Spoilers Agatha All Along discussion

[Umbran]

I don't see it as different behaviour, I just see it as her not having developed a good schtick at this point, so she needs to use more physical provocations.

Well, we don't actually see it at all, because they don't show that behavior.

But,, psychologically speaking, it would be markedly different behavior.

If she goads and humiliates until someone attacks, that allows a lot of rationalization - if they use normally deadly violence as a response to mere words, they aren't all that great people themselves, so they sort of deserve what they get.

If she actually starts the fight, then she is actually the aggressor, a thug waylaying them for their power, and she's just committing murder.

 

[TwoSix]

I don't see it as different behaviour, I just see it as her not having developed a good schtick at this point, so she needs to use more physical provocations.

My personal read was that the coven in the woods (when Nicholas was a baby) were definitely malicious, Agatha recognized that, and deliberately walked into the ambush (the ring of stones glowing was probably some sort of entrapment spell).

Nick stealing the bell in the village and running right towards Agatha was almost certainly premeditated to incite the coven to attack Agatha.

My reading is that Agatha's absorption power ONLY work if the other witch initiates the violence, which is why she acts as she does. It would be much easier for her if she could simply attack another witch and have them use their powers against her in self-defense. The fact that she never does this suggests, to me, that her power has intrinsic restrictions.

 

[Ryujin]

My personal read was that the coven in the woods (when Nicholas was a baby) were definitely malicious, Agatha recognized that, and deliberately walked into the ambush (the ring of stones glowing was probably some sort of entrapment spell).

Nick stealing the bell in the village and running right towards Agatha was almost certainly premeditated to incite the coven to attack Agatha.

My reading is that Agatha's absorption power ONLY work if the other witch initiates the violence, which is why she acts as she does. It would be much easier for her if she could simply attack another witch and have them use their powers against her in self-defense. The fact that she never does this suggests, to me, that her power has intrinsic restrictions.

I read it that the witches in the woods were rightly putting up wards to protect themselves and made the mistake of letting the wrong witch in.

 

[TwoSix]

I read it that the witches in the woods were rightly putting up wards to protect themselves and made the mistake of letting the wrong witch in.

Definitely could be. I'm pretty sure that situation was framed ambiguously so as not to make the reveal too early.

 

[MarkB]

Definitely could be. I'm pretty sure that situation was framed ambiguously so as not to make the reveal too early.

I didn't get that vibe at all. It seemed very much a case of her talking her way past their protections. If it was an entrapment, the ring of stones wouldn't have been so obvious.

 

[Kaodi]

"A sorcerer is a wizard without a hat"- Sam "Captain America" Wilson

Dude, you work for the House of Mouse now. Gotta be more careful than that. Obviously in Disney sorcerers wear hats.

 

[Umbran]

Definitely could be. I'm pretty sure that situation was framed ambiguously so as not to make the reveal too early.

So, the witches in the woods are being surreptitious. To us, that reads as sketchy, possibly malicious.

But, in their world, they have to be surreptitious, because if they get caught they are going to get burned at the stake, whether they are actually malicious or not.

 

[TwoSix]

So, the witches in the woods are being surreptitious. To us, that reads as sketchy, possibly malicious.

But, in their world, they have to be surreptitious, because if they get caught they are going to get burned at the stake, whether they are actually malicious or not.

For sure. I just wanted to be clear that I think the ambiguity in that scene was an intentional choice, not a directing accident or poor scripting.

 

[Umbran]

For sure. I just wanted to be clear that I think the ambiguity in that scene was an intentional choice, not a directing accident or poor scripting.

If it was that intentional, I'm not sure that was the best choice they could have made there - I think that scene should have been less about what the audience reads as ambiguous, and more about what Agatha thought, as she's really the viewpoint at that moment.

Ultimately, she's on the run, with no support structure, not a friend in the world, no worldly goods but the clothes on her person, and with a newborn baby in her arms, she steps right in, intent on sucking them dry. That scene establishes her as the predator.

 

[Clint_L]

Episode 8 was pretty good and gave the series some badly needed emotional gravitas. Agatha finally sacrifices for someone else. But then episode 9 went, "nope, none of that really mattered - it was just another origin story." Sign. MCU's Gotta MCU.

What is at stake in most of these stories?