The following contains spoilers for WandaVision ending and episodes that led to it.
Once the dust settled on the WandaVision final (now streaming on Disney +), yes, Wanda (played by Elizabeth Olsen) defeated rival witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn hahn). And yes, she freed the people of Westview, NJ from the spell that held them hostage in their idyllic world, in the course of sacrificing the family she conjured up for herself.
But the fact remains that – as previously revealed by Agatha, and later assumed by Wanda herself – these people not only had their identities stolen, but, as one observed, “When you let us sleep, we have your nightmares!”
When Wanda entered the city after losing her sight and her children to the missing Hex, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) tried to lighten the witch’s guilt a little by saying, “They will never know what you sacrificed for them.” But Wanda knew this was far from being true, saying, “It wouldn’t change the way they see me.”
Some viewers, however, felt that this exchange was somewhat appropriate. That although Wanda owns her role in Westview’s torture, that doesn’t change at all occurred.
So, was there “more” in that final scene, an attempt to do better by the people of Westview?
“There is so much talk about taking Westview hostage in the end as it is,” WandaVision director Matt Shakman observes. In the mid-episode scene, “Agatha is really bringing this to Wanda, saying, ‘Are you a hero or a villain? Heroes don’t torture people. ‘It’s a great moment at the end, when Wanda has to fight it. “
Speaking for the scene after Hex’s collapse, lead editor Jac Schaeffer told TVLine: “I think Wanda’s walk of shame back to the city is really powerful, and it was written as such on the page. It was supposed to be like an assault on people’s deadly stares, and we were made to feel how angry they all are.
“I remember a note from [Marvel Studios chief] Kevin [Feige] being like, ‘More, more, let’s feel that for we will understand that what she did was terrible ‘”, adds Schaeffer.
For those who wanted a happier ending for Westview, “No, that’s not the story we’re telling, which now [Wanda] you have to leave everything OK, ”says Schaeffer. “It wasn’t about landing her in a way that was like, ‘Everything is wrapped up and completely clean, and she’s a hero and hasn’t done anything wrong!’ She did a much wrong. And there will probably be arrangements in the future. No, I like how this is in the gray area of crime in which she is involved. “
As director of the Wanda / Monica scene at the end, Shakman says “there were many versions of this, for sure, but nothing that was much longer”. Then he echoes Schaeffer’s awe at the complicated moment, saying, “I think it’s a beautiful scene. We are not trying to get Wanda out of harm’s way. The daggers she receives from every resident of the city while walking through the city must clearly show that she is not being forgiven, and she will not be forgiven by them. She understands this. “
Were those Westview residents left with Wanda’s sadness and haunted by their time of spell-bound servitude? And what will happen to Agatha, who was returned by Wanda to her persona “Agnes”? Will Sarah, Sharon et al forever pay attention to their nosy neighbor?
“I can’t really talk to [the residents], because it is beyond the scope of the show, which is my department ”, defends Schaeffer. “But in relation to Agatha, this is what Wanda says: You will live here, she does a mind control spell on Agatha, and then says: No one will bother you. In my mind, this means that Agatha lives, or will live, in some kind of bubble. Nobody is going to question it or have problems with it. Wanda hid it there, and also disfigured it, essentially. ”(With reporting by Rebecca Iannucci)
Has burning WandaVision questions? Send an email to [email protected] and your question can be answered through Matt’s Inside Line.