WandaVision Episode 9 Ending Explained

Contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 9, "The Series Finale"

It's been quite the journey, but WandaVision has reached its final episode. What began as a love letter to the television programs of yesteryear slowly transformed into a tale of confusion, betrayal, grief and more — making the show one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most unique installments. It captivated audiences with its mysteries, bred tons of fan theories, got everyone hooked on its catchy theme songs, and provided plenty of hints as to where the multi-billion dollar franchise is heading next. Of course, as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and what a conclusion the WandaVision series finale was.

Following up on WandaVision episode 8's trip down memory lane, which provided some shocking revelations about both Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), "The Series Finale" kicked WandaVision into an even higher gear. There was plenty of the punch-up action Marvel fans have come to expect from the franchise, with battles happening between both Agatha and Wanda as well as Vision (Paul Bettany) and his S.W.O.R.D.-programmed "White Vision" doppelgänger. Also, unlike last week, this installment brought the likes of Agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), Dr. Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), and Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) back into the spotlight to foil Director Tyler Hayward's (Josh Stamberg) evil schemes.

Here's how the ever-captivating WandaVision wraps up its small-screen tenure, and what the finale means for the MCU's future.

After holding Wanda's twin sons hostage and forcing her to relive her past trauma, Agatha continues her pursuit of Wanda's power. As noted in the show's penultimate episode, Wanda is apparently the legendary Scarlet Witch — a being capable of unmatched creation and destruction — so naturally, Agatha is prepared to go to great lengths to take Wanda's Chaos Magic for herself. The two battle in the series finale, using their abilities against one another, but Wanda is effectively powerless. Every time she tries to fight back against Agatha, the ancient witch absorbs the energy for herself.

This leads Wanda to get crafty — witchcrafty, if you will — sneaking up from behind and using the mind-control trick she used back in her first appearance in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. Her illusion sends Agatha back to the day she killed off her witch coven, though the seasoned magic-user quickly turns the spell around on her. In response, Wanda breaks it and takes the fight to Agatha directly, before seemingly giving up and handing over her Chaos Magic willingly. Her form becomes disheveled and Agatha gains the strength she desires, but Wanda has one more trick up her sleeve.

Wanda reveals that she placed runes on the interior walls of the Hex, and regains the lifeforce it seemed Agatha had drained from her. Just as Agatha taught her, only the witch who cast them can use their magic in a confined space. This gives her the chance to reabsorb her power and take the form of the Scarlet Witch, overpowering her enemy. Defeated and desperate, Agatha pleads with Wanda to no avail, forced to live out her days in her chatty alter-ego, Agnes. It's rare for villains to outlive their introduction in the MCU, so it's pretty much a given that Agatha will return somewhere down the line. In fact, it seems almost like a guarantee. Before she's transformed back into Agnes, the evil witch tells Wanda, "you're gonna need me." Wanda's reply is simple: "If I do, I know where to find you."

The only question left now is just how soon we'll see Agnes again — in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Or somewhere further down the line?

A major surprise came at the tail end of WandaVision's eighth episode, unveiling S.W.O.R.D.'s "White Vision" for the first time. The synthezoid specter got the chance to show off what he can do this week, nearly crushing Wanda's skull and going head-to-head with the Hex-bound Vision of her creation. The majority of the two Visions' confrontation gives longtime Marvel fans the kind of laser beam-shooting, hand-to-hand action they've been waiting for, but not for long. After clashing for a short while, the Visions share an intellectual debate concerning the nature of their existence.

Levitating inside Westview's library, Vision presents White Vision with the Ship of Theseus thought experiment. The theory asks that if the ship's rotting pieces are continually replaced over time, does the ship eventually cease to exist, since its original form will eventually be depleted? They apply that question to themselves, noting that Westview's Vision lacks a physical form but contains the Vision's soul, and White Vision retains the original's synthetic body and memories (filed away as "data" in his "memory storage"), but doesn't have the Vision's personality. Therefore, are either of them truly Vision? They both are. Neither are.

To put this debate to bed, the Wanda-created Vision unlocks his double's memories, who has realized that the knowledge of his true self was being suppressed by Hayward, in order to make him "a weapon to be more easily controlled." With his data restored, the White Vision leaves Westview and disappears for the rest of the series finale. But it's safe to assume that he'll make his return in a future MCU project. When — and whether or not he'll attempt to reconnect with Wanda — are questions only time can answer.

In the midst of their magic-slinging confrontation, Agatha begins to play some serious mind games with Wanda. This includes her awakening a handful of Westview's residents, leading them to surround Wanda and beg for mercy. They say they share in her pain and either want to be freed or die because the suffering that comes with living under her trance is unbearable. This causes Wanda to panic, so she opens the Hex and allows the people to escape her clutches — that is, until she notices Vision, Billy (Julian Hilliard), and Tommy (Jett Klyne) disintegrating, as their existences are tied to the Hex.

Later on, with Agatha defeated and the Hex completely wiped from Westview, the townspeople still seem to hold plenty of ill-will toward Wanda. Norm (Asif Ali), Herb (David Payton), Dottie (Emma Caulfield Ford), and more shoot Wanda the stink-eye on her way out of the community. Thankfully, Jimmy Woo and an FBI task force show up to help the now-freed residents, but that doesn't absolve Wanda of her wrongdoings. She held an entire town against their will and unwittingly caused them real harm for quite a long time. That's something that doesn't go away in the blink of an eye, and Wanda's guilt will likely last just as long as the psychological damage she caused for every one of them. Chances seem good that we'll be hearing about Westview again in a future MCU project soon — just as the consequences of the battles in Sokovia and Lagos reverberated after Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.

After it briefly appeared in WandaVision's seventh installment, "Breaking the Fourth Wall," viewers finally got a good look at Agatha's magical book, the Darkhold. The longtime witch first mentions it by name in the series finale, telling Wanda that the Darkhold contains an entire chapter devoted solely to the Scarlet Witch. It reads, "The Scarlet Witch is not born — she is forged. She has no coven, no need for incantation." Agatha notes that it's Wanda's destiny to destroy the world. This moment must've piqued Wanda's interest, as she's shown reading the so-called "Book of the Damned" in the show's final post-credits scene.

Unsurprisingly, the Darkhold is a storied artifact from the pages of Marvel Comics, dating back to 1972's Marvel Spotlight #4. Originating as the scrolls of the Elder God Chthon, it's described as a collection of spells and techniques of dark magic. Over the years, the Darkhold has had many owners — including Zula, Morgan Le Fay (who bound it from a collection of parchments into the unholy book it would become), and even the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange. 

Considering both Wanda's devotion to understanding the Darkhold's knowledge and Doctor Strange's comic history as one of its previous owners, it's a safe bet that the Darkhold will come with Wanda in her appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And given the fact that she hears her kids crying for help as she reads through the book in the scene's final moments, there's a pretty good chance she'll seek out the good doctor's help so she can rescue them from whatever dimension they may now be trapped within. As Marvel Comics fans may recall, Billy and Tommy are revealed to be shards of a demon's soul in 1989's Avengers West Coast #52. Could the MCU's take on Wanda's powerful progeny be trapped in Hell itself?

Of course, devoted fans know that this isn't the first time we've seen the Darkhold in the MCU. It's first screen appearance was actually in season four of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. There, it was established that shape-changing book has long been a powerful artifact in the MCU, and it wound up playing a large role in the Phil Coulson-led team's dealings with the newest version of Ghost Rider, among other shenanigans. It next appeared in the late, lamented hulu original Runaways, and was wielded by the evil sorceress Morgan le Fay. Just how the book ended up in Agatha's possession — or even if Marvel Studios will recognize its previous appearances in the now-defunct Marvel Television productions — remains to be revealed.

After a week away from the WandaVision spotlight, Monica Rambeau had a bit more to do in "The Series Finale." Not only did Monica take down Agatha's fake Quicksilver (Evan Peters), who's actually just some guy named Ralph Bohner — surely the same Ralph that Agatha hinted at being her husband all along. But Monica also got to test out her burgeoning powers. With the Hex down, Director Hayward and his S.W.O.R.D. cronies burst on the scene. When Hayward fires his gun at Wanda's kids Billy and Tommy, Monica steps in. She uses her phasing abilities to alter her physiology, thus stopping the bullets from hitting the twins.

With the help of Darcy Lewis, Hayward is apprehended and his plan is foiled, leaving Jimmy Woo and Monica Rambeau to clean up Westview. In the first of the WandaVision finale's two post-credits scenes, a S.W.O.R.D. agent ushers Monica into the local movie theater to speak with her. Revealing herself to be a Skrull, the agent mentions that an old friend of Monica's mother, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), sent her and wants to arrange a meeting. When asked where, the Skrull then points upward, indicating that their conversation will take place in space. 

Could this be a follow-up to the end-credits scene from Spider-Man: Far From Home, where Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is shown aboard a S.W.O.R.D. spacecraft? Or is the Skrull referring to the return of Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), a different Skrull who worked with Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel and is now an undercover S.W.O.R.D. operative?  Alternatively, is this a setup for Monica's inclusion in Captain Marvel 2 via a reunion with Carol Danvers (Brie Larson)? Time will tell, but it's clear that Monica's story is far from over.

In keeping with the series of unending tragedies that is Wanda Maximoff's life, her perfect fictional world finally comes crashing down at the end of the WandaVision series finale. With Agatha defeated, the people of Westview freed, and S.W.O.R.D. as well as the FBI on her case, Wanda is left no other choice but to take down the Hex. Streets and shops begin returning to their natural state, and the time of day once again matches the outside world. The disintegrating Hex closes in on the family, and Wanda knows it's inevitable that Billy, Tommy, and Vision will disappear from existence.

Before that happens, the family returns home after a long day of battle, begrudgingly prepared to bid one another farewell. First, Wanda and Vision tuck their twins into bed, and she thanks them for choosing her as their mother as the Hex's borders draw nearer. Wanda and Vision then enter the living room to say their final goodbyes to each other. Wanda reveals this Vision exists thanks to the elements of the Mind Stone that live inside of Wanda. They embrace, with the synthezoid predicting that, much like before, they'll meet again someday in some form. He then disappears, leaving Wanda alone once again on the plot of land where they once planned to build their home.

On paper, WandaVision is a tough sell: It's about a witch who crafts a fake reality to avoid properly grieving the loss of her true love, who was killed in Avengers: Infinity War. Couple that with Wanda and Vision's super-powered children, the fake Pietro Maximoff, the people Wanda took hostage, Agatha in general, S.W.O.R.D.'s status as mostly good guys but also partially bad guys, and the weird-factor only increases. Even still, the cast and crew involved managed to turn this risky premise into something truly special. WandaVision made fans laugh, cry, and everything in between, and the series will no doubt endure as one of the most exciting television events of its time. If this is the level of quality viewers can expect from Marvel Studios' Disney+ offerings, then the MCU's future is very bright, indeed.