WandaVision: The Series Finale

The producers warned that some fans may be disappointed with the conclusion of WandaVision. This fan was not. Paul Bettany had announced that there would be someone in the finale he had always wanted to work with. This lead to all kinds of speculations which included Dick Van Dyke among others. But it turned out Bettany was referring to working with himself and afterwards had second thoughts on his joke. All the theories about Mephisto, Wonder Man, and the context of the commercials did not come true either. Fans are very quick to call out “Easter Eggs!” but Easter Eggs are not clues. Take the commercials for Hydra Soak, Lagos Paper Towels, Strucker Watches…these were indeed Easter Eggs which are quite simply little scenes or messages or visuals that fans may recognize but which do not affect the story. A perfect example is in Captain America The First Avenger when Bucky and Steve walk past Professor Horton’s Synthetic Man exhibit. If you recognize that this is actually the android Human Torch then cool. If not, you aren’t missing out on anything that affects the story.

The finale of WandaVision picks up with Wanda confronted by Agatha Harkness who has her children. Once Wanda frees the kids she goes after Agatha who is absorbing every hex bolt Wanda throws at her. Wanda manages to temporarily sideline Agatha by tossing a car at her. When she turns around she sees a ghostly white Vision walking towards her…Hayward’s Vision…who then tries to crush Wanda’s skull until Westview Vision stops him.  The Finale is a Big Battle episode. It’s Wanda vs Agatha, Vision vs White Vision, and Hayward vs Wanda and Vision and their kids.

When Agatha brings the fight to Westview’s town square she informs Wanda that there is a whole chapter devoted to her in The Darkhold (Marvel’s version of the Necronomicon). “The Scarlet Witch is not born, she is forged” Agatha recites. “She has no coven, no need for incantations. Your power exceeds that of the Sorceror Supreme.” Agatha releases the town’s folk from Wanda’s spell and they all come walking up to her and begging her to let them go. Elsewhere, Monica is being held prisoner by Fake Pietro to keep her out of the fight. But she uncovers his real identity is Ralph Bohner, an actor, and severs his tie to Agatha.

Moved by the Westview residents pleas, Wanda attempts to open the Hex Barrier for them to escape. It’s a monumental effort for her as her powers have been weakened by Agatha. But she does manage to create some openings and Hayward uses this as a chance to get his S.W.O.R.D. team inside. But when Wanda sees what the effect of opening the barrier does to Vision, Billy and Tommy she closes it once again.

Wanda and Agatha take their battle to the skies above Westview while Monica, Vision and the twins watch below. White Vision attacks and he and Vision take their battle crashing into a building. Billy and Tommy disarm the S.W.O.R.D. team but Hayward steps up and takes a shot at the boys who Monica steps in front of in an act of sacrifice. But she isn’t killed when the bullets strike her, instead her body turns into some kind of energy which the bullets pass through and drop to the ground. She misses one bullet though but Billy easily freezes it in mid air.

Wanda fires a barrage of hex bolts at Agatha who just cackles and absorbs the power. Wanda is weakening fast, her face and hands taking on a corpse like look. Then Agatha turns to fire on Wanda and nothing happens. Zip. Wanda reminds Agatha of what Agatha told her in her dungeon. When runes are on the wall, only the witch who cast them may use their magic. Wanda reveals she has placed runes on the walls of her Hex Barrier.

White Vision tells Vision he is programmed to kill The Vision. But Vision proposes that White Vision is the real Vision. Then he asks White Vision for permission to share his thoughts with him. He touches White Vision’s head and floods him with all of Vision’s memories…from being created by The Avengers and Ultron to being killed by Thanos to his life in Westview. White Vision decides to leave so he can ponder on these new thoughts.

Wanda drains Agatha of all the power she took from Wanda. Wanda transforms into The Scarlet Witch complete with a really awesome new costume that stays true to her comic book counterpart while updating it from what Wanda wore on Halloween.

The Scarlet Witch shows mercy on Agatha. She turns Agatha back into Agnes so she can live out her days as the nosey neighbor of Westview. Darcy, meanwhile, arrives and stops Hayward by pinning him against her van. “Have fun in prison!” she yells to him.

The Scarlet Witch returns to Vision and her children. They all know it’s time for the barrier to come down. As it begins to collapse, the family walks home. Vision and Wanda put the kids to bed. This is where I began crying. I knew what was about to happen. This isn’t what I wanted to see happen but I fully understand the creator’s choice. But I couldn’t help thinking, why couldn’t they just merge Vision and White Vision so we could get him back again? Downstairs, Wanda and Vision say their final good byes. I am falling apart at this point screaming “No!” This is so heart breaking. Just thinking back to it I can feel tears wanting to come out. Vision and the Scarlet Witch have been my favorite comic book couple since I was a kid. It’s part of why I stopped collecting comic books when “Avengers Disassembled” came out. It was a horrible way to destroy the Avengers, a comic that drew me into Marvel for 4 decades. After what they did in the comic I decided it was time to get out myself.

As the barrier recession reaches their house, Wanda and Vision hold onto each other, sharing a love like no other. Then he is gone. The house is gone. And Wanda finds herself once more standing on the empty lot where she and Vision were supposed to live happily ever after. Wanda then leaves town, saying good bye to Monica and apologizing for what she did to her. Then, the Scarlet Witch flies away.

A mid credits scene shows Monica meeting with a woman who turns into a Skrull and tells her that someone wants to meet with her and he is waiting for her “up there”. This I am predicting will lead into the MCU series Secret War coming out later.

Then an after credits scene shows The Scarlet Witch, isolated somewhere in a cabin in the wilderness, practicing her spells and reading the Darkhold. The Scarlet Witch is said to have a big part in Dr. Strange In The Multiverse of Madness due out in a year.
The WandaVision series is a jewel in the MCU. I am surprised at just how great this show has been. I think it ranks very high on the list of MCU productions even though it was a TV series. But I do have some criticism. Mostly that even with nearly 47 minutes (which includes credits) it could have used another 20 minutes or so to focus a little better on the secondary characters who got very little play in the finale, especially Darcy who is relegated to cameo status and says a whole 4 words. Also, we should have had some time with White Vision outside the barrier and how he got inside. Hayward’s character never got a full development as we are used to in Marvel productions. Hayward barely registered, he seemed like just a bad guy. And in the end he is taken away in handcuffs in a background scene. Another thing, when did Wanda find time to embed runes in her Hex Barrier? But it was a clever scene and showing her doing it probably would have spoiled the surprise of the reveal. But the biggest, greatest thing that happened was we finally got The Scarlet Witch! And in a real spiffy costume…a very worthy costume. And instead of just a name, the Scarlet Witch is mythic and opens up all sorts of possibilities. And her hearing the voices of her children in the after credits scene should have major ramifications…especially for two super heroes yet to come. I like the Darkhold book and its usage here much better than when it was featured in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, it does mess with continuity but only if you count AOS as part of the MCU which was what the show was created to be. But Kevin Feige announced awhile back after Marvel Studios absorbed Marvel Television that he didn’t consider AOS as part of the MCU. That statement is, of course, nuts because we saw how hard the show tried to keep up with the movies in the MCU. But after season 5 even they decided to no longer acknowledge the Marvel Universe which was demonstrated by how they ignored the Thanos Snap. My gripes are only minor points and I still believe we got a fantastic finale. And who knows? Maybe one day we will see Vision again. I hope they bring him back with his old memories and everything that made Vision great. Afterall, you know what they say about death in comics!