The latest episode of WandaVision answered the biggest question the MCU Phase IV had begun with- who is helming the ever-spreading pseudo-reality in the small town of Westview. There were other major reveals as well, such as how the fake Pietro landed in Westview but there is still the lingering question of who he really is.
Ever since the X-Men‘s version of Quicksilver a.k.a. Peter Maximoff landed at Wanda’s doorstep in Westview, the Internet has been rife with theories trying to answer all the whys and hows his presence triggered. But the latest episode of WandaVision, “Breaking the Fourth Wall,” has not only solved the mystery of who brought this version of Pietro in Westview but also diffused the major theories floating around of him being the real villain in disguise who had arrived in the town to spy on Wanda.&
As Wanda had been the prime candidate for creating the sitcom-world in Westview, it seemed apt to claim that just like she brought Vision to life, her grief over losing her brother prompted her to pluck his other version from the X-Men’s universe as unlike Vision’s body, she didn’t have access to Pietro’s body to bring him back to life. But given her palpable confusion at discovering him at her door, we were sure that it was not Wanda’s doing and Episode 7 confirms the same.&
Agnes a.k.a. Agatha Harkness brought him to Westview
It has now been revealed that Wanda is not the “only magical girl” in town as Agnes is really the powerful witch, Agatha Harkness, somethings fans had predicted long before the series had even released on Disney+. She was the one who brought this fake Pietro into Wanda’s dream life and is the “she” Norm mentioned was in his head, suppressing his real identity. Somehow, she is using Wanda and her powers to keep things running in Westview and is also controlling everything.&
Agatha has been trying to weaken Wanda
It appears that the main agenda of Agatha was to get her hands-on Wanda’s twins and thus she has been plotting to make Wanda spend a large amount of her powers to weaken her. First, she killed Sparky, the twins’ dog, in hopes that Wanda would give in to her children’s sadness and bring the dog to life, something which would have needed her to overexert herself.&
When this failed, she lured Vision to the boundaries of the energy field covering Westview and faked that she was under Wanda’s control, unable to leave Westview. This is what prompted Vision to step outside the barrier to know what’s outside and then, almost dying as a result which apparently means he won’t stay alive without the Hex. This made Wanda exceed the limit of her powers as she expanded the limits of her fake-reality to include not only Vision but almost the entire S.W.O.R.D. base with its agents.&
Episode 7 begins with the side-effects of Wanda using so much power- she is lethargic and things around her are unable to be as decade-appropriate as they used to be. They are zapping backwards and forward in time, consistently changing models. It then becomes easy for Agatha to trick Wanda in her current weakened and confused state where she manages to kidnap her children from under her nose and finally confronts her with the truth.&
But the identity of fake Pietro is still a question
He could be Peter Maximoff, the Quicksilver in the X-Men’s universe, whom Agatha brought to distract Wanda and to allay any guilt she has about creating the sitcom-reality in case she was having second thoughts. She overwrote his memories just like she has with the townspeople and gave him a different persona but was only able to give the details about Pietro she knew. Apparently, the fight in Sokovia is public knowledge and everyone knows Pietro was shot down on the streets while saving Hawkeye. This would explain why he only remembers his death accurately while all his other memories differ from how Wanda remembers it. Does this mean that we can still expect Professor Charles Xavier to drop in any day to save him?
Or maybe, just like the description of Agnes being just Wanda’s “nosy neighbour” now means squat, probably the audio description in Episode 5 specifying that it was X-Men’s version of Quicksilver was only meant to make us believe that this is how the multiverse has been triggered. It could be that this “Pietro” is just someone Agatha (and Marvel Studios) created to play with Wanda’s (and our) mind.&
But the bigger question is whether he is still under Agatha’s control because, after being absent throughout the latest episode, the mid-credit scene shows him catching Monica snooping around Agatha’s house. If he is Agatha’s creation or still under her control, it won’t bode well for Monica. Though she has now embraced her comic book roots, she is yet to realize the extent of her powers. So, unless she accidentally hits him with one of her energy blasts, she is definitely in a pickle. But if it’s indeed Peter, maybe Vision can wake him up like just like Darcy.&
Catch the latest episode of WandaVision currently streaming on the official Disney+ app.