Let’s be honest: the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is not the most romantic franchise in cinema history. Sure there are plenty of canon romantic relationships — Thor and Jane Foster, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, Steve and Bucky — but most of the time we get a relatively chaste kiss, and that’s it. That is, until Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) on Agatha All Along, who aren’t just bringing the heat, they’re also dropping the most insanely romantic and devastating line in MCU history in this week’s episode with “She is my scar.”
In fact, I would take it one step further and say that Agatha and Rio are bringing more electricity to the screen than any couple in MCU history. Again, perhaps not the highest hurdle to jump over. Credit is certainly due to the always excellent Hahn and Plaza, who bring their A-game to every project they’re in. But there’s something about the relationship between the two witches that is crackling with exquisite tension and heartbreaking in equal measure, all crystallized in that one sweepingly romantic gut-punch of a line.
The circumstances, in case you missed the hour. After a sweet jam sesh during this week’s episode, “If I Can’t Reach You Let My Song Teach You,” and saving the life of Teen (Joe Locke), the witches of the coven are relaxing around a roaring fire on the Witches’ Road. And as one does after a battle, they’re comparing scars. Agatha, who up to this point has been — to put it generously — standoffish with her coven, shows off a knitting needle scar she got from the Daughters of Liberty. Her scar story is a joke, with a punchline. But when the coven turns to Rio, things get seriously real.
“I’ve got a scar,” Rio says, to which Agatha shoots back, “No you don’t.”
“Yes I do,” Rio presses on, undeterred. “A long time ago, I loved someone. And I had to do something I did not wanna do, even though it was my job. And it hurt them. She is my scar.”
“She Is My Scar” Shows The Deep Connection Rio And Agatha Share
At that point, Agatha says she needs to stretch her legs. Shortly after, Rio follows and proceeds to lightly touch Agatha’s back. Agatha moans, turns around, they embrace, and are about to kiss until Rio breaks the moment by telling Agatha that Teen is not her son. This ties into one of the bigger mysteries of the series, the identity of Teen. And it’s also an indicator that Rio’s “job” had something to do with both Agatha (clearly) and her son Nicholas Scratch (most likely).
That’s all backstory, but why is that “she is my scar” line so romantic? It has to do with the context of the scene in which it appears. Credit to Hahn and Plaza, as well as writer Giovanna Sarquis and director Rachel Goldberg for making it so impactful. The witches are discussing battle scars… Moments when they suffered great pain, but came out stronger because of it. The scars they bear aren’t embarrassing, or moments of defeat. They got those scars and lived to tell the tale.
Agatha’s story drives that home, as she asks if the coven has ever heard of the Daughters of Liberty, and when they say “no” she shoots back “Exactly” to laughter. It’s vastly more personal with Rio because the person her scar comes from, the visible reminder of the wound she suffered, is sitting right next to her around the fire. Rio is telling that story to the coven — but she’s also broadcasting it as an explanation and apology to Agatha for what she did in the past. And Agatha knows it.
The key word here, too, is “visible.” Whereas everyone else’s scars are hidden under their clothes — they purposefully pull aside a shirt to show a burn mark, or Agatha rolls up her sleeve — Rio’s scar is always there, right in front of her, in the form of Agatha. She cannot avoid that pain of remembrance, because her scar is always in view.
What happens next, the way Hahn and Plaza play the scene, is that Agatha embraces Rio to comfort her. There’s certainly love that follows, and deep, sexual need. But after Rio strokes her back, Agatha turns around and holds her tight in forgiveness, without saying a word. This is despite what we’ve just been told, that Rio did a job that hurt Agatha and not the other way around.
And that gets to the second part of what makes the line, and sequence so impactful: the idea that when we hurt others, we hurt ourselves at the same time. Particularly with a superhero/comic book universe like the MCU, we think of “who would win a fight,” and then usually get to see that fight. What we’re seeing here with Agatha and Rio is the emotional fallout of a fight that happened a long time ago. Both of them still carry that pain. They seem to be controlled by their faults, and the circumstances of their pasts. They are trapped in the patterns that bind them, the scars both internal and external.
There’s one more aspect of this line that’s important to discuss, though.
A Scar Is A Wound That Healed
I’m probably not telling you anything you don’t know here, but a scar is a wound that healed, but not all the way. There’s still that piece of tissue that will never be the same. Rio is telling us that she knows she changed Agatha through her actions, that she knows she hurt her lover beyond repair. But Agatha has healed into something new, and Rio recognizes that.
It’s funny, because “she is my scar” is very similar to the most lauded and maligned line of dialogue from WandaVision, “What is grief, if not love persevering?” That line was originally “What is grief, if not love surviving?” as crafted by WandaVision and Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer and her team (the tweak to “persevering” from “surviving” is credited to her assistant Laura Monti). And “She is my scar” implies a similar thing. Agatha is a living reminder of Rio’s mistake. Her grief, anguish, whatever. But she’s also her love, continued. She can see both in the form of the coven-less witch she’s promised to kill at the end of the Witches’ Road. She is her scar.
Given the events at the end of the episode, that scar won’t be going away any time soon. The question is whether it will continue to heal, or if that wound will reopen. And after all, what is a scar, if not a wound persevering?
Agatha All Along Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
The first two episodes of Agatha All Along premiered September 18 at 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET on Disney+. It streams weekly, leading up to the two-episode finale on October 30. There are nine episodes, in total.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Agatha All Along, with premiere dates:
- Wednesday, September 18, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 1: “Seekest Thou The Road”
- Wednesday, September 18, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 2: “Circle Sewn With Fate Unlock They Hidden Gate”
- Wednesday, September 25, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 3: “Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials”
- Wednesday, October 2, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 4: “If I Can’t Reach You Let My Song Teach You”
- Wednesday, October 9, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 5
- Wednesday, October 16, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 6
- Wednesday, October 23, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 7
- Wednesday, October 30, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 8
- Wednesday, October 30, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 9
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