A lot of wild things happen in the '80s-set fifth episode of WandaVision, so it's understandable
if you need an assist in understanding it all. Perplexing plot twists are par for the
course with this show, but it's somehow getting weirder. Here's the ending of Episode 5 explained.
Following their fast-tracked birth in Episode 3, Billy and Tommy Maximoff can't seem to
quit growing. With their parents' backs turned, the twins go from mere infants to walking,
talking kids, surprising their mom and dad alike.
"Heh, kids. Can’t control ’em, no matter how hard you try!"
This isn't the only time Billy and Tommy leap ahead in the aging process either. Later,
Wanda begins to lecture them on the responsibilities of taking care of a pet, concluding with the
condition that they can get a dog when they're ten years old. Adhering to their mother's
demands, the twins once again age years in the blink of an eye.
In one of their final scenes of this WandaVision episode, Billy and Tommy attempt to process
the loss of their dog. To make the pain easier to handle, it's implied that they're about
to age up yet again, but Wanda stops them from doing so just in time.
Strangely enough, in the Marvel comics, neither of the boys had the ability to alter their
age at will, meaning they've either gained a new power for their live-action introduction,
or something — or someone — is in control of them. Could it be Agnes, whom many have
theorized is the MCU's version of the Marvel Comics witch Agatha Harkness, who mentored
Wanda in the comics and knew about the nature of Billy and Tommy's creation before their
mother did?
Or could it be Mephisto, the demonic character whose soul Wanda inadvertently took fragments
from in order to have children, given that Vision can't pass on DNA? We don't know if
any of those tidbits that are canon in the comics will be true or even play some sort
of role in WandaVision, but something tells us we'll find out for sure in the coming weeks.
“The devil’s in the details, Bev.”
“That’s not the only place he is.”
Shortly after Billy and Tommy's miraculous aging, we find out that the twins have taken
a lost puppy that they found outside into their care, bringing him in for a bath. He
has no collar and no discernible owner, so the family keeps him and names him Sparky,
following a worrisome incident with a wall outlet.
Sparky the dog is actually a character from Marvel comics, a synthezoid created by Vision
as a gift to his family following a different kind of electrical mishap. In the comics,
his family doesn't include Wanda, Billy, or Tommy, but rather his synthezoid wife and
children, Virginia, Vin, and Viv. Though, given Vision's perplexed reaction to the canine
in WandaVision, it's pretty unlikely he had anything to do with the origin story of this
version of Sparky.
At any rate, such a detail isn't of major importance given that Sparky is apparently
already dead. Thanks to S.W.O.R.D.'s attempts to contact Wanda, she opens the front door
to investigate, giving Sparky the chance to escape and raid Agnes' azalea bush, a plant
that's toxic to dogs. In the comics, Sparky also meets a sad end, and eventually, it's
actually Wanda Maxmioff herself who brings Sparky back to the land of the living, with
an assist from Tony Stark.
However, things go differently in WandaVision. Despite Billy and Tommy's pleas, Wanda refuses
to bring their beloved pet back from the grave. It seems that Sparky's death serves as a metaphor
and a turning point: Wanda's reality is quickly unfurling, she's losing control of the things
living inside it, and she knows she must confront the universal truth that death is permanent.
This applies not only to her husband Vision, who died in Infinity War and whom she knows
is dead, but also to her brother Pietro, who was killed in Age of Ultron.
"We can't reverse death, no matter how sad it makes us."
It seems as if Wanda is beginning to realize that she can't keep up this act forever. She's
still going to try, as the subsequent events of the episode show, but it's certainly feeling
like Wanda understands she's going to have to accept Vision and Pietro's deaths and move
on with her life sooner rather than later. Too bad a pup had to perish to get her there.
After weeks of hinting, the latest WandaVision episode takes Vision's budding paranoia over
the nature of his reality to an all-time high. It begins with Agnes' odd conversation with
Wanda early in the episode, where Agnes asks Wanda if she wants to do another take of their
conversation, as if she's aware they're in a television show. Vision later questions
Wanda about whether she thought the exchange was odd, but Wanda just brushes it off and
tells him not to worry.
Building off of this moment, once at work, Vision shows Norm how to use a computer and
receives an email straight from S.W.O.R.D. He then wipes the monitor clean and accesses
his co-worker's mind, freeing him from Wanda's spell. Norm immediately loses it, saying he
needs to speak to his family and that he doesn't know where he is before Vision places him
back under Westview's trance. Evidently, this incident is the last straw for Vision, as
he confronts his wife about it when he gets home.
Vision quickly loses his composure, begging Wanda to tell him what's happening, what's
outside of Westview, and why he has no memories from before their time there. Wanda reassures
him that she doesn't entirely know what's going on and that she's not in control of
everyone there, attempting to put Vision's worries to rest. Whether it's Wanda holding
everyone in the town hostage, or if it's someone else, remains to be seen. But Wanda claims
to not know how it all began.
“I don’t know how any of this started in the first place!”
We do know, however, that nine days prior to the events of this episode, Wanda broke
into a S.W.O.R.D. base to recover Vision's body. Resurrecting him, we learn, would be
a violation of the Sokovia Accords, meant to rein in the Avengers, and would also be
against Vision's living will.
"What happens when he learns the truth?”
Perhaps the biggest shock of WandaVision's fifth episode comes in its closing moments,
just as Vision begins really pushing Wanda to explain what's going on in Westview. Their
heated discussion is interrupted by a doorbell chime. Wanda opens the door and finds none
other than her deceased twin brother, Pietro, aka Quicksilver, waiting for her.
However, Pietro doesn't look the same as he did when MCU fans first met him. This time
around, he's portrayed by Evan Peters, not Age of Ultron actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
According to Darcy, Wanda has "recast Pietro," which invites a slew of questions that extend
beyond WandaVision and into the entire MCU.
For those unfamiliar with Peters' connection to Quicksilver, he portrayed the lighting-fast
hero for a time in 20th Century Studios' X-Men franchise. He made his debut in X-Men: Days
of Future Past in 2014, then appeared in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, and finally in 2019's Dark
Phoenix.
As both a former Avenger and a member of the X-Men, Quicksilver is so far the only Marvel
Comics character to be played by two different actors and appear in both the Marvel Studios
franchise, along with the 20th Century Fox X-Men franchise, basically at the same time.
Given this Marvel continuity pretty much ended when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and
the characters under its purview, many thought they might've seen the last of this actor's
take on Pietro — but that's apparently not the case. Does Peters' introduction as Pietro
in WandaVision mean that the previously disconnected X-Universe will soon be MCU canon?
Alternatively, is Peters really playing Quicksilver in the MCU moving forward, or is this just
some kind of elaborate ploy beyond Wanda's control? At any rate, this marks the first
time an X-Men franchise actor has stepped into the MCU as the character they've played
before, so it's significant no matter what's truly going on inside the series' narrative.
All in all, this WandaVision episode supplied viewers with plenty to think about as they
wait for the newest installment to hit Disney+.
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