El duelo-a-ciegas: I believe the duel between Wednesday and Morticia was the perfect demonstration of grace

In Wednesday Season 2, the mother-daughter relationship between Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is not at all conventional. It has a bit of mystery, a bit of gothic charm, a bit of mentorship, and at best, most agreeable: it is a silent conflict of grace itself. Wednesday vs. Morticia in the third episode of Season 2, Part 1, released on August 6, 2025, was more than a battle of the blades.

The “el duelo-a-ciegas” or the blind duel is an old tradition in the Addams family, cloaked in culture, unspoken presumption, and a weight of legacy. It turned into a poetic method of expression of their emotional collision: the duo whose language of love and emotions are of different natures. But through all the twists and turns, this duel never meant defeat (or death); rather had a haunting beauty of its own.

The stakes behind the duel between Wednesday and Morticia

The emotional pull behind the blind duel between Wednesday and Morticia is tied to a prized artifact: Goody’s Book of Shadows, a very powerful heirloom that Morticia has gone to great lengths to conceal from her daughter, who is hellbent on pushing her limits and unknowingly misusing her psychic powers. Morticia knows just how dangerous all of it can be as she has seen it before with her own sister, Ophelia. The immense psychic powers of Ophelia were the main reason that Ophelia was sent to the Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital, a decision taken by their mother and Wednesday's grandmama, Hester Frump, which left Morticia quietly devastated.

Now, Wednesday wants to access the secrets of Goody's Book and regain her psychic abilities. In Wednesday Season 2, Episode 1, we see Wednesday plagued by her psychic abilities, which cause seizures and the haunting phenomenon of black tears. Morticia warns her that this is not a mere glitch, this is a lethal threshold that is the consequence of misusing her gift. Their clash comes into light when Wednesday makes the bold move to challenge Morticia to a blind duel and places a big demand on the outcome: if Wednesday wins, Morticia gives her the book and if Morticia wins, then the book will be burned.

Intimacy and tension: navigating a contentious mother‑daughter relationship

The blind duel personifies the duality of love and friction at the heart of Wednesday and Morticia's relationship.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, who played Morticia Addams on Wednesday, stated in an interview with Good Morning America, that she had a wonderful time during the sword fight scene because of the fencing tactics she learned while filming the Zorro movies.

“I had two Zorros where I was actually trained by Bob Anderson…. So when it was written into Wednesday, so different…. it was wonderful.”

Morticia positions the ritual as an adult version of a parent-teen showdown, only on Wednesday it a physical one. It is a delectable jab at how Addams women pave a path to truth and power. With the sword in their hands, we thus observe Wednesday asserting her agency, whereas Morticia still acts with grace even when imposing limits. Each of them experiences authenticity and authority: one in the search of autonomy, the other, in her fierce desire to protect and guide.

A crushing yet graceful defeat

The blindfolded duel between Wednesday and Morticia in Wednesday Season 2 is literally a breathtaking display of faith and instinct between two Addams women compromising with their sight so that they may touch each other on deeper, more fundamental levels. As neither of the fighters sees the other, they must count on rhythm, emotional connection, and a personal knowledge of each other's movements.

The Addams tradition of el duelo-a-ciegas is something Morticia not only excels in, but an asset that she has passed on to her daughter, Wednesday as well. They exchange witty remarks during the duel, like when Wednesday says, “You're getting rusty mother, I can practically hear you creak” or when Wednesday's knife misses Morticia and hits the tree, Morticia quips with a crooked smile, “Still bringing a knife to a sword fight!” When Morticia finally breaks the glass heart on Wednesday's chest, she is not being cruel or boasting her victory, she is treating it as an act of love and the wisdom of a mother, an avocation that real power is exercised with cadence and intent.

Now, as hearts are broken and boundaries tested, fans have to wait in yearning for more. We are excited to see Wednesday Season 2, Part 2 and hope that it delves deeper into the dark beauty and tacit sharpness that characterise the Morticia-Wednesday relationship. Because, under all that steel and sass, there is (somewhere) a mother-daughter love story, and it deserves all the spotlight, too, blindfolds optional.

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