WandaVision’s Glitch Explained: Why It Changes Vision’s MCU Return

Warning: SPOILERS for WandaVision season 1, episode 3.

WandaVision episode 3 just glitched and it hides a big, heartbreaking secret about Vision’s MCU return. The episode packs a big revelation into its final moments, but before it gets there, it continues the mystery of Scarlet Witch and Vision’s new sitcom reality. And just as Wanda turned back time to protect her and her new husband from the invasion of the beekeeper in the final moments of episode 2, this episode saw her use her powers to impact time to protect her secrets. Cleverly, this manifests as a glitch, in fitting with the way the reality is being framed as a TV show, just as the rewind function worked in episode 2.

WandaVision has kept most of its magical cards close to its chest, revealing things steadily but slowly to build up the mystery of Westview, how Wanda and Vizh got there and who exactly is pulling the strings Even with the teases at the end of the second and third episodes, it’s testament to how well the mystery has been set up that it’s not entirely clear yet if Wanda is working alone. There are certainly hints that a bigger presence – like Marvel’s devil Mephisto – is at play in WandaVision, but for now, the show invites discussion by teasing only small things.

The glitch moment is a very clever look at the logic of Vision’s return from the dead in WandaVision, though it potentially sets up the devastating reality that the show’s end will see Wanda once more forced to give him up. The key with the glitch, and indeed the rewind in episode two, is that they confirm that, despite his own concerns about the legitimacy of Westview’s reality, Vision is part of the fake projection. Wanda simply doesn’t want him to know, because it fundamentally threatens her ability to keep the secret up, particularly because Vision would presumably demand that she moved on from him. Her magical glitch, designed to stop him probing for the truth, establishes Vision as a part of the universe’s fabric and not an outside force like Wanda or Geraldine turns out to be. Vision, sadly, not returned from the dead, he’s merely a projection.

The moment’s timing is the crucial part, because Wanda unwittingly leads Vision into a conversation about the logic of their situation by talking about their secret pregnancy. When she mentions the possibility of someone discovering the truth, his mask of obliviousness seems to slip and he recalls how strange everything is, including the dinner party with the Harts that had otherwise been played off as completely normal by its end. Just as Wanda accidentally inspires Geraldine to “rememeber’ Quicksilver’s death, it appears that she holds the key to her fellow Westview residents “waking up” and though the same can be said of Vision, the fact that he’s subject to the same magical rules as the environment don’t bode well for his future.

So far, Vision has been set up as just as much a passenger in this fake sitcom reality as his new wife. They questioned how they got there together, they both struggled to tell their backstories to the Harts over dinner in episode one and Vision’s drunken magic moment in episode 2 suggested he was an alien in those surroundings reacting to strange stimulus. That seemed to be hinting at a true ressurection, but for that to be the case, Vision would have to be aware of all of the changes to the reality. Vision’s true tragedy is that he doesn’t even notice the glitch or that his brain has seemingly been reset when he tried to question WandaVision‘s reality suggests he’s more like a puppet. Wanda is playing at real life and her projection of Vision is no more than that, even if her magic might have unforeseen catastrophic consequences for reality.

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Simon Gallagher
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Simon is a veteran editor who has been writing online since 2010 – long before anyone wanted to read his work. He loves Clueless. Like, a lot.

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