Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 5 ‘Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power’ took Alice away from us just as she had destroyed the generational curse that destroyed her mother in ‘If I Can’t Reach You Let My Song Teach You.’ It was a cruel death. And not just for Alice either. Agatha didn’t mean to kill her and the repercussions that came from her shattered the entire coven and led to the revelation that Teen was Wiccan aka Wanda’s son. Overall, this episode and the show continues to show that we are not just born one way. We’re not born evil. Things happen to us. Life happens to us and all it takes is one coven, one mother, not understanding her own daughter to create a legend and serial witch killer.
So without further ado let’s dive into Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 5 ‘Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power’!
Did Agatha Kill Alice on Purpose?
No. I don’t think that Agatha killed Alice on purpose. If anything, I think her mother purposefully possessed her to get her friends to attack her. Her mother knows that Agatha can’t control her powers like the rest of the witches can. She also knows that once Agatha starts taking your power, she can’t stop. We learned this in WandaVision when we saw the flashbacks of Agatha’s previous coven. And since Evanora wants to leave Agatha alone and shattered, she possesses her daughter and makes Agatha attack her coven until they attack her and her daughter is overcome with the magic. That’s how Alice was killed.
Still don’t believe me? Still think that Agatha did it on purpose? When Agatha ran outside, there was no one there. No one to watch her in pain or for her to put a show on for. And in that moment of her being alone, you could tell that she was shaken up. She didn’t do that for anyone besides herself because she had killed Alice aka someone who was literally trying to protect her and she had come face to face with a mother who wished she had killed her as soon as she’d left the womb. And I know I previously said that I don’t like it when they humanize villains. But there was something so jarring about watching Agatha reach out for Teen and beg him not to leave her alone with her mother and that she could be good.
Everything that happened in ‘Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power’ also made me think of Rogue from X-Men. Through multiple iterations, people feared what she could do. And with fear comes misunderstandings and villainizing a character who doesn’t know the power she has or how to control it. Rogue didn’t transform into the villain of her story and let anger consume her for the way that people looked at her because of the people that she was surrounded by. Agatha didn’t have that. She had a mother and coven who tried to murder her. That leaves you with a reputation. And imagine every single time someone has faced her, what if they remembered the story of Agatha’s dead coven and attacked first. And if Agatha can’t control her powers and is consumed by it, that just adds another tally to the myth of who is.
Overall, I do think that Agatha has made choices that are selfish and self-serving. I think she’s ignorant and doesn’t have a lot of tact. At the same time I don’t think she killed Alice. Whatever happened with her child broke her and her mother was the real monster who made the villain of Wanda’s story turn into a small and whimpering child after being faced with her mother.
The Interaction Between Agatha and Teen
Teen has been one of the few people that have gone to bat for Agatha over and over again. I think that’s why she initially connected with Teen and worried for him over and over. A part of her thought that maybe this was her child. But another part of her welcomed someone believing in her. Everyone’s feared her for so long that it had to be refreshing. So when Teen told Agatha to get away from Alice when Agatha tried to help, that hurt. It also hurt to have Teen come after her while she was mourning the death of Alice and accuse her of killing her on purpose. Combine that with the fact that she heard her son’s voice during the trial and I think Agatha was done.
From one second to another, Agatha transformed from a woman mourning to a cutthroat witch. It’s a way for Agatha to protect herself but it’s also a way to hide the fact that this young man in front of her is not her son and that she has lost the confidence of one of the only people who believed in her. And when he says that he’s basically going to be nothing like her, it digs the hurt in deeper and she makes the comment about how he’s just like his mother. Wanda did terrible things in WandaVision. Let’s not forget she enslaved a whole town to create a family for herself. She was in pain but still she took people’s free will away. And I think Agatha has surmised that Teen is the same because she thinks he’s behind Sharon’s death and Alice’s.
Let’s back up a little bit here if anyone’s confused.
When Sharon died in episode 3, in ‘If I Can’t Reach You Let My Song Teach You’
Agatha crouched down by her body and commented on how she didn’t think that someone had it in them. We never were clued into who she was talking about but she winked at Teen afterwards as if they were sharing a secret. And if this wasn’t her son, and he was able to take care of helping her lift the curse that Wanda had put her under, that means he had power. So he could have stepped in when Alice stepped up and died. He didn’t help because it didn’t serve him and Agatha was done with someone acting like they were better than her when they themselves were doing bad things.
These are all theories, of course. But it’s what I’ve put together from watching ‘Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power.’
That Teen/Wiccan Reveal at the End
Even though I was 90% sure that Teen was Billy AKA Wiccan AKA Wanda’s son, I was surprised by the reveal. I’m so used to TV taking a whole season and a half to make that big reveal. So for them to do it now was jarring but also exciting for what’s to come. Because if they’re okay with revealing this now, what do they even have planned for the future of the season? The surprise turned to absolute delight when they used Billie Eilish’s “You Should See Me in a Crown” as Joe Locke’s face shifted into something determined and vengeful. 10 out of 10 and the music coordinator needs to be given a raise for the way they seamlessly delivered on that closing scene.
While talking about Billy AKA Wiccan, there’s the sigil to think about. It took me a little bit too long to figure out why the sigil dropped all of a sudden. And it goes back to what Agatha said about sigils. They’re not destroyed. They just go away when they are no longer needed. And when Agatha said that Billy was just like his mother, the sigil was no longer needed. Because that sigil was meant to hide Billy’s identity from Agatha. So he snapped, seeing there being no need for him to hide who he was anymore. Even more so from a coven who couldn’t follow the rules of a simple game, wanted to leave Agatha with her mother to punish her, and who hadn’t stepped in to help Alice either. That’s why he sent Agatha, Jen, and Lilia off the Witches Road. They weren’t worthy.
For everything that I loved about the Wiccan reveal in Agatha All Along, I do think that he’s off base with how he accused Agatha. And I think a lot of that comes back to not having life experiences. He’s young. And what I mean young, I mean young young. Wanda controlled Westview and gave herself a whole life for an estimated 9 to 10 days. And it’s been 3 years since that happened. So Billy is 3 years old but is also a teenager. He doesn’t have the same life experiences that these other witches have had through centuries. So while he thinks that these witches are the worst of the worst, they’ve seen life through different lenses and I hope that whatever comes next for Billy, he gets perspective. Heaps and heaps of perspective.
Rio is Death & It’s So Obvious
As someone who hasn’t really read the comic books for all of this madness, and has chosen not to do so while watching WandaVision, I think this was the episode that locked in the fact that Rio is Death. At one point she was absolutely delighted with the thought of death being with them, with a camera panning over to her. And she was not phased for one second when things were going crazy all around the coven during this trial. The only reason why you wouldn’t worry about failing the Witches Road is because you do not fear death. You are Death. And at the end of ‘Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power,’ Rio wasn’t on the Witches Road because she was ferrying Alice to whatever happens after life.
Looking back at previous episodes, especially the one where they talked about the scar that Rio had in ‘If I Can’t Reach You Let My Song Teach You,’ I believe she ferried over Agatha’s child to the afterlife. She didn’t want to because at that point she had a strong connection with Agatha. But Rio doesn’t choose who dies. She just does her job and keeps going. That tore Agatha and Rio apart. And when Teen was dying, Agatha was really begging Rio not to take him when she said, “Don’t.” She was basically saying, “Don’t take away the young man who I think is my son. Please don’t do it again.” Even in ‘Agatha All Along’ Season 1 Episode 1 ‘Seekest Thou The Road’ when they were fighting and Agatha said “it’s not allowed” aka to kill her, that was a clue. Rio’s not allowed to kill Agatha because she’s Death. She only ferries the dead to the afterlife.
My concern now for the next episode of Agatha All Along is what Rio is going to do when she finds out what Teen did. She knows that Teen is not Agatha’s son. But Rio was willing to go face to face with Agatha’s mom like nothing when confronted with the ghost of her love’s tormentor. That’s love, dedication, and sorrow that she couldn’t protect Agatha before. Rio has chosen many times to be a spectator within these trials. After all she was in the neighborhood of the Witches Road because she was probably collecting bodies and souls of the recently deceased on said road. But Evanora pushed Rio and I think what happened to Agatha with Teen is going to push her again. And maybe this time she won’t follow the rules and do her job. Maybe this time she’ll pick love.
Agatha All Along releases new episodes each Wednesday on Disney+.
What did you think of Agatha All Along season 1 episode 5? Let us know in the comments below!
Need more? Read our other reviews below:
- Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 1 Review: ‘Seekest Thou The Road’
- Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 2 Review: ‘Circle Sewn with Fate Unlock Thy Hidden Gate’
- Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 3 Review: ‘Through Many Miles and Tricks’
- Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 4 Review: ‘If I Can’t Reach You Let My Song Teach You’
- Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 5 Review: ‘Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power’
- Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 6 Review: ‘Familiar by Thy Side’
- Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 7 Review: ‘Death’s Hand in Mine’
- Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 8 & 9 Review: ‘Follow Me My Friend/To Glory at the End & Maiden Mother Crone’
