Here it is. My final theory.
it’s a crazy long one, but it’s how I work it out in my head because it makes a lot of sense
I think they are in some kind of a loop and/or an illusion, since “time flow is an illusion” and also there is some time hopping because of the tunnels. So when we first see “Agnes O’Connor”, this is actually already Agatha figuring out what happened to them on the Witches Road. And Rio doesn’t meet the coven for the first time until she meets with Lilia in the tunnels. I think in the earth trial episode, they will be in a morgue and it will be Billy’s trial (as we know, Rio is “a tourist”). Agatha will give up her necklace and let Billy access her thoughts. Following the trial Billy and Jen will get out, but Agatha will stay and go back to Rio. Whatever fight happens, I think Agatha will absorb Rio’s powers and die as a result. Rio could potentially be just part of Agatha from then on. Alice will become security guard (again!) as she takes over as Death. Billy will be able to go back in time and/or illusion (because they are actually still in Agatha’s basement), trigger Agatha into Agnes O’Connor so she can help him “solve the case” and try to fix what went wrong – e.g. by using a different spell this time – the one Lilia must have left him in the spell book. Whether he succeeds or not, I think it will be left open to interpretation!
I am back to my original theory I wrote way back that the Road has always been a con created by Agatha herself. She’s crafty, she’s clever and she’s power hungry. So she wrote the “summoning spell” herself and kept conning the “undeserving” witches for a few centuries. Maybe that’s how she met Rio – but she couldn’t syphon Death’s powers, therefore making Rio that one witch that walked out of the Road with Agatha. But her past is eventually catching up with her, because “revenge is a witch”.
I think Agatha has met Lorna Wu (in her “Jolene” days) and tried to convince her too, but then she saw little Alice with her, so she “spared” Lorna. As we know, Agatha has a soft spot for kids (spared Jen because of her midwife work) so this would track. Maybe she told Lorna she couldn’t take her or that she wasn’t worthy of the Road after all etc. But Lorna was so taken by Agatha’s wonderful words about the road, that she decided she will try it on her own – thus writing the rock version. It’s ironic then that in turn Lorna’s influence was eventually what created the idea in Billy’s mind and then tricked Agatha. Talk about the past catching up with you!
This brings us to what we see in AAA – I think this really is “The Witches Road”. The first and the last one, but I think it is a real deal. Billy created it but I don’t think he realises this, or how much control he has. He didn’t know the road wasn’t real. But because of his powers, he still managed to channel his intentions to summon it – he is the Magician, as explained by Lilia. I think what did the trick was simply him saying to Agatha “I want you to take me to the Witches Road”. And so she did, because magic took the path of least resistance. That’s why the road is so heavily influenced by Billy’s bedroom – almost every element we see can be found in that room.
And that’s why Agatha was so surprised by it when the door appeared – she was simply planning on stealing the power from the witches. Though curious why she told Lilia about her limitations before – I think this is her test for the witches. Because if she tells them the truth about herself, and they end up blasting her anyway, then it’s “on them” that they get killed. In that way she must think them stupid and “undeserving” and therefore it’s not her fault?
With the original idea of the road being a myth, I am a bit confused where the Salem Seven comes from. Why would a coven go so horribly feral? And with them being young children to start with, wouldn’t Agatha try to influence them to form her own coven? Maybe there is some sort of a curse involved. When Alice’s demon was released, Agatha said “once vengeance is loosened, you can’t reel it back in” – I wonder if this has relevance?
I wonder if Salem Saven has always been trapped in those tunnels under Westview. I was always intrigued by Agnes quote “If there’s one thing we can agree on is that these cases are always about the place, the specific small town, the history of it, the people in it, the secrets buried beneath it.” It’s a curious line and if we go with the theme of the show that it was Agatha All Along, then it would fit that the secret she buried were the Salem Seven themselves, and Agatha’s crimes are catching up with her. It is equally of note that Rio even quips that who better to solve the case than “One of Westview’s very own. Yeah, you’ve lived here your whole life.” Of course, this could be just a line to make Agatha realise she is not this imaginary Agnes character. But then again, if you remember from Billy’s internet search about Agatha, she was seen on the Titanic disaster – the ship was sailing to New York, so not far from New Jersey at all. And the Hindenburg disaster actually happened as the aircraft was landing in Lakehurst, New Jersey! So maybe Westview at one point was her home? But she didn’t know it as Westview? (side note, I think that maybe the note about her traveling the Eastern Seaboard is actually directly linked with how the witch trials panic has taken over many of those states in 17th and 18th century. It was Agatha all along!).
Billy was investigating Westview because of the Hex anomaly. But there was also an article shown that “Strange occurrences persist to haunt Westview”, even 3 years after the Hex. So I wonder if this underground incomplete transit system has something to do with it.
Also curious how Billy has been investigating New Jersey towns – there is a map on his bedroom floor that circles a few of the towns and says “These 6 towns all link to the 7th town. Where are 8-9?” The 7th town in the middle is not very clear, but it looks like it’s in the vicinity of Fort Dix (a Marvel easter egg?). Could Eastview and Westview be the missing towns 8 and 9?
There are also interesting parallels to East, or Eastview – starting with the “Agnes of Westview” being a literal copy of “Mare of EASTtown”, the intro contains a scoreboard of a match between Eastview and Westview. Billy is originally from Eastview but it is Agatha herself who’s the Wicked witch of the East.. These two locations are inexplicably linked.
Billy’s sweater is adorned with runes – I think they are some forms of different sigils. On Billy’s wall, he was investigating sigils and there were lots of similar symbols that he researched. Also he wrote that some sigils can be recharged and used to strengthen energy, while others will be activated when destroyed – creating bursts of energy. So I think Billy tried to build some of them into his sweater. It’s interesting that they only really made proper appearance after he started researching Agatha online. So maybe he build some of them as protection or maybe added some after time looping.
I think there are essentially two main versions of the jumper. The first one was worn by him in Westview – during interogation and gathering coven etc. Most notably it has a clear pentacle on his right, an eye on his left and the face of Alice’s monster on his right shoulder. The centre “pleats” are almost aligned – the top one is a close line, the bottom one is a bit torn.
But THE VERY SECOND they enter the Witches Road, the pattern is immediately different. The middle pattern is totally turned upside down – the top is now the torn “pleat” and the bottom is the solid line one. The eye moves lower down, the pentacle seems to disappear and seems replaced with a six-pointed start lower down. The demon face is still there in roughly the same place. So this suggests they have gone upside down on the Road? Or that they really just are under Westview, in the tunnels.
That second jumper pattern stays with us for most of the time on the Witches Road EXCEPT for the moment at the end of the water trial when Sharon dies. The pleat pattern is temporarily reversed and the pentacle appears – just for that scene. So I think Sharon is probably fairly safe and that one was actually Billy’s illusion. Also, if the body was real, why would they even need to dig a grave for her? From what we’ve seen already, the ground would’ve easily swallowed her. So I think Billy used his magic to send Sharon back out to Westvew, safe as a kitten.
As the story progresses, we see more and more of the jumper and more symbols. There is a big bird engraved on his back and I wonder how that will play in the story – maybe as a messenger? (does not quite look like a phoenix reborn or anything). From the moment he breaks the sigil, Billy’s hoodie also start turning more red. I wonder if that’s the chaos magic influence?
There is definitely something going on with the road – whether it’s a time loop, a spell illusion, I am not sure. On top of Billy’s changing jumpers, there are some crucial inconsistencies that I think are intentional and could hint there are different versions of the trials. Things I’ve noticed:
- There is that shot of a photo of a boy disappearing in Agatha’s “office”. It could be a sign of spell breaking, but maybe there is more to it
- When Billy casts the release spell on Agatha in ep.6, there is a quick side shot of him, suddenly having a black thumb and the spell book was opened on a completely different spell. There was ink smudged on one page. This would explain that Agatha picked this little detail in her Agnes persona as she spotted it in the interogation – I believe this is Billy using a different spell left to him by Lilia, when she handed him the spell book back in ep.7. When he did the original spell before, it looked like he broke a lot of rules set out in the spell-book, where it said that the consequences of that would be that the spell became corrupted. This could explain why Agatha couldn’t remember Mrs Hart’s name and kept using wrong words and expressions. But this new spell from Lilia could be what he was meant to use all along and to fix the original “corruption” and set Agnes investigation in the right direction. It would also give a new meaning to that "I don't want to go back to the closet again"
- Episode 5 (Agatha’s trial) had so many inconsistent shots – the hands and bracelets and nails and even skin colour kept changing between different ouija board shots. The games pile where Ouija was first sat (one of them said “Clue”) kept changing too. And right by the door we see troll dolls. But they change too – in one scene there are only two – one with green and one with yellow hair. And in many other scenes there is an additional baby troll with dark pink and blue hair and a card with red cross symbol next to it. Seems like important change
- When Agatha does her tarot reading in ep.7, we don’t see her card placements, but when she slams the final card down, we see it and we see most of other card slots are empty. But in the next shot we see a full tarot spread again.
I’ve been wondering about what all of these mean. It definitely feels like there is an illusion, or maybe Billy has this reset loop going on, until he gets what he wants?
Edit: the trolls could signify how Lilia (Fate) and Rio have always walked hand in hand, but now baby Alice takes over (or joins as the Maiden of the Triple Goddess trio)
I believe the hair inside the locket really is Nicky’s – every time Agatha picks the locket, Nicky’s theme plays. However, I think there is more to it – I think because of how strong emotions are attached to it, the locket also serves as Agatha’s protection amulet – in a sense that Rio can’t take her and maybe that’s why Billy can’t read her thoughts. Nicky’s protecting his mum.
Maybe that’s why we also have those parallels where Ouija rules say “Do not ask about death” and Agatha never seems to answer any questions about both Rio and Nicky, or even say Rio's name - ever. Billy questioned Agatha about Rio before fire trial, then about Nicky after it. In both cases she either didn’t say a thing or changed subject. It seems to be one thing that Agatha is literally unable to talk about, yet she can’t be without it.
ALICE & THE “TIME” TUNNELS
Alice also has a protection amulet – and her mother has put a lot of love into her, so I think it serves as a similar thing to Agatha’s locket. Death can’t take Alice. She also has once borrowed Rio’s own dagger to draw circles and cast protection magic with it – it could be significant for someone to use Death’s own dagger?
I think all this leads to more foreshadowing – maybe she will come back and continue her job as a door security guard – much how she did at the “Hot topic” shop. Maybe she lives or maybe she becomes an incarnation of Death? (if Agatha kills Rio) The reason I think this is because when Alice dropped to the floor, seemingly dead, her hand landed on a page that said “you stay here and guard the door”. BUT that is likely the door that they previously accidentally opened when they tried to summon the green witch – between the realm of life and dead? (and it was blood moon then too)
The door is in the underground tunnels. I think this is even pointed to us in Alice’s tarot card – the top symbol usually represents the character’s necklace, but in case of Alice’s, it’s a weird sign. I first theorised that it is simply a spelling representation of her rune on the protection necklace, but I think there is more – that sign actually looks a bit like the tunnels – that very location where Lilia and Jen saw Salem Seven. As you remember, they saw two paths in front of them – the Witches Road and the other “Path Ahead”? - and there was also a tunnel on the opposite side – “The Path Behind”.
But remember, when Lilia and Jen saw Salem Seven, they were moving backwards! This suggests some kind of time anomaly going on with the tunnels.
So my theory is that Salem Seven have been trapped in the tunnels under Westview until the coven opened “the door” when they tried to summon a replacement green witch. The door opened and Salem Seven were able to go and search for Agatha. Because of the tunnel time anomaly, they chose a “path behind” tunnel, leading them to the surface of Westview and arrive on the day that Agatha was gathering her new coven.
Now, Rio physically appears on that day too and fights Agatha before telling her Salem Seven are coming. SOOOO. I think the first time Rio actually is with this coven is when Lilia sees her under the tunnels. This is the first time Lilia accepts her fate, accepts that she’s always been seeing death everywhere and thus, she is finally able to see Rio next to her. That’s why Rio is dressed in her full Death attire. But Lilia didn’t die in that moment. She carried on through the tunnels until her trial. So I think when Lilia sees Rio in the tunnels, she tells her she needs to warn Agatha about Salem Seven (and maybe about the black heart reference, which would also explain why Rio would use that specific line?). So Rio exits the tunnels the same way that Salem Seven do and finds Agatha (remember Salem Seven have been following Agatha all that day, in their animal forms). That’s why she is full of anger in that moment. For her, this is the first time she saw Agatha in ages so she feels she needs to take some time to “play” with Agatha. After that, she disappears, and probably goes back to the tunnels, so she can climb back up to the “road” and do her “surprise” emerge.
After Lilia’s trial, Billy, Agatha and Jen will carry on along the road. They will eventually reach “the end”, which is also the beginning – we see Agatha will trip over someone’s (Alice’s?) shoes, suggesting the Road is in fact coming to a full circle (or a figure of 8 – which is also etched on Billy’s sweater). But they have one more trial to go, so they will be confused.
However, remember the power of Billy’s wishes? Well, in ep.4 he said “I wish we could go home”. I think that wish worked. They did eventually go home – back to Agatha’s house, that’s why the ended up where they started. I wonder if this is then, when Rio catches up with them. They might even fight, because the sigil is no longer protecting Billy’s identity so Rio finally realises who he is and wants to take his body because he broke the rules. Somehow, this makes the 3 of them – Jen, Billy and Agatha end up in a morgue. We see them waking up in that room, emerging from body bags. Maybe this was how Rio intended to send them to the trial. I am fairly certain, that this room they are in, is actually Agatha’s basement. They literally are home. There is even the same pentagon shape on the floor.
It is the Earth trial so the theme will be around death and buried bodies, hence the morgue. The trial will be Billy’s because he has technically stolen a body. In this version Billy actually looks just like William Kaplan. As Agatha said Rio is “a tourist” and as such, she won’t get a trial, or at least not this one. We also hear in a promo Agatha reading “the answers lie where the truth is buried” – which eerily reminds her own quote from detective Agnes.
But this has double meaning – because the truth is buried inside both Billy and Agatha’s heads. So I wonder whose truth needs to be unearthed. Agatha will place her hands on Billy’s, so maybe she will finally “talk to the dead” as her spirit element, and try to bring out William Kaplan to the surface? But I also think that Agatha will also need to strip all of her layers and finally be honest with them. She will tell them about the truth behind the Witches Road and her con. I wonder if she will have to let Billy read her mind too? (and hence learns egregious amount about her) As that would be ultimate vulnerability – one that she’s always been so fierce of protecting (nod do the scene with Rio “You’re vulnerable” – “Only physically”). So she will need to give up her locket in order for the test to pass – her last connection to Nicky, and potentially protection from Death.
They will pass, but I have no clue how they will get out. I feel Jen and Billy could end up in the tunnels. Jen knows about them and she will literally be the Path Ahead, leading them out and exiting, but again, they will come out in the past – but before Salem Seven. I think their appearance will be what triggers Agnes O’Connor persona. Maybe they reunite with Alice in the tunnels, but Alice will stay behind to protect them?
Agatha will be left behind. She will come out of the morgue, walking up the stairs – just like her own basement. And she will come out, standing in the Witches Road version of her own house, realising she is on her own again. Rio will be waiting, and Agatha will be furious that even after this painful sacrifice, she still doesn’t have her powers. That’s when she shouts “I want my prize”. Rio might be angry with her but she will also notice that Agatha no longer has the locket. They might have a confrontation and fight, but I wonder if there is going to be any one last sight of Salem Seven – after all, I think two of them survived – Cicada and Owl. And my theory is that Cicada made her way into Agatha’s trial in ep.5. She stood in the witches’ way and could’ve got inside the trial by getting a bug tangled in Agatha’s hair. That’s why the whole trial was off. It was Cicada’s trial to pass – she needed to punish Agatha and so she did. As a result it was Cicada and not Agatha who could get her wish – which is revenge on Agatha. That’s why Agatha couldn’t get out at the end of the trial. So maybe Cicada appear again, that’s why we see Agatha tied to a pole again. But Rio blasts Agatha with her magic so she absorbs it and restores her magic – but she will then die as a result – as foreshadowed in ep.1 – taking Death’s magic will kill Agatha. Not sure what happens with Rio, don’t think she could die? Or maybe she wanted this all along, because she’s tired of her job? She said she could make Agatha wish she was dead. Maybe with powers Agatha just absorbs Rio all together? Don’t know, too many possibilities – so I’m happy to leave that mystery for the finale.
Maybe Agnes the nosey neighbour sees Jen and Billy emerge. Or maybe they hide and just drop their clues – like they will bring Agatha’s locket for her to find. I think it could be combined powers of Jen and Billy that disrupt the spell. Or maybe the whole trial and battle take place in the actual house in Westview, so “nosey Agnes” will actually witness it? Who knows.
The reason I think Jen could be involved, because there is this ongoing theme of water in Agnes’s spell. She finds the locket in a pool of water – there is also a puddle outside her house. The “body” she investigates is constantly mentioned to be found “near water”, “in a ravine”, “in the creek”. Like it matters to Agatha. (or maybe it’s something else – maybe this is Agatha’s mind searching for Rio or something about the fact that the locket is made out of cowrie shell, i.e. sea snail (and then Lorna’s band is Coral Shore). There are also a lot of moments where things are seen through reflections in mirrors.
And because Billy read Agatha’s mind before, he will be able to influence her memories, so that she solves the case right this time. The lyrics of the song we hear in ep.2 also seem to align with this:
“There's a road in some old town I remember but haven't found.
I can hear the distant sounds Of that old river where I lay down.”
That’s why in the opening scene in ep.1 we hear Agatha already humming the ballad. She is driving through a windy road and into the woods – which look like a spitting image of the Witches Road. I think the body she is ultimately symbolising Agatha herself – she is a combination of what she remembers – her own past self, Wanda, the Darkhold, Billy, Rio and the Witches Road. She is investigating her own identity. To that end, I think that maybe Rio was never there. It was just Agatha’s mind imaging her as a spirit guide – Rio in the spell is able to really “SEE” Agnes the way she sees herself, she guides her thoughts and often she already knows what Agatha is thinking. Maybe by syphoning Rio’s powers, Agatha actually absorbed Rio inside of her? Rio is definitely not in the armchair when Agatha goes to check the noise upstairs.
Agatha is also trying to remember the Witches Road and figure out what went wrong so she can fix it and save herself and/or Billy or Rio? She even tells Billy during the interrogation scene “I was on a road this morning. It led to something pretty awful”. And that’s why this is a case that “only she can solve”. Maybe she takes those photos of seemingly random areas because that’s where she remembers the Witches Road events actually take place? Then the “kids” drawing on the fridge, showing a figure in black, could just be a quick scribble by Agatha, to remember Rio?
The inclusion of Darkhold in her investigation is interesting, because I don’t think this is just a nod to Wandavision events. After all, while Billy was still a kid in the Hex and searching for Wanda with his mind, he DID see the Darkhold in his mind, as Agatha held it in front of her during the battle. If he read the page he saw, it could explain his extra powers OR it could suggest that because he saw it, he is able to recreate it. Maybe Agatha is already well aware of it. There is a kid’s drawing in Nicky’s bedroom, showing a tree and a big sun. The wallpaper also has images of both sun and moon. I think this is a big hint to Agatha in terms of how to fix the events. Billy’s darkness is missing the Sun – as told by Lilia during his tarot reading. She said it could mean a reunion, but it could be the literal meaning of it. Bllly has became this dark goth character, a far cry from the innocent William Kaplan (who we saw in white – and I think he is represented by white stripes on Billy’s first top). It could even be a suggestion of the Darkhold influence? (His belt buckle reminds me of the symbol on the cover?)
There are soooo many lines in ep.1 that take a completely new meaning with the new context, might post it separately.
While I really like this time slipping, timey-wimey theory, it would still leave the question of how the ending of it would be executed (not enough time?) and what would happen with the parallel time characters if some people do come out to Westview back in time? So I’m leaning more towards it being all an elaborate illusion, created by the S.W.O.R.D. beekeeper from Wandavision XD But I hope at least some elements of my theory are right.
Thank you for reading this far!
