'Agatha All Along' finally reveals the teenager's identity – and makes surprising history

Spoiler alert: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 1, Episode 5 of “Agatha All Along,” currently streaming on Disney+.

Virtually ever since news broke that “Heartstopper” star Joe Locke was joining the cast of “Agatha All Along,” Marvel fans have been happily speculating about who Locke's character might be. At the very end of Wednesday night's episode, “Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power,” the show effectively confirmed that Locke was indeed playing who most fans agreed was the likely candidate: Wiccan.

Before that reveal, a big deal happens in a bracingly short time. Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) is possessed by the ghost of her mother, Evanora (Kate Forbes), during a Witches Road trial that evokes 1980s teen horror movies. When Alice (Ali Ahn), newly freed from her family curse, uses her magic to free Agatha from possession, Agatha begins to sap all of Alice's powers. The only thing that stops Agatha is when Locke's character—still referred to in the credits as “Tin”—screams the name of Agatha's dead child, Nicholas Scratch, and she hears a child's voice say, “Mom! Stop!”

Too late for poor Alice, alas: Agatha drains her to death. Tin crashes, and lashes out at Agatha, who protests — with apparent sincerity — that she can't control Alice's ability to drain her powers. The teenager is unbelieving.

“You wanted his power,” he says. “That's what it's always been like for you, hasn't it?”

Before Agatha can answer, Jennifer (Sashi's son-in-law) answers for her: “Of course it is. What is this all about – for any of us.”

“So what does it mean to be a witch?” Kishore says back to Agatha. “Killing people to serve your own agenda? no not for me

Tin's piety changes Agatha's entire demeanor. He seems to see Tin with a new sense of understanding and smiles a wicked smile to himself before leaning into him.

“You're a lot like your mother,” she says, a complaint.

In a way, it is: As Marvel fans and astute viewers have guessed by this point, Agatha is referring to Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, who created her sons Billy and Tommy in “Wandavision” from magic, only for them to disappear from existence. When Wanda had to give up her fantasy world to go. Agatha clearly concludes that, somehow, Billy—who as a child had demonstrated the same magical abilities as his mother—has returned.

Unfortunately for Agatha, she is right. Tin's hand begins to spark with pale blue magic, prompting Jennifer and Lilia (Patti LuPone) to grab Agatha and throw her into the muck just off Witch Road. Agatha is quickly sucked down; In a flash of anger, Tin also dunks Jennifer and Lilia in the muck. In the final shot of the episode, Tin looks on with a mysterious expression, sporting a crown on her head that is strikingly similar to the one Wanda wears as the Scarlet Witch.

So, yes, Tin is actually Billy, who goes by the Wiccan superhero moniker in Marvel Comics. But while “Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power” solves the show's biggest mystery, it also raises several new, perplexing questions.

Before this moment, Tin/Billy acted as if he had no innate magical powers. Was it just a trick? Or did Agatha, by stimulating Wanda, awaken something in her? Did Billie place the sigil that prevented other witches from knowing her true identity – and if not, who did? Was Billy already aware of who his mother really was, or was this revelation just as much of a surprise to his (now submerged) coven? how did Will Billy come back from the void? Is Billy's brother Tommy back? Do Billy's parents – Jeff and Rebecca Kaplan (Paul Adelstein and Maria Dizzia) – know who he really is? Also, where is Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza)?!

“Agatha All Along” will likely answer many of these questions in its final four episodes. In the comics, Billy's origins are tangled up in some seriously weird magic: when Wanda created him, he — or may not! — Inadvertently uses a piece of Mephisto's soul, Marvel's version of Satan. After Billy's body fades into oblivion – which may or may not have been caused by Mephistor – his soul essentially attaches itself to another random kid. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe has never pushed too far into something this abstract, and since an alternate version of Billy was introduced in 2022's “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the show may instead opt for a more multifaceted interpretation of this Billy's resurrection.

Where Billy comes from, however, seems far less important than what he returns to. Even a cursory search of social media shows that, while most hardcore fans have already figured out Tin's identity, it's still exciting to be verified by the show. While the MCU has begun to include actual LGBTQ representation in the past few years, Billy is something new: a queer superhero who is central to their project and integral to the ongoing MCU storyline (as opposed to Faustos from “The Eternals” and Korg from “Thor: Love and Lightning”). ; whose sexuality isn't just a vehicle for profane comedy (unlike Deadpool); and whose LGBTQ identity is barely mentioned (unlike America's “Multiverse of Madness” and “Thor: Ragnarok”).

In other words, Billy is a strong and rewarding Marvel character who also happens to be unequivocally gay. And he has many more stories to tell.