Lilia’s ‘Three of Swords’ line in ‘Agatha All Along’, and why it’s the crux of the whole show

Agatha All Along has dropped in on us yet again with its fourth episode, and despite its very peculiar concoction of storytelling flaws, the tension between its trifecta of major personalities (Agatha, Billy Kaplan Teen, and Rio Vidal) just might be strong enough to pull us through the remaining five episodes.

Indeed, not only do we have quite a bit of history to unpack between Agatha and Rio (to say nothing of what the pair have in mind for the end of the road), but Teen is also shaping up to be a major player in Agatha’s grief-centric arc, with the eponymous witch still clearly clinging to the hope that he’s actually Nicholas Scratch.

And with hope comes heartbreak, as evidenced by Agatha’s reaction to Teen’s near-death experience, a reaction that Lilia makes a non-too-subtle, thoroughly witchy observation about.

Why did Lilia say “Three of Swords” in Agatha All Along episode four?

As Agatha and company scrambled to save Teen’s life, Lilia — the group’s resident clairvoyant — took one look at the agony on Agatha’s face and murmured “three of swords”, a reference to the Tarot card of the same name.

As we can see here, the Three of Swords represents a swath of difficult emotions and hurdles, including sorrow, grief, and betrayal. All of these things are key ingredients in the character of Agatha, who has not only lost a child, but who has apparently been the culprit of heartbreak herself, judging by Rio’s scar story.

And given that the Three of Swords is a Minor Arcana designation in Tarot decks, it’s no great coincidence that all of these emotions within Agatha exist in a version of her that hasn’t had her arc yet.

Indeed, the meat of Agatha All Along lies in Agatha, Teen, and Rio, and the ways in which Agatha inhabits and ultimately addresses all these shades of grief. Agatha is Rio’s grief, while Teen will be Agatha’s grief when we inevitably find out that he’s Billy Kaplan and not Nicholas Scratch.

Moreover, once he learns that he’s the son of the Scarlet Witch (who’s presumed dead, even though she almost certainly isn’t), he’s sure to experience a newfound grief all on his own, and could be prompted to seek her out as he does in the comics. The scuttlebutt of Rio’s true identity being that of Death only spruces this whole dynamic up even more.

Agatha All Along is now streaming on Disney Plus, with new episodes released every Wednesday until the two-episode series finale on Oct. 30.