Agatha Harkness is connected to a surprisingly sad tarot card in ‘Agatha All Along’
Agatha All Along episode 4, “If I Can’t Reach You / Let My Song Teach You,” seems to confirm Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) is the “Three of Swords” after promotional art first teased her connection to the tarot card.
Spoilers for Agatha All Along episode 4 ahead!
Before Agatha All Along premiered, Marvel released promotional art inspired by tarot cards. The art utilized real tarot cards, like the High Priestess, Three of Swords, and Queen of Cups cards, but altered the image the cards depict to make them resemble the characters in Agatha All Along. Upon looking at the cards, many noticed that Death resembled Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), while Three of Swords resembled Agatha. The Three of Swords card includes a woman in purple, looking at her empty hands as if she should be holding something in them.
After several social media users theorized the card depicted Agatha and held hints about her fate on the show, Agatha All Along seemingly confirmed the fan theory.
Is Agatha Harkness the Three of Swords?
Agatha All Along episode 4 finally name-drops the Three of Swords. During the episode, the remaining coven members undergo their second trial. Although they make it out alive, Teen (Joe Locke) is seriously injured from a shard of glass. Agatha grows surprisingly emotional as the coven questions if he’ll survive. While she has been sarcastic and manipulative for most of the series, she’s close to tears as she demands Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) cure him with a potion. At this point, Lilia (Patti LuPone), the divination expert, looks at Agatha and says to herself, “The Three of Swords.”
An X user also pointed out that Lilia has seemingly been identifying all the subjects of the promotional tarot cards throughout the season. She also mentioned the “High Priestess” when meeting Jennifer and said “Three of Pinnacles” when conjuring the names of the coven. Hence, her statement may confirm that Agatha represents the Three of Swords.
What this means in Agatha All Along is unclear, but the card does have a meaning in real-life tarot decks. The card typically shows a heart impaled by three swords. The Three of Swords is usually the tarot card one doesn’t wish to draw, as it is commonly associated with grief and sorrow. It represents rejection, betrayal, loss, and heartache. It can be interpreted as indicating an emotional low point in one’s life. If it’s the card that represents Agatha, it could suggest there is more to the character than meets the eye. While it’s easy to be suspicious of Agatha and believe she’s at fault for whatever happened between her and Rio, the card suggests that she could just be putting up a front and masking her true pain.
Meanwhile, the series already seems to be pointing to the source of her sadness: her long-lost son. Not only has the show repeatedly referenced her missing son, Nicholas Scratch, but in the promotional art, it almost looks as if Agatha’s outstretched hands were meant to be holding her baby. In the show, Jennifer reveals there are rumors that Agatha sacrificed her son for the Darkhold. While this could be why she’s so sorrowful, the card also suggests betrayal. What if Agatha didn’t choose to give up her son but was tricked into it? Ultimately, it seems that Lilia recognizes that the sorrow Agatha releases in light of Teen’s injury is genuine and reminiscent of the Three of Swords.
It remains to be seen what the card truly means in Agatha All Along, but it seems significant that Agatha’s card is surprisingly sad for someone viewers likely assumed would be represented by a more sinister card.
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