WandaVision Episode 8 Biggest Theories & Questions Answered

WandaVision episode 8 delivered some of the biggest twists and reveals of the whole series so far, and with those came a slew of new questions and theories. At the end of episode 7, Wanda’s neighbor Agnes revealed her true identity as the witch Agatha Harkness. That twist shook the very foundations of Westview (which appear to be built over some creepy purple vines) and flipped the previous episodes of WandaVision on their heads.

Episode 8 begins with an origin story for Agatha, showing her as a witch in 17^th century Salem, Massachusetts. It then picks up right where episode 7 left off, with Agatha interrogating Wanda in her basement – a dungeon-esque labyrinth built to block Wanda’s own magic. Agatha takes her through a series of memories using some sort of incantation, tracing the many traumatic moments of Wanda’s life to try to understand how she became powerful enough to create the Westview Hex. In the end, she finds her answer – Chaos Magic – a powerful force from the comics that hasn’t previously been mentioned in the MCU.

Though WandaVision episode 7 teased that the Westview illusion had been Agatha all along, episode 8 seems to contradict that, showing the other witch more as a curious (albeit quite villainous) observer of Wanda’s display of raw power, messing with the Hex simply to figure out how Wanda's powers work. In this way and others, the series’ penultimate provided some answers, but it left even more threads hanging for the show’s finale. Here are the biggest questions and theories from WandaVision episode 8.

How Do Witches Work In The MCU?

The MCU has dealt with magic before, but it’s always been some sort of pseudo-scientific lens, more sci-fi than fantasy. Doctor Strange’s magical abilities, the Asgardians, and up until now, Scarlet Witch’s powers, have all been explained using words like “gods” and “magic,” but with the contextual underpinnings of advanced alien races and quantum physics. So when Agatha Harkness appeared in a flashback 400 years prior and started referencing runes and incantations in WandaVision episode 8, it was a bit of a jump for the franchise.

In the Marvel comics, the sci-fi, fantasy, and occult storylines all blend together. It looks like the MCU might be going more in that direction with the proper introduction of witches and Chaos Magic. How exactly those new revelations will pan out remains to be seen, however. It’s unclear if Agatha is a human kept alive through witchcraft, or some other sort of humanlike being. The source of her powers, the nature of her coven, and the extent of magic throughout the MCU’s version of Earth are also all uncertain at this time.

Why Does The Mind Stone Reveal Itself To Wanda?

Scarlet Witch sees her reflection in the Mind Stone in WandaVision Episode 8

One of the flashback scenes in WandaVision episode 8 shows the Hydra experiment that sparked her powers. Wanda has a vision of the Mind Stone opening up and levitating towards her, and within it, she sees what looks like her own silhouette, dressed in her traditional comic book costume. She then faints, but the Hydra members observing her only see her collapse, with none of the prior fanfare. Why exactly the Mind Stone seems to reveal itself to Wanda is a mystery, and one that may be unveiled as the nature of her Chaos Magic is explained.

Agatha seems to think that Wanda possessed latent magical abilities before the experiment, which were then amplified. The Hydra scientists reference the fact that no other subjects survived their exposure to the Mind Stone, and Wanda’s inherent abilities could be what kept her safe. However, they don’t explain how her brother Pietro was also able to endure the experiments and subsequently receive non-witch superpowers.

Are Tommy, Billy And Vision Real In WandaVision?

Wanda and Vision hold Tommy and Billy in Wandavision

At the end of WandaVision episode 8, the inception of the Westview Hex is finally shown. After witnessing SWORD dissecting Vision’s body, Wanda leaves in a clearly distraught state (not stealing the body as Hayward previously claimed) and drives to Westview, New Jersey. There she arrives at a seemingly unimportant plot of land, quickly revealed to have been purchased by Vision as the site of their future home. In a moment of pure grief and rage, Wanda lets fly with a powerful display of magic, creating the house out of nothing and expanding a reality-altering force field to encompass the entire town. She then conjures a new Vision out of herself, and the world turns to black and white.

It’s now clear from that scene that Tommy, Billy, and Vision – as they are seen in Westview – are all conjurations of Wanda’s reality-altering Chaos Magic. What is unclear is whether or not they are, per se, real. Clearly, each of them possesses sentience, independent thought, and behavior uncontrolled by Wanda herself. But when Vision attempted to leave the Hex in episode 6, he quickly started to disintegrate. He and his “sons” may have grim fates ahead in the WandaVision finale, but it’s also possible that Scarlet Witch’s conjured family could persist beyond the barrier.

How Does Scarlet Witch’s Chaos Magic Work?

WandaVision Episode 8 Wanda Uses Chaos Magic

In the comics, Chaos Magic comes from Chthon, one of Earth’s primordial Elder Gods. Wanda is born near Mount Wundagore, where Chthon is sealed, and thus acquires some of his chaos powers which amplify her own superhuman abilities. WandaVision episode 8 introduces Chaos Magic at the end, but it doesn’t clarify if the MCU will feature the ability’s comics origin or change it.

Introducing Marvel’s Elder Gods would be a pretty big jump for the MCU, though it’s not out of the question. Instead, episode 8 seems to draw some connections between Wanda’s powers and the Infinity Stones. Agatha names Wanda the Scarlet Witch specifically because of her Chaos Magic, implying either that the title is applied to all who wield the power, or that the Scarlet Witch is part of some Chaos Magic prophecy. The fact that Wanda sees the silhouette of a Scarlet Witch figure in the Mind Stone could mean Chaos Magic has been retconned, and that Chthon is no longer involved. Either way, the effects of Chaos Magic seem to be the same – altering the fabric of reality itself to suit the user’s will.

What Will SWORD Do With The New White Vision?

The post-credits scene for WandaVision episode 8 reveals that SWORD has finally reconstructed and reactivated Vision’s original body using some latent magic from Scarlet Witch. The new Vision is a stark silvery-white, and his brief appearance already seems to position him as a potential threat as SWORD’s weapon. What exactly the shadowy group will do with Vision, however, remains a mystery. The “Vision Quest” storyline from Marvel comics also features a white, reconstructed Vision, whose blank exterior mirrored a mostly emotionless persona within. From the looks of it, the MCU’s White Vision could be quite similar.

Where Are Pietro And Monica Rambeau?

The post-credits scene for WandaVision episode 7 showed the fake Pietro Maximoff (Evan Peters) – now revealed to be a conjuration of Agatha Harkness – confronting Monica Rambeau as she snooped around the witch’s house. Neither character is seen in episode 8, but they’ll certainly return for the series finale. Monica’s burgeoning powers have been one of the key arcs of the show, and fans will hopefully get a proper look at them before the series is over. As for Pietro, it’s unclear exactly what his role will be, or whether he’ll persist in the MCU after the end of WandaVision.

Next: WandaVision: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 8