The journey down the Witches’ Road commences, and the very first trial faced by Agatha and her coven ends in a disaster. Previously, Agatha Harkness was able to break out of the hex put by Scarlet Witch with the intervention of her longtime rival witch, Rio Vidal—and a teenager, whose identity remains a mystery still. With the dreaded witch cult ‘Salem Seven’ in her pursuit, Agatha needed to regain her powers. Agatha had to venture on a journey through the Witches’ Road to get back her powers, and in order to do so, it is imperative to have a coven of witches. After assembling a ragtag team of witches consisting of her former associates, Jen, Lilia, and Alice—all of whom have their personal reasons to participate in the journey—Agatha brought her unassuming neighbor Sharon in as the final member of the coven as the green witch, and completed the ritual to summon the gateway to the Witches’ Road. Keeping with the tone set by the first two episodes, the third one continues to admix lighthearted fun with elements of horror as Agatha and her coven face their worst fears in the metaphysical world of sorcery.
Spoilers Ahead
What Was The First Trial Faced by Agatha and Her Coven?
While the rest of the team are digging the vibe of the mysterious, illusory fairytale backdrop of the Witches’ Road, Sharon, being an outsider, has no business being among them, and she is hesitating to express her dissatisfaction with the fact that Agatha basically kidnapped her by dragging her along. Jen wonders whether bringing Sharon will put the team in danger, and the topic shifts to the dangers posed by the journey. Agatha, the only one in the coven who has past experience venturing through the Witches’ road, reveals that the journey puts participants through trials, where they have to face their worst fears. The varied skills of the coven members are put to the test in a specific trial of their own. Meanwhile, the rest of the members learn about the teen’s inability to reveal his identity and reveal the fact that a sigil has been put on him to keep his identity hidden from the witchfolk. Sharon almost gets herself into a terrible situation after wandering off the road, until the rest of the team rescues her in time.
The coven comes across a beach house, and as they enter it, the teenager identifies a full moon insignia engraved in the door, signifying the water phase of the moon—basically witch talk, which hides clues for future events. The interior of the house is decorated like a cozy, luxurious 1960s apartment, and as the team finds a riddle in the kitchen, Sharon correctly deduces the answer to be wine. A bottle of wine appears in front of them, and considering it to be part of the trial, the members drink from it—all except the teen, that is—and Agatha secretly dumps her glass of wine as well. A thirty-minute countdown begins in a timer, the reason for which is revealed much later. Gradually, the teenager gets acquainted with the other members of the coven. Jen warns him not to trust Agatha, as she reveals that Agatha had traded her own child for the Darkhold, and it remains unknown whether he has become an agent of Mephisto or something worse. In comics, Agatha’s son, Nicholas Scratch, became a lackey of Mephisto and was associated with the machinations of Shuma-Gorath as well, which could very well be referenced directly in the series in upcoming episodes. Speaking with Alice, the teenager learns about her connection with her late mother, who had coerced her into getting a tattoo that wards off curses when she was thirteen years old. The teen is able to relate as he mentions that he too had to go through a lot of stuff when he was that age.
Soon enough, first Sharon, and then all the members of the coven find out their faces have been disfigured magically, and their afflictions vanish in no time as well. Jen, the potion witch, identifies it to be the terrible poison Alewife’s Revenge, which will end up killing them when the countdown ends. Agatha tries to escape from this mess by attempting to flee from the house when the teenager discovers that she hasn’t drank her glass of wine. As the members of the coven coerce Agatha to drink to follow the rules of the trial, Sharon loses her consciousness while hallucinating the final moments of her husband. Realizing that the place will present them with a fate worse than death, Agatha asks Jen to create an antidote for the poison. This is Jen’s trial, and she has to lead the coven in its successful completion.
What Fears Do The Coven Members Face?
Jen lists the ingredients she needs to formulate an antidote concoction, and members of the coven go their separate ways to find them from the inventory of the house. While doing so, everyone faces their own worst fears, as Lilia is confronted by an ominous demonic nun-like presence, as her scenario seems to have roots in the medieval period. Jen is confronted by a doctor who tries to drown her, plants a seed of doubt in her abilities, and, as revealed later, is responsible for Jen losing her powers in the first place. Alice sees a vision of her mother lamenting the death of Alice’s grandmother and sharing her regret that she won’t be able to protect Alice. Somehow escaping the illusions, all the members return as Jen begins concocting the potion, when Agatha faces her most dreaded moment as well—as she sees a vision that shows a copy of the Darkhold in her son’s crib, acting like a reminder of Agatha’s sins. An anguished Agatha gets bewildered when she is brought back to her senses by Jen reminding her how little time they have left to create the antidote.
Who Died At the End of the First Trial?
Jen’s first attempt to create the antidote doesn’t work, as self-doubt and insecurity start plaguing her mind. All goes haywire as Jen starts panicking, considering herself unworthy due to the fact her powers were stolen, and Agatha takes it upon herself to reinstate Jen’s self-confidence by mentioning that her powers lie in her knowledge, not in her abilities.
Having some of her resolve back, Jen remembers a crucial ingredient she had missed, the blood of an unpoisoned—in this case, the teenager—and as they use it in the potion, the antidote is successfully synthesized. With the house suddenly going underwater and everything on the verge of collapse, an exit door opens in the oven, and after taking the antidote themselves, and sharing it with an unconscious Sharon as well, the team hurriedly leave the house through the exit. After the successful completion of the first trial, once again they have ended up on Witches’ Road and in their original attire as well. However, not everyone has survived the trial, as the teen reveals that Sharon has passed away, while Agatha fails to remember who Sharon is in the first place.
As Agatha All Along episode 3 ends, despite Sharon not being an important character, at least not yet in the given context, Agatha is to be blamed for her demise, and this will likely result in the creation of a rift among the members of the coven. This also acts as a reminder that, to gain her powers, Agatha will not hesitate to sacrifice every member of the coven.Â
