Marvel's Agatha All Along Episode 7 Reveals The True Identity Of Aubrey Plaza's Rio Vidal

This post contains spoilers for "Agatha All Along" and Marvel's comic books.

The quality of a yet-to-be-unveiled season finale often hinges on a show's penultimate episode, and "Agatha All Along" seems to have knocked it out of the park with episode 7, "Death's Hand in Mine." Technically, two more episodes are left to be aired, but as episodes 8 and 9 will drop together as a part of the story's final stretch, it remains to be seen how the narrative pans out in a structural sense. Anyhow, episode 7 does something intriguing by subverting the linear flow of the story, making these changes integral to Lilia (the brilliant Patti LuPone), who finally embraces her true potential as a divination witch and embraces death, realizing that it comes for us all. Midway through her epiphany, however, Lilia learns that Death is none other than Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), with some of the flashbacks recontextualizing our understanding of the character and what role she might end up playing on the Witches' Road.

The fact that Rio is Death — a reinterpretation of Lady Death from the Marvel Comics — has been a working theory since Rio's first appearance, and the clues were subtly scattered throughout the episode leading up to the tragic demise of Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn). However, a blatant confirmation allows us to better understand Rio's motives, her relationship with Agatha (Kathryn Hahn), and why her presence is so vital to the journey on the Witches' Road. Lilia puts together the puzzle almost instantly: she remembers how Rio told Agatha about her desire to collect "bodies" at one point and laughed fiendishly when the Ouija board spelled out DEATH during Agatha's trial. Moreover, Rio mysteriously disappeared after Alice died, probably because she had to guide her to the afterlife and due to the realization that her true identity would be revealed by the next trial, thanks to Lilia's abilities. 

Before we theorize how and why Rio will rejoin the dwindling coven, though, let us look at Lady Death from Marvel's comics and how Rio is different from her comic book counterpart.

Anyone who is the personification of death is bound to emerge as a pivotal figure, so it is safe to say that Lady Death is an integral character in Marvel's comics, commonly tinted as an antagonist. Although traditionally expected to remain neutral, Lady Death has interfered with the flow of events on more than one occasion, harboring a penchant for creating a little chaos to gain an advantage over mortal matters. And while the concept of death eclipses gender, she generally takes on a female form while having also appeared as a male warrior when facing off against Dracula.

Due to the sheer magnetism of her stature and personality, many antagonists have yearned for Lady Death's affection, including the Mad Titan Thanos (!), whose sentiments she did not quite reciprocate. The relationship between the two is rather complicated, as she guided Thanos through his formative years and provoked him to slaughter those who wronged him, only for Thanos to end up falling in love with the earthly form she took to manipulate things in her favor. In "Agatha All Along," Rio and Agatha are revealed to have a romantic relationship, where the two currently act as jilted ex-lovers who still having intense feelings for one another, despite something having gone terribly wrong in the past. Due to the close nature of their bond, Agatha is already aware that Rio is Death, but never reveals this to anyone for reasons she has yet to reveal.

In terms of powers, Lady Death has mastery over nigh-omnipotence and can appoint lesser beings to collect souls to do the task on her behalf, as the final authority to liberate souls rests solely with her. "All roads lead to me," Rio states in "Death's Hand in Mine," which makes sense as Death is an inevitable truth, an eventuality that cannot be curbed by anyone, no matter how powerful. Lady Death is also known to spare certain people once they prove their worth, usually through a trial, where victory assures that they are immune to death itself. Although it is near impossible to erase the concept of death (as she was never alive to begin with), her powers can be usurped by Death of Death, who is part of the Living Tribunal in charge of gauging whether the personifications of Death are worth keeping around. Moreover, Lady Death can manipulate space-time, matter, magic, and energy (because of course she can).

Although Rio being Death was somewhat of a foregone conclusion, Lilia also reveals that she is the green witch, hinting that she might have been the first green witch to ever exist. And while the abilities of what a green witch can do have not been spelled out in the series so far, their specialization is closely tied to nature, abundance, harvest, and healing, which is why they're integral to any coven. In terms of elemental magic, green witches have mastery over Earth magic, as they have close ties to the essence of nature and all living beings, making them an asset to any coven looking to embark on a perilous journey like that of the Witches' Road.

Although I do not think Rio has other hidden identities (sorry Mephisto fans), she does seem to be inspired by Gaea from Marvel's comics, who has a command over the forces of nature, can draw on the spiritual energies of living beings, and can heal the injured and even boost natural growth. In many ways, Gaea is the green witch, although that term is never used since her origins are more cosmic and mystical than that of earthly witches. Gaea is also known to appear to humans in an earthy form, and has even helped Agatha Harkness and the Scarlet Witch escape Dormammu (!) at one point.

As for Rio's presence in the Witches' Road, she is here to "collect" Agatha, as expressed in the first episode, but she also plays an integral part during the trials, as the deaths of the coven members (which seem inevitable/fated) prompt her to guide them to the afterlife. Everyone has had their trials so far except Rio, so episode 8 could be situated in her realm or bring things full circle by revealing her endgame. As all roads do lead back to her, the end of the Road could mean a confrontation with Death herself, a sort of final trial to gauge who is worthy of true power.

The final two episodes of "Agatha All Along" will premiere October 30, 2024, on Disney+.