‘WandaVision’ Recap: ‘The Series Finale’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of ‘WandaVision’.
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Over the course of the past nine weeks, the Disney+ series, WandaVision, has managed to provide its loyal fans with a supremely unique superhero story. One that has dug deep into the power of and nature of trauma and loss and grief, and how those elements can consume a person in a negative manner, and it is also a story that features a fallen superhero. For in this particular tale, Wanda ‘The Scarlet Witch’ Maximoff is the one responsible for all of the ‘problems’ in Westview, New Jersey and that makes her the heavy as well, and that particularly unfortunate fact has left all of us wondering, as to whether or not Wanda can find redemption.
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Which really is the quandary that was hanging over ‘The Series Finale’ of this tale, because Wanda really did have quite the choice to make. In that, she could either continue to let this grand lie persist and do her best to keep control over innocent people, or finally face her pain and her fears and do the right thing. But alas, before she could make that difficult decision, she had some new problems to deal with in this story. For Agatha Harkness revealed that she had played along with Wanda’s charade in order to steal her powers and use them for her own gain, and the newly created White Vision had arrived in Westview to neutralize this fallen hero and well, all of that led to an MCU staple… one grand showdown. 

One where imaginary Vision and the reformed real thing squared off at last in an incredibly fascinating manner. Because rather than continually try to offer up a powerhouse show of force, the OG Vision opted to use reason and memory to teach his new self where exactly he’d come from and what kind of man he truly is, all so that he could be free of the evil that S.W.O.R.D. embedded into his programming. And while Vision dealt with that, dear Wanda had her hands full for certain. Because not only did she have to fight Agatha, but Agents of S.W.O.R.D., since they came rushing into town during a moment of weakness. But thankfully, family and friends were able to stabilize the situation so that Wanda could deal with Agatha and finally decide what path she was going to take.

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Which is something that Agatha actually managed to help her with. Because she spent this entire tale brow beating Wanda by informing her that she was too weak and too meek to handle this kind of power and that if she didn’t surrender it, that she would destroy the entire world by wielding it and hearing those words and seeing how she was viewed by the people of Westview, gave Wanda pause. Which allowed for her to realize that she wasn’t a villain or a lost cause, just a shattered soul that let grief take hold and that the time had come for her to stop projecting her pain onto others and own up to the reality of the situation. And that motivated her to embrace her powers at last and use them for good, which brought defeat and punishment to Agatha… and the end of the Hex over Westview. 
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But before the Hex dissolved, Wanda was able to properly process her grief and her loss by bidding farewell to her imaginary family, who simply could not exist without the magic of the Hex and that led to some beautiful and emotional moments. Wherein Wanda was finally able to properly say goodbye to her love and give Vision the dignity in death that he was initially denied and doing that, finally gave Wanda the peace she needed and the realization that the time had come for her to do a little soul searching and proper healing and well… that’s where this beautiful and powerful and sweeping story ends. With Wanda ‘The Scarlet Witch’ Maximoff, heading out into the world to find herself and to complete the healing process that she’s finally begun, and that made this finale, a supremely satisfying one when all is said and done.

Because at long last, Wanda overcame her pain and in doing so, found newfound strength and power and well… it would be foolish to not point out that such a twist was likely directed at certain members of the audience. Specifically, the ones that might be struggling with grief and loss and trauma themselves. An act that gives this story depth and meaning and hope for those that need it, and also engenders excitement for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Because clearly, it is now evolving and growing into something more and if this series is any indicator of what Phase Four is going to look like, then we are in for some powerful storytelling. The kind that we will be able to relate to on some level, and the kind that will grow these heroes in a manner that the genre has never tried before.     

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