Agatha All Along: Agatha May Be Telling a Very Big Lie
I'm not convinced Agatha has walked the Witches' Road after Episode 3.
While she's not exactly a beloved figure, Agatha Harkness is something of a legend among the witches in Agatha All Along for one big reason: Agatha has successfully walked the Witches' Road, meaning that she took on the Road and its trials and survived, presumably being given what she wanted the most when she reached the end. It's a major feat to be sure, something that seemingly other witches have died trying but now that we're three episodes — and one full trial of the Road — deep on Agatha All Along, I have some questions. In fact, I'm starting to think that Agatha may indeed be the lying witch with a great wardrobe and she's telling a pretty big lie about a very specific thing: I'm not sold that Agatha has walked the Witches' Road before.
My doubt of Agatha starts pretty early, goes back to WandaVision really because Agatha has never really been a character that I'd consider trustworthy, but in terms of the new series, I started doubting Agatha's experience with the Witches' Road from the moment Teen started talking to her about the Road and how he wanted to walk it. The idea seemed to make Agatha uneasy, which certainly could be a product of having had a traumatic experience with it before, but it also seemed a bit like nervousness that she doesn't exactly know what she's doing. Sure, she understands the basics, but it's the difference between book learning and firsthand knowledge. That sense gets stronger when we see her going to assemble her coven. She knows she needs one and she knows how to get them, but she initially attempts to form her coven without a green witch and has to be strongly reminded that it's a requirement.
After that, when she gets her substitute green witch in Sharon, she attempts to open the gate to the Road and that attempt didn't work — or at least seemed not to. When singing the ballad didn't exactly cause the path to appear, Agatha played it off as being something that happened more quickly "the last time" but we also find out that the real reason she was assembling a coven is that she wanted them to get mad at her and blast her with their powers so she could take them. It seems in that moment that Agatha has maybe never actually summoned the Road before and was instead seeking a more efficient way of gaining power through theft. Then, once the Road is opened to them, Agatha is hesitant to embark on it and seems confused or even surprised when the door closes behind her and seals off leaving the coven with no way out but through.
Then we get to the first trial. Agatha is hesitant to enter the first trial and even attempts to not participate. While everyone else is drinking the wine like the trial requires, Agatha dumps hers out. She also tries to break out of the house where the trial is taking place. Had Agatha actually walked the Road before, she would know that the entire coven has to participate in the trial in order for it to work. An experienced Witches' Road walker would know you can't trick the trials and her reaction to things suggests that she's in way over her head.
Beyond all of this, however, are some other fine details. If Agatha has already walked the Road, she presumably already got from it what she wanted most and we already know that she doesn't need the Road to get power. It's pretty clear that she has no actual desire to walk the Road anyway and it was only because they were chased onto that she's even there. There's also the matter of no one really knows much about her previous Road experience. There are some allusions to her previous journey but most of those are derisive and questioning the fates of the witches that walked with her. Since it has already been established that Agatha is untrustworthy and duplicitous and the sort who seeks out shortcuts to expand her power — using the Darkhold, goading Wanda into coming into her full power so that she could turn around and steal her chaos magic — Agatha hasn't been sold as someone who would do the work required of her on the Road.
Oh, and how could I forget? Episode 2 saw Lilia Calderu have some sort of vision that prompted her to call out "save Agatha". That has to be something.
Anyway. Sure, all of Agatha's reactions and responses to things thus far could be rooted in trauma. As we've seen, the Witches' Road is no joke and has already claimed one life — rest in peace, Sharon Davis. If Agatha really has walked the Road before, she probably saw all manner of traumatic things on her way to the end which could certainly account for some of her behavior. It could even account for her not quite remembering how long it takes for the path appear as trauma does have an impact on memory. But Agatha is also a known manipulator and even accounting for trauma, things just seem fishy and if the witch we love to hate as really never done this before, it could have major impact on the rest of the journey. We'll just have to wait and see.
Agatha All Along is now streaming on Disney+. New episodes arrive on Wednesdays.
