How Did Agatha Get The Darkhold Before WandaVision?

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Spoiler alert! This article contains spoilers for Agatha All Along episodes 8 & 9.
Agatha All Along has finally reached its climactic conclusion, and though some questions were answered, its ending left more on the table for discussion. The WandaVision spinoff followed that series" antagonist, Agatha Harkness, on a journey to regain her powers after she was stripped of them by Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. Other prominent characters include Wanda"s son, Billy Maximoff/William Kaplan/Wiccan (Joe Locke), as well as Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), Alice-Wu Gulliver (Ali Ahn), Lilia Calderu (Patti Lupone), and Rio Vidal/Death (Aubrey Plaza). Agatha and her coven all journey down the Witches" Road to achieve their individual goals.
Leading into the Agatha All Along finale, creator Jac Schaeffer, who also created WandaVision, shared her hopes for audience reception: "I think that viewers seem to have really attached emotionally to these characters, so I would hope that they feel how much we love them, and that we"re hurtling toward a finish [line] that hopefully services all of these arcs that we"ve set up." The cast of Agatha All Along is a huge part of the series" success. In particular, Locke"s Wiccan is a fan favorite due to his great performance and his arc as the series" secret second protagonist.
That being said, Agatha All Along is still very much Agatha"s show. A huge underlying mystery of the show is how Agatha obtained the Darkhold as well as how that is connected to the death of her son, Nicholas Scratch. Naturally, Death herself ties into this, a notion made more interesting by her past romantic relationship with Agatha. Throughout the series, hints are given that Agatha sacrificed Nicholas for the ever-powerful Darkhold, a spellbook of dark magic, which Wanda later took from her. The penultimate episode of Agatha All Along eschewed this idea by showing how Agatha really lost Nicholas.
Agatha All Along Tells A False Story About How Agatha Got The Darkhold Agatha Did Love Her Son Close Instead of trading her infant son to Death for the Darkhold, Agatha actually tried to save him. Episode 8 shows a pregnant Agatha pleading with Death to save her son, and she is only given more time with him. Nicholas reaches the age of 6, traveling with his mother as she steals witches" powers by luring them with the idea of the Witches" Road. One night, Agatha and Nicholas are asleep on the ground when Death appears to young boy and beckons him. Agatha later wakes to realize her beloved son has died.

Related Agatha All Along Episode 8 & 9 Easter Eggs & Marvel References Agatha All Along episodes 8 & 9 are here, featuring a multitude of major Easter eggs, references to the comics, and more in the exciting MCU finale.
This tragic tale is very, very different from how the rest of the series portrays Agatha. However, there is room for doubt as to why Nicholas was fated to die. There are two main possibilities. Firstly, he was simply meant to be a stillbirth or to die young of illness, as hinted by Nicholas" coughing throughout the flashback. The alternative is that Agatha promised her firstborn in exchange for the Darkhold. This would explain why she already knows Death as well as why her coven turned on her.
The MCU Hasn't Revealed How Agatha Got The Darkhold There Is A Blank Spot In Agatha's Backstory Close However, how Agatha obtained the Darkhold is a mystery. The most likely reason is a perversion of the rumors about her. Perhaps Agatha did trade her child for the Darkhold, but it was before she was pregnant and fell in love with her baby. As a result, she asked Death for more time and did everything in her power to protect Nicholas.
Another possibility is that she sought the Darkhold because she lost Nicholas. This would parallel the Scarlet Witch"s use of the Darkhold as a means to reunite with her sons, Billy and Tommy. Agatha"s previous characterization and interest in dark magic as far back as the Salem Witch Trials would seem to debunk this, but she could have had a prior interest in power before being a mother that dialed up to 11 after Nicholas died.
Her backstory would potentially align with this; her mother was verbally abusive, and she grew up in a particularly oppressive environment for women. Agatha could have viewed power as her way out of her circumstances.
In this case, the most likely outcome is that Agatha made a Rumplestiltskin-like deal and lived to regret it. Agatha sought power and was willing to sacrifice anything for it until she experienced being a mother. Her backstory would potentially align with this; her mother was verbally abusive, and she grew up in a particularly oppressive environment for women. Agatha could have viewed power as her way out of her circumstances.
How Agatha Acquired The Darkhold In Marvel Comics Agatha Created Her Own Darkhold... Kind Of Close In the Marvel Comics, Agatha is a wildly different character. She"s not only significantly older-appearing than Kathryn Hahn, but she is less morally ambiguous. Though Agatha isn"t a beacon of virtue, she"s more of a mentor figure both to the Scarlet Witch and to the Richards children. Her connection to the Darkhold is decidedly different.

Related Every Appearance Of The Darkhold In The MCU The Darkhold has now appeared multiple times throughout the MCU and beyond, proving to be of central importance to its overall narrative.
In Avengers Annual (2023) #1, Agatha uses chaos magic - the same variety of magic Wanda and Billy use - to create her own Darkhold. The Avengers intervene, and her spell accidentally creates the Darkhold in the form of a small child. Agatha and the boy stay together for a time, but eventually, the Darkhold leaves her. His whereabouts are still a mystery. Regardless of the iteration, though, Agatha operates with grey morals, which is why she"s interesting.
Why Agatha Needed The Darkhold When She Stole So Many Witches' Powers The Darkhold Possesses Unique Power

In Agatha All Along, the title character"s arc is interesting. She is given a sympathetic history, but the series makes it abundantly clear she is still a bad person. Over hundreds of years, Agatha kills many witches by sapping them of their powers, attempting to do so to Wanda and successfully killing Alice. This brings the question: why did she need the Darkhold in the first place?
To answer this question, it"s necessary to determine when Agatha obtained the Darkhold. If she had it prior to sapping the powers of her coven, then she could have either been corrupted by dark magic or hungry for more. Alternatively, Agatha could be seeking power to protect herself and Nicholas or to rewrite his death. If Agatha obtained the Darkhold later, it could have still been tied to saving Nicholas. The book contains dark magic not accessible elsewhere, making its power highly covetable.
In this case, the simplest answer is the most probable. Agatha traded an unborn child for the Darkhold, then she came to regret it after becoming a mother. She sought power both selfishly and as a means to protect Nicholas, hence why she would steal others" magic. Agatha All Along brings this to a satisfying close by granting her the opportunity to redeem herself by mentoring Billy, another young boy like the son she lost. She may have lost the Darkhold, her life, and her son, but she still has a chance to be a better witch in death.

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7/10 208 9/10 Agatha All Along Agatha Harkness, after the events of "WandaVision," seeks to regain her magical powers. Joining forces with unexpected allies, including the son of an old adversary, she battles new mystical threats while uncovering hidden secrets in the magical realm.
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