What is the Darkhold? Explaining the Book at the Center of ‘Agatha All Along’

Agatha All Along ‘s inclusion of the Darkhold in the story of a makeshift coven walking the Witches’ Road is once again centering “The Book of the Damned” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The book, which was first introduced into the MCU in Episode 7 of WandaVision , already has a rich history in the franchise after cameoing in just two projects – it also appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . Given the clear significance of this mysterious novel in the MCU going forward, many fans are asking the important question: What exactly is the Darkhold?

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In the Marvel Comics , the Darkhold — commonly referred to as the “Book of Spells” or the “Book of Sins” — was created by the Elder God Chthon who put all of his dark knowledge onto paper and created the Chthon Scrolls. The teachings, said to be some of the worst spells known to magic (think along the lines of the Unforgivable Curses from Harry Potter ), would later come to be known as the Darkhold. While Chthon has not made his in-the-flesh debut in the MCU, it’s important to note that he is the first master of chaos magic, the source of power for Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) as explained to her by Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) in WandaVision .

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Even more, it appears the Darkhold’s significance will only grow as Agatha All Along is clearly laying the groundwork for a storyline about what Agatha was willing to do in order to possess the book. It is heavily alluded to in the first several episodes that Agatha sacrificed her son, Nicholas Scratch , to obtain the book. Episode 3, specifically, sees our anti-hero hallucinating a crib only to reveal the Darkhold under a blanket. Could it be Occam’s Razor or is this a misdirect from the writers? Either way, the Darkhold will be of great consequence moving forward in both the show and the MCU – remember, one of the early fake titles for Agatha All Along was Agatha: Darkhold Diaries .

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Outside of Agatha All Along , the book has appeared in two other major Marvel projects: WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . In the former, the all-powerful collection of spells is introduced as the means for Agatha to control and manipulate the goings-on in Westview where Wanda had put an entire town under a spell. After defeating Agatha in the series finale and relegating her to the role of nosy neighbor Agnes, Wanda retreated to a remote location and was seen studying the Darkhold’s texts — while astral projecting, we might add —- prior to the events of Doctor Strange 2 .

Meanwhile, in Multiverse of Madness , Wanda used the Book of Spells to “dream-walk” between realities and universes in search of her sons, Billy and Tommy, who evaporated from existence as she brought down the hex in WandaVision . The movie explains that Wanda’s tireless search was causing catastrophic damage to the multiverse and Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is tasked with stopping her. In accomplishing his task — Wanda ultimately crushes herself under Mt. Wundagore after realizing the fault in her actions — the book is destroyed. Strange, however, has already used the Darkhold and is left with the aftershocks of its use in a cliffhanger ending where he develops a third eye.

As for the Darkhold’s role in Agatha All Along , it seems the book will be sticking around as the coven continues down the Witches Road and goes after what they desire most in the world. For Agatha, though, will it be the Darkhold or her son? You’ll have to stick around to find out.

The first four episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney+ . All episodes of Wandavision are currently streaming.

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