Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #5
The Others Call it… All Hallow’s Eve!
It is Halloween night and the Vision has gone to the Magic Mansion, the magic club where the magicians Glamor and Illusion put on a nightly show. The pair welcome the Vision and but notice that the Scarlet Witch has not come along with him and ask if there is anything wrong with the baby.[1] Vision assures them that she is fine, she has decided to stay home this evening to partake in a Pegan ritual and brush up on her witchcraft skills.
Back in Leona, New Jersey, Wanda is preparing for her mystical ceremony but decides to call her brother, Quicksilver, who lives on the moon. Pietro is stressing over his job training the Inhuman militia when he receives Wanda’s call. However, his worry is briefly put aside when Wanda tells him that she is pregnant.[2] He congratulates his sister and then asks if she has told their father, Magneto.[3] Wanda admits that she has been reluctant to tell him but she knows she’ll have to do it sooner or later. She then tells Pietro her plans for the evening, that she is going to cast a spell to try and commune with the spirit of her former mentor, Agatha Harkness.[4] Before letting her brother go, Wanda has him confirm that he will be attending her Thanksgiving celebration next month.
Going up to the attic, Wanda paints a circle of protection on the floor and lines it with candles and then begins her mystical ceremony. She succeeds in reaching the spirit of Agatha Harkness who warns her that she is in grave danger but disappears before she can explain what it is. Trying to bring Agatha’s spirit back, Wanda uses her hex powers but only succeeds into opening the portal to the after life. Emerging from the portal is the horribly maimed body of Thornn, a member of the Salem’s Seven, who grabs Wanda and pulls her through the portal so that he and the other members of the Seven can get their revenge against her.[5]
Meanwhile, at the Magic Mansion, the Vision is watching Glamor and Illusion’s magic show when suddenly his mind is struck by a painful magic distress call, causing him to scream in agony. Suddenly, the image of Agatha Harkness appears in the middle of the showroom, frighting away all the other patrons. Harkness tells the Vision that Wanda is in danger and that he has to destroy the Druid tome. The only Druid home he can think of was destroyed some time ago.[6]
In the netherworld, Wanda is dragged before the rest of the Salem’s Seven, who are all ghoulishly maimed and desire revenge. Getting free with a hex bolt, Wanda runs for it as a shadowy figure observes from afar, vowing to win this battle before the dawn.
By this time, Vision has returned to his home with Glamor and Illusion and discover that Wanda is missing. Illusion suggests that the book was not utterly destroyed and that they need to recover it. The Vision recalls how, during his battle with Samhaim, he fought a young trick or treater that was turned into a ghost. The battle took them into the air over the chimney of their old home as the book was being burned. It’s possible that the ghost costume was covered in soot from the chimney but with the house burned down and no clue where to find the ghost costume, making this a nearly impossible situation to resolve. Illusion points out that his magical power is to control the molecules of an object on contact and tells the Vision to find the ghost costume.
Back in the netherworld, the Scarlet Witch is haunted by other entities who have died including the Dark Phoenix, Korvac, Dracula, Egghead, Dracula, Baron Zemo, Baron Strucker, and the Crimson Dynamo.[7] She is also visited by the spirits of her mother Magda,[8] and the Whizzer and Miss America, who try to convince Wanda to surrender. However, Agatha Harkness appears before her, still tied to a burning stake. She warns Wanda not to believe everything she sees in this realm and to keep fighting. That’s when Samhain makes his presence known and attacks the Scarlet Witch directly.
Meanwhile, the Vision finds the girl from that night on Halloween. She is named Holly LaDonna, and now works at the local library. Hearing the Vision’s story, she tells him that she still has the ghost costume and goes up to the attic of her family home to retrieve it. Racing back to his home, the Vision gives the sheet to Illusion, who uses his power to draw together the fragments of the book, causing it to reform. In order to utterly destroy the book, the Vision channels the full power of the solar crystal he wears on his brow and uses it to atomize the book. The moment he does, Samhain suddenly feels his link to the physical world get severed. Furious at this defeat, the entity assumes his true form, a flaming demon. However, before he can slay Wanda, Agatha Harkness breaks free from her bonds to defend her former student.
Quickly, Agatha separates Samhaim’s essence and traps each fragment inside each member of the Salem’s Seven where he will be trapped for all eternity.[10] With the danger passed, Agatha now believes she can finally go to her final rest and returns Wanda to the land of the living, where she is happily reunited with her husband.
Recurring Characters
Vision, Scarlet Witch, Samhain, Illusion, Glamor, Agatha Harkness, Salem’s Seven (Brutacus, Hydron, Reptilla, Thornn, Vakume, Vertigo), Quicksilver, Holly LaDonna
Continuity Notes
Mention is made about the Vision’s charismatic personality and sense of humor here. He states that his emotional capacity and human behavior was stunted by a control crystal in his brain that had recently been removed. This happened in Avengers #254. It’s also mentioned here that Wanda is pregnant. She achieved this through magic in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3, she will give birth in issue #12 of this series.
The narrative here reminds readers that, for a time, Pietro did not approve of Wanda’s relationship with the Vision but eventually got of his prejudice. When Wanda told him of this romance in Avengers #110, Pietro denounced the romance as an abomination. Later, Moondragon used her telepathy to force Pietro to accept Wanda and the Vision’s relationship. See Avengers #176.
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were led to believe that they are Magneto’s children in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4. Not only is this untrue, they aren’t even mutants. As infants they were experimented upon by the High Evolutionary who covered up his work by making future genetic testing have them register as mutants. Their real parents are actually Natalya Maximoff and an unidentified Scarlet Warlock. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4 and 11.
Agatha Harkness was burned at the stake in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3. However, her death proves to be only a minor inconvenience to her she’ll be alive and kicking again in Avengers West Coast #50.
The Salem’s Seven were also killed off in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3 after a sacrificial ceremony went sideways on them.
This Druidic spell book was recovered in Captain America #256 and given to Wanda in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1, it was subsequently burned during her battle with Samhain.
The various spirits that Wanda encounters were all characters who were believed to be dead at the time of this story. Many were not actually dead or later manage to cheat death. Since Agatha tells Wanda that these apparitions can’t be trusted these are likely all impostors. The dead are:
Dark Phoenix: Here, Wanda refers to the Phoenix as Jean Grey and Marvel Girl. At the time, everyone believed that Jean Grey was the Phoenix. However, as explained in Fantastic Four #286, Jean was actually replaced by the Phoenix Force circa X-Men #101. Losing control of its power, the Phoenix sacrificed its mortal life in X-Men #137 to save the X-Men. It didn’t really die per se so much as it lost its mortal form and will be seen again — in essence — during the Inferno event circa Uncanny X-Men #239-243 and X-Factor #36-39.
Korvac, a time traveler from the 30th Century, died battling the Avengers in Avengers #167-177. While his physical body died his essence was sent through time in an effort to be reborn, as seen in Fantastic Four Annual #24/Thor Annual #16/Silver Surfer Annual #4/Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1.
Dracula, lord of the vampires, was actually dead at the time of this story. He was killed when Doctor Strange cast a spell to rid the world of vampires in Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #62. He will be resurrected in Tomb of Dracula (vol. 3) #1-4.
Egghead, the mad scientist, was believed to have died when his gun blew up in his face in Avengers #229. However, he cheated death thanks to a Rejuvitech serum and will eventually resurface in Ant-Man Annual #1.
The original Baron Zemo, one of the few people seen here who has remained dead, at least at the time of this writing in February 2022. Zemo was killed in an avalanche of his own making during a life-and-death battle with Captain America way back in Avengers #15.
Baron Strucker, leader of Hydra, was also dead at the time of this story after falling victim to his own Death Spore virus back in Strange Tales #158. His body will get reformed in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (vol. 3) #20-21.
The second Crimson Dynamo, aka Alex Nevsky, is also another character who is still listed as deceased TOTW. He died in a battle against Iron Man in Iron Man #74.
The appearance of a spirit claiming to be Magda Eisenhardt is questionable as it is suspect. The details:
As stated above, Wanda isn’t really the daughter of Magneto and his wife Magda. In Classic X-Men #12 and Avengers #186 it is stated that Magda fled her husband out of fear of his mutant powers, went to the High Evolutionary’s Citadel of Science to give birth and fled into the snowy mountains and is presumed dead. Since the revelation that Wanda and Pietro are not her children, how much of this story is true or not has yet to be revealed, same as Magda’s ultimate fate.
Here, Magda refers to herself as a Romani and that mystical blood runs through Wanda’s veins. In X-Men (vol. 2) #72, it is revealed the Magda was one of the Sinte Romani. However, while not impossible, there is no evidence to indicate that Magda ever had a sorcery background. Her claims that mystic blood flows through Wanda’s veins is not incorrect however, since she comes from a long line of Scarlet Witches, as detailed in Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1-14.
The spirits appearing as the Whizzer and Miss America is highly suspect as well, but their claims are actually factual:
As detailed in Giant-Size Avengers #1, the couple also went to the citadel of science to get assistance with childbirth and for a time, the Whizzer was led to believe that Pietro and Wanda were his children. Avengers #186 revealed that Miss America and her unborn baby died in childbirth not long after the Maximoff twins were born and Bova tried to hand them off to the Whizzer as thought they were his own.
The Whizzer believed this deception for years until he was told the truth by the Vision in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #2. He died of a heart attack shortly thereafter.
Both Whizzer and Miss America have, TOTW, remained deceased. Allegedly, their spirits were last seen in X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1-5.
Incidentally, this is the last time Samhaim is ever mentioned. The Salem’s Seven will be resurrected in Marvel Knights: 4 #25-27. However, the subsequent fate of Samhaim is unknown.
Topical References
This story states that it has been a month between this issue and the last. Writer Steve Englehart intended for this series to happen in real time, with a month passing between each issue. This puts it at odds with the Sliding Timescale. Possible explanations for these discrepancies are listed below.
Here, the spirit of “Magda” states that she is a gypsy. This term should be considered topical as to many it is an outdated term and considered racist by many. The correct term to use today is Romani.
Explaining the Passage of Time in this Series
TL;DR explanation: IT’S A MAGIC PREGNANCY! However, if you want a theory, I got a theory. Buckle up:
As stated above, writer Steven Englehart intended for Vision and the Scarlet Witch to progress in “real time” in that a month passes between each story. This puts it at odds with the Sliding Timescale that governs the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe. Generally speaking, for every four years of publications one year passes within the fiction. This series was published between 1986 and 1987, which fall under the category of publications that detail the “seventh year” of the Modern Age. If strictly adhered to, that would mean that Wanda’s pregnancy would have lasted 2.5 months instead of the average 10 months.
This is one of those few cases where the timeline of a story would not logically fit the Sliding Timescale without some kind of external explanation. As of this writing, the most complete profile for the Scarlet Witch can be found in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #10. while it details the events of Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2), it only uses a paragraph to detail these events and is vague about the passage of time.
However, since the entire pregnancy was based on magic, one could assume that magical circumstances were involved. One could assume that the magic involved sped up the pregnancy, but that doesn’t really fit the narrative of the story where calendar events and seasons pass and Wanda appears to go through a normal pregnancy. There is no way to “speed things up” without characters being aware of the accelerated passage of time.
Slowing time in general — across all Marvel books — during this period would also greatly affect the Sliding Timescale elsewhere. As of this writing (February, 2022) Marvel has not provided an official explanation for this discrepancy.
I believe the Disney+ series Wandavision (which was partially inspired by this series) and the House of M limited series gives us a possible explanation for all of this. As you may recall, in Wandavision, Wanda uses her powers to reshape the entire world around her to suit her whims, affecting time and space to turn the entire town into situational comedies from various different eras. This sort of reality altering power is not unique to the MCU either. In House of M, Wanda uses her powers to restructure all of reality into a world of her own suiting.
It’s my theory that this is the case here in this series. That Wanda’s powers somehow affected the flow of time around Lenora (maybe all over) so that — for a brief moment — time passed slower so that while her pregnancy did take 10 months, the passage of time outside of her life remained at its usual pace. The change of seasons, the passage of holidays all happened in this localized pocket where Wanda is going through her pregnancy. When characters from outside Leona (basically every guest star) come into her world, their thoughts and memories are also affected by this localized pocket of “real time”, hence how their views adhere to the story narrative.
It’s my view that this “pocket of real time” occurred between Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4 (when Wanda finds out she’s pregnant and decides to stay in Leona) and issue #12 (when she gives birth to her children)
Under this theory, Wanda’s pregnancy happening in “real time” and the consistency of the Sliding Timescale can both be true at the same time.