The main thrust of the action on Agatha All Along is the coven traveling the Witches’ Road. The goal? For Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) it’s power. For Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke) it’s to find his brother, Tommy. Everyone has their own individual goal. But to throw out an Agatha All Along theory that has a fair amount of evidence behind it, what if the “prize” at the end of the road is death?
Not Death as in Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), though if Agatha doesn’t win a little kiss on the mouth from Rio by the end of the series there will be rioting in the streets. But the death, peace, whatever you want to call it. The germ of the theory comes from a poster on Reddit, which throws out there that as soon as someone achieves their goal on the Road, they die.
While they’re definitely correct that Lilia Calderu’s (Patti Lupone) arc was given excellent closure in Episode 7, “Death’s Hand In Mine,” and Alice finally settled her family’s curse in Episode 3, “Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials,” only to die soon after, I’d argue that Sharon Davis’s (Debra Jo Rupp) goal was to not die, and she didn’t achieve that very successfully. Or at least whatever the erstwhile Mrs. Hart wanted, it wasn’t to die on the Witches’ Road from drinking poisoned wine.
Still, there’s a lot of merit to this idea — particularly with Rio being revealed as Death in the previous episode. Death, both the person and the concept are a key part of Agatha All Along, and will likely play into the final two episodes this week in a big way. But why, if they all think the Road is essentially a genie granting wishes, would it actually be about death the whole time? And if Agatha has already walked the road, why isn’t she dead?
Let’s start with that, first.
If The Witches’ Road Grants Death, Why Is Agatha Still Alive?
Something that’s important to remember here is that Agatha seemingly did not want to walk the Witches’ Road to begin with, and didn’t even seem to think they could open it. When the group is being closed in on by the Salem Seven in Episode 2, “Circle Sewn With Fate Unlock Thy Hidden Gate,” she’s riling them up by singing the song, then yells at them, “Blast me, you b**ches!” Her goal is for them to blast her with their power, so she can regain hers. And when the door to the Witches’ Road actually does open, she seems surprised.
Then note that in every trial on the Witches’ Road, Agatha has for the most part been actively trying to work against everyone and disrupt the trials. Part of that could be Agatha’s basic nature as an antagonist. But what if she’s avoiding and disrupting the trials because she knows that whoever solves them will die?
And there’s one last important part here… Agatha has said she completed the Witches’ Road once, but noted that she only made it out with one other witch. Everyone — including the viewers — assumed the witch killer slaughtered her fellow witches on the road. But if that one other person is Rio, aka Death… Well, there’s clearly more to the story there. But it would explain why she’s not dead if her epic romance with Death let her off the hook for the “prize.”
Granted, Agatha could also be lying about previously walking the road, but we’ll see soon enough what really happened.
“Ballad Of The Witches’ Road” Has Been Teasing Death All Along
There are several versions of the “Ballad of the Witches’ Road,” and all of them seem to point to death, not power at the end. Here are the full lyrics to the Sacred Chant version, aka the main version of the song.
Seekest thou the road
To all that’s foul and fair
Gather sisters fire, water, earth and airDarkest hour, wake thy power
Earthly and divine
Burn and brew with coven true
And glory shall be thineDown, down, down the road, down the Witches’ Road
Down, down, down the road, down the Witches’ Road
Down, down, down the road, down the Witches’ RoadCircle Sewn With Fate
Unlock thy hidden gate
Marching ever forward ‘neath the wooded shrine
I stray not from the path
I hold Death’s hand in mine…Primal night giveth sight
Familiar by thy side
If Sun be gone, we carry on
Spirit as our guide…Down, down, down the road, down the Witches’ Road
Down the witches road, down the Witches’ Road
Down, down, down the road, down the Witches Road
Down the witches road, down the Witches’ Road
Down, down, down the road, down the Witches’ Road
Down the witches road, down the Witches’ Road
Blood and tears and bone
Maiden Mother CroneThe road is wild and wicked
Winding through the wood
Whеre all that’s wrong is right
And all that’s bad is good
Through many miles of tricks and trials
Well wander high and low
Tame your fears, a door appears
The time has come to goDown, down, down the road, down the Witches’ Road
Down the witches road, down the Witches’ Road
Down, down, down the road, down the Witches’ Road
Down the witches road, down the Witches’ Road
Down, down, down the road, down the Witches’ Road
Down the witches road, down the Witches’ Road
Follow me, my friend
To glory at the end
Without getting too in the weeds here, the first two verses are a clear setup of how to assemble your coven. Then after the first chorus, the next two verses are interesting because they include the lyrics “Death’s hand in mine” and “If Sun be gone we carry on / spirit as our guide.” Those certainly seem to be indicating death is on the journey with you. And perhaps “sun be gone” is actually “son be gone” as in Agatha’s son Nicholas Scratch, who is likely dead or in Hell.
So, what about the verse where it seems like everything that’s bad is good… Wouldn’t that reversal perhaps point to death — something seen as an end — actually being a beginning, exactly what happened to Lilia in the previous episode? And “tame your fears, a door appears / The time has come to go,” could imply the doors to the trials, or that it’s time to leave, aka let go of this mortal coil.
The song ends with “Follow me, my friend / To glory at the end,” which definitely seems to imply going to Heaven, the afterlife, whatever. And as for Lorna Wu’s version of the song, she says “I’ll see you at the end” five times in a row. Lorna, Alice Wu-Gulliver’s (Ali Ahn) mother is dead. While she wrote the song while she was alive, it could imply this takes you to a witch afterlife, rather than giving ultimate power.
…But there’s one more thing to think about here, and that’s what Jac Schaeffer, showrunner of Agatha All Along, has said.
Agatha All Along “Is About Death”
Agatha All Along starts with the dead body of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). It includes the character of Death. Multiple characters have been dying, including Billy who took over the dead body of William Kaplan. So why wouldn’t the Witches’ Road be about death, too?
In a recent interview with The Wrap, Schaeffer said it pretty plainly.
“But with the show we have, it is about death,” Schaeffer said. “We literally have the character of Death in the show, and we wanted to take that seriously. I think the MCU and the comics can sometimes play it fast and loose with killing characters. That often works and is wonderful. But for us, there was a gravity that we wanted to reach with these stories.”
So there you have it. The show is about death. It’s not power. So why would the conclusion be Agatha gets her power back and Billy gets Tommy back and Scarlet Witch returns and there’s a big witch-blast battle? That’s clearly not what Schaeffer is dealing with, and likely won’t be where we end up in the finale.
Instead, it makes sense that what might be offered to Agatha is release. Pay for your crimes against fellow witches. Let go of your extraordinarily long life. And join Rio, death’s hand in hers. Will she take that choice? Likely not. But whether it is Agatha presented with it, or Billy winning and being granted the death he cheated William Kaplan out of… Well, we’ll know the answer soon enough. Because everything ends, even Agatha All Along. And as Rio says, “All roads lead to me.”
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 Thy 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: “Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power”
- Wednesday, October 16, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 6: “Familiar by Thy Side”
- Wednesday, October 23, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 7: “Death’s Hand In Mine”
- Wednesday, October 30, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 8
- Wednesday, October 30, 2024: Agatha All Along, Episode 9
Where To Watch Agatha All Along:
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