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faeruy · 7 months ago

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Agatha All Along Episode 7 - "Death's Hand In Mine" Tarot Analysis Part 2

Part the Second - Here I’m gonna talk about three separate readings - the Reading Lilia starts for Billy, the 2 cards he draws, and Agatha’s spread. The latter two could theoretically be dismissed, because neither Billy or Agatha know what they’re doing or have any real intention as they’re doing the drawing. But that doesn’t mean they’re not worth looking at, because sometimes even without a specific intention, the cards could be trying to say something. Also because it’s fun to analyze, so why not?

If this is the first post of mine you're seeing, I am definitely an amateur, so it's possible I get some things wrongs. I have done analysis on other episodes, and also Lilia's True Reading, and links to that are at the bottom. So here we go:

Billy's Reading - The Traveler - The Magician - So he’s been associated with The Magician for awhile now, before the show even came out. Upright the card represents power, taking action, creativity, and resourcefulness, all things Billy has shone in spades. He has the power he inherited from Wanda, he’s consistently shown amazing problem-solving skills, and creative approaches to getting what he wants; which includes approaching Agatha in the first place. He has, and has always had, everything he needs to go after what he wants. Reversed also has some fitting aspects; untapped potential, lack of clarity, poor planning. He is an impulsive teen, after all, and struggles with controlling his full power - fitting well within his original question - namely “Am I William or Billy?”

What’s Missing - The Sun - This is interesting, because the Sun represents energy, enthusiasm, and success. It’s a super positive card. Even the Reversed is mild; basically a call from your inner child saying ‘come out and play’, although it also refers to feeling a bit down and experiencing temporary setbacks. Lilia calls out “reunion” ,and that catches Billy’s attention, but that’s not normally part of the reading of that card at all. The only thing I can think of is that Lilia is already seeing something in the reading; she’s seeing that what’s missing is a connection to William/Billy’s childhood, and the strongest representation of that is his brother Tommy. Personality wise, Tommy fits the card very well - of the twins, he was more energetic and happy-go-lucky, and we associate him very strongly with Billy’s childhood. Not sure, entirely. It could just be that the writers decided to fudge the meaning a little, or a lot, for the desired effect, but they’ve been so good with the cards otherwise, and there’s better cards they could have chosen if they wanted one with reunion in it’s meaning. But lets look at what else this card could potentially mean for Billy. One is that, since the card is referencing Tommy, it could be an indication that his twin, wherever he is, is doing just fine. Happy, successful, full of energy. Or it could mean that, one of the reasons he doesn't know who he is, is because he’s missing something; confidence, enthusiasm, or even just the belief that he will be successful in his quest. Without the rest of the reading, it’s hard to tell.

And we don’t get the rest of the reading. The Path Behind is drawn, but we don’t get to see what it is. It doesn’t really matter; we know what was on his Path Behind. Westview, Wanda, Vision, The Kaplans, and more recently Alice; the Knight of Wands. It could be any number of cards drawn, too many for me to even speculate, although it would have been fun to see. The rest of the cards aren’t even drawn; which is fair, most of the rest refer to Billy’s future and that would be spoilers. I guess we’ll find out!

Billy’s Draws - The Chariot and Seven of Swords Reversed. They don’t know the layout they’re playing with, so he’s just drawing randomly, and it’s a bit unclear who he’s drawing FOR. So let’s take it one at a time.

The Chariot - The way I kind of like to describe it is that it’s kind of a bulldozer of a card. It mostly represents determination, focus, victory, assertion, conquest. On the Reversed, it represents aggression, lack of control, and lack of direction. (Given that he pulled the card without intention, it would have been very fitting and VERY FUNNY if he had pulled it Reversed). It does speak to their state of mind at this point; there’s a focus to getting to the end of the Road and survive, and beat it, but there’s the chance that this determination is maybe misguided; they’re trying to brute-force their way through a trial that requires intuition and finesse. In my opinion, this card is a warning; they won’t win by being the Chariot.

Seven of Swords Reversed - Billy says the Reversed is the opposite of the Upright, but that's a simplification and shows just how inexperienced he is with reading Tarot. Reversed is a flip from the Upright, but it’s more like… it’s the same energy, but redirected. For example The Tower Upright represents destruction and chaos and upheaval, and it's kind of a violent card that way. The Reverse is equally about the chaos and upheaval, and violent in it’s own way, but it’s transformation, not destruction. In the case of Seven of Swords Reversed, which is what he draws, his interpretation is off because he expects it to be a matter of honesty being the opposite of deception. Upright is about deceit, betrayal, and selfishness - deceiving others. Take the same deceptive energy, but you flip it’s direction and you get self-deception- deceiving yourself, self-sabotage, which is what the Reversed actually represents. In this case, it could mean a couple of things. Taken with the Chariot, it continues the warning; their bull-headedness and single-minded focus on getting to end is only deceiving themselves into thinking they can do this without Lilia. It could be a card specific to Agatha - she is her own worst enemy, she uses deception as a mask and as protection, but she’s doing the most damage to herself. For Billy, it could also represent some of his imposter syndrome; he still doesn’t truly know who he is, and it’s an uncomfortable situation to be in.

Agatha's draw - I had to pause the show to try and catch what she drew, but I think it's important. I’m not gonna go super in depth, but I do want to get a quick read, and see what it might be foreshadowing or telling us about Agatha. Note that other than drawing the Hanged Man second, I don't know the order she drew them, so I can't even begin to guess how they play together, or if it’s meant to be read the same way as Lilia would read them. I might take a guess on the two whose positions I know for sure, but otherwise I may ignore it. I think it’s also interesting to note that Agatha doesn’t put ANY of them directly into their correct space; they’re mostly readable as upright from Agatha’s position, but all of them are cocked, off true Upright or Reversed. Now of course, we know that’s because she doesn’t care about Tarot a whit, and isn’t thinking about it, but it could also indicate that any of these cards could be read as either.

Five of Wands - it is in fact the Five of Wands in the Traveler position, and man was that a tricky one to figure out, since most of it was covered up by the Ten of Swords. Luckily, they’re using the Rider-Waite deck, and there’s just enough showing that identifying the card was possible. Five of Wands is a combative card - competition, rivalry, strife, and disagreement, fighting for dominance. And outwardly, that’s Agatha all over. She’s abrasive, she likes to poke the bear, and she deliberately eggs people on, because let’s be real, she gains power that way. It’s not always a bad thing; she’s survived for so long because she’s competitive and they might have all died during Jen’s trial if she wasn’t so quick to snap Jen out of her funk. Reversed speaks to someone who internalizes their problems, and we all know Agatha would rather die than admit she has problems or needs help. So Agatha can definitely be the Five of Wands.

The Hanged Man - This is the one she drew second. Hanged Man represents taking a pause, looking at things from new perspectives and letting go. Reversed represents delays, stalling, indecision and crossroads. From what I can gather, this is telling Agatha that she needs to stop and take a look around her instead of barrelling through. She’s so unwilling to look at things from a new perspective, unwilling to let go of the things that have allowed her to survive and it’s not serving her anymore. At the moment, she’s stuck, and can’t go forward. The card is another warning, but it also gives her the solution; stop and breathe, and open up the mind to new possibilities.

Clockwise from the Hanged Man, we have Two of Wands - discovery, progress, planning, moving forward, but on the Reversed, fear of the unknown, disorganization, lack of planning. It’s a card about taking a spark of inspiration and moving forward towards your goals. Fitting, actually, for how the journey started for Agatha; there was a spark of an idea; a decision to travel the Road, and the momentum to go for it, assemble the Coven, and start. But Agatha didn’t have a particularly clear goal in mind, other than getting power back and hiding from the Salem Seven, and that her progress forward has been haphazard, inefficient, and beset by problems. So far in her draws, its cards that are basically telling her to slow the everloving fuck down and actually think things through.

Next up Wheel of Fortune - Highkey, my favorite card in the deck, and the one I associate most with. It’s a card about change; everything is in a cycle and everything is temporary, both good and bad luck. Upright speaks to destiny and good luck, but also that there are things changing outside your control and you just have to deal. Reversed, bad luck and resistance to change, but also breaking cycles, especially those that need to be broken. Both readings have their positive and negative connotations, but we’re here to talk about what it means for Agatha. Taking everything into account, I think what it means is that she is at a critical turning point; the Wheel can swing in any direction, and it’s gonna be up to her how she deals with it. She can meet her destiny head on, and maybe good luck will come her way, and if she chooses kindness, she can be met with kindness back. She could resist the changes about to happen, and be beset with problems, and the Wheel can swing negative. Or she could break the cycle entirely; break the cycle of trauma that kept her angry and jaded, break the cycle of abuse that kept witches persecuted for centuries, break the rules of the Road. Again. The Wheel also reminds us that even good fortune is temporary, and we should cherish it while it exists. At the moment, she has a Coven - she needs to embrace them while they’re still her Coven.

Next - The World - Upright it refers to completion, integration, accomplishment, travel. Reversed; seeking personal closure, shortcuts, delays. This card feeds really nicely from the past cards; It talks about having achieved goals and feeling whole and potentially a greater understanding of the world around you. It’s a cycle that has come to a close, completed, a reassurance after the changeability of the Wheel of Fortune. But like some of the earlier cards, the Reversed suggests that while completion is near, there’s some obstacle, mostly self-imposed. Lack of focus, lack of planning, a desire for shortcuts and an easy road have led to hardship and not true achievement. It says that one should re-inspect their goals. It’s not hard to see how this can apply to Agatha - every trial, she’s been looking for the shortcut, for a cheat to get through the Road, which suggests that she’s been looking at it the wrong way, and she needs to figure out what her real goal for Road is. We’ve been given some indication she has unfinished business - that with Rio, and what happened to her son; and maybe her real purpose on the Road, whether she knows it or not, is to gain closure on that.

Page of Swords is next, and its placement is why I haven’t spent a lot of time talking about how most of these cards relate to the “Safe Passage” layout. If she drew it properly, with The Traveler first, that means Hanged Man would be “What’s Missing” and we would land on this one as “Windfall”... which I have a really hard time reading that way. It’s a sword card, which is a high energy suit. Upright it refers to curiosity, energy, new phases, communication, new ideas. Reversed is haste, undelivered promises, unforeseen events. All talk, no action. Which, while the Reversed speaks to how Agatha has behaved on the road, and the promises she made to… well everyone in the Coven, I’m really not sure the other side applies. Perhaps it’s what she needs to do in order to avoid the pitfalls promised by the earlier cards? There is one other thing though; Page is a face card, and face cards could also refer to people in her life. And who does the Page describe pretty well? An aspiring witch like Billy. Maybe if she plays her cards right, at the end of the journey she could find herself with a mentee, a student to guide under her wing. It’s a tricky reading, and I’m really not sure about my interpretation there.

Finally, in the Destination - Ten of Swords. Agatha is going to lose. And Lose BADLY. Ten of Swords is all about hitting rock bottom, betrayal, deep wounds, and loss. There’s nothing left to do but pick yourself up and move forward. If it wasn’t clear which way the Wheel was going to swing earlier, this all but says it. If she’s lucky, the Reverse will also come into play; clarity and recovery. From the ashes of defeat, she could rise again, wiser, smarter, better. She could let go of all the old hurts and gain hope and a new sense of self and purpose. One can only hope.

There’s one more card I want to talk about. I’ve talked about it a few times already, but I want to mention it here.

Lilia’s Final Card - The Tower Upright. Lilia, you absolute LEGEND. We've talked about this one a lot. But now everything makes sense - Why specify the Tower Reversed earlier? So that it could be turned Upright when needed. And what happens when you have an upright tower? Your world turns upside down. Lilia, always seeing the past and the future and the present, in the end, she made her own damn fate - she chose to face destruction and chaos head on because it saved her coven. And because she knows what her future has in store for her. It’s such a beautiful move from the writers; the setup and execution of it was perfect, and it shows just how much care and love were put into the characters, that Lilia got such a cool moment with one simple flip of a card. I just couldn’t end this analysis without touching on what was one of my favorite moments in an episode that was filled with so many of them.

Anyways; that’s it for my analysis for now; there’s only two more episodes left and without Lilia shuttling back and forth between time, it’s unclear if we’ll get more tarot cards, but if anything pops up, I’ll be sure to talk about it. God knows, when I started this, I didn't actually think it would turn into a series, but here we are. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to do a deep dive on the Tarot in the show, and doing a little bit of close-reading/media analysis within it. I feel like it’s also helped me understand Tarot a little bit better than I did before. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have!

Links to Past Posts

Episodes 1-3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 part 1

#agatha all along #agatha all along spoilers #agatha harkness #lilia calderu #tarot cards #billy kaplan #billy maximoff #death's hand in mine #agatha all along episode 7

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faeruy · 7 months ago

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Tarot Time - Agatha All Along, Episode 7 - "Death's Hand in Mine" Part 1

HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS EPISODE. There's so much to talk about with regards to the Tarot used in this episode. I had to take a couple of days and watch it a couple of times to catch everything. First off, all of the kudos to the writers - their use of tarot is inspired, the way they connected it throughout the show was BRILLIANT, and I honestly didn't see the reveal that Lilia was seeing her final reading coming. I am legitimately in awe of these writers.

So lets talk about it, as this is mostly going to be me trying to wrap my head around everything that happened. As always, I'm an amateur, so I may get things wrong. I'm also splitting this up into two parts because there's A LOT. First part is Lilia's Reading, the Second part is going to be all of the other cards drawn in the episode.

First up; Lilia's True Reading. I'm starting with this one because I've already talked about a number of the cards and what they mean, although even they take on some new aspects now that they are revealed to be part of the final draw. If you haven't read my earlier posts, there's links at the bottom of this one. This is also going to be tough for me, because while I have a decent familiarity with what each card symbolizes, I've never been particularly strong when it comes to layouts, and how to take in the cards as a whole reading instead of individual pieces. But also, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, "Safe Passage" is a layout that - while visually is based on the Celtic Cross - is made up for the show.

The Traveler is The Queen of Cups - Lilia. She described this card in the show - Full of intuition, but also calm, compassionate and nurturing. Warm hearted in tune with those around her - though in this case not consciously, since earlier callouts of the cards were done involuntarily and out of time. She has some aspects of a Reversed reading; her gaps and out-of-time phasings indicate a bit of emotional insecurity, and by her own admission she's bottled things up so she doesn't have to deal with the pain of seeing the future. But the Upright has been stronger with her by far. The fact that she put a sigil on Billy to give him time to come to terms with who he is speaks volumes about her compassion. It's a card that fits her to a T. I also love the modified card - for the most part, they're using a bog-standard Rider-Waite Deck, but most of the cards are in this drawing are modified. The Queen is usually depicted sitting in a throne, but this deck has her in front of a table - ready to divine and interpret and intuit. Less above her people than the normal card, and more of an equal.

What's Missing - Three of Pentacles - The Coven. I talked in depth about this one before. The only thing that changed is who the reading is for - in the first episode it showed up, the reading was for Agatha. But she wasn't the only one who lost her original coven, Lilia lost hers too. She needed them as much as Agatha did; after all, what is a witch without her coven? And as much as they bicker and lack trust in each other, they have become what they've been missing. This card is modified by making the figures standing in a group look like the Coven - Lilia, Agatha, Jen, Billy, Alice, and yes, even Rio. Oddly enough, not Sharon, suggesting either a) the art department didn't have enough room to fit her in, b)she was never a true witch, therefore not part of the Coven, or c) she was close enough to death even before the Road that Rio was essentially following her - metaphorically.

Path Behind - Knight of Wands - Alice. I talked a lot about this card in episode 5, and I don't know that there's a lot to add here. Lilia goes for the simple definition; a knight full of fire and energy. She leaves out the impulsiveness, but probably has to do with sentimentality and choosing to remembering her heroism. Path behind is obvious; her death was significant, and affected the Coven strongly. Since this is Lilia's reading, I think Alice's death is maybe the catalyst for her to start really confronting her own mortality, and her own Path. Again, the card is modified, depicting a knight holding a staff (interchangeable name for Wands) in the same stance Alice was using to save Agatha. Normally it's a knight on a reared-up horse, with the staff held upright. Both versions of the card indicate a very aggressive, action-oriented person, which Alice very much is.

Path Ahead - The High Priestess - Jen. This one is making me FERAL. So the card here is barely modified - the only difference is the High Priestess looks like Jen. And I've talked about what that means in the first post I made about tarot in this show. What it means HERE, however, is super interesting. First of all, Lilia uses the phrase "unwilling or unable to use it" which specifically refers to a Reversed reading, even though the card itself was drawn Upright. And we know that while Jen succeeded in her Trial, all it really did was help her feel confident in her knowledge of the craft; her origins as a root-worker. It didn't remove her bindings. So in some ways, she's not yet the High Priestess Upright, But given that this is the Path Ahead, I think it means she will be. But what does it mean that she is the Path Ahead? I have a guess, but stick with me here. First of all, The High Priestess is the master of the unconscious and spirituality. Secondly, the Path Ahead is for the Traveler, meaning it's specifically LILIA'S Path Ahead. Also, There's a line in the Ballad about "Spirits as our Guide." So my guess, is at some point, Jen is going to be unblocked, and when she is, she's gonna call on the spirits of those who died on the Road - including Lilia. There's a reason Lilia was okay making the sacrifice she did, and why she was so insistent on Jen specifically getting out of there. I could be wrong, but I think the signs are there, and I cannot wait to see if I'm right.

Obstacles - Three of Swords - Agatha. Interesting, this one probably has several implications. Three of Swords represents heartache and grief. For Lilia specifically, one of her biggest obstacles has been her grief over seeing everyone she knows and loves die well before they do, and being unable to stop it. It's stopped her from using her power to it's full potential and kept her from connecting with and caring about people. She's needed to let that go, accept that Death comes for everyone, and that her visions having meaning and purpose, even if she can't change them. The card is mostly the same, they've just put a figure in the foreground that doesn't normally exist, aka Agatha. So it also kind of implies that Agatha, specifically Agatha's own heartache, has also been a giant obstacle to Lilia, and probably the coven as a whole - continuing the theme that actually, Agatha is her own worst enemy, which tracks.

Windfall - Tower Reversed - William/Billy/Teen. I've already talked about how this relates to Billy, but this reading is for Lilia. So the personal transformation is HERS. Violent and disruptive, but she'll become something new. What will she become? A spirit, maybe? Something else, something more? Or is it that in her final moments, she becomes the strongest, most complete version of herself? I'm inclined towards something beyond - she looks almost ecstatic when she draws it, and tied together with her Path Ahead being The High Priestess, I think she realizes while she may die, she's not done, and she's gonna be GLORIOUS. The card here isn't significantly modified, I believe it might be, but it was so quick I couldn't catch exactly how.

Destination - Death - Rio. And we get the (highly telegraphed) reveal that Rio is Death. Normally the card is Black Knight on a White Horse, but here it's just Rio in Grim Reaper guise. Makes sense, given that in this universe she predates Tarot, so in this deck, the card is based on her. Reading superficially, it's just that all roads lead to Death. But the card is more complicated than that and Lilia knows it. Because the Death card isn't just about physical death. It's about embracing the endings and accepting fate so that something new can begin. The personal transformation promised as the Windfall cannot happen unless one is willing to let the old self end. And Rio is the original Green Witch. A flower cannot grow without nutrients, and soil is enriched by what dies in it. So Lilia knows at this point she has to die. But it's okay now, because it's not an end, it's a new beginning. And I'm crying as I'm writing this. And I think the writers were SO CLEVER that the last shot we see of Lilia is of her as young girl, with her mentor saying "Let's Begin".

I think overall the writers have been very good with their use of tarot, and their layout is very cool. I also think it's very smart that they've associated certain cards with certain witches, and that the words Lilia was using in association with the cards were their basic definitions only. It makes sense; we're talking about a visual medium, and the way she did it was punchier, and more dynamic than doing an in depth interpretation of the cards. But what it didn't do was give us the reading as a whole, and almost tricked the audience into forgetting or dismissing the idea that the reading was for Lilia alone instead of the coven, and that the cards are working together to paint a fuller picture. But this episode has also shown that somebody on the writing staff knows their tarot, or at the very least did a lot of research. And I think there's a deeper interpretation to be had; Lilia's died, but she is not done.

I'm so excited for the last two episodes. I don't know if we'll see more cards after this, but I'm not ruling it out as a possibility. I also have the rest of the cards that were drawn this episode, which I'll go into in Part 2 of this (maybe 3, who knows, there were a LOT of cards). It should be up soon, but I need a bit of a break after writing this one. hope you all enjoyed it!

Here's the Links to Past Episodes

Episode 1-3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Part 2

#agatha all along #agatha all along spoilers #death's hand in mine #agatha harkness #lilia calderu #jennifer kale #rio vidal #william kaplan #billy maximoff #tarot cards #alice wu gulliver #sharon davis

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