Agatha All Along: All the Clues About Marvel’s Death

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Agatha All Along episode 7. Agatha was courting Death all along. Wednesday’s episode of Agatha All Along, titled “Death’s Hand in Mine,” revealed the true identity of the original Green Witch: Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal is Death herself. “In the end, all roads lead to me,” she said in the episode, which ended with the death of the divination witch Lilia (Patti LuPone) as she sacrificed herself to save what remains of the coven — Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), future High Priestess Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), and Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke), the Wiccan son of the Scarlet Witch — from the revenge-seeking Salem Seven.

Here are all the clues that Rio was Death all along.

Seekest Thou the Road

In episode 1, “Rio” attacked Agatha at her home in Westview, telling her, “Since you acquired the Darkhold, you hid behind all that dark magic, but then you lost it,” which happened in WandaVision. After the death of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) — who died destroying all versions of the Book of the Damned across the multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — Agatha was freed from the spell that trapped her in the New Jersey neighborhood without her powers.

Although Agatha was physically vulnerable for the first time in centuries, Rio couldn’t kill her. “It’s not allowed,” Agatha told the black-clad witch. “Maybe I can’t kill you,” Rio replied, “but I can make you wish you were dead.” She dared Agatha to steal her power, but doing so would kill Agatha, so she convinced Rio to wait until she gets “her purple” back.

“After all these centuries, Agatha Harkness will finally meet her end,” Rio told her. “It really warms the heart.” When Agatha countered that Rio doesn’t have a heart, she said: “Yes, I do. It’s black, and it beats for you.” (A black heart also appeared on WandaVision to mark a date with Mr. and Mrs. Hart, but there was speculation that Rio’s “black heart” was a reference to the character Blackheart — one of the children of the demon Mephisto.)

Rio sent the Salem Seven after Agatha, who escaped down the Witches’ Road with the sigil-cast “Teen,” Jennifer, Lilia, protection witch Alice Wu (Ali Ahn), and “Mrs. Hart,” a.k.a. Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp). If she survives the trials on the Witches’ Road, she’ll claim her prize at the end: the return of her powers stolen from her by the Scarlet Witch.

Circle Sewn with Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate

After Agatha assembled a collection of “witchy-enough people” to form the coven needed to open the door to the Witches’ Road, they sang “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road.” The Ballad includes the lyric: “I hold Death’s hand in mine…” Death, capitalized, referring to the personification of Death herself.

The Ballad also required a Green Witch — “Wake thy power, earthly and divine” — as “Earth magic is arguably the most important skill set for an attempt at The Road.”

The “black heart” (scribbled in black ink, Agatha noted) was referenced again, this time before the covenless witches recruited Sharon, a.k.a. Mrs. Hart from Wanda’s Hex.

Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials

Episode 7 revealed that Lilia’s powers of divination caused her to experience her life out of sequence. In episode 3, she said “…try to save Agatha,” an unfinished thought that seems random but happened out of sequence. While potions witch Jennifer was able to conjure up a concoction that saved the poisoned coven during their first trial, the antidote came too late to save Sharon: the episode ended with the realization that Sharon was dead.

If I Can’t Reach You, Let My Song Teach You

With Sharon’s death, the coven was incomplete. Agatha thought the Ballad’s lyrics were “Burn and brew, with coven two, and glory shall be thine,” but the actual lyrics are: “With coven true, glory shall be thine.” Agatha insisted that she would need just a coven of two to make it to the end of the Witches’ Road, but it was determined the coven needed their Green Witch.

With “Teen’s” spellbook, they summoned a replacement Green Witch who is “strong and wise, and the best at her craft.” Like a zombie clawing out of the grave, the Green Witch who emerged from the earth was Rio. She told the coven she’s “less ‘a’ Green Witch,” and, in a demonic voice, added she’s “the Green Witch.”

Lilia had another vision and blurted out: “Alice, don’t.” Neither Lilia or Alice understood what that meant, as the sentence was out of sequence and wouldn’t be put together until later: “Alice, don’t… try to save Agatha.”

In episode 4, there was an exchange between Agatha and Rio about Rio appearing on the Road too early. “Magick, as it does, took the path of least resistance, ferried the closest, most appropriate candidate down. Or up.”

Agatha suggested a truce so that the witches could get her to the end of the Witches’ Road. “I get the pleasure of watching you do what you do best. Kill all the witches around you, one by one,” Rio said. “You get your power, and I get my bodies.”

Later, after Teen was burned by a curse during a ’70s-themed jam session, he began to bleed out. Agatha looked to Rio and said: “Don’t. Don’t.” Lilia, chanting in Latin, then said in English, “Three of Swords.” Jen’s potions healed Teen — but only because Death didn’t take Billy.

Rio told the coven that she had her own scar. Not from something, but someone. “A long time ago, I loved someone,” Rio said. “And I had to do something that I did not wanna do, even though it was my job. And it hurt them. She is my scar.” As Death, she may have had something to do with the death of Agatha’s young son, Nicholas Scratch, explaining the animosity between the former lovers.

The scene climaxed in an almost-kiss between Agatha and Rio, who told Agatha about Teen: “That boy isn’t yours.”

Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power

During Agatha’s trial in episode 5, the Salem Seven chased the coven to an ’80s slasher-style cabin in the woods. As they prepared to use a Ouija board, one of the rules was “do not ask about death.” But when the coven used the Ouija board, it spelled out “D-E-A-T-H,” and they summoned Agatha’s mother, Evanora Harkness of the Salemites, the coven Agatha killed back in 1693 (as seen on WandaVision).

Evanora’s spirit was there to “punish” Agatha with the Salem Seven, but then another spirit communicated: Nicholas. The episode ended with Alice’s death and the revelation that “Teen” is the son of the Scarlet Witch when his magic powers suddenly manifested.

“Death comes for us all,” Lilia said, repeating a line from her visions.

Familiar by Thy Side

Flashbacks revealed that Lilia cast the sigil on “Teen,” who was Westview teenager William Kaplan. But when he died during a car accident just as the Scarlet Witch removed her Hex over Westview (in the WandaVision series finale), the soul of Wanda’s son, Billy Maximoff (Julian Hilliard), inhabited William’s now-vacant body. (The car accident was referenced in the first episode, when Agatha was acting as decorated “Detective Agnes O’Connor.”)

Billy-William then broke Wanda’s spell on Agatha, setting them down, down, down the Witches’ Road, with Agatha after her powers and Billy hoping to find his twin brother, Tommy.

Death’s Hand in Mine

During Lilia’s Tarot trial, Agatha and Billy had Lilia divine the meaning of Tarot cards. The cards represented:

Jennifer: “The Path Ahead.” High Priestess, “immense spiritual power, unable or unwilling to use it.”
Billy: “The Tower reversed.” “Disaster, destruction, sudden upheaval — but reversed, it means miraculous transformation.”
Agatha: “Three of Swords.” “Heartbreak, sorrow, grief.”

As Lilia reached “The Destination,” she saw Rio, her face a skull, asking: “Don’t you recognize me?” As she predicted, “Death comes for us all.” Only then did Lilia realize Rio is Death, the original Green Witch. And Agatha knew all along.

See our guide to all the clues that Teen was Wiccan all along, Agatha Harkness’ history with the Salem Seven, and Wiccan and the Scarlet Witch’s connection to Mephisto in the comics. The two-episode Agatha All Along finale premieres Wednesday, Oct. 30, on Disney+.