 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | In the end, all roads lead to me. | „ |
| ~ Rio Vidal's most famous quote as she reveals her true identity to Lilia Calderu. |
| “ | Alice: So, you're a Green Witch? Rio Vidal: Um... Less "a" Green Witch. More "the" Green Witch. |
„ |
| ~ Alice Wu-Gulliver and Rio Vidal. |
Death, also known as either the Green Witch or Rio Vidal, is the main antagonist of the 2024 Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe fantasy miniseries Agatha All Along, which is based on the Marvel Comics character Agatha Harkness.
As her name suggests, she is the cosmic embodiment of death - an extremely powerful entity with ultimate power and authority over the cycle of life who has a complicated and dark history with Agatha Harkness and is eager to kill her and claim the lives of every member of her coven.
She is portrayed by Aubrey Plaza, who also played the Shadow King in Legion, Cat Adams in Criminal Minds, and Dylan Beekler in Golan the Insatiable.
History[]
Backstory[]
Death came into existence at the dawn of time along with Eternity, Infinity, and Entropy. The walls of the Temple Vault on Morag displayed Entropy, Infinity, Death, and Eternity surrounding the Infinity Stones. At the Gates of Eternity, Death has a statue alongside statues of Eternity, the Living Tribunal, The Watcher, Eon, the One Above All, and Infinity.
Death manifested on Earth as the original Green Witch, going by the name Rio Vidal. Many years ago, Rio loved the dark witch Agatha Harkness, but according to her, she had to do her job doing something she didn't want to do. This job resulted in Agatha being hurt. Rio also claims that person was "her scar".
Death in 1750
The origin of Agatha and Death's estrangement occurred in the 1700's; they were lovers, but against Death's wishes and designs, Agatha asexually became pregnant to give birth to her son, Nicolas Scratch. Agatha begged Death to spare Nicky, and said she would never forgive her if she took him; Death agreed to spare him, but only temporarily, as she promised to one day take the boy without warning. Agatha used Nicky from the moment he was a baby to deceive and murder other witches for their powers, although she still cared deeply about him; when Nicky was 6, he voiced question to the necessity of the killings, which Agatha rationalized as necessary for their survival.
Nicky would improvise a song that Agatha contributed to, which they'd sing together. When they slept one night, Death reaped Nicky's soul, darkly yet kindly escorting the boy to the afterlife; when Agatha awoke, she was horrified and bereaved to find Nicky dead. After Agatha buried him, she sang the song they made, which a passing witch mistook as knowledge the Witches' Road, and asked for guidance, which Agatha promised; thus began a cycle of Agatha building Covens for the non-existent Witches' Road to trick witches to steal their powers and lives. This continued until the most recent one, which inexplicably worked.
Agnes of Westview[]
| “ | I am not the only one that wants to see you dead. Wants to see you burn. Or hang or drown. | „ |
| ~ Rio Vidal to Agatha Harkness |
Three years after Agatha Harkness was trapped in a hex by the Scarlet Witch, Rio appears as a federal agent in one of her illusions; "Agnes of Westview". She initially seems like an ally to Agatha as she attempts to get her out of the spell multiple times. Agatha was later released from the spell by "Billy Kaplan", and Rio brutally attacks her. However, Agatha finds herself without powers and they remember that they are not allowed to kill each other. So, Agatha negotiates with Rio to wait until she can reclaim her powers on the Witches' Road for a fair fight.
The Witches' Road[]
Death in the third episode
| “ | I get the pleasure of watching you do what you do best. Kill all the witches around you. One by one. You get your power, and I get my bodies. | „ |
| ~ Rio Vidal to Agatha Harkness |
Rio in her Death form appeared in the third episode in Lilia Calderu's hallucination during the "Potions Witch Trial". Due to the death of Sharon Davis, Rio was summoned by Agatha's new coven to replace her as their Green With. Eventually, Agatha was able to trick Rio into revealing to the rest of her coven that she "claims lives". Rio real identity as Death was also mentioned in the fifth episode during Agatha's Spirit trial.
Rio reveals her real identity to Lilia Calderu
After Agatha's trial, Rio disappears from the group. When Lilia and Jennifer were thrown into an underground cave by "Billy Kaplan", where Rio appear before Lilia and reveal herself as Death, the thing that Lilia always foreseen but unable to change. Lilia and Jennifer eventually reunite with Agatha and Billy on the Castle. In the castle, Lilia helps them pass the trial and decides to stay behind to kill the Salem Seven, using The Tower card to reverse gravity, causing them and herself to be impaled. Accepting her foreseen fate, she reunites with her mentor in the afterlife as her younger self.
Alice Wu-Gulliver's soul looked at her own dead body in shock, while Death appeared next to her; Alice lamented that her curse was gone, so she could now live her life as she wished. Alice noted that it wasn't fair as she should have had more time, which Death aloofly retorted the fact of hearing that a lot; despite Alice's remorse, she without defiance, followed Death into the afterlife.
Death meets with Agatha, who was ahead of Billy and Jennifer, who were both still reeling with Lilia's sacrifice. Death demanded Billy, as she felt him to be an abomination to her "sacred balance," yet the demand made Agatha realize that Death couldn't reap Billy herself due to the boy's powers he inherited from the Scarlet Witch. Agatha inquired if Death was upset that Billy would return his brother to life, however, Death instead countered that it wasn't the resurrection itself, rather it wasn't yet time for Tommy to be retrieved. Agatha promised Death that she would convince Billy to give up his existence, however, with the condition that they never meet again, even during Agatha's own eventual demise, which the cosmic entity agreed to, then left by slicing an escape in the apparent wall of the Witches' Road.
End of the Road[]
The last survivors of the Coven, Agatha, Billy, and Jennifer found that they had arrived right back at the beginning of the Witches' Road, as Billy realized that the Road was a circle. However, the three hadn't been granted their desires yet, thus Agatha resolved to repeat the Road; Billy instead opted to "disrespect" the Road by putting his shoes back on. He, followed by the other two, were transported to another location, forcing them to escape from body bags in a bare room lit by growth lights.
The lights start shutting off, one-by-one, indicating the trial's timer had begun. While trying to decipher the challenge, Jennifer realized that her powers were actually bound by Agatha, who had been working for the doctor that hated Jennifer; to break the binding, Jennifer ripped out some of Agatha's hair for the counterspell. Eventually, Jennifer breaks the binding and her powers are restored; with her desire fulfilled, she vanished from the Road.
Agatha helps Billy seek a vessel for his brother, Tommy's soul, eventually locating an orphan boy who was accidentally drowned by bullies in a prank gone wrong; seemingly, Tommy's soul is placed in the empty body, after which Billy vanished from the Road, although when he did, the floor cracked open to reveal dirt. As Agatha's emotions spiral, she understands how to pass, by taking the lock of her dead son, Nicky's hair from her locket, placing a tear on it, and planting it in the soil. When the lights appear to almost all turn off, she pleaded for more time, which appeared to be granted, as the hair and tear grew into a flower. Soil began flooding the room, forcing Agatha to flee up the short staircase to a locked door. Agatha exclaimed that she had passed, so should be released.
Agatha emerged from the basement of her house in Westview, which was beneath black clouds, filled with green lightning; an exaggerated witch's cackle came from the roof, which was due to Death, now in her true garb. Death asked why Agatha wanted her gone, since she believed the witch loved her. Agatha tried to summon her magic, but found her powers hadn't returned, thereby desperately attempted analogue incantations and sigils, but all were easily foiled by Death, who shattered windows to use glass as shrapnel to slice Agatha, cut her ankle with a whip-like root, before ending with Death tying her to a post with vines.
Death was interrupted by the arrival of Billy - now Wiccan - who blasted her back; Wiccan asked Agatha to not steal all of his powers before he shot magic energies into her, which she absorbed. When it seemed like Agatha would once again devour the entire essence of a witch, she stopped the draining; she then warned Wiccan, even with her restored powers, that they can't win against Death, yet he offered to sacrifice himself. Thus, when Death approached again, Agatha appeared to betray Wiccan, leaving him to die; as she walked away, Wiccan telepathically communicated with her to force her to admit that she wouldn't truly be a traitor yet again, inquiring if that was the case for her late son Nicky's fate.
Kiss of Death
Before Death could claim Wiccan, Agatha grabbed her and kissed her deeply; the kiss caused magic to spiral around the pair, until it faded when Agatha seemed to die, with her body hitting the ground, then shifting into grass, flowers, and fungi.
Wiccan realized that, from the power his soul had inherited from the Scarlet Witch, he had inadvertently created the real Witches' Road, with every design and trial being based on elements from his imagination and subconscious, thus why it was largely filled with witch and horror ideas from pop culture he had perused.
Agatha managed to remain on the Earth, but now as a ghost, which wasn't clear if it was allowed by Death, yet seemed unlikely. While Wiccan was riddled with guilt that his created Witches' Road had killed members of their Coven, Agatha argued that technically he saved Jennifer, since Agatha was originally going to kill them all. At her basement, in which the door to the Witches' Road still remains, Agatha pestered Wiccan for her locket, which he was using to banish her to oblivion in retaliation for her lies and plans to murder; but she admits her fear of facing Nicky in the afterlife, and despite her incorporeal state, she was able to knock the locket from his hand, stopping the incantation, and managed to wear the locket on her ghost form.
Wiccan converted the Witches' Road door into a marble tablet with the names of their three deceased compatriots engraved into it. Agatha suggested they seek Tommy; thus, an unsteady alliance was made again.
Personality[]
Rio is a vengeful witch with a personal vendetta against Agatha; the details of which for now remain a mystery. During their first onscreen confrontation she displays sadism taking pleasure in the fact that Agatha is now powerless and vulnerable, taunting her over her weakness and reveling in causing her pain. When Agatha points out that Rio can't kill her because it's forbidden, she declares that she can make Agatha wish she was dead and later reveals Agatha's location to the Salem Seven so she can "sit back and watch" as they kill Harkness.
Whilst posing as an FBI agent in Agatha's mind while the latter was under the influence of Scarlet Witch's hex; Rio displayed patience and cunning, playing along but dropping quotes and making comments to make Agatha doubt the reality she was living in.
When Death collected a soul, she acted sardonic and oddly light-hearted; she could also be somewhat condescending and dismissive of a person's distress, which was likely due to both her being a primordial being and having harvested so many souls that she became indifferent to it.
She hate ghost because despite the fact that they already dead, they still lingering on the living world when they should go to afterlife of her domain or any other death gods domain.
Regardless of the chosen facade, she acted flirtatious and playful with Agatha, hinting that Death had an odd and unique fascination with the witch.
It should be noted that despite her often macabre, creepy, and openly murderous facade while as Rio Vidal, Death is not really evil, at least not in the traditional sense of most other MCU villains. As the literal personification of death itself, it is her job to claim the souls of the deceased and escort them to the afterlife. This, along with the fact that she's much kinder and gentle to people when in the process of taking their souls such as with Alice and Agatha's son Nicholas makes her more of a neutral force than anything else; Nicky's existence was an aberration to nature, yet Death's declaration that he must be taken wasn't done with any of her common theatrically, rather a solemn sincerity, showing she can regret taking certain souls if emotionally invested in some manner, but remained resolved to collect every soul as a required part of existence itself.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Death Embodiment: Death embodies decay and can possess the soul of a living being. Often taking the form of a woman, Death can manipulate reality, time, and space, and came into existence at the same time as Entropy, Eternity, and Infinity. Immortals are immune to Death's ability. She's Omnipresent as she can appear anywhere within universe and may even be able to travel to other universes.
- Magic: In her human witch form as Rio Vidal, she is considered a powerful sorceress, called the (first) Green Witch. Some examples of her magic powers include:
- Elemental Magic: Vidal has the powers to control the earth elements. She has the ability to conjure and even control the weather in her battles.
- Aerokinesis: She can generate mini tornadoes that she can bend and twist at will.
- Chlorokinesis: She can generate, create and project several different types of plant life; for example, she is able to create vines to attack her enemies.
- Pyrokinesis: She can generate heat and manipulate green fire.
- Telekinesis: Vidal has been shown moving objects and people with non-physical magical force.
- Healing: She possesses the ability to rapidly heal others from any physical injury.
- Flight: She can fly using Witch Broom or levitate on air without broom.
- Elemental Magic: Vidal has the powers to control the earth elements. She has the ability to conjure and even control the weather in her battles.
Gallery[]
_13.jpg "Death (MCU) 13.jpg (66 KB)")
_14.png "Death (MCU) 14.png (717 KB)")
_12.jpg "Death (MCU) 12.jpg (19 KB)")
_16.jpg "Death (MCU) 16.jpg (117 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Death's statue already appeared in the MCU films Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Love and Thunder.
- As the personification of death in the MCU, it is likely that Rio Vidal has met literally every single character who's ever died (and will die) in the franchise at least once.
- Before the reveal of her identity, an alleged Funko Pop leak revealed that Rio Vidal was actually Lady Death.
- Although Death's alter-ego Rio Vidal being created specifically for the MCU, she has similarities with some characters from Marvel Comics;
- In the first episode, Rio tells Agatha she has a "black heart", which is also represented by a black heart symbol from Lilia Calderu's premonition. In the comics, Blackheart is the son of the demon Mephisto and an enemy of Ghost Rider. Mephisto was also mentioned in the third episode.
- Rio's status as a Green Witch is also similar to Dian the Emerald Warlock, a powerful sorcerer who battled Agatha and Scarlet Witch on the Witches' Road in Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #4.
- Death was considered for inclusion in the Infinity Saga, due to her connection to Thanos in the comics, however, the filmmakers felt it unwise to build up one major villain like Thanos, only to reveal he was serving another unseen entity during his actual main role in a film, therefore the change to make Thanos a more tragic but miguided figure earnestly trying to save the universe from his own world's fate.
- As of the first season of Agatha All Along, it isn't clear what Death's opinion on Thanos or his Infinity Snap is, whether positive or negative. Also unknown are her thoughts on the Avengers undoing the deaths of half of the universe.
- Some fans theorized that Agatha made a deal with Rio to extend the lifespan of Nicky by killing other witches, however, the writer debunked this theory. Agatha simply killed and stole other witches' power because she is power hungry. If anything, it's Agatha's own fault that think she should continue to be a serial killer, instead of joining a coven and finding a witch that had the medical skill to cure her own son's disease that she didn't have.
- Another theory made up by fans,which has been subtly confirmed by showrunner Jac Schaeffer, is that Nicholas Scratch’s other parent besides Agatha is actually Rio Vidal aka Death herself. In an interview with Backstory Magazine (via [1]) she talked about this theory. “I will say that [Laughs] when we were casting sometimes, we were like, ‘Does that kid look like Rio? Does that kid look like Aubrey Plaza?’” “Fans and viewers, yes, are picking up on our brainwaves for sure.”
External Links[]
- Death on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
- Death on the Marvel Wiki
- Death on the Marvel Movies Wiki
- Death on the Disney Wiki
_01.png){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
_15.jpg){kind=link}
_11.jpg){kind=link}
