the Witches' Road, having been forced into quicksand by Billy when his magical abilities activated. He apologized to Lilia for that in this episode, confirming that he didn't know he had the power to control others and was still struggling to properly wield the ability. During the trial, Lilia attempted to give Billy a Tarot reading, believing he was "the querent."

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As swords continued to fall upon the group during this reading, Lilia realized it wasn't Billy's reading she needed to complete, but her own. As Lilia conducted her reading, moments from her life and her time on the Witches' Road (moments she had experienced out of order, because of her powers) began to fall into place. Lilia saw that she had needed to find the coven with whom she walked the Witches' Road, and realized that she had been foreseeing this Tarot reading at various moments throughout their journey together. As she completed the reading, she drew the card that signified her ultimate destination: Death. As she drew the card, she remembered landing in the underground world beneath the Road and seeing Rio Vidal appear in her true form, as Death.

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In this moment, Lilia also recalled all the signs of Rio's true identity that had been littered throughout the coven's journey on the Witches' Road. Rio first reached them by crawling out of the grave the witches dug for Sharon Davis. During Alice's trial, Rio told Agatha she wanted "[her] bodies" when the coven met their demise. Then, during Agatha's trial, the Ouija board answered Agatha's question of "Who is here with us tonight?" with "Death," eliciting laughter from Rio. In foreseeing her own death at the end of her path, Lilia recognized Rio's true identity as Death -- an entity she identified as the "original Green Witch," echoing Rio's insistence that she was not simply a green witch, but the Green Witch.

Agatha All Along's Big Reveal Failed to Surprise

Marvel Fans Were a Step Ahead of Agatha All Along's Death Reveal

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While the official introduction of Death into the MCU is sure to delight many long-time Marvel fans, it is unlikely to have come as a huge surprise to the majority of them. Leaks may have unfortunately spoiled the big reveal early on, but even without these leaks, many fans familiar with Marvel's comic continuity had picked up on the various hints that Rio was Death, leaving the big reveal feeling like much less of a twist.

The various moments Lilia saw via flashbacks, leading her to realize Rio's true identity as Death, were all moments fans had also picked up on and which often felt like heavy-handed hints. Add in the moments of Rio claiming Agatha couldn't kill her in Episode 1, her apparent claim on Agatha's life and the fact she said she hated ghosts, and her real identity felt inevitable. This wasn't the first reveal in Agatha All Along that fans had seen coming.

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While the official introduction of Death into the MCU is sure to delight many longtime Marvel fans, it is unlikely to have come as a surprise.

The earlier confirmation that Teen was in fact Billy Maximoff, reborn as William Kaplan as in the comics, was so broadly accepted by fans that Teen's true identity was even stated on the official Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki before the reveal took place. The fact Teen was able to reverse Wanda Maximoff's spell on Agatha, had a similar appearance to William Kaplan in Marvel's comics and -- like his comic book counterpart -- was confirmed to be gay all pointed towards the truth.His outfit during Agatha's trial in Episode 5, with a headband and red sleeves, even evoked William's costume as his superhero alter ego, Wiccan.

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Although the characters of Wiccan and Death are going to be welcome additions to the MCU, the way Agatha All Along handled their introductions underestimated the series' core audience of Marvel fans. Even those unfamiliar with the comics are likely to be looking at theories online and researching comic book storylines that MCU content is likely to be drawing upon. In the age of social media, theory videos and endless online speculation, this is all something the creative forces behind new MCU releases should be aware of. However, rather than inviting debate and different theories with red herrings and mystery, Agatha All Along showed its hand early on and, much like Lilia, revealed it was holding the Death card.

New episodes of Agatha All Along are available to stream every Wednesday on Disney+.

Agatha All Along Confirms the MCU's Death and Spotlights the Show's Biggest Problem (5)
Agatha All Along

TV-14

Action

Superhero

Comedy

Adventure

After losing her powers due to Wanda Maximoff's spell, Agatha Harkness encounters a mysterious goth teen who helps her escape her distorted reality. The teen persuades her to embark on the treacherous Witches' Road, where the duo must assemble a coven and face magical trials with dangerous stakes to reclaim what they’ve lost​.

Release Date
September 18, 2024

Creator(s)
Jac Schaeffer

Cast
Kathryn Hahn , Joe Locke , Sasheer Zamata , Ali Ahn , Okwui Okpokwasili , Debra Jo Rupp , Patti LuPone , Aubrey Plaza , David Payton , Emma Caulfield Ford , David Lengel , Asif Ali , Amos Glick , Elaine Valdes , Paria Akbarshahi , Chau Naumova , Bethany Curry , Athena Perample , Alicia Vela-Bailey , Britta Grant , Marina Mazepa

Main Genre
Adventure

Seasons
1

Story By
Jac Schaeffer

Writers
Jac Schaeffer

Number of Episodes
9
Streaming Service(s)
Disney Plus
Franchise(s)
Marvel Cinematic Universe

Directors
Jac Schaeffer , Gandja Monteiro , Rachel Goldberg

Showrunner
Jac Schaeffer

Character(s)
Agnes O'Connor / Agatha Harkness , Teen , Jennifer Kale , Alice Wu-Gulliver , Salem Seven / Vertigo , Mrs. Hart , Lilia Calderu , Rio Vidal , Herb , Dottie , Jones , Norm , Dennis the Mailman , Customer #1 , Customer #2 , Salem Seven / Coyote , Salem Seven / Crow , Salem Seven / Fox , Salem Seven / Owl , Salem Seven / Rat , Salem Seven / Snake

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