Scarlet Witch: The Witches' Road, Explained

The Scarlet Witch has never walked an easy path. From her tragic childhood to her early days as a villain with Magneto to her tumultuous time with the Avengers, Wanda Maximoff has faced more than her fair share of challenges. 

Due to her reality-warping powers, the Scarlet Witch's moments of mental instability became worldwide crises that touched the lives of the X-Men, the Avengers, and the other heroes of the Marvel Universe. So, when Wanda tried to turn the page on her past once and for all, she walked down a new path: the Witches' Road. As she went on that magical journey, Wanda discovered long-overdue revelations about her past and a new chance at life. 

Now, let's take a closer look at the strange mystical realm of the Witches' Road, as well as Wanda Maximoff's experience there with the spirit of her teacher, Agatha Harkness.

WHAT IS THE WITCHES' ROAD?

The Witches' Road is a mysterious mystical dimension that only certain magic users and those summoned by them can enter. It is the home of the Goddess of Witchcraft, a cosmic entity that serves as the source of magical power for witches and warlocks who perform magic using spells and phrases, and for the descendants of mystics who have inherited their powers. 

The Witches' Road is also the home of Chaos, a lesser abstract being who acts a partner to the Goddess of Witchcraft by helping her magic break the physical rules of reality. The Witches' Road contains various monsters, demons, and other mystical creatures influenced by the goddess' health. 

The Witches' Road exists outside of space and time, which allowed Wanda Maximoff to meet her long-dead biological mother there in SCARLET WITCH (2015) #3 by James Robinson, Steve Dillon, and Chris Visions. Different areas of influence exist in the Witches' Road, and some magicians' powers grow or shrink depending on their location within the realm. Near its entrance, the Witches' Road can appear as a mystical forest, but it gives way to mind-bending psychedelic landscapes deep within, where the Goddess of Witchcraft resides.

WHY SCARLET WITCH WALKED THE WITCHES' ROAD

After stepping away from the Avengers to strike out on her own, the Scarlet Witch realized something was wrong with the nature of witchcraft. Despite her death, Agatha Harkness' ghost also sensed the disturbance, so she accompanied Wanda as she investigated. 

Although Wanda's spirit prematurely aged whenever she used her magic, she continued to deal with mystical threats like a demon that sent people into a murderous rage, a Minotaur-possessed Man-Bull, and a curse that affected all of Ireland. As she tried to find the magician responsible for the Irish curse, Wanda brought Agatha through a portal into the Witches' Road in SCARLET WITCH (2015) #3. 

On the Witches' Road, Wanda—who had been plagued by questions about her true biological parents for years—found herself face-to-face with a young version of Natalya Maximoff, the previous Scarlet Witch. Agatha confirmed that this Scarlet Witch was indeed Wanda's mother as Natalya fought off a mystical beast. Natalya realized Wanda was her daughter just before fading away in SCARLET WITCH (2015) #4 by James Robinson, Chris Visions, and Steve Dillon. 

After Wanda realized she was the latest in a long line of Scarlet Witches, she encountered Dian. Also called the Emerald Warlock, this ancient sorcerer cursed Ireland for his exile millennia ago. By tricking Dian into an area of the Witches' Road where she was more powerful, Wanda defeated the Emerald Warlock; he declared himself her new archenemy as he faded away. 

THE END OF THE WITCHES' ROAD

After briefly leaving the Witches' Road, the Scarlet Witch explored her mother's mystical legacy as she continued investigating what was wrong with magic. Eventually, Wanda's search brought her to Dasha Koralov, her mother's sidekick, and Marya Maximoff, her aunt. 

At the urging of Natalya's spirit, Wanda and Agatha's ghost vowed to heal magic by walking farther down the Witches' Road than anyone ever had in SCARLET WITCH (2015) #12 by James Robinson and Annapaola Martello. Wanda and Agatha walked through the realm for weeks and encountered more and more signs of damage and decay from whatever was hurting magic. Although Wanda's recent self-reflection and encounters with other mystics prepared her for these battles, her continued use of magic rapidly aged her spirit, as seen in SCARLET WITCH (2015) #13 by James Robinson and Jonathan Marks. 

After fighting through demons shaped by her past, Wanda and Agatha reached the deepest part of the Witches' Road, where they met Natalya once more. With guidance from the late Scarlet Witch, the three witches found the Goddess of Witchcraft, who was under attack by Chaos. 

With help from Quicksilver, the witches saved the Witchcraft Goddess. Natalya sacrificed her soul to restore the goddess to health and, as a parting gift, used the entity's power to restore the youth of Wanda's spirit, resurrect Agatha, and send them back home. Since then, the Scarlet Witch and Agatha have only briefly returned to the Witches' Road when sparring across dimensions, but this mystical realm remains the source of the power that drives them both.

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