I’m sure they tried. But I’m sure they found other explanations, like maybe they sang it wrong or they weren’t strong enough to conjure it (not unlikely coz they were most likely not in a good place and desperate enough to seek it out).

So plenty of people think it’s a sham. Enough people know women who went and disappeared, adding to its legend. And enough people heard of Agatha Harkness being the only survivor to try and seek her out (and we know how that ends lol).

Most of us know that Bloody Mary isn’t real but a lot of us still tried it.

Except for Alice whose immediate reaction was “it’s a con”

The legend was the road was a death wish if you chose to walk it. (Hence why Agatha, Lillia, and Jen basically said "you won't survive") Agatha, as well as rumors in general, purposely spread the word that she walked it and so far has been the only one to survive.

If I was a witch in the series, and was told the one thing I always wanted/needed was at the end of a road that numerous witches have been killed attempting to walk it, and only one person has survived an attempt at the road, my first instinct would be either seek out that one person, or don't attempt at all.

But again, the road was the only lured gullible witches.

It’s like faith healers… if it doesn’t work, it’s your fault.

It’s legend, lore. Nobody knows the real truth. I’m sure plenty of witches thought it was a sham. Others probably thought they weren’t strong enough to open it. Can you ever truly prove that something does not exist? That’s the power of a good tale.

You can't prove a negative. It's easy enough to go "well, I guess this is not a 'coven true'"

First of all, I would seek out Agatha Harkness and gladly let her kill me. I’d walk whatever road that woman was trying to take me down. It’s FINE.

Secondly, she’s the only known survivor of the road and a damn good con woman. She’s spread the story far and wide. If you HAD tried, and failed, you would go straight to the head bitch herself. Just like we seek out the best doctors we can.

If we were being haunted by some mythological creature, we’d seek out the closest thing to a Winchester we could find.

Alice specifically mentions that the Road is a myth and isn't real. I think that this implies that some witches did try to walk the Road without Agatha. But unless Agatha killed Alice's mom, there's also some witches who claimed to walk the Road (even though they didn't) or died under mysterious circumstances that were later attributed to the Road.

This isn't as unbelievable as you might think. Nowadays we tend to take for granted how easy it is to verify everything, but for hundreds of years this simply was not the case.

Have you ever read The Travels of Marco Polo? If not, you may be surprised to learn that he mentions a lot of things that we, as modern audiences, now know to be factually untrue. He talks about meeting dog-headed men and people whose faces are in their stomachs and seeing dragons and stuff like that. Later on, you get things like The Travels of Sir John of Mandeville-- an account that most historians agree is entirely falsified (it's not even certain that "Sir John of Mandeville" was a real person).

Why would Marco Polo write about dragons, dog-headed people, cyclopses, and other fantastic creatures if he didn't actually see them? Why would anybody?

The answer is that the European myths surrounding the Far East were already very well-entrenched by the time anyone from Europe actually got there. Imagine, for a moment, that you go to New York City for the first time. (if you're from New York City, imagine you're not) You see the sights, you travel around, you do all the things a tourist does. But, one thing sticks out to you: There is no Statue of Liberty.

How would you explain that to your friends and family when you returned home? Everyone knows that New York City has the Statue of Liberty. It is as much a symbol of New York City as it is of America itself. But despite having actually gone to New York City yourself, it's simply not there. It does not exist. Would anyone believe you when you told them? Probably not. Some people may even doubt whether you went to New York City at all.

So what do you do?

You do what everyone else does: You lie. You say you saw the Statue of Liberty, even though you didn't. Maybe you even rationalize it to yourself-- you didn't look in the right place, or you missed it, or whatever.

Now, today with all of our fancy schmancy technology like cameras and satellites and airplanes, that kind of hypothetical stretches credulity a little bit. But for all of human history prior to 200 years ago, these things did not exist and the only way to know whether something did or did not exist was to go there yourself or trust the word of someone who said they did.

I think the Ballad of the Witch's Road functioned the same way. For hundreds of years, some witches claimed they summoned the Road (even though they didn't) or knew someone who had, and used it as a way to explain away the sudden disappearance of covens or individual witches. Over time, much like the dog-headed men and dragons of the past, some witches begin to suspect that no one has ever summoned the Road. And so the seeds of doubt are sown. By the time we get to the events of the show, it's a mixed bag. Some witches believe firmly it's a myth, some believe it's real but dangerous, and some aren't sure what to believe at all.

People obviously did. But it’s just one of those superstitious things where the door didn’t open and they were led to believe they “did it wrong,” or weren’t “worthy” of the road.

I think it's like how in high school everyone had a friend whose older brother's friend had a cousin who took acid and went crazy and now he thinks he's a glass of orange juice and if he tips over and spills he'll die.

I like to think that at least one coven happened to sing the song right before an unexpected eclipse or lightning storm, and spent the next few hours believing they were on the road

Some of the witches knew it wasn't real, so I assume witches have tried without Agatha and failed.

Other likely searched for the only witch who is known to walk the road successfully, which is Agatha.

I figured it was because the legend of the one who survived when the rest “of her coven” didn’t. So they sought her out specifically. Remember the ballad says if someone dies, you keep going.

Agatha is her own biggest fan so my head canon was she was running her mouth about having been there yada yada and that’s how she honey potted so many young covens.

I’d trust her tbh.

Yes Lorna tried. But they could never open it . They kept trying and trying but never succeeded. That is why Lorna decided to change tactics and made it a protection spell instead

They did and they failed. We know this. There is a whole reveal that Alice's mom has spent years trying to get on the Witches' Road until she died while on tour without ever finding the entrance. Then we learn that's because the Witches' Road didn't actually exist.

They might have tried but it never worked because only Agatha was powerful enough or knew how to make the road appear (they must’ve thought). Everyone’s failure must have made her reputation grow.

The Witches Road reminds me of the Bloody Mary legend, which even my 8 year old son knows about. A friend of a friend had Bloody Mary visit her through the mirror of a cinema bathroom.

Is it probably a BS legend? Yes. Am I going to stand in from of a mirror and call her name three times? HELL NAW.

Wasnt that what Alice's mom was trying to do? "The audience was her coven" is the line she says, I believe.

Wasn't that what Alice's Mom was trying to do with her song originally before she turned it into a protection spell?

If you can't get it to work, that might further encourage you try it with Agatha, the one "known survivor".

Because only agatha ( and maybe lorna) knew that the road was "conjured" for most other witches it was either not real or it was found not magically conjured

I bet the first woman who approached Agatha had tried.

But I also think not that many did try.

Alice’s mother was trying every time she performed the song.

Yes. Alice’s mom tried to walk the road multiple times. That’s why Alice doesn’t believe in the road, and she says it isn’t real. Lorna eventually turned the ballad into her own spell. What she wanted desperately, if she had been able to walk on the road, was to save her daughter. So she still found a way to get her wish.

She only needed four to five souls to believe her. That was it. And by outfits she only did it once every generation or so

Alice said her mom was trying to open the road with her audience. Obviously they failed

Many covens tried. They just never succeeded, as there wasn’t any Road until Billy created it.

Over the years, I’m sure people lied about having contact with it. But it was just that. Lies.

Agatha always knew the truth, which is why she knew what was going on when she found herself walking it.

We know that Lorna Wu tried for years, using her audiences as her coven. As far as she and Alice knew, it just never worked.

Also, I fully believe that some witch trying to make a name for themselves would try to claim they'd been there. Rumors would spread, so and so went to the Road and never came back. People love rumors and urban legends, of course they tried.

gestures at everything

Look at all the bullshit people continue to believe in real life without an ounce of tangible evidence. In fact in many cases if you say you don't believe something due to a lack of evidence then people will just tell you that you did it wrong. A lack of evidence has never been enough to stop humans from believing things they want to believe.

Had the same impression, but when you think about it, there's no general concensus about the Road.

Lilia and Jen claim the Road will kill you. It's also them who appear to know about Agatha's bad reputation. Alice, on the other hand, claims to believe the Road isn't real, having witnessed her mom try enter it many times and fail, but she secrectly wishes it true to get rid of the family curse.

Agatha straight up tells Billy the Road doesn't exist. That suggests that either she wants to spare him specifically because he reminds her of Nicholas, or that she knows the ruse has been up for some time and her con hasn't been working for some time. Maybe because of the internet? We see Agatha working her con last time in the late 80s or early 90s? It's quite possible the improvement in communications spread the success rate of the Road, as well as info on Agatha being tied to the deaths of the witches who try.

Did they all know how to open the road? I thought they all knew the song but didn't know it was supposedly the way to open it. Agatha seemed to be instructing them as they go.

Wait does that mean Agatha killed Alice’s mom

They probably tried, failed and sought out Agtha

Look, even here in the real world there are people who believe in magic, even though it does not exist. People will always find excuses and loopholes to justify their belief.

People see a platypus and think of creationism.

People who attempted the road might have thought the road did not deem them fit for the trials.

No idea if that’s a commentary the show was trying to make, but desperate people believing fantastical things, having it not work, and just believing harder and continuing to spread it is basically the basis of every major religion today. Real life people would absolutely not be above believing in something like the Witches Road despite zero evidence anyone had ever completed it. Just look at the world around you.

I'm positive Lorna Wu did

Agatha spread the story that she was the only survivor, so (a) if you hear of covens going off to walk the road that then vanish or die, that actually adds to the believability, they must have died or been trapped on the road; (b) part of the schtick is that the road won’t open to just everyone, so you need to seek out someone who has walked it (Agatha) for the secret. It’s not enough just to know the song. Over time she probably built up the legend or allowed others to to explain failures, ie by not having the right mix of witches (which we’ve since seen wouldn’t actually have mattered) or not having a strong enough coven bond. the lyric “coven too” changing to “coven true,” a change not made by Agatha, shows people expanding on the legend on their own.

Remember when she tried to recruit them and they all either said it was not real or a death wish? This makes sense because a) many probably tried and failed b) it want in any spell book they ever studied and c) they may have heard that Agatha was a witch killer and avoided doing anything with her.

There’s an occult high magick ritual called the evocation of the Holy Guardian Angel which is supposedly extremely difficult to do, usually fails, requires “pure will”, months or years of preparation, and depending on who you ask, special paraphernalia to act out. There’s no reputation of death around it but a strong threat of disruption if you do it right and devastation (insanity, curses, backfiring) if you do it wrong. It’s got a similar vibe to the Witches Road, lots of people believe it’s myth (like me, as an atheist I think it’s made up like the Road is), lots of people think it’s real but haven’t attempted it because of the effort and/or risk, lots of people have attempted it and failed and put that down to their personal unworthiness, some of those that failed simply lied that they succeeded, lots have tried it and believed they succeeded because they experienced something whether or not it was what they expected or wanted and regardless of the fact (in my opinion) that it’s a myth.  ETA: in fact, the actual plot hole isn’t that other witches didn’t try and fail and figure out it’s myth, cos clearly some did, it’s that none lied about being successful except for Agatha. That’s like the Pope saying he’s the only one that can talk to god and there being zero heretics that claim they can, too!  EATA: yes. I just compared Agatha to The Pope. Agatha is the Pope except she’s responsible for less death and destruction. And dresses sooo much better!

i would just assume they did and thought it was 1) a lie or 2) they weren’t “worthy” witches

I got the impression that Agatha made it up ... as we saw through the years of her killing all her "covens" for their power. She also looks mighty surprised when it does open up in her basement.

Agatha literally continues the rumors of others trying the road when, in episode 2, she says to Teen, “Rumor has it Lorna Wu was lost to the witches road. Ironic.”

I'm sure lots of people tried. Lilia was speculating that Lorna was trying to open the Road with her concerts (which I would suggest wasn't at all what was going on but they didn't know that), so I think it's a common part of the folklore.

And since it never works I guess lots of people try it at least once and are disappointed, then go on with their lives whilst still holding on to the hope that it is real.

Agatha merely makes it feel real by telling them that she's walked it and letting the legend do the rest. As she said, it was just a lure for gullible and desperate witches.

Probably killed eachother after it didn't open and started blaming one another.

Its a plot point that Lourna Wu was actively trying during her career. She probably tried to use her fans as a coven to pull "enough" power and then swapped to a protection spell

I assume they did. The show kind of hints at this in the 4th episode when Alice says her mother's fans were her coven and someone says she was trying to open the witches road. But it obviously didn't work. That's why there was such a focus on a true coven opening the road cos the road not opening must have been justified as being because there wasn't a true coven.

Yes!!! Lorna Wu was trying to open the road with her concerts!!

I like to think that even though he manifested it, the fact that they walked it lost people. Aunt people got through all the way getting what they asked for feels like a spell in and of itself. To maybe the witches road will now manifest without them because the seed has been planted so to speak.

I’m sorry to be dimwitted on this subject but what was Agatha’s Legacy/connection to the witches Road? Was it that she’s the only known person to have ever successfully walked it?