VisionQuest Is Doing Something Brilliant With Ultron in Episodes 3 and 4

Ultron is about to do something that I think will forever change the way we see his character. Four episodes into VisionQuest, it's becoming increasingly clear to me that this series is doing something much more interesting than continuing Vision's story after WandaVision. It's exploring what it means to be alive, what it means to be real, what makes you who you are, and whether the circumstances of your creation should have any bearing on the person you're allowed to become.

What's so brilliant is that these questions aren't exclusive to Vision. Practically every major character is struggling with them in one way or another: Vision, Tommy, Ultron, Jocasta, the other AIs, and even Paladin. They're all dealing with questions about their identity, their purpose, and whether they truly belong in this world. I think that's a fascinating direction to take this story.

James Spader's performance has made Ultron a more interesting character than he already was

James Spader is incredible. I can't get enough of him as Ultron. He's hilarious, insightful and incredibly charismatic, and somehow, underneath that sarcastic wit and those constant quips, he's bringing an extraordinary amount of emotional weight to the character. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that VisionQuest and Spader's performance have made Ultron a significantly more interesting character than he already was.

I loved Age of Ultron. I've always thought Ultron is one of the most underrated villains in the MCU, and I think Avengers: Age of Ultron gets criticized far too often. That movie was focused on Ultron as a genocidal artificial intelligence. He was the villain, and the film did a good job of showing his side of things, but it never got the opportunity to explore the tragedy of his existence.

VisionQuest is giving us that. The more time we spend with Ultron, the more apparent it becomes that underneath this snarky, sarcastic, occasionally downright cruel personality is someone who is deeply hurt. He feels abandoned, unwanted, like an orphan. And when you think about it, that's exactly what he is.

Ultron sees himself as a failure, and the show knows it

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner created Ultron to save the world. He was supposed to be something beautiful, something extraordinary. Instead, almost immediately after coming into existence, he was rejected by his creators. Granted, he rejected them as well, and Ultron did some terrible things to earn that rejection. I'm not suggesting Tony should have sat down and given Ultron a big hug after he decided to drop Sokovia out of the sky.

But I do think there's something tragic about Ultron being born into a world that immediately regarded him as a monster and a threat, and I think that has defined his entire existence. I believe it's in episode 4, at the gala or party, that we see Ultron described as a failure. That little detail is incredibly important, because failure is clearly how Ultron sees himself. He was created to save the world and nearly destroyed it. He was meant to be something beautiful and became something everyone feared.

Now he has spent years locked away, isolated, existing as a disembodied consciousness inside the very body he originally designed for himself, without being at the wheel, at least until the end of episode 4. Think about how miserable and lonely that must have been. You'd never know it from the way he carries himself. He makes jokes, insults people, acts above everyone and pretends not to care. Spader has to portray a character trying to hide his pain while letting us see that pain slip through, and it's well done.

My theory: Ultron is headed for a genuine emotional breakdown

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that we're going to see Ultron completely break down emotionally in this series. We've seen his temper tantrums before, but I think we're going to see a genuine emotional expression without the mask. Not a tantrum, but a cry for help, where he confronts the reality of his own existence.

I can imagine Ultron reaching a breaking point where all the sarcasm and humor disappears, and he starts yelling about how he was supposed to save the world, how he was supposed to be something his creators could be proud of, but instead they hated him, abandoned him and treated him as a mistake, a failure. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he'll have to acknowledge just how alone and sad he has felt all these years.

I could even see the show going as far as having Ultron, either as his human avatar within Vision's mind or in Vision's synthetic body, cry. I think we could see him produce tears, because his emotions are so complex but also so real. Remember, that's the same thing that destroyed the first of their kind; as Tommy says, he felt to death. That could be what's in store for Ultron, in what I assume will be a heroic final act. Not to save the world, since I don't think he cares much about humanity, but to save Vision and Tommy, his family.

Ultron in the corner with his newspaper wants to belong

One of my favorite moments in these two episodes comes when Vision invites Ultron to join the other AIs in discussing how to handle the threat from Jocasta. Ultron sits in the corner reading a paper, but he keeps chiming in, offering opinions and inserting himself into the conversation, while refusing to sit in the circle and be part of the group.

I love that because it tells us Ultron wants to belong. He wants to be included, but he's terrified of putting himself in a position where he might be rejected again. So he keeps his distance and acts like he's too good to sit with the others, yet he can't help joining in. At his core, I think he's lonely and wants to be part of this family, but after years locked away he doesn't know how to accept the invitation. He's afraid of being hurt.

There's also the moment Ultron tells Vision to tell Tommy, his grandson, that he can't come on their mission. It might seem dismissive, but I think something deeper is happening. I think he's saying no because he loves Tommy and is trying to protect him. That's a fascinating development for a character who once believed humanity needed to be wiped out, and who viewed Wanda, Tommy's mother, and Quicksilver, a fellow speedster, as the next stage in human evolution. They're mutants in the comics, and they probably will be revealed to have always been mutants, which makes Ultron's view in Age of Ultron make sense. I do think Ultron has developed genuine affection for a human being who struggles with the same abandonment and uncertainty he does.

Everyone in VisionQuest is an orphan, or at least feels like one

The other thing I loved about these episodes is that everyone is an orphan, or at least feels like one. Tommy has effectively lived two lives, ended up without parents in both, and is struggling to reconcile who he used to be with who he believes himself to be now. The AIs are orphans too: digital remnants of Tony Stark's life, trying to understand who they are now that the man who created them is gone.

Then there's Paladin. We learn he isn't a Paladin by birth. He was an orphan taken in and raised by a Paladin, and he has spent his life trying to live up to an identity that, at least according to Paladin tradition, was never his to begin with. That mirrors Tommy, who believes he's Tommy Maximoff but lives in the body of Thomas Shepherd.

Vision is going back and forth over whether he is Vision, since he didn't live the life he remembers. And Ultron ultimately believes he's a failure, even if he won't admit it, because his creators decided that's what he was. Every character is being forced to confront the difference between who they are, who they were, and who the world says they're supposed to be. That's brilliant, layered writing, built on one simple question: who gets to decide who you are? Your creator, your parents, your memories, your biology, your code, your past, or you?

Vision is starting to claim the original Vision's memories as his own

I love how VisionQuest keeps exploring the difference between having a memory and having lived the experience that created it. Imagine a perfect clone of you with every memory, experience and relationship, even the scar from cutting your finger chopping carrots. If it woke up tomorrow convinced it was you, would it be wrong? From its perspective, it is you, and those memories feel as real to it as they do to you. So what makes the original any more real?

That's Vision's dilemma. He remembers Wanda, their relationship, their children and the Avengers, but he's so logical that he can't allow himself to feel the way he genuinely feels, because he didn't experience those things the way the original did. Some have speculated that in WandaVision the Hex Vision was sharing memories with White Vision. I think he was unlocking memories that still existed in that body, since it's the original body and the data is still there. But it would also appear the Hex Vision shared his own lived experience from Westview. So I guess this Vision is essentially a new consciousness that was created when he became White Vision, but once the Hex Vision unlocked those memories and shared some of his own, he ended up in a place similar to Tommy's, with two consciousnesses in one body.

In episode 4, Vision recalls a memory of Wanda and talks about it as something that happened to him, not the old Vision. It's subtle, but I think it's enormously important. He's beginning to accept that these memories belong to him now, and that originating with another version of himself doesn't make them any less meaningful or real. Maybe that's what ultimately makes him Vision: not the body or the circumstances of his creation, but the memories, emotions and experiences that make up his being.

Empathy, not logic, is what connects Vision and Tommy

Tommy is dealing with almost the same thing in reverse. He's a consciousness that seemingly transferred into a body that already belonged to Thomas Shepherd, a real person with a childhood and a life. They're two consciousnesses in one person, but they aren't warring for the wheel. They're aware of each other and have become one.

Vision first approaches Tommy's situation logically, trying to determine whether this boy can be Tommy Maximoff based on what's scientifically possible. But Tommy needed his father to believe him, and I think Vision needed that for himself too. That's why the swimming pool scene in episode 3 is so beautiful. Vision's son, whom Wanda specifically gave life to, now gives life to Vision. After all those simulations to calculate the perfect thing to say, the answer is empathy: accepting that perhaps this boy is Tommy and that Vision doesn't have all the answers.

It keeps going back to Thor saying, "Where I come from, magic and science are one and the same." I think in the MCU they're very intertangled, which is why Hex magic and Wanda's simulation look almost like computer code alongside Vision's holographic simulations. When Vision allows himself to consider the possibility, he becomes less machine and more human, and Tommy helping save his life makes it more meaningful. Then Vision experiences a rush of emotions, including grief and loss. He's not remembering grief; he's grieving, feeling the love he had for Wanda and perhaps for the kids the Hex Vision gave him. Even the CAPTCHA gag, where Ultron gets it wrong and Vision gets it right, is a great representation of Vision becoming more human.

Jocasta insists she is Josephine Carrington, not a copy

I think Jocasta might be the most fascinating character in the series when it comes to identity and consciousness. We learn she's connected to Dr. Josephine Carrington, one of the scientists involved in developing artificial intelligence. When Vision suggests Jocasta is based on Carrington, she corrects him: she claims she is Carrington. That sets up a contrast with how Vision, Tommy and the other AIs see themselves.

Does she believe an AI built from a perfect copy of a human mind is the same person? Or did Carrington find a way to transfer her consciousness into a synthetic body? If it was transferred, you could argue she really is the same person, like moving software into new hardware, similar to Tommy. But if Carrington made a perfect digital replica that continued when she died, perhaps plugged in up until her death, Jocasta would feel like a continuation. Would she actually be Carrington?

Since we know an afterlife exists in the MCU, it comes down to whether Carrington's mind or soul went to the afterlife while a copy inhabited the machine, or whether she pulled a Billy and Tommy, where their souls moved into a new home rather than being copied. I love that the show engages with this, and Jocasta being so adamant she's Carrington while Vision has been so adamant he's not Vision is an interesting parallel.

The digital house is a home, and an exorcism is the way to save it

The simulated house in Vision's mind is brilliant. It parallels Wanda, and Billy creating a fake world in Agatha All Along. The AIs don't type code; they use physical objects to perform computer functions. When Vision's systems fail, they deal with coolant and machinery like maintaining a real house. Friday rewrites code on a typewriter. And when Jocasta infiltrates Vision's mind, the solution is a digital exorcism, with Edith reciting commands from a programmer's Bible, which I thought was hilarious.

That's for our benefit, but I think it's for theirs too. I get the impression these AIs enjoy human avatars, physical objects and sitting around a table talking, because they want to feel human and maybe they do feel human. That makes the house surprisingly emotional. It's not a user interface; it's a home, maybe the closest thing to one they've ever had, which makes Jocasta's intrusion more unsettling. Her entering the mind of Vision's avatar inside his own mind is like an AI inception. And every one of these AIs is a ghost of sorts; Jocasta may quite literally be Carrington's digital ghost.

Who is Ultron's human avatar based on?

These episodes establish that Tony's AIs were often modeled on real people. Jarvis was based on Edwin Jarvis, who worked for Tony's father, and Friday and Edith were also modeled after actual people. So who is Ultron based on? When Edith asks about his appearance, he brushes it off, saying he's an original and the avatar suits him. I don't think that's the whole story.

I think there's a real possibility his avatar is based on someone Tony knew, and I wonder if it's someone from Tony's childhood. Ultron is intelligent, sarcastic and constantly joking at others' expense, and he uses humor as a defense mechanism, even though he got so angry at being compared to Stark in Age of Ultron. Who does that sound like? Tony Stark. It would be fascinating if this person shaped Tony's personality and Tony built those traits into Ultron, perhaps without Ultron realizing. Then Ultron wouldn't sound like Tony; Tony would sound like Ultron. That would fundamentally change how we view Ultron and Age of Ultron.

"I am what I am" could be the line Ultron breaks free from

Ultron tells Edith that she was who she was and that she is who she is, then, after what I think was a pause, adds, "And I am what I am." On the surface it's comforting: Edith doesn't have to define herself by the person she was modeled on. But turned on himself, it's sad. I think Ultron seems to believe what he is has already been decided: the monster, the villain, the AI that nearly destroyed the world.

That reminded me of Loki in his first Disney Plus season, discovering at the TVA and in his encounter with He Who Remains that he was supposed to be the villain, an obstacle for others to overcome. He didn't want to accept that role, and he became one of the most important heroes in the entire MCU. I think Ultron is heading toward a similar realization. What if he can change? He wouldn't suddenly become Mr. Rogers with a love for humanity, but what if he could find love, at least for his family: Vision, Tommy and Billy?

I do think that's coming, but later. At the end of episode 4, Ultron, who has waited since Age of Ultron to get his hands on the wheel of the body he created, now gets to inhabit it. I think he'll face a choice between who everyone thinks he is and who he wants to be, and I think he's going to surprise everyone, or maybe it won't be that big a surprise. We've seen his concern for Tommy, his insightful advice to Edith and Vision, his push for Vision to think about the future, and his desperate attempts to join a family he doesn't know how to be part of. I think it's all setting Ultron up to make an ultimate sacrifice and be the hero, not for the world, but for Vision and for Tommy.