Warning: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness directly follows on from Wanda's arc in WandaVision, but the film gives an entirely new meaning to the show's eerie post-credits scene. After the events of Westview, Wanda leaves to seclude herself in a cabin, seemingly to clear her head and resolve her issues. However, that is revealed to not be the case when the post-credits show her studying the Darkhold, in which there is a whole chapter dedicated to her.
This led her to the multiverse on a rampant mission to find her kids, Billy and Tommy, in Doctor Strange 2. Multiverse of Madness is conveniently shortened to MoM, which perfectly summarizes the core of the movie, as it focuses on a mom and her children. Wanda twists herself inside out and upside down, making enemies out of friends, even killing the Illuminati, just to get to her kids.
In the post-credits for WandaVision, when Wanda is reading the Darkhold, the voices of Billy and Tommy are heard pleading ''Mom, help, please.'' Wanda widens her eyes upon hearing them, and she understands this to mean that her children are still out there and in need of help. However, in Doctor Strange 2, Billy and Tommy actually cry out this same line in response to the Scarlet Witch when she tries to take them from Earth-838Wanda, their real mother. This repetition of one line completely flips the meaning of the post-credits scene, forcing Wanda to face herself and what she's become.
This line makes Wanda's situation (and the Doctor Strange 2 ending) even more heartbreaking as she has always struggled with being feared because of her powers. Wanda Maximoff feels unbelievable guilt after the events of Captain America: Civil War, and is kept under house arrest by Tony because nobody knows how to handle her, and deep down that scares them. When she's imprisoned on the Raft at the end of the film, she's completely tied up in a strait-jacket, dehumanizing her because they know how powerful she is. Further, in Avengers: Infinity War, Vision has to reassure her before she kills him, telling her, ''You could never hurt me.'' This parallels Billy and Tommy in Doctor Strange 2, where they scream ''Please don't hurt us!'' at the Scarlet Witch, to which she looks completely shocked and upset. Wanda has always had to deal with the dichotomy of trying to be a hero, but inevitably being seen as a villain. This makes the flipped meaning of her children crying for help even more agonizing, as there's nothing that could crush her more than being feared by her own children.
The Darkhold's manipulation is seen in full force in Wanda's situation, as it knew exactly how to torment her; her children. Yet, her children's palpable fear of her is the only thing that eventually sets her free from the Darkhold's grasp. Wanda's loneliness combined with her already immense power made her near invincible, but at the core of her villain arc in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she just wanted to be understood, which furthers the sadness of the Scarlet Witch's death.
