This article contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 5.
The very first MCU streaming series on Disney Plus continues to shock and entertain its viewers. WandaVision provides plenty of mysteries, and just enough answers to keep viewers in the loop without giving too much away. This week's episode, "On a Very Special Episode..." flipped back and forth between the real world and Wanda's constructed sitcom reality. This was crucial to revealing something that has been bothering viewers from the beginning: how is Vision alive?
Previously, fans had witnessed the synthezoid played by Paul Bettany being killed first by Wanda and then by Thanos in a cruel time-reversing moment near the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Then, all of a sudden, Vision is alive and well in the first episode of WandaVision with no explanation of where he came from or why he doesn't seem to remember his rather brutal demise. WandaVision episode 5 partially answers this question with the reveal that SWORD was in possession of Vision's body until it was stolen by Wanda.
So that clears up where Vision's physical form came from (although it will be interesting to see what all of the SWORD experiments involving his body were leading to), but one important element of Vision's being is still unaccounted for: the mind stone, the very thing that was used to bring him to life in the first place. While a rather chilling moment in episode 3 of WandaVision suggests that Vision is nothing more than a reanimated corpse, a particular moment in "On a Very Special Episode..." suggests that this is not the case.
While he is at work, Vision uses his powers to clear the mind of Norm, who in the real world is known as Abilash Tandon. Predictably, the man panics as he is set free from his mental prison. After revealing the enduring torture, Vision quickly puts him back in the sitcom mindset, complete with a corny joke about not understanding email.
The issue here is that Vision is clearly using the powers granted to him by the mind stone. It's the same kind of thing he did when he prevented Ultron's consciousness from being able to connect to any network in the final battle of Age Of Ultron. Not to mention the fact that when Vision is in his regular form, the yellow infinity stone is sitting right there on his forehead. Wanda may have been able to gather up the pieces of her deceased love, but this is one thing she would have had a much harder time getting her hands on.
This is all due to the end of Avengers: Endgame. Once the heroes had prevailed and Tony Stark had given his life to snap Thanos and his army out of existence, the infinity stones were to be put back in their right place so as not to alter the flow of time. That means that the mind stone would have been put back where it belongs. If that was the case, then how did it end up in Wanda's possession?
The answer to that question may lie in the groundbreaking cameo at the end of episode 5. Wanda answers the door to find her brother Pietro, who has been dead since the Battle of Sokovia. However, this is not the Pietro that MCU fans remember, unless they have also been watching Fox's X-Men movies. This version of Pietro is played by none other than Evan Peters, who portrayed the character concurrently with Aaron Taylor-Johnson (the MCU's unnamed Quicksilver). This unexpected cameo opens the door to the possibility that Wanda jumped into another timeline and managed to nab the mind stone, using it to bring Vision back to life.
Of course, there's always the possibility that it wasn't Wanda who managed to get her hands on the mind stone. Viewers have already noticed next-door neighbor Agnes is a little bit... off. There are things about her that don't seem to sit quite well with the ongoing Westview situation. Her photo doesn't end up on Jimmy Woo's board of residents, she seems to have a meta-understanding of the sitcom reality she's living in, and she appears to have knowledge of who Wanda and Vision really are.
There has been some speculation that Agnes is a version of Agatha Harkness, a powerful witch from the comics who served as a mentor to Wanda. If this proves to be true, it's entirely possible that Agnes used her own powers to either manipulate Wanda into finding the mind stone or she took it herself and gave it to Wanda in some sort of bargain. Either way, the fact that an infinity stone put back in its right place by Captain America is suddenly in New Jersey raises a lot more questions than it answers.
WandaVision is officially past its halfway point. The story is likely to keep building momentum until the ultimate finale, which Paul Bettany has promised. Along with all the fireworks, there will hopefully be a full reveal of just how everything came together in Westview. Perhaps there will also be some meaningful revelations about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.