Okay, so I wasn’t correct as to who the Client ended up being. But I was right that Vision’s real journey this season wasn’t about solving a problem or escaping some villain – it was about recognizing (much like the Tin Man) that he had that heart he was searching for (or, in his case, trying desperately not to find) within him all along. And that was easily the best aspect of the episode, which was a bit overstuffed and took the long and winding road to lead us right to the doorstop of the man who was the model for Ultron.
Before we get into the Ultron of it all, let’s get a bit more into Vision’s identity acceptance (which replaced his identity crisis). As the show has been hinted at since the jump, White Vision was adamant that he not look into the memories associated with the Vision lest he start to take them on as his own. Only, as JIM coaxed out of him, those are also his memories. When Hex Vision gave White Vision the memories of Westview, he was passing along his identity to White Vision – not necessarily to make him into the Vision – as Hex Vision also held the Vision’s memories within him from Wanda – but so that the essence of Vision could live on. At that time, White Vision wasn’t anywhere near ready to accept any piece of humanity within himself – he was still a machine of war programmed by SWORD and just learning what he could become outside of that programming. But after all this time? Well, learning more about what it means to be a human from his AI helpers set White Vision on a path to be able to accept those memories and those emotions. All he needed to do was recognize that emotions don’t make you weak – they won’t burn you up like they did with JIM. Rather, it is those connections that make us strong. That would turn him into something beyond his programming. That would open him up to family outside of his internal AI crew.
Seeing Vision come to that realization, and then to the acceptance of what he has found – Tommy, his son – and what he thinks he’s lost – Billy and Wanda* – was harrowing. And Paul Bettany, doing quadruple duty as White Vision, the Vision, JIM, and Phineas, was nothing short of impressive. Bravo to him. This was the emotional heart of the series and watching it finally reach its climax was incredible. Tommy has a father – assuming he survives this final test – and Vision has one of his boys back. Family is, after all, forever. And we know that Billy is actively looking for Tommy – I cannot imagine the series ending in any other way than the boys being reunited once more.
*The big news over the weekend was the release of a new poster for Avengers: Doomsday. Front and center? One of the Latverian witches who is performing a hand motion that will look pretty familiar to anyone who has watched WandaVision. While we might not get to see Wanda in VisionQuest, it looks like she’s certainly going to be coming back in some form soon.
And now for the revelation that Ultron’s human version is the Client. Not a total shock – as we learned who each of the AI-based characters were based on, the question of who was the base for Ultron loomed large. That he would be someone powerful enough to capture Vision – and kill Paladin (RIP) while his AI version offed Friday (RIP) – makes perfect sense. I’m just not sure how satisfying it will be in terms of a final payoff. Ultron the character isn’t necessarily the person he was based on – we know that the other AIs had some elements of their original human form, but weren’t all that linked to them beyond that. And I cannot imagine a human version of Ultron being more interesting than the AI version, who has been such a delight. That being said, James Spader is great and I trust that he can turn it into something worth the wait. But, really, all I want from the finale is to see the Maximoff twins reunited with their dad, so I guess I don’t care all that much about this particular piece of the story. Let’s just get to that happy ending.
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