Split image of Agatha smiling nefariously with Loki looking worried in agatha all along and loki

Marvel had the opportunity to steal Loki season 2’s story in Agatha All Along, but I’m so glad it didn’t. Considering Agatha All Along has resonated with fans almost as much as Loki did, I think Marvel has proven that it is still perfectly capable of producing quality shows after 2023’s Secret Invasion threatened its overall reliability. Rather than imitating what has worked in the past, however, Marvel managed to deliver something entirely original with Agatha All Along while managing to pull at the same heartstrings as Loki.

I think one of the most impressive aspects of Agatha All Along was the way in which it navigated its central motifs. Death and rebirth were perhaps the most prevalent of these, but themes of sisterhood within Agatha’s coven were just as important and helped to create some of the MCU’s newest fan favorites (even if it killed these off within the same series). It’s here that Agatha All Along draws significant parallels to Loki – but it avoided treading exactly the same road.

Loki’s MCU Story Is Perfect – Which Is Why It Shouldn’t Be Copied

Loki’s Redemption Arc Remains An MCU Highlight

Loki season 2 boasts one of the most mind-blowing and consequential endings in the MCU, as Loki’s tenacious attempts to reconstitute the multiverse culminated in him becoming the God of Stories, now maintaining entire timelines as a living temporal loom. Recognizing his selfless destiny came after two seasons of him finally finding purpose in friendship, poetically understanding that he must isolate himself from his friends so they can thrive. The show morphed his entire MO, as Loki’s entire MCU career until that point was far more self-serving, as he betrayed Thor at least 10 times.

Thankfully, Agatha didn’t renege on her more overtly villainous ways​​​​​​, proving time and again that she was quite happy to abandon her coven to get her way.

Agatha All Along followed a similar narrative as an erstwhile self-serving villain faced with the opportunity to form lasting bonds and act selflessly. Thankfully, Agatha didn’t renege on her more overtly villainous ways​​​​​​, proving time and again that she was quite happy to abandon her coven to get her way. By the end of Agatha All Along, it remains unclear whether Agatha had softened much beyond her final sacrifice to save Billy, to whom she bonded mainly because he reminded her of her own son, Nicholas Scratch.

Agatha doesn’t seem to show any remorse for the deaths on the Witches’ Road, including the one that she directly caused. This helps to emphasize Billy’s own empathy as he is wracked with guilt upon learning the Witches’ Road was his creation. By ensuring Agatha remains morally gray by the conclusion, the story feels distinct and fresh and avoids cheapening Agatha’s redemption by turning a villain being redeemed in their solo show into a trope.

Agatha’s MCU Future Is More Interesting Because Of How Different She Is To Every Other Villain Redemption Story

Agatha Will Be A Villainous Companion To A Superhero

I think Agatha All Along episode 9, which felt more like an epilogue than a finale, did a pretty good job of redeeming Agatha. It confirmed what had been hinted throughout the series: that Agatha hadn’t sacrificed her child for the Darkhold, and was instead a loving and subsequently grief-stricken mother. It stopped short, however, of exonerating her villainy entirely as it also showed her massacring witches throughout history. Even her heroic self-sacrifice when facing Death was immediately preceded by an apparent attempt to double-cross Billy.

Billy Maximoff has also hinted at a morally gray outlook after stating “I’m not that nice” to Agatha.

Unlike Loki, Agatha’s moments of heroism remain tainted. Throughout Loki, the titular character morphed into an overtly heroic figure who showed remorse for his past actions while striving for redemption. Agatha All Along, meanwhile, throws into question whether Agatha was even sorry for her past actions. Now it appears that Agatha will return alongside Billy in a future MCU installment, I think this conclusion to her solo series secures her as one of the most intriguing characters to join the MCU’s heroes.