WandaVision Episode 5 EXPLAINED - Losing Control & MCU Multiverse Madness

Some people are already calling this the strongest episode of the series so far, and that is not something to be taken lightly!

Episode 5 of WandaVision hit us with the feels, the big reveals and a hell of a lot of development. Tensions were rising inside Westview as Vision continued to become more and more suspicious, SWORD made some major breakthroughs in figuring out what the hell is going on (which, in fairness, can mainly be credited to Monica) and we got some cute family sitcom time as the twins sped through their formative years.

The episode opens in Westview in the Wanda/Vision household, with the couple struggling with the realities of parenthood as the twins refuse to stop crying. Wanda discovers she is unable to manipulate them like she does to others, and after a visit from Agnes takes an awkward turn we begin to see that Vision may be reaching the end of his tether with the unexplained goings-on.

Back in the normal world, Monica is back with SWORD and it is revealed that around a week prior, Wanda broke into a SWORD facility and stole Vision's corpse from their holding. SWORD is on a bit of a roll of progress in this episode, next going on (thanks to Monica) to discover that Westview is not being manipulated just by projected illusions but the matter itself is changing state. Monica fires a few shots into her disco pants and reveals that those bad-boys are like 70 percent Kevlar!

In the meantime back in Westview, the twins age up at will and adopt a stray dog- sparking an argument between Wanda and Vision when the former materialises a collar in front of Agnes. Wanda declares that she’s “tired of hiding” and asks Vision if he doesn’t feel the same- which doesn’t go down very well.

An already confused and tense vision next has his world shaken when, at work, an email comes in concerning the Maximoff anomaly. Vision is briefly able to break through Wanda’s control and speak to the real man behind his colleague character, Norm. The man reveals that he is being controlled, that he has family he needs to contact but he's being held trapped against his will.

SWORD's discovery that the matter in Westview is real leads them to try to introduce a recon tool that will fit in with the 80's appearance of it all: a very old drone. They fly it into Westview and, after the Director commands that it discharge its weapons on Wanda, everything goes dead. Cue a very angry Wanda emerging from Westview, drone in hand and red glow emanating from her. Despite Monica’s pleas to be recognised as an ally, as someone who just wants to help, Wanda disregards it all and sends a clear message to SWORD: “This will be your only warning: stay out of my home.”

After a quick ad break for Lagos paper towels, we return to Westview with a slightly sadder tone as the recently-adopted dog dies and Wanda has to explain to her kids that you can’t avoid sadness by manipulating reality.

An argument later breaks out between Wanda and Vision for the second time this episode, but this time more explosive. Vision tells Wanda (incorrectly) that she can’t control him like she does everyone else and she tries to convince him that she’s not responsible for controlling the whole town.

After an unfortunately timed doorbell interrupts their discussion, however, we end the episode on a huge reveal. Wanda opens the door to reveal her brother Pietro, recast as the X-Men’s Quicksilver, Evan Peters...

It’s a pretty big deal to start off with that Wanda is unable to control her children. She can’t stop them crying, she can’t control when they age. She’s confused and uncomfortable that she can’t rule over every aspect of her family life, and this includes the way she appears to be losing a grip on Vision and his compliance. Things are unravelling in her personal life not least because she can’t keep her husband and children in check but also because, completely uncontrolled by herself, her brother turns up at her door unannounced.

It was interesting to see Vision break through into reality when he interacts with Norm, hearing him echo the same sentiments about the control being disorienting and painful that Monica shares with SWORD. It’s all this that has earned her the title of the “principal victimiser” and a terrorist amongst the SWORD agents studying Westview. It’s all well and good to say to them “don’t bother me and I won’t bother you” but really she kind of is bothering the thousands of residents in the town stuck under her control.

The one moment where she seems to be completely dominant in her little world is actually when she steps out of it. As she storms out of the Westview boundary with fury in her eyes and gives one huge warning to SWORD to stay away, they have no option to fight back- she can literally control where their guns will fire. She is completely lucid, her accent is back, she doesn’t seem confused or scared- only angry. It goes against any inkling that she may be being controlled by another influence.

It seems that it’s more likely that she has suffered a breakdown that caused a spiral: it caused her to go and retrieve Vision's corpse, then to create a safe bubble in which she can protect herself and her family. What caused it exactly? It could be a number of things honestly, we know she’s not exactly had an easy time of it. One important thing, though, is that it still doesn’t seem like a “premeditated act of aggression”, as Monica says to Wanda’s defence.

We still don’t really know if everything is completely up to her or if she was being influenced by someone else outside of her own mind, but in many ways this episode makes it seem that the only person influencing Wanda is Wanda. So why are things going wrong? Why does Agnes know she's in a sitcom, why do the children know that it's not Monday when Wanda claims it is? Things are getting more and more complicated.