Agatha All Along: Why Can’t Rio Vidal Kill Agatha?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Agatha All Along Episode 1, “Seekest Thou the Road.”

Agatha All Along‘s debut installment ends with Rio Vidal coming this close to ending Agatha Harkness’ life – only for Rio to admit she’s unable to follow through. So, why can’t Rio Vidal kill Agatha, exactly?

Why Rio Vidal Can’t Kill Agatha Harkness in Agatha All Along Episode 1

As noted above, the Agatha/Rio tussle in Agatha All Along Episode 1, “Seekest Thou the Road,” ends in a stalemate. Apparently, neither combatant can fatally injure the other – whether that’s through supernatural means, an exotic-looking knife, or just good old fashioned strangling. So, what gives? Why can’t Agatha and Rio Vidal kill each other? According to dialogue in Episode 1, it’s because the rules of the Witches’ Code prevent one witch from killing another.

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This doesn’t necessarily track with with previous MCU depictions of witchcraft. Notably, Agatha herself wipes out an entire coven of witches in one of WandaVision‘s flashback sequences. That said, Agatha employs dark magic on this occasion, which potentially supersedes the laws of conventional sorcery.

Alternatively, Agatha and Rio could be bound by a spell exclusive to them. We know they have a shared history dating back to before Agatha got her hands on the Darkhold. So, it’s not a stretch to suggest that the pair made some kind of magical pact before they fell out. Breaking such a pact – rather than the general act of murder itself – could be what the Witches’ Code forbids.

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Or maybe this is less of “can’t” and more of a “won’t” situation. The code could simply be a set of guidelines rather than something magically binding. If so, Rio could break the code and kill Agatha, but if she did, the wider witch community would shun or even punish her. This jibes with established MCU lore, given Agatha was up for execution in WandaVision – an apparently sanctioned act of witch-on-witch killing – precisely because she broke the code!

Agatha All Along is currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping Wednesdays.