#the one in which Evanora is a bitch be she also genuinely believed that not bounding Agatha would cause an apocalypse

[marvelousazula]

I have a bunch of fic ideas but here I was struck with the idea of "so Wanda went all Uno Reverse on Agatha, what if Agatha went Uno Reverse back and Wanda I think prophesied destroyer of the world actually meant triggering a motherfucker"

[cassiebones]

I think it's a hallucination

I think that the Salem Seven's bugs bit/stung the group as they flew through them because, otherwise, what was the point of including that in the episode? It didn't do shit to stop them. It would have been more effective for that one Salemite to stay there, blocking them with her body. She may have caught at least one of them or slowed them down for the others to catch up.

So, assuming they did get bit/stung by those bugs and assuming they are, in fact, all hallucinating:

They're not all hallucinating the same thing.

This episode was mainly Agatha's hallucination, obviously. She's the one they most want to punish. I guess she never explained why their parents died, or they were just too upset to care why it happened, just that it did happen. It's said that they were young, so how young are we talking? Younger than Agatha, most likely. Maybe they were babies and toddlers, being cared for by other parents/ family members, who filled their heads with the same vitriol that led to Agatha's attempted execution by their mothers.

Honestly, Agatha should have adopted them all and turned them into her little army of baby witches, but she didn't. She was probably also scarred by the experience and then literally meeting Death (aka Rio Vidal, the love of her life) and got distracted.

But that makes me think that, maybe, when a witch is killed in a duel, it's expected for the witch to wipe out the children, to end the bloodline with that witch. And Agatha Harkness showed mercy to these babies. She allowed them to live, which eventually became her biggest regret.

Showing Humanity is one of Agatha's biggest regrets.

That explains so much about this woman, I swear.

Anyway, hallucinations.

Agatha's is an embodiment of everything she has ever feared:

Losing Control - Agatha cannot rely on other people. She learned that, probably, at a young age because her mother despised her. She kept Agatha alive despite her claims that she knew she should have killed Agatha when she was born. I cannot find shit about her father, but he's never mentioned so maybe he wasn't in the picture. Hard to believe Evanora wouldn't have been married before having children but idk. Bitch is crazy. Anyway, Agatha knew that she couldn't rely on anybody: not her mother, not even her own coven. She was alone in the world, even when Rio came. She tried not to rely on anybody. Being possessed means relying on others to save her.

Her mother - this old fucking crone. I cannot stand her. Just in, like, six minutes of an episode, I have beef with an old ghost. This woman terrorized her daughter from the moment she was born. She "knew" she was evil (then why didn't you kill her, Voldemort? she was a baby. all you needed was a knife. or just leave her somewhere without food?!?! lying bitch...sorry) and yet raised this child, torturing her, punishing her for shit she probably had no control over. If Agatha had a father, he definitely didn't protect her. Probably didn't love her, either. Poor Agatha had such a rough start. And this bitch CONTINUES to try and torture her daughter. WTF just die.

Her coven turning on her - trauma, trauma, trauma. Agatha can be callous, but she has shown each of them kindness while they've been on the road. But still they immediately turn on her, frothing at the mouth to punish her, to leave her behind with her mother. Agatha shows genuine fear for the first time and the only one who has empathy is Teen. And Rio, I think, because both Rio and Agatha know that she can't actually do anything to Agatha, and even if Agatha dies, that they'll be together.

Involuntary Power Grab - I believe Agatha when she says that she couldn't control it when she took Alice's power. The same thing happened to her as a young witch. She didn't know that she could do that, that that was something that could happen just from people blasting her with their magic. But, of course, she knew that nobody would believe her. Even the teen boy who had been so enthralled her is blaming her for what happened to his friend. It's grief, I know, but still.

Agatha cries "I can be good" and it breaks my heart (Kathryn better get an Emmy for this one) because this is a middle-aged witch (I'm guessing, Idk how old witches get, but this iteration was probably 20 when they tried to kill her in the 1600's so...eh) who is begging for understanding and forgiveness, for them to take her with them because she is so fucking terrified of her own mother.

And then she inadvertently kills a member of her coven. A member who was trying to save her while the others stood and watched. She didn't mean to do it, didn't want Alice to die, but who's going to believe her based on her past? Nobody.

I believe the also worst fears were for Teen, who had gone into this practically worshipping Agatha, and then he was seemingly proven wrong about her. What everybody else said is correct; Agatha is power-hungry and cares for nobody. She's just a remorseless killer.

Or it could be another part of her own fears. Finally, she has somebody who gives her praise (besides Rio) who has heard all the legends and likes her, anyway. Teen treats her like a hero, like a powerful witch, and goddammit does she care about him. She cares so much about this child, who has become almost like a stand-in for Nicholas. And the way she tries to explain to him, desperate for him to understand her? Ugh, my heart.

I'm gonna trust that Jac Schaeffer knows what she's doing and that the next episode is going to be a sort of Part 2 to this. That we may see either the other hallucinations or what really is happening here.

I, personally, cannot wait.