WARNING: The following contains spoilers for WandaVision Episode 5, "On a Very Special Episode...," now streaming on Disney+.

Death isn't necessarily a permanent thing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as evidenced by the fact Vision is on WandaVision after Thanos tore the Mind Stone from his head in Avengers: Infinity War. At the same time, one of the recurring criticisms of the MCU is it has a bad habit of both using fake-out deaths for cheap dramatic effect and reversing actual deaths to bring back fan-favorites characters. WandaVision's latest episode, though, subtly nodded to the MCU's death problem in this week's installment of the series.

To be fair, several supporting players in the MCU (Ancient One, Frigga, Yondu) have not only died in poignant ways, they've stayed dead afterwards. What's more, the MCU bid farewell to the hero that started it all, Tony Stark, in Avengers: Endgame while at the same time killing off Natasha Romanoff before her final appearance in the Black Widow prequel film. That said, the list of major characters who died fake deaths (Nick Fury, Bucky Barnes, Loki) or died only to return in some form (Phil Coulson, Groot, Loki again) is notably long, even discounting those who're "dusted" in Infinity War only to come back in Endgame.

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From a storytelling perspective, this makes it harder for the MCU's films and TV show to have any real stakes, since viewers know a key character's demise can easily be undone or might not be real in the first place. Moreover, in a broader sense, this has led to the MCU treating death like an inconvenience to be avoided or worked around, as opposed to a fact of life that ought to be handled with the weightiness it deserves. It's this very idea Wanda tries to get across to her and Vision's twin sons, Billy and Tommy, in WandaVision's appropriately titled Episode 5, "On a Very Special Episode..."

In a key subplot from the episode, Billy and Tommy get a dog named Sparky. All seems well until S.W.O.R.D. sends a drone into Westview, which scares Sparky, causing him to run away. It's latest revealed the family's newfound pup has died, prompting a grieving Tommy to beg Wanda to "fix" him. He and Billy are about to age rapidly for the third time in the episode, as a way of escaping their pain, when Wanda stops them, saying, "I’m trying to tell you there are rules in life. We can’t rush aging just because it’s convenient, and we can’t reverse death no matter how sad it makes us. Some things are forever."

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WandaVision - Vision Confronts Wanda

This advice applies to not only the twins, but also the MCU and Wanda herself. Vision even confronts her about this in a separate scene in the episode, having comes to realize Wanda is controlling the WandaVision reality and started to piece together the dark truth about what happened to him prior to coming to Westview. Furthermore, in a larger sense, WandaVision is taking the time to do what the MCU hasn't so far and really unpack all the grief and trauma Wanda has accumulated from losing so many of her loved ones over the years, including Vision, her parents and her brother Pietro.

There's clearly more to the mystery at the heart of WandaVision than viewers know so far, judging by Evan Peters' surprise cameo as "Pietro" at the end of this episode and the continuing question of whether a secret villain is manipulating Wanda to create the WandaVision reality. All the same, the show has already begun to reframe Vision's return from the grave as a heartbreaking turn, as opposed to an easy fix to his fate in Infinity War. By doing this, WandaVision is also quietly confronting the true nature of death in a way the MCU has too often avoided doing in the past.

Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+.

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