The third episode of Agatha All Along brought poison, hallucinations, and death to our coven, setting the standard for what to expect as they continue down the Witch’s Road. With the first trial out of the way and passed relatively successfully, the coven is ready to continue to the second trial with the learned knowledge that you can’t get away with cheating the Road. As for Teen, his strange excitement for being on the Witch’s Road has seemingly ruffled more than a few feathers and has sent red flags off around the fanbase.

The First Trial

As implied by the Witch’s Road’s needs (aka the different types of witches), each trial the coven will face will be tied to a member of the coven itself. The first trial was Jennifer Hales, the potion witch of the group. There are two parts of the trial that need to be broken down, the first being the impact and test it had on Jen herself. As the group enters the trial/home without any way of escaping, they each unknowingly drink poison that gives them 30 minutes to make an antidote. Clearly, this task is made for Jennifer to form the antidote, forcing her to own up to her own mistakes and giving a hint as to why/who bound her. The audience learned in the previous episode that Jen’s business was suffering from various legal issues and calls back the fact Jennifer was defending her products but then during the trial, was forced to admit her ‘all natural’ products were not quite as natural as she said. This moment was meant to symbolize a growth moment for her and her character, admitting to her own mistakes. On top of all this, she does make the antidote in time and saves the coven, successfully making it through her task to help along the Road.

The other half of the trial is the hallucinations that the witches were all experiencing during the time they were poisoned. Holding off on Agatha’s for now, probably the creepiest hallucination was Lilia’s, who followed a girl to find what appeared to be dead witches. Then we saw Alice, whose hallucination dealt with her mother who kept screaming that someone was coming for Alice. Lastly, Jen’s hallucination is what gives a nod to how she ended up bound, as a man attempts to drown her in the kitchen sink. She later then makes reference to that hallucination and it being traumatic because it’s part of how she ended up without her power. The witches were tested in different ways, even though the trial itself was for Jennifer, and in doing so, the audience could capture small hints about the members of the coven. While it is unclear if the hallucinations were based on their nightmares, feelings of guilt, or memories, each of the coven members has skeletons in their closet that it appears each trial will provide another puzzle piece for figuring them out.

Agatha and the Darkhold

The main reason it was critical to hold off on Agatha’s hallucination is because hers has a lot more depth within it to explore. In our last reactions episode, we briefly mentioned wanting to understand Agatha’s past, including how and when she became in possession of the Darkhold. Between Jennifer sharing some gossip and Agatha’s hallucination, some answers are starting to pop up. Beginning with the little story Jen shared with Teen, it appears rumor has it in the witch world that Agatha actually traded her child for the Darkhold and while no one has seen him, some think he could be an agent of Mephisto. There it is folks, Mephisto has officially been mentioned after 3.5 years of fans from WandaVision throwing the name around constantly.

Then this gets deeper as the episode loosely confirms at least the first part of the tea, which is that Agatha did have a child and the hallucination she experiences does imply she traded him for the Darkhold. In an eery vision, instead of a baby in the bassinet, the Darkhold was tucked in. This also helps check off why Agatha had a child’s room in her home while trapped under Wanda’s spell. The theories behind the details of this are still very unclear but it does seem we might have a couple of pieces that go together. Agatha had a child she gave up at some point, she received the Darkhold, she has walked the Witch’s Road once before in search of something, and Mephisto may be involved. The order of events here is still unknown but I think we’re all hoping Agatha isn’t pure evil and instead, was maybe manipulated into exchanging her child. Everyone saw Wanda’s downfall to the Darkhold, so for a siphon witch without any of her own power, dangling something so powerful in front of her when she is already morally gray might have been all it took. Hopefully, next episode more details are exposed on the order of events regarding Agatha’s past and child.

Nicholas Scratch

It would be remiss if we didn’t discuss Agatha’s child in all this. While we know nothing about them, we do have a name, which we sort of have had since WandaVision. Nicholas Scratch (also referred to as Scratchy the bunny in WandaVision) is accurately Agatha’s son in the comics. His father is unknown, although it is speculated there is a demonic origin, dare I say possibly Mephisto? Yet before going further, now is an important time to remember that MCU Agatha and comic Agatha are quite different. In the comics, Nicholas is raised in New Salem, a town created by those fleeing from Salem during the witch trials and is populated by primarily magical beings. Agatha eventually leaves the town, which begins his resentment towards her. He turned the entire town of New Salem against his mother and attempted to put her on trial for betrayal until the town turned against him and banished him to the Dark Dimension. A whole lot happens with the Fantastic Four and Dr. Strange/Kamar-Taj but an important topic to note is that Nicholas is the father of the Salem Seven, which should sound pretty familiar.

All this being said, the show might be on the path to becoming a family affair. If Nicholas is indeed a factor, he may end up being the main antagonist of the show, filling the void that is currently there. On top of that, he would make a solid villain, as he would fit into the category of one that the protagonist of the show created themselves. With the Salem Seven showing up in the first episode and Agatha’s clear fear of them, it makes a strong case that she knows they’re technically her grandchildren and that her son is coming for her to make her pay for abandoning him. The puzzle pieces are all there, but it will be interesting as we go throughout the show to see how new pieces will fill in the bigger picture.

Death on the Witch’s Road

Episode 3 also gave us the first death on the Witch’s Road. Everyone’s favorite character, Mrs. Hart, has seemingly not made it through the first trial. As many eagle-eyed fans noticed, the coven failed to put a piece of Mrs. Hart’s hair into the antidote, so although she drank it, the properties did not save her as her DNA was not in it. While fans mourn her death, as with any of these types of shows, it also has to be theorized she may not actually be gone. Starting with the simple fact that Debra Jo Rupp has hinted in an interview that she will make it past Episode 4 (although she already seemingly hasn’t made it past Episode 3), there are also the two prevailing theories from the last episode that could still apply.

The first theory is the possibility that Mrs. Hart is in some ways magical herself or in general, is a witch. Now, how that may save her at this point is unclear, considering whether she is a witch or not, the coven still would have failed to save her. The next theory is that Mrs. Hart is actually Rio Vidal in disguise. While this one feels more possible due to the knowledge that Rio is joining the coven in Episode 4, it would still fail to explain how she passed the first trial without being saved. If Mrs. Hart is to live, it’s more believable that it is due to magical means either from the other witches or from the Road itself, maybe to trick the coven later on. It also can’t be forgotten that there is a clear horror element to this show, so raising someone from the dead may not be far out of the realm of possibility. Otherwise, it will take an interesting explanation to show how she didn’t actually die.

Image: “Agatha All Along Episode 3”, Katie Campione, Deadline