WandaVision's real villain reveals themselves – but there's a lot more to it

Warning: the following contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 7. Turn back now if you haven’t seen the latest episode!

WandaVision episode 7 finally answered the burning question that's been on all of our minds since the first sitcom-esque episode arrived: who's the big bad of the Marvel series waiting in the wings?

Turns out Wanda is not behind everything going on in suburbia. Although she's clearly in control of most of Westview thanks to her Hex powers, Agnes, AKA Agatha Harkness, has been pulling strings behind the scenes.

In the catchiest song you're likely to hear this weekend, Agnes reveals it was her all along. She's been manipulating Wanda's reality using her own witchy purple powers, and every calamity that has befallen Wanda has been at Agnes' hand (even Sparky the puppy's unfortunate fate). However, all may not be as it seems... 

Agnes

It all seems fairly cut-and-dry – Agnes herself confesses to being Agatha Harkness, then breaks out her own sinister theme tune. She messed with Wanda's magic show, got Herb all confused, was behind the alternate version of Pietro Maximoff arriving at the Vision household's doorstep, knew exactly what she was doing when she told Vision he was dead, and was the one speaking to Wanda from behind the scenes in the Modern Family-style episode. And, yes, she killed Sparky.

Agnes also seems to have done something to Billy and Tommy. She was babysitting them, but when Wanda asks where they are, Agnes says the twins are probably in the basement. When Wanda ventures downstairs, though, the witch decides to reveal herself. So what happened to the kids? If the show draws from its source material, potentially something very terrible indeed. 

Agatha Harkness

In the comics, Agatha is actually Scarlet Witch's mentor. She helps Wanda get over the loss of her twins Billy and Tommy, who were formed from fragments of the villainous Mephisto's soul and then eventually reabsorbed by the demonic villain. Agatha then ensures Wanda forgets they ever existed. 

Agatha also has a son called Nicholas Scratch, and WandaVision's Señor Scratchy is a reference to that. Scratch is a wizard in his own right, and a regular nemesis of the Fantastic Four. Agatha also has a past with that superhero squad, once taking care of Franklin Richards, who is Mister Fantastic's son. Could she potentially be a pathway to Marvel's big screen reboot of the First Family?

Considering her history as a mentor and ally to Scarlet Witch, it does seem strange that Agnes/Agatha would now be intent on ruining Wanda's newfound happiness in Westview. But perhaps there's someone pulling her strings...

Is all as it seems?

Wanda tells Monica Rambeau that believes herself to be a villain before being whisked away by Agnes. The timing is interesting and has led some viewers to believe that maybe, possibly Wanda's manufactured her own villain in Agnes. However, the aspect ratio change as Wanda goes down into the basement seems to signal that this is, indeed, reality. 

Then there's the question of Agatha's motives. Her various antics have predominantly been focused on making Vision realize that WestView is not actually an idyllic American suburb and instead a construction of Wanda's powers. But what's the point? Agatha is clearly very powerful, and therefore not trapped in Westview and trying to find a way out. 

Agnes also seems to delight in her villainy – is she really just bad for the sake of it? In a show as twisty as WandaVision, that seems unlikely, especially because she brought an alternate universe version of Quicksilver to suburbia. Surely with powers capable of that kind of reality-hopping, Agnes has something else up her sleeve.

All things considered, it appears Agnes is trying to manipulate Wanda for her own gain and has been trying to play Wanda and Vision against each other. The exact reason why, we can only speculate at. Perhaps she wants Wanda to cover the entire planet in the Hex, leading to a House of M scenario? It's also clear that Agnes is not working alone.

What about Dottie?

There's the brief shot of Dottie watching Monica and Wanda's showdown. Theories have been flying about who Dottie could really be – from the devilish Mephisto to Clea, Sorceress Supreme. Could she be in cahoots with Agatha, and be the real big bad of Westview? It seems likely, especially since Emma Caulfield recently called attention to her character's sudden lack of screen time on Twitter.

She's also tending to her roses, which Agnes has already said bloom under penalty of death. Ominous. They're either working together or Dottie is manipulating Agatha, who has, in turn, been manipulating Wanda. Layers on layers on layers... 

We'll have to wait a little longer to see what's truly going on with Agatha. Until the next WandaVision episode arrives, check out our guide to every Westview resident who might have a link to the comics for more to puzzle over.