Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3
Ancestors
Two Months Ago[1]
The witches of New Salem — led by the Salem’s Seven — have decided to sacrifice their matriarch, Agatha Harkness, by burning her at the stake. Defiant to the end, Harkness tells them that she will curse them all from beyond the grave. The other members of the Salem’s Seven are concerned Agatha’s allies might come after them. Their leader, Vertigo, that their past failures were due to their father, Nicholas Scratch, now that he is gone and their powers are back they will succeed where their father failed.[2] With the rest of her siblings rallying by her side, Vertigo watches Agatha burn at the stake and proclaims herself the leader of New Salem.[3]
Now
Following their battle with the Lethal Legion, the Vision and Scarlet Witch have decided to go for a walk through the mountains to discuss their plans to have a child. The Vision is still overjoyed that he now has a family after he and Wonder Man — aka Simon Williams — now consider themselves brothers since they both share a brain pattern.[4] Wanda warns her husband that a family is sometimes not all it is cracked up to be, pointing out that her father is the mutant terrorist known as Magneto and how her brother — Quicksilver — disapproved of their romance until recently.[5]
When the subject turns back to having children, Wanda points out the difficulties they face since Vision is an artificial man and cannot procreate the natural way. The Vision wonders if perhaps Wanda’s powers could solve that problem for them, but as much as Wanda wants a baby she doesn’t know if she could pull something like that off and suggests something a little more practical, like adoption.
The couple eventually wanders onto the boarder of New Salem and they are ambushed by the Salem’s Seven. The pair hold their own against their attackers until the Scarlet Witch is knocked out by Vertigo’s power. Furious that they have harmed his wife, the Vision tries to fight back but has his power absorbed by Vakume.
When Wanda wakes up she discovers that she and the Vision have been locked into a cage covered in runes that prevent her from using her magic to get free. Vertigo explains that Wanda and the Vision are to be sacrificed to the sun god in the morning along with Gazelle, a member of the Salem’s Seven. Wanda is horrified to learn that they already sacrificed Agatha Harkness a few months earlier. Horrified, the Scarlet Witch curses the Salem’s Seven, who leave her to stew in her cell while they wait for the morning. Wanda tries to convince Gazelle to help them break out, but is surprised to learn that she is being held on her own free will and looks forward to being sacrificed for the greater good of New Salem.
With her husband still apparently inert, Wanda pleads with him to wake up and help her break out and wants to get out so they can finally have their family. Whispering as quietly as possible, the Vision reveals that he has been playing possum this entire time waiting for the right time to strike. As they begin thinking of a plan, Gazelle reveals that her hearing is good enough that she heart everything. However, she has been emotionally moved by Wanda’s desire for motherhood and promises not to interfere with their plans to escape.
At dawn, the members of the Salem’s Seven return and take Gazelle out of her cell and burn her live. When they come back for the Scarlet Witch and Vision, Wanda tries to fight back but is once again knocked out by Vertigo. However, when they are tied to stakes the Vision makes his move, pointing out to the Salem’s Seven made the mistake of trying to sacrifice him at dawn since he draws his power from the sun. Vertigo tries to summon great magical power to fight back but the Vision is able to defend himself. Ultimately, Vertigo cannot control the arcane power and is killed, the magic unleashed magic then begins flaring out of control killing the people of New Salem left and right. Getting free, Wanda tries to take control of the situation by channeling the magic.
As she does so, the spirit of Agatha Harkness tells Wanda encourages her to channel the power and bend it to her will. Wanda channels all the power and blasts the stone idol in the middle of town, blasting it to pieces. In the aftermath of the battle, the entire population of New Salem has been wiped out leaving Wanda and the Vision as the sole survivors. Wanda explains how the ghost of Agatha Harkness appeared before her and told her how to channel the magic, but the Vision didn’t see anything and thinks that she might have been seeing things. Thinking to herself, Wanda recalls how she felt that she had a split second moment to use the magic to grant her greatest wish. Feeling her belly, she thinks that what she wished for might have worked.[6]
Recurring Characters
Vision, Scarlet Witch, Salem’s Seven (Brutacus, Gazelle, Hydron, Reptilla, Vakume, Vertigo), Agatha Harkness,
Continuity Notes
Writer Steve Englehart has stated that he wrote this story as though it took place in real time, as opposed to adhering to the Sliding Timescale. However, since Agatha Harkness was last seen in Fantastic Four #222 as well as flashbacks in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #7 and Vision (vol. 2) #7. FF #222 was published 5 years prior to this story, so one could interpret this time frame of two months as either factual or topical, it doesn’t really affect much considering the gap of time between Agatha’s appearances.
Mention is made of how Nicholas Scratch was defeated in Fantastic Four Annual #14.
Although Harkness is burned alive here, her spirit will continue communing with Wanda in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4-5. However, she will turn up alive and well again in Avenges West Coast #50-52. All she says about her resurrection is that death was a huge inconvenience. So magic I guess?
The relationship between the Vision and Wonder Man is complex. The details:
Simon Williams became Wonder Man back in Avengers #9 and was told that the process would eventually kill him. Although the Avengers tried to cure him they ultimately failed, but not before they were able to record his brain patterns.
When creating the Vision out of the Human Torch android, Ultron used Simon’s brain patterns to craft a new personality. See Avengers #57-58 and 134-135.
In the interim, Wonder Man came back to life in Avengers #151 after the process that gave him his powers converted him into a being of ionic energy.
Over the years since, Avengers foe the Grim Reaper — Simon’s brother Eric — attempted to figure out if the Vision or Wonder Man was his true brother. See Avengers #102, 106-108, 160 and Vision and the Scarlet Witch #3.
The Vision has always had a subdued personality until he removed a crystal from his brain that was stunting his emotional growth in Avengers #254.
During their most recent conflict with the Grim Reaper, the Vision met Martha Williams — Simon and Eric’s mother — and she accepted him as a son, soon too did both Simon and Eric. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1-2 and last issue.
The family dynamics between Wanda and “father” and brother are just as complicated, and also a lie:
At the time of this story, Wanda and Pietro had just recently been convinced that they are the children of Magneto. See Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4.
However, this turns out to be a lie. In reality, the twins were kidnapped from their real parents and experimented upon by the High Evolutionary. In order to cover up his work he made it so future genetic tests would have the Maximoff twins register as mutants. Their true parents are later revealed to be Natalya Maximoff and an unidentified Scarlet Warlock. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4 and 11.
When Wanda started dating the Vision circa Avengers #108, Pietro express his disapproval when he learned about it in issue #110. Quicksilver was telepathically forced to get over his prejudices by Moondragon in Avengers #176.
Wanda indeed made herself pregnant using magic. This will be confirmed next issue and she will give birth to twins in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #12. However, its later revealed that these children were created using fragments of Mephisto’s soul. See Avengers West Coast #51-52.
