So a lot has happened in the small town of Westview over the past couple weeks. We’ve blown all the way through the ’50s, ’60s, 70s, 80s, and now we’re presumably all the way in the 1990s. We’ve met Agnes and heard all about her husband Ralph, met Geraldine and her actual persona as S.W.O.R.D Agent Monica Rambeau, and taken a peak under the guise with Norm – an assumed Westview townsperson whose consciousness is being subverted to match the sitcom-esque realm of the events of WandaVision.

But let’s start at the beginning. I’ve got a lot to catch up with and a lot of solid ideas as to what might be happening behind the scenes with Wanda Maximoff, her beloved dead android Vision, and their two brand-new 10-year-old boys Billy and Tommy.

Wanda’s Control

So I want to start off by saying that I legitimately don’t think Wanda has the amount of control we’re led to believe she does – in fact I’m thinking she has far less control than we’ve been led to believe. Sure, we’ve seen her exhibit enough control to keep the citizens of Westview from unearthing their true personalities, and we’ve seen evidence of her being able to control her surroundings and environments to the point of rewriting reality itself as evidenced by S.W.O.R.D Captain Monica Rambeau’s 1970’s outfit remaining intact outside “The Hex” (a short way of referring to Wanda’s Westview anomaly) and was made possible by repurposing the Kevlar Vest Monica had on when pulled inside. Wanda literally re-wrote that Kevlar Vest to be a trendy 1970’s outfit, and as such, it retained the properties of Kevlar when we see Monica shoot the outfit. This point doesn’t necessarily equate control though. It equates to power – sure, but not control.

Episode 5 is incredibly important in defining this distinction. Up until this point we’ve seen Wanda wielding what we assumed to be a nearly limitless amount of power. But something very important happens when she tries to get the twins to stop crying – she CAN’T. I believe this is an intentional setup and realization that Wanda can’t control living beings to do her will. Couple this with what Agnes says after they grow up: “Kids…you can’t control ’em. No matter how hard you try.” This is important, as it highlights that the kids can’t simply be controlled and that Wanda is going to have to deal with them the hard way – reality.

But I don’t believe this is limited to just the kids – in fact I think this can be extended to the entirety of Westview. It’s important to realize here that Wanda has never been seen to have the ability to control someone’s actions – and this is where I think the line for her power is drawn. She can’t FORCE someone to do something. She merely has the influence and the guise to strongly suggest images in their minds – in other words: it’s a trick. A very good trick, but a trick. Now what I’m NOT saying is that Wanda isn’t powerful – she’s rewriting reality for god’s sake. But again, power doesn’t equate to control. This is again supported when Vision continuously begins to snap out of Wanda’s influence over him over the course of multiple episodes.

But the strongest supporting factor of this theory is the confrontation between Vision and Wanda at the end of Episode 5. Vision is strongly suggesting he “knows” that Wanda is in control of everything – but that may not be the case. Wanda herself even admits “You think I’m doing all this? Walking everyone’s dog, getting them to their dentist appointments on time?” she says this because she’s not. She’s NOT doing all that. She’s not concerned with the intricacies of the daily lives of the residents of Westview – she just wants her fantasy sitcom show. So what, or whom, then is the culprit of keeping the citizens of Westview subdued? Well…Wanda. She keeps them subdued, but doesn’t dictate what their lives should be – that’s another entity, or multiple other entities, in Westview doing this to them in attempts to get at Wanda.

Other Forces At Play

What I mean is that there are other forces at play besides Wanda in Westview. Dottie and Agnes are the two most prominent figures that pop in my mind when talking about this. We’ve seen Agnes in every single episode, and she always seems to have the most important contributions to the plot. Again in Episode 5, Vision makes the remark that she suspiciously came over with “exactly the item we require” when she brought over the dog house for Sparky and the Boys, and can be seen constantly stuttering the flow of the fake reality with various faux pas.

Episode 5 once again rears it’s head as an example of this, as Agnes comes into the Maximoff home apparently going through the motions of a pre-planned sequence of events in which Vision deviates. Once this happens, Agnes stoically asks if Wanda wants her to “take that again” or “take it from the top” to which Wanda stumbles through a sequence to get the plot back on track. This is, at the very least, evidence that not only can Wanda not control everyone’s actions, but that Agnes is aware of the unrealistic nature of the realm in which she resides. This isn’t the first time Agnes has peeled the curtain back, as in Episode 3 we see her stop a fence-cutting Herb from telling Vision too much about their predicament.

So what exactly is Agnes’ role in all this? I mean she hasn’t been identified as a resident of Westview by S.W.O.R.D yet, so it’s safe to say that she doesn’t belong there. Along with all this we have Dotty who, to date, has only appeared in one episode – Episode 2 – where she holds an apparent town meeting and hosts the town talent show. Her first direct interaction with Wanda holds one of the first instances of the false reality breaking – as Jimmy Woo was able to break through “The Hex” with a radio transmission. This transmission came through the radio placed right next to both Wanda and Dottie – unbeknownst to S.W.O.R.D as either Wanda or Dottie edited the broadcast received by S.W.O.R.D to hide the event.

But once the event happens, Dottie seems to be increasingly afraid of what Wanda is. She even goes as far as to say that she doesn’t believe Wanda when she tells her that she means no harm. Perhaps afraid might not be the right word, but she’s definitely taken notice to the fact that Wanda definitely isn’t a normal Westview resident. After this interaction, Dottie breaks a glass in her hand and gets a bloody cut on her palm. This cut begins to bleed – red blood – which is notable considering this was the last episode to be portrayed in the Black and White filter of the 50’s/60’s aesthetic. The only other object in the show which was colored during these episodes were the helicopter in Episode 1 – something that obviously wasn’t supposed to be there. So this begs the question – in being able to see Dottie’s red blood, does she belong in the town of Westview?

My thoughts are – she doesn’t and she’s capable of hiding her true identity in some form. The same can also be applied to Agnes, as her obvious cognition of the world around her leads me to believe she doesn’t truly belong in the town of Westview either. So if neither of them belong in the town, and neither of them are from the town, where did they come from? Who are they really?

Agnes is More Than Likely Agatha Harkness

Now this is a tired theory, but with good reason – it’s solid. Agnes has exhibited some similarities to the character, and she has taken a mentorship-type role for Wanda in her sitcom-esque life. She’s always there whenever Wanda needs her, often with the thing she needs, and helps Wanda navigate the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of the fictitious world – namely when it comes to Dottie. Throughout the time we spend with Agnes, we learn that not only does she want to be a friend to Wanda, but she wants to make Dottie happy. It’s obvious what kind of chain of command we have here, and it’s also evidenced by the fact that we see Agnes much more than we do Dottie. Agnes could be the one doing the heavy lifting for Dottie in getting to know Wanda better, and would be able to be in a better position to influence Wanda for Dottie.

This relationship is also exhibited by Agatha Harkness in the comics by being the henchwoman of Marvel’s Devil himself – Mephisto – which is another character that may be hidden in Wandavision that we’ll dig into later on. But one thing that I think we can say for sure is that in one way or another, Dottie and Agnes are working together – and this is especially interesting when we take into account Agnes’ likely role as Agatha Harkness.

Agatha and The Kids

One of the most important reasons to define Agatha’s role in Wandavision begins with The Kids – Billy and Tommy. In the comics, a similar story to Wandavision has been told and Agatha’s role in all of it is complex. First and foremost, Agatha is partially responsible for the death of Wanda’s children in the comics. However, Agatha is also Wanda’s teacher in witchcraft and helps battle with the Avengers against Immortus. She’s got a lot of things going on, but the part that I’m most interested in is the role she plays with The Kids.

In Episode 6, we see Agnes take quite a liking to The Kids. We actually see this relationship begin to form in Episode 5, where Agnes jumps at the chance to sub mom & dad out for nanny-time. She’s very close to these kids, and part of me can’t shake the feeling that this in particular is significant. With how involved she is in the children’s demise in the comics, the same plotline may play out here as Agatha may be grooming these kids as either a sacrifice or a weapon. In either case, these kids are currently in mortal danger and I’m interested to see what happens to them in the episodes to come – the main reason being that for all intents and purposes, those kids shouldn’t exist.

When you get down to brass tacks, the mere existence of these children is a reality-bending phenomenon. And considering everything Wanda changes or creates can exist outside Westview, these kids may be here to stay. That is, unless, a big bad destroys them.

Mephisto and The Grim Reaper

We touched on Mephisto a bit earlier and I want to circle back to talk about how I feel he fits in this whole thing. A common talking point among Wandavision theorists is that Mephisto not only is the big bad of the show, but that either Dottie or Agnes’ rabbit showcased in Episode 2, are Mephisto in hiding. I don’t want to say I definitely disagree with this, but I’m not completely sold on it either. Yes, in the comics we see everything explained concerning The Kids – they’re pieces of Mephisto’s soul that are then re-absorbed. But this ain’t the comics – this is the MCU – and we’ve seen the MCU change or bend origin stories and plotlines in the past to suit their own narratives, so I don’t want to put too much stock in the “it happened in the comics” camp.

However, at the same time, Mephisto makes the most sense to be the big bad of this show – considering how involved he is in the original version of the story AND considering how he could benefit from either re-absorbing or indoctrinating The Kids. Though, there is one small clue that you can find in Wandavision that leads me a different way – the way of the Grim Reaper.

In Episode 2 of Wandavision during the title sequence, we can see what appears to be the Grim Reaper’s helmet between the floorboards of the Maximoff Home. This clever easter egg would indicate some kind of involvement from the Grim Reaper at some point in the series, which contradicts the Mephisto theory. Or…would it? While we haven’t seen the Grim Reaper in the show directly yet, we have no reason to believe that either one or the other would be the single big bad – it could, in fact, be both.

Wandavision has already touched on the idea of death multiple times. Vision magically being back to life with no real explanation was the biggest and most obvious reason, but there was also a direct instance in Episode 5 of The Kids learning about death from their mother, as they both plead her to revive a deceased Sparky. Wanda insists that you “can’t change death. Death is forever” despite bringing Vision back to life to kick off the creation of “The Hex”. This sort of tampering with life and death is bound to piss off the ruler of death itself, and he would naturally come to investigate the matter further. The creation of 2 lives that weren’t supposed to exist coupled with the revival of a machine imbued with a soul due to the Mind Stone – all of that is tricky business and can only realistically be sorted out with the help of the Grim Reaper himself.

It could be because of this distraction by the Grim Reaper that Agatha and Mephisto are able to procure Wanda’s kids from under her nose, as dealing with the repercussions of her actions is reason enough for nefarious forces to swoop in and progress their agenda – plus the fact that The Kids probably have fragments of Mephisto’s soul in them in order for them to exist in the first place.

No matter which way you slice it, all the evidence points to a multi-pointed edge at the end of this. But why haven’t we seen Mephisto or the Grim Reaper up to this point? I believe it’s beacause oth of them are in disguise, wanting to keep a close look at what unfolds inside “The Hex”.

According to many other theories on the internet, Mephisto is everyone. Agnes is Mephisto, Dottie is Mephisto, Agnes’ Rabbit is Mephisto, New Pietro is Mephisto, the list goes on. It seems a bit silly to try to pinpoint not only who Mephisto is, but if Mephisto is even in the show at this point, but I firmly believe we have seen Mephisto on screen already-and I think a lot of recent theories may be heading in the right direction.

I think Mephisto is the new version of Quicksilver: and I’ll tell you why. The first time I saw Even Peters on screen I immediately thought this was the introduction of the X-Men Universe into the MCU, but I think that initial reaction was wrong. Instead, I now think that not only are the X-Men fans going to have to wait for their intorduction intot he MCU, but that this was an intentional action by Mephisto to try to comfort Wanda and defend her actions.

Remember: Mephsto’s main goal is procuring Wanda’s kids, and the best way to do that is manipulation. If Vision helps Wanda figure out that what she’s really doing in Westview is wrong, she’ll likely leave before Mephisto can take control of her kids. So he needs time – time to craft a persona that Wanda would trust over Vsion. A persona that plays on the emotional bonds between Wanda and her brother. One that can deject Vision in Wanda’s mind and basically hand the kids over willingly. This persona was flawless except for one detail: It’s the wrong body.

At first this disorients Wanda, but appearances alone aren’t enough to keep Wanda’s guard up. But secretly she wonders, as we do, why Pietro looks different from his MCU counterpart, and more similar to his run in the X-Men movies. My thinking on this is that Mephisto hails over not only Earth’s hell, but Marvle’s hell. Which includes the Marvel Multiverse.

My thinking is that Mephisto made a mistake concerning which iteration of Quicksilver was her brother and called it wrong. That alone isn’t enough to stop him from manipulating Wanda, and granted he’s not the only one manipulating her. In tandem with Mephisto we have the Grim Reaper, who I expect would have a more hands-off approach. After all, the Grim Reaper was only in this in the beginning for entertainment, and doesn’t want much out of this deal other than watching the fun. This sticks out to me, as there’s only one character who, every time they’re onscreen, reflects this passive desire. Herb.

We’ve seen Herb for a number of episodes, but never for very long. He doesn’t answer to anyone the way Agnes does, and he usually does his own thing. This in particular stuck out to me, as nobody in Westview are able to “do their own thing”, they’re all being controlled. So how is Herb able to do as he pleases? My theory is that “The Hex” affected him in a way he didn’t expect, and got caught in the bubble as every other Westview resident has. As well he should, considering Herb is, in fact, a resident of Westview. That being the case, it must be the case that the Grim Reaper possessed his body to the extent that only Herb’s subconscious is aware of what is happening.

This is further evidenced with Herb’s own Halloween costume in Episode 6 – a literal Grim Reaper. And in that same episode we see him talking into a walkie talkie with another supposed member of the Neighborhood Watch, who is reporting crimes being committed by the new Quicksilver and The Kids moments before they happen. I think this is significant given the fact that they hadn’t happened yet, coupled with Herb’s stoic reaction to this news.

I think this supports the fact that Herb and the new Quicksilver both knew what was about to happen and that the person on the other end of that Walkie Talkie is one other than Mephisto. So with both of these entities and more in play, the only question is which one of these bads will have the most influence, and will any of them influence Wanda enough to turn her to the dark side as well?

Wanda’s Villainous Debut

I think this story has all the potential in the world to provide Wanda with the opportunity for the heel turn of the century. For those of you unfamiliar with wrestling lingo, it simply means that Wanda is about to turn villain in the best way. See, I think after the dust settles on this whole thing, Wanda is going to play a very important role in the entirety of the MCU – allow me to explain.

Wanda has been hurt her entire life. She hasn’t been able to place her trust in anyone – anyone she does either leaves or ends up dead. Look at where she is in Wandavision. Don’t you think it’s strange that none of the Avengers or remaining heroes on the planet have even thought to keep tabs on Wanda? Don’t you think it’s strange that the only people involved with “The Hex” are non-enhanced individuals? No Avengers, no enhanced, no higher threat response. Just S.W.O.R.D. And while the big heroes may think that’s enough – the reality is that nobody questioned whether Wanda was alright or not in the first place.

At this point, the only person she can confide in even remotely, is Bucky. We saw that conversation take place at the end of Endgame, but other than Bucky (who is a stretch of a relationship to say the least) everyone that made Wanda belong has either left for their own operations, or have left active duty forever. Quicksilver – Dead, Vision – Dead, Hawkeye – Went rogue, then retired, Captain America – Retired, Bucky & Sam – Off on their own adventure. Where does that leave Wanda?

As she’s evidenced on her own in Episode 6 – before Westview she felt nothing but infinite nothingness. Because she truly had nothing. In her grief all she wanted was to have a full life, the people she loved back, and it seems as if through sheer force of will, she was able to bring her fantasy to reality in the form of “The Hex”. But make no mistake, I don’t think she acted alone. Even Wanda herself admits that she doesn’t remember how the anomaly started – and I don’t think she’s lying.

I think, in her grief, Wanda summoned not only Mephisto – who was able to smell a deal in the air from a grieving widow, but also the Grim Reaper – as her primary wish was to resurrect Vision. My thinking is that it wasn’t Wanda that created the bubble, but it was the hatchling of the combined efforts of Mephisto and the Grim Reaper. Mephisto conjured the structure with the intention of containing Wanda inside an illusion to provide him with offspring while the Grim Reaper imbued the structure with the ability to sustain a life that has been resurrected – as in the case of Vision.

I don’t think it was Wanda that created the structure, but I do think Wanda has been able to subconsciously control it alongside Mephisto. You have to think after all, Wanda is demonstrating the power to warp reality as we know it inside “The Hex”, you’ve gotta imagine her power is somewhere on par with Mephisto’s.

The more power Wanda realizes though, the harder it is to maintain. We’ve already seen slips and ‘glitch in the matrix’ moments with citizens who are far away from Wanda’s rage behaving as if a program had deficient allocated RAM to the process. These were people that were stuck in a loop simply because someone wanted to live out their fantasy life – if at some level that doesn’t spell what a villain in I’m not sure what does.

But after realizing the insane amount of power she weilds, and after being circumvented enough times, Wanda is going to break and all bets will be off. We’ve already seen an insane amount of power demonstrated when Wanda expanded “The Hex” in Episode 6 – but that then begs the question of – how is Wanda going to control everything in “The Hex” when she was struggling before? The answer is simple – she gets more powerful.

This kinda feels like a Dragonball Z parallel theory – but I like it so hear me out. Mephisto and the Grim Reaper are going to try to take advantage of Wanda spreading herself thin like this: and they’re going to throw everything they can at her to get those kids in Mephisto’s hands. She’s going to increase in power to the point where she can take them both on and have a hell of a fight. A fight she won’t get the chance to have however, as these masters of cunning will give her a choice.

Wanda is going to have to choose between Vision and The Kids. Vision is being kept alive by The Grim Reaper, and The Kids are being kept in existence due to Mephisto’s soul fragments imbued inside them. If she keeps The Kids, she’ll lose Vision – the only individual who’s ever shown her undying love. If she keeps Vision, The Kids will be destroyed by Mephisto and his soul fragments reclaimed. My thoughts are with the latter – which is going to set up Wanda with the motivation and power she needs to set herself up as the next big bad for Marvel.

It’s already confirmed she’ll be playing a role in the upcoming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, and would a treat it would be to see the Master of the Mystic Arts go toe to toe with a reality-bending Witch. Her quest for vengeance against Mephisto will span these movies and will end with Wanda sacrificing herself to save her children – but that’s a theory to dive into another time.

What About Dottie?

Yeah, we kinda forgot about Dottie didn’t we? It’s been a while since we’ve seen her onscreen, and I for one am starting to get worried about her. Should someone go to her house and check in? Maybe walk in the unlocked door only to find Mephisto staring back at you. That’s right friends, another Mephisto reveal theory, but hear me out. I don’t believe Dottie is a resident of Westview, and that’s evidenced by S.W.O.R.D not being able to find her real identity. I think this was Mephisto’s first form to plant the idea of children in Wanda when he needed that point hammered. He can also just as easily be the new Quicksilver, using his likeness to keep Wanda along for the ride. Mephisto is Marvel’s devil after all, the dude needs to have cunning down to a science.

This isn’t to say that we’ll never see Dottie again, in fact I’m convinced we’ll see her again ery soon as a figure that questions Wanda’s maternal ability. Dottie’s character is a judgmental one – one that questions Wanda’s confidence and – if executed correctly – would make Wanda think she was an incapable mother and would willingly give her children away. This may be the easiest way for Mephisto to acquire The Kids, and would give Wanda even more self-confidence issues that would suppress her true abilities. After this situation comes full circle and Wanda begins to seek revenge, this experience would act as the catalyst for Wanda unleashing the full extent of her powers.

Tyler Hayward is Ultron

Now that we know Hayward is a pri…terrorist, let’s drop the microscope on him to see what kind of dirt we can dig up. Of course, Tyler Hayward is the current acting director of S.W.O.R.D and is the head of the branch’s investigation of “The Hex”. Soon after taking the helm on the project, it became evident that he was hiding something and invested more into this anomaly than he led on. Specifically, he holds confidential files related to Vision’s body and were using his dismantled corpse pre- Wandavision for testing and investigation. It can be strongly implied that Hayward wants Vision for his own reasons, but what are those reasons?

Reason number one is Vision’s vibranium, but not for the reasons you’d expect. Note how Hayward is able to track Vision specifically by homing in on his vibranium radiation. You would think the reason this tracking method was put into place would be to track the vibranium to ensure it could be picked up after this crisis was over, but why not just wait until the crisis were over if that were the case? Wh track the body now? It turns out these readings also read Vision’s vital signs, brain patterns, and other specific wellfare figures. For what purpose would Hayward need ay of this, specificially with Vision?

It would ake sense to assume that Ultron was not destroyed with his initail encounter with Vision – he merely may have retreated in a back door he set up in the internet. It always seemed a bit naive to me to think that an entity like ultron could be defeated as easily as he did in Age of Ultron when the Internet has a plethora of safeguards you could exploit to keep yourself alive if you’re an AI like ultron. We could be seeing the end-result of those efforts here, as Ultron tasted failure through means of force once – he doesn’t want to risk that again. This time, he wants to take a much more stealthy approach to exterminate humanity – and what better place to start than the very weapon that took you out.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see this kind of twist return in this series either, it’s obvious this series is setting the stage for the next phase of the MCU and is designed to make you think that anything can happen – because it really can.

But those are my Wandavision theories at the moment, only time will tell how accurate these things turn out to be. If you have your own theories you’d like to share, let me know in the comments blow and I’d love to read em. Thanks very much for reading, I appreciate it!