After a shocking reveal in the penultimate episode, Agatha All Along left fans with some unanswered questions despite the story feeling as though it had mostly wrapped up. It would be hard to remember another series feeling so complete heading into the finale, so this was set up for a very interesting conclusion.
The episode opens in the year 1750, with Agatha trying to find a safe place to give birth as she runs through the woods. As she finals settles in a location, with her baby on the way, she sees Death approaching. She refuses to let her take her baby and pleads for his life. Death offers time but she doesn’t say how much. It appears this was the “special treatment” to which Death was referring in the previous episode. Death disappears and Agatha gives birth to a baby boy. She says aloud “I spoke no spell, I said no incantation, you I made from scratch.” This serves as an explanation for the name Nicholas Scratch. The name goes unexplained in the comics, but is likely tied more to the character’s demonic qualities.
Agatha the woods with her baby before happening upon a coven of witches. She approaches them and they try to help her and her crying baby. Once they let Agatha in though, she steals their power, killing the entire coven. Agatha realizes she can use her son to her advantage on her missions to absorb the power of other witches.
We jump to six years later and see a now six-year-old Nicholas being used to con witches into falling into Agatha’s trap. Later, Nicholas asks Agath why she kills witches and why they couldn’t live with them. Agatha plants seeds of distrust in the boy, saying the witches would try to kill them.
Shifting his attention, Nicholas begins to sing a song he is making up, about walking a windy road. The tune is that of “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road.” It seems Agatha and her young son were the origin of the song.
Later, Nicholas asks Agatha to make him food using her magic. She explains that she can’t protect him from what’s coming and she can’t divine when she will return. We then get a montage of Agatha and Nicholas playing and writing their song.
Nicholas sings the song in a pub for a clapping audience, only now the song has gone from the “windy road” to the witches’ road.” It’s clear this is another of Agatha’s cons, but Nicholas, who now appears to be sick, decides to leave the pub. Agatha follows him out.
That night, Nicholas apologizes for not allowing Agatha to kill the witches in the pub. She smiles at him and sings the song again. The two sing together as they fall asleep. In the middle of the night, Nicholas wakes up to find Death beckoning him. He steps toward her, but she points back at Agatha. Nicholas kisses his mother goodbye and leaves with Death. In the morning, Agatha wakes up to heartbreakingly find that she has returned and taken her son.
Agatha sings the ballad over Nicholas’ grave and puts a lock of his hair in her locket before a passing witch gets her attention. The witch points out that she must know the way to the Witches’ Road. It seems the song has been passed along to other witches and has become a legend. Agatha thinks for a moment before agreeing to show this witch the way to the road.
Agatha assembles a coven and they sing the song to summon the gate to the road. When the ritual doesn’t work, she taunts the witches until they blast her with their energy and she drains them. We watch Agatha use this same con again and again over the years, never expecting to actually summon the gate and instead killing the entire coven. Eventually though, we get to the start of this series, where she performs the ritual with Lilia, Jen, Alice and Mrs. Hart. This time though, the gate appears. Now though, we know there never was a witches’ road, and this was actually created by Billy Maximoff. Agatha stares at the gate in shock before Billy rushes past her and the coven follows.
Back in present day, Billy realizes he is the one who created the road. Agatha laughs and Billy turns to find her as a ghost. We don’t really get an explanation as to how she became a ghost, but at least Agatha gives her reasoning later. Billy asks about the road and Agatha reveals her long con. Knowing he made the road, Billy wonders if he is responsible for the deaths of Lilia, Alice and Mrs. Hart. Agatha tries to give him credit for saving Jen’s life and we see her emerge from the ground outside of Westview before flying off with her recently returned power. Agatha tries to tell Billy to get used to this feeling, but he refuses.
Billy goes back to Agatha’s basement, where the gate to the road still remains. Agatha’s ghost meets him there and watches as he begins to practice some kind of magic. After a moment, she realizes he’s trying to banish her into the afterlife. When he continues to chant and push her away she reaches for her locket. He asks why she won’t die and she yells that she can’t face him, meaning Nicholas. She knocks the locket out of Billy’s hand and finds that she is able to pick it up and wear it again.
Agatha says they could make a good team. They accept that they both tend to kill their coven members but seem as though they’re willing to team up anyway. Billy uses his magic to remove the gate to the road, and likely erase the road altogether. In it’s place there is a grave for Sharon Davis, Alice Wu-Gulliver and Lilia Calderu. The basement door opens to the outside and Billy and Agatha look up together. Agatha says “let’s go find Tommy” and they step out into the light as the episode and series come to a close.
It’s a real shame there is no Young Avengers project officially on Marvel’s slate at this time. Billy and Tommy are both members of the super team in the comics and we know from the post-credits scene of The Marvels that Kamala Khan is already assembling the team. Now, it seems likely whenever we do see that project, it will likely feature Billy and the ghost of Agatha searching for Tommy before they join the other young heroes. Either way, this was a very strong conclusion to what has been one of Marvel’s best series in some time.
Marvel’s Agatha All Along is now streaming on Disney+.