7 questions the Agatha All Along finale didn’t answer

These two statements have generally been accepted as true: sequels are worse than the original, and Marvel has struggled since the Infinity Saga ended. Despite that, Agatha All Along has broken through to become one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe entries in years. The two-part finale had 4.6 and 3.9 million views in just the first day, a drastic increase from Loki's season one finale viewership of 1.9 million in the first five days.

That's not the only way the WandaVision spin-off stands out. It's been lauded for its structure, compelling characters, and skill with balancing tone. In part because of these writing successes, Agatha All Along also has the highest continuation rate of any Marvel series, proving that the studio (or Jac Schaeffer, at least) has finally mastered how to bring the cosmic implications of the cinematic universe to the small screen.

However, some fans found the finale a little bit disappointing, alternatively citing their frustration with Agatha's ending and the sense of incompleteness that came from the show's unanswered questions.

Some of these questions honestly don't matter that much, like whether Agatha was hallucinating Rio while under the Hex or if she was really there. But others were posed by the show, with clues hidden throughout, only to be forgotten in the end. From Agatha's backstory to the future of the Scarlet Witch, here are the seven most important questions that Agatha All Along failed to adequately answer.

Why would Rio killing Agatha be against the rules?

In their first major clash, Agatha and Rio taunted each other with the fact that neither could kill the other. But while Agatha can't kill Rio because she is the embodiment of Death, it was never properly explained why the opposite situation is "not allowed." It's not the biggest question in the series, but given that the show returned to nearly every other part of their fight, it is odd that we wouldn't get more information.

There are a few theories out there, which fans can pick their favorite from. Starting with the least likely, it's possible that Agatha and Rio made some kind of pact, similar to Dumbledore and Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts series, that doesn't allow them to kill each other. This would tie into the emotional aspect of their relationship and the fact that fighting seems like a prominent aspect of their relationship. However, that sort of dynamic feels out of place for a witch-killer and Death herself.

More likely is that Death is simply not allowed to kill anyone. This lines up with the idea that Agatha was killing people as gifts for Rio, but it seems to take a lot of agency away from Rio. She's more than just a force of nature, so it seems unlikely that she would be completely unable to kill. Perhaps the better question is how being Death actually works, since Rio seems to like acquiring new bodies but has no practical use for them once they're dead. That answer will probably help illuminate her inability to personally eliminate Agatha.

Why did Agatha become a ghost when the other witches didn't?

Five women began the journey down the Road, with Teen in tow. The Salem Seven followed them. Of those, only Teen and Jen survived. And yet, Agatha is the only one to become a ghost, seemingly without having done anything to make it happen. According to Jac Schaeffer, "everyone’s outcome is different" intentionally, allowing for distinct character arcs. But it seems unfair that Agatha lives on, in some form, while the others are more permanently gone.

One prominent theory is that this was Rio's way of keeping her deal with Agatha, allowing her to avoid Death (and Nicky) for a while longer. But the creator also explained that the deal was simply meant to have Rio appear in a different body, one that Agatha isn't so intimately tied to. That seems to imply that it was more to do with Agatha than Rio.

Of course, that direction for the character wasn't a huge surprise. Agatha Harkness was a ghost for a while in the comics. The other characters (mostly) got satisfying endings, with Lilia getting to relive the parts of her life she had missed the first time and Alice getting some form of peace with her mother. It makes perfect sense from a writer's perspective. But within the world, it's important to have some kind of explanation for why some characters come back and others don't.

What connection is there between Nicholas Scratch and Señor Scratchy?

Fans have expected the arrival of Nicholas Scratch in some form since WandaVision, primarily because of the introduction of Agatha's pet rabbit, Señor Scratchy. While the rabbit was the source of much speculation, and plenty of Mephisto theories, he had no great reveals in the original show. He then returned in the spin-off, clearly as a source of comfort for Agatha both within and beyond the Hex, but was still just a random pet.

That's not necessarily the end of the world. Fans didn't speculate that Billy and Tommy's pet dog Sparky had hidden origins (although, thinking on it, who knows?), so why put so much focus on Agatha's rabbit? Honestly, Señor Scratchy matters mostly just because that is his name. Given that her son's surname is "Scratch," it would be pretty weird to name her rabbit that too.

Some fans theorized that Señor Scratchy was Nicholas's father, bound in an animal form, while others suggested that he actually was Nicholas. But neither seem to be true, and the poor bunny was left alone while they went down the Witches' Road and now that Agatha is dead, what's the deal with this rabbit? He was given too much prominence to be irrelevant, but there are virtually no clues to who he is, how he might be connected to Nicholas, and how Agatha acquired him.

How did Agatha and Rio meet and fall in love?

This is probably the most frustrating question left unanswered, although Jac Schaeffer has spoken about it some. Throughout Agatha All Along, audiences see Rio and Agatha as exes who were clearly incredibly close. Their dynamic crackles with history, but the only real backstory the show provides is when they fell apart, answering why Agatha hates Rio.

It feels a bit hollow to introduce such a strong lingering tension between the two without getting to see them when they were together. Fans have theorized that they met in 1693 when Agatha killed her first coven, but that's never explicitly stated. According to Schaeffer, they lived together in a cottage for a period, but again, it's never shown.

This could have been an entire episode or mini-series of its own. With 120 deaths per minute, how did they ever get any time together? What was Rio like on a normal day? Some fans have interpreted their fatal kiss as evidence that they could not kiss before, but that seems unlikely given the sexual tension between them in the show. Was Rio the 'father' of Agatha's son? Comments from the actors and writers are nice, but these are questions that could have been answered and moments that could have been clarified with just one episode spent on how they lived their lives together.

Is Teen Billy Maximoff or William Kaplan?

This is Teen's own question during the tarot episode, but there isn't a satisfying answer yet. Although he has the power of Billy Maximoff, he's spent the last three years as a Kaplan. While the comics answer this question with "both," however, Agatha All Along seems to be stuck on "neither."

As he explained after the big reveal, Teen doesn't have any of his memories from before the accident— from either side of himself. While he was able to bring back some of his Maximoff memories while resurrecting Tommy, there was no indication that they are all there. He definitely didn't gain any new Kaplan memories. Without either of those, he really is just a teenager with a lot of power and expectations placed upon him.

By the end of the series, he's donned his Wiccan costume and gone looking for his brother, but he rejects Wanda as his mother and seemingly has no connection with Vision. While this will definitely be explored more in the Young Avengers movie or a possible second season, it would have been nice to get at least a partial answer by the time the final episode finished.

How did Agatha get the Darkhold (and why was it connected with Nicholas's death)?

Turning back to Agatha's backstory, the reveal of how Nicky died was heartbreaking. But it didn't really make much sense. Audiences were told the rumor that Agatha had traded her son's life for the Darkhold, and while it became clear that was not true, there was still an implied connection... until there wasn't.

Agatha All Along doesn't reveal when and how Agatha got the Darkhold. The dark finger effect didn't appear in her killing witches through the ages montage, which would seem to imply that it happened shortly before WandaVision, but that makes much less sense than the alternative. While it's not necessarily a secret that fans need to know, the connection between Nicholas Scratch and the Darkhold was made too important to not matter.

Agatha allowing people to believe the worst of her is no surprise, but there must be something tying her son to the Darkhold. Otherwise, where would the rumor have come from? The fact that Agatha thought about both while under Wanda's spell, that a crying child turned into the Darkhold during her poisoned hallucinations, and that she claimed to let people believe the rumors because "the truth is too awful" all suggest a connection that the series didn't explore.

According to Jac Shaeffer, the truth was simply "that she had a son, she loved him and he died, and that was it." There's a painful beauty to that concept. But the Darkhold didn't even need to be mentioned to fulfill that goal. It's a red herring, sure, but it feels more like a loose end than a deliberate misdirection.

Is Wanda dead, alive, or reincarnated?

Perhaps one of the biggest fan questions coming into Agatha All Along was whether Wanda Maximoff was actually dead or not. While Marvel has tried to remain firm that she is, virtually nobody believes she will stay that way. So when Billy asked Agatha if Wanda was really dead and didn't get a straight answer, it was a similar feeling to what the fans have felt the last two years.

According to Jac Schaeffer, Agatha doesn't actually know what Wanda's fate is, but Rio does. She also teased that the official word from Marvel was that Wanda was "gone," not necessarily "dead." That's a tricky point, because it feels like they are just trying to convince the fans that Wanda is dead a little longer, only to 'surprise' everyone with the reveal that she's coming back.

Within the story, however, there are practical considerations. If Wanda wasn't dead, that implies a lot more power for Billy and Agatha in breaking the Hex. Billy could sense Tommy, who wasn't exactly dead but certainly not alive, so him not sensing Wanda seems to say she is in one realm or another. But Rio and Agatha also discussed the possibility for Billy to "reincarnate again," which opens a whole other can of worms.

Wanda's future was not the most important facet of this story, which already had two incredibly complex characters with a strong supporting ensemble. However, the show asked the question, and from Agatha's uncertainty with Billy to her joke that Wanda might not be "really, most sincerely dead," it refused to give a firm answer. What else can fans do but speculate, especially since her comics-canon reunion with her children is connected to Doctor Doom, who has been announced as the next great MCU villain?

With all of this being said, there have been an increasing number of teases that Agatha All Along may be back for another season. If not, there's certainly some kind of spin-off in the works of Billy finding his brother, and rumors of a Lady Death series are becomoing more credible. With so many possible next steps, many of these questions will have to be answered. It's just a matter of time and who's writing the next chapter of this particular story.