Well, there we have it. The origin story of the MCU’s version of Wiccan, a character with complex origins in the Marvel comics (although all of them do intersect with Wanda Maximoff in some fashion). And while it was pretty close to what most folks online had guessed – he was once William Kaplan (and technically still is), however a car accident close to the Westview Hex (see the newspaper clipping touting the accident that appears under Joe Locke’s name in the ending credits) as the Hex was dissipating allowed the magical signature that was Billy Maximoff (a creation of Wanda’s own magic within the Hex, who never really existed outside of her magic) to possess William’s dead body, bringing him back to life with the powers and memories that “Billy” had. He wasn’t lying when he said he went through something when he was thirteen.
But even if the story being told was one that most folks had probably sussed out – or at least potentially read about on social media – it was still incredibly effective thanks to the excellent work of Locke (as well as the great Maria Dizzia and Paul Adelstein as William’s parents), and we now have a much fuller and more complex character in Billy than one might have expected to receive (especially considering the recent track record of the MCU television series and their seeming inability to put character development ahead of plot points). A shy boy with a penchant for fantasy (peep the movie posters and figurines in William’s room and you’ll catch several related to The Wizard of Oz – he clearly was interested in witches even before he became one), William seemed to be doing perfectly fine before his life took quite the left turn. Of course, there are plenty of queer allegories to read into the revelation of a thirteen year old feeling like he’s lost the sense of who he once was and reckoning with his understanding of who he is becoming (and I absolutely think that’s an intended reading of Billy’s creation as well), but the revelation that William has become Billy can also be taken as a one-to-one reading as well. He was William, now he’s Billy, and he needs to make his way in the world and figure out what that means for him, his parents, and his past.
And that’s where we are moving forward from. Now sigil-free (I loved that Lilia was the one to place that sigil on him initially – even if she didn’t realize it at the time thanks to her fugue state-like powers kicking in – protecting not only Billy but also the world at large, as Wanda was going to stop at nothing to get her kids back and there would have been carnage if she had discovered Billy was right in the town next door), Billy is in possession of his powers and out in the open. And he’s looking to get Tommy back – which is something that might be complicated, seeing as Tommy – like Billy – only existed in Wanda’s magic. Billy was created by luck – there was a dead body available for that magic to possess at the precise moment it needed one (doubly luck that said body was also named William) – but to get Tommy back, one would need to once again tap into Wanda’s magic. And, as was confirmed yet again this week, Wanda is really most sincerely dead.* We learned in WandaVision that death cannot be undone . . . although, in that series, Lady Death wasn’t hanging around in the flesh. Perhaps she might be able to bend the rules for a price? Even if Billy can feel Tommy out there, I’m not quite sure how that will translate into Tommy finding a body. Or if that Tommy energy is just residual from the spell, all these years later. Or if he’s even feeling a Tommy within this particular universe.
*It was fun to see Evan Peters back as Ralph Bohner – and to see Agatha’s Bohner Family Reunion: Pitch a Tent t-shirt – even if his story of how Agatha traumatized him was pretty hard to hear. Sure, he was a funny character (and there were some laughs in his return), but listening to him talk about how Agatha made him lock a woman in the attic and poison a dog? Jesus. Agatha has seemed to soften at times this season, but this was a stark reminder that she’s not a good person, no matter how traumatic her own origin story might be. She might not have mentally enslaved an entire town, but she absolutely did some damage during her time in the Hex. And before, since she has a body count that she can’t actually count. Yeah, she’s got some issues.
I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to call out Kathryn Hahn’s excellent work this week as well. What began in the close of last week’s episode continued into this installment, with Agatha dropping her kumbaya act and reverting back to the dark, sardonic witch we remember from her clash with Wanda in WandaVision. The turn was sparked by the end of her trial, where Billy called out Nicholas’s name, prompting the dead boy’s voice to implore his mother to stop draining Alice of her powers. From that moment on, Agatha has been her old jaded self. Gone was the vulnerable woman we saw with Rio in the dark a few weeks back. Gone was the woman who put on a false smile and tried to pretend to be a team player (or at least attempted to pretend, fooling absolutely none of the coven). This was a woman who could and would ruthlessly do whatever it took to get what she wanted. And what she seemed to want was to provoke Billy and get him to unleash his true powers. To drain him too? Perhaps. But certainly to make him reveal his true colors and allow her the chance to get another crack at Wanda’s power in some form. With Wanda and the Darkhold gone, Billy might just be the last link to that power in the world. And Hahn’s villainous turn highlighted one key thing: Never underestimate Agatha. She’s survived this long for a reason, and it wasn’t all thanks to the Darkhold. She understands how to wield power, how to obtain power, and how to manipulate the people and the world around her to get what she wants.
We’re getting close to the end of the road here and we’re finally seeing our characters show their true colors. Lilia’s task is on tap for next week – I suspect that one will be particularly harrowing (and might just provide the truth behind Rio’s identity as well). The Road reveals what is at the heart of a person. We’ve seen Alice, Jen, Agatha, and now Billy laid bare. Two more witches left to uncover before they can get their reward. That is if they don’t end up as bodies for Rio. Man, I love this show.
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