Agatha All Along: What Is Episode 4’s Witches Road Trial?

Agatha All Along turns its attention to Alice Wu-Gulliver this week for the third trial on The Witches’ Road. Episode 4 of the Disney+ Marvel series takes fans back to the 1970s for a musical trial with Agatha Harkness’ coven. After losing Mrs. Hart last week, the team was in need of a new Green Witch and they got the most chaotic replacement imaginable. Rio Vidal strolled right back into Agatha’s life after being summoned to fill the void left by Sharon’s death in Episode 3. With Aubrey Plaza’s witch in-tow, the coven approaches another mysterious house with a door illustrating another phase of the moon. However, Alice Wu-Gulliver wants absolutely no parts of this trial

Upon entering, the witches are outfitted with groovy 70s costumes. (Fans will no doubt love the throwback looks on social media.) As they inspect the house, the coven discovers that a metronome triggers this week’s trial. Everyone has to perform “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” (Lorna’s Version). Yes, the most popular version of the spell was performed by Alice’s mother back in the 1970s. Her band, Lorna Wu and the Coral Shore, were rockstars and her famous cover of the centuries old spell had magic out in the larger MCU without anyone realizing it. However, last week we learned that Lorna was lost to The Witches’ Road when Alice was younger and the witch harbors some real trauma over that fact. 

Despite all that drama, the metronome’s spell is burning witches at an alarming rate. The room is also populated by a rogue demon who’s begun attacking the coven and knocking Teen out of commission. Alice has to step behind that piano and deliver a rousing performance of “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” in order to save her new covenmates or they’re all going to burn. One of the musical numbers that’s been present in the promo for Agatha All Along really kicks into full gear during this period. By stepping into her family’s legacy Alice helps the coven literally bring down the house and move on to the next trial. But, everything is not completely on the up-and-up for our favorite witches heading into Episode 5.

More Drama With Teen In Episode 4

Episode 4 of Agatha All Along decided to address some more of Teen’s mystery this week too. When the boy is knocked unconscious and badly hurt, Agatha Harkness freaks out trying to save him. However, this is likely not due to a change of heart from the antihero witch. Throughout Agatha All Along‘s run, fans have speculated that Joe Locke could be playing Billy Kaplan or Wiccan. But, other corners of the fanbase thought that he might be playing Agatha’s lost son Nicholas Scratch. On that front, Rio Vidal tells our main character that “Teen” isn’t the boy in question, then Agatha smiles and walks away. 

Director Jac Schaeffer talked to Entertainment Weekly about the constant Wiccan theories and how she’s approaching the mystery. “I don’t like hiding things from the audience, just to then be, like, ‘Boo!’ There’s no artistry to that,” Schaeffer would add. “So when we talked about obscuring who he is, the first question is, why? What is the utility of that? The answer is, it’s about the effect that his mystery has on Agatha. What does that do to her? How does it motivate her? How does it hit her emotionally?”

Later in the same interview, the director wonders about all that fan fervor surrounding the Mephisto teases in WandaVision. “It still stops my heart,” Schaeffer explained. “My preoccupation is maximum viewer enjoyment, so I get nervous when people get ahead of it. I have to trust that humans are capable of deciding what kind of experience they want. But I comfort myself with the knowledge that it’s a circuitous path, and I hope that that path is enjoyable… It makes me a little heartsick when I catch reactions of people who were ultimately disappointed by things. It gets to me a little bit. But in approaching ‘Agatha,’ it was not front of mind. I really can’t control that. That’s a level of fandom that is beyond my reach.”

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