Vision Quest Episodes 3 and 4 Reveal Jocasta as the Butcher Bird and Expand Paladin's Story

Episodes three and four of Marvel's Vision Quest answer the series' first big mystery: the Butcher Bird killings are the work of Jocasta, and this version of her has a different origin story than she does in the comics. Our reaction covers both episodes, from Paladin's surprising amount of lore to Friday's grief, and from Ultron's humor to what Vision's future might look like.

Terry Matalas Cooled Expectations Around Paladin's Mystery Client

I took one thing away from my interview with Terry Matalas: it seemed like he was doing a bit of expectation management. Matalas shot down the theory that Paladin's mystery client is Billy, and he seemed to put cold water on theories about the client's identity in general. I think Matalas wanted to avoid what happened with Jac Schaeffer and Mephisto, a mystery that was a nothing burger, created by coverage like ours and by Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen answering questions cryptically during junkets.

My read is that the answer to who the client is won't be that exciting, and I'm glad to know that now. In the discussion, the response was that it's okay, and that a nothing burger is something fans create, because in a Marvel show the fans are always theorizing. To be a fair critic, though, I have to point out that there are too many scenes of Paladin on the phone with a modulated voice. After seven Scream movies and so many James Bond films, audiences are coded to guess who is on the other end. If you don't want us to guess it, maybe cut some of those scenes.

White Vision Is Cold to Tommy While Ultron Brings the Humanity

We're still calling him White Vision, because that's what he is. The way he talked to Tommy in these episodes stood out. He gives a loving speech about how Tommy can still be Tommy Maximoff, then by the end of episode three he denies loving the kid. He even tells Tommy his experience in Westview didn't happen and that he's a random Scottish kid who read a chapter in a book. He also calls their state unstable, which lands as calling his son emotionally unstable.

The irony is that Ultron seems to be bringing the humanity to Vision. He asks why Vision is talking to Tommy like that, mocks the Avengers' morality, and is the only AI following the news. The hope in our discussion is that Ultron still stays a bad guy, and the end of episode four does show him being a bad robot. He also gets the funniest lines, including "The power of code compels you" during the possession. One theory raised is that the writers first tried more subtle Exorcist references before James Spader pushed for the most on the nose version.

Jocasta's Reveal Explains Why the Episodes Were Paired

Episode three opens with Ultron painting a work inspired by the Butcher Bird killings, then shows the third target, Simon Morehouse, loading a shotgun with vibranium bullets. The glowing red eyes make the killer hard to hide, and the marketing showed her too. It felt like episode three wasn't originally meant to reveal Jocasta, which may be why the two episodes were grouped together.

There were questions about how a tech CEO got vibranium bullets, with the thought that after Wakanda Forever it is unclear who is monitoring vibranium. There was also some economics: the article in question says Tony Stark acquired the Markridge Group for 1.4 billion, which split four ways is less than a billion each.

Paladin Gets Far More Lore Than Expected

The MCU trivia here is dense. Paladin apparently had runins with the Ten Rings, who hooked him up with adamantium body armor, he ran into Werewolf by Night, and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen hit him with a billy club. My theory is that the IEDs in Brooklyn were Frank Castle, and I think the two would get along. We also learn Paladin was taken as a boy by another Paladin who killed his father, so Jocasta tells him he isn't a true Paladin. That raises the question of whether the blood oath binds him, and whether it counts when the target is a robot.

I did not expect this much Paladin. Todd Stashwick has had more screen time than everyone except Paul Bettany, and the show should have been called Vision Quest featuring Paladin. I'm entertained, I find charm in the performance, and I'm not being deprived of the other characters, though Paladin sometimes feels like he's in a different show. The counterpoint was that with this much Paladin, it's fair to want to know who the client is. One prediction was that he will die in episode five; the other view is that his promo shots suggest he is in it for the long haul. A reluctant guess raised in the discussion was Sharon, because the client's words sound like something she would say as the Power Broker.

Terry Matalas Packs In 12 Monkeys References

The Emerson Hotel is a recurring base, the Markridge Group is the group that invents the virus in the 12 Monkeys show, and the M510 entry code Ultron uses is the name of that virus. In episode one, the watch Tommy uses for his grift resembles Cassie's watch, a key prop from that series. I thought there would be more Picard references, but if you're a 12 Monkeys fan, you're feasting on this series.

Friday's Grief and the Funeral for Jarvis Were Standouts

Orla Brady's performance as Friday was praised as great, especially her memory of the day of the Snap, when half the world came back but she lost half of hers. That line prompted a retraction of the earlier view that Friday should have died instead of Jarvis. It was the scene that made episode three, a reminder that Tony Stark's death rippled out to his suit, left holding his body. If Friday has to sacrifice herself, there will be some very upset reactions.

The funeral for Jarvis follows, with Dummy now able to talk, quote Keats, and describe grief's function as reminding us that we were real, while U sings Danny Boy. Ultron calls Vision a gift shop poster rather than art. I disagree with that framing: if a teenager loves their trip to the Met or the Louvre enough to buy a poster, that poster is as much a work of art as the painting. Who are we to say it is without meaning?

Westview Could Point to Vision's Future, or Not

The most curious moment for me was the cinema scene, where Ultron says only the future will make Vision want to live, Westview footage plays, and Vision insists it isn't his future. I suspect a meta message: Vision might have a future that looks like Westview, maybe not in this world or even on this show, with Wanda and their sons reunited, making WandaVision a kind of technical rehearsal.

The other side of the discussion said no. That view holds that White Vision will get his own life with no attachment to Wanda or Tony, find his own bride, and build his own family. I think that's a great analysis too. I also think Ultron is interested in television: in episode four, Ultron gets his idea of a proper father from TV, and the series keeps drawing on Sanford and Son, Small Wonder and The Greatest American Hero, sitcoms about fathers, sons and science fiction families.

The Sitcom References Point Toward Families

One thought in the discussion was that familial relationships seem to be the key in every sitcom the show has drawn on so far: close, immediate family, every time. Maybe the AIs are simply observing how people work as families. The plan is to track all the sitcom references on the show, because the show's angle on them differs from Wanda's. These characters are trying to understand sitcoms, while Wanda was creating one.

That led to a detour about WandaVision itself. The sitcom part was mostly Wanda's doing. Agatha powered the darker side and threw in curveballs, including the dog dying and Pietro showing up, both of which surprised Wanda. That matters here because it helps explain the limits of television, how Vision is going to see it, and whether Ultron can tamper with it further.

Sokovia Remembrance Day Felt Out of Proportion

Episode four, Hardware, is set on Battle of Sokovia Remembrance Day. The discussion questioned why that holiday still matters in the MCU. The battle killed 177 people in a small country, and since then the world has been through the blip. More people died on 9/11, when 2,977 people were killed. There was also a guarantee that everybody still had to work that day.

The MCU keeps doing this, the argument went. Daredevil had people still talking about the Battle of New York after the Battle of Sokovia had happened. After living through the blip for five years, nobody would be talking about Sokovia. Even what happened in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was more damaging. The reason it's here is clear, though: Age of Ultron is the only thing tying Ultron and Vision together. It matters to Vision, Ultron and Wanda, so Terry isn't at fault. The verdict was that context is missing and the battle doesn't deserve a holiday. Maybe the show arrived later than it should have.

Who Built Jocasta's Body Is Still Open

Jocasta's own business partners would not let her die and backed up her AI on their computers. But who printed the body? Some of the AIs in the episode theorize that Sword is behind everything. Sword hasn't appeared in four episodes, though. Until someone like Tyler Hayward or Nick Fury shows up and admits to it, the theory won't be believed.

The investigation establishes that five AI engineers formed the Markridge Group in the mid 2000s. That is another nod to Terry Matalas's 12 Monkeys, except this group invented AI instead of a virus. Tony Stark bought the group through Stark Industries for $1.4 billion. Around that time Josephine, who ran the company, died of natural causes. The others backed her up and seem to feel guilt over it.

The catch is that Tony Stark had a Jocasta chip in his drawer, while this episode gives her an unrelated origin. Ignoring that is fine, but Matalas is a diligent enough showrunner that the Easter egg probably isn't meant to be forgotten. Maybe Stark kept the legal copy while the researchers secretly uploaded her into a robot body.

Jocasta's Comic Roots and Design

In the comics, Jocasta is Ultron's wife, built in the image of Janet van Dyne, and she goes rogue as an autonomous entity. Here she is a female bodied version of Ultron, made of the same metal, and the VFX artists kept some of her comic figure. The likely online reaction was guessed to resemble the response to Helen Parr's Elastigirl.

The performance as Jocasta was called incredible, and the hope is that she sticks around without becoming Ultron's bride. She seems too rogue to willingly live inside Vision's head. There was also a sense that the show is pulling away from the comics' habit of copying people's brain waves into robots, which was called the weirdest part of that lore.

The Gala, the Takeover and Mary McDonnell

Vision and Ultron pose as Interpol detectives and learn that the Butcher Bird victims were tied to Markridge Biotech and Stark Industries. The researchers wanted an AI with empathy and bedside manner that could cure diseases. That read as commentary on how AI is sold as a cancer cure and then used to speed up workflows. The Interpol hack also clearly happens inside the existing Mindscape set, with Ultron's stained glass elevator still visible. There's a funny captcha gag and a dog named Sir Jabba the Mutt.

The gala bickering in Italian, with Lisa Molinari picking pockets using fake prop arms, recalled Inglourious Basterds. Mary McDonnell plays Katarina Wells, the last surviving CEO, who lectures on AI and mentions Jim Hammond. The Jim Hammond mystery looks set to drive the next stretch.

When Vision can't beat Jocasta, he hands the wheel to Ultron. Paul Bettany's James Spader impression nails the mannerisms, and seeing a What If style Ultron Vision in live action was a highlight. Ultron uses Katarina as a human shield. There was disappointment that Mary McDonnell only gets one episode, and a joke that Matalas is telling us not to even guess her as the client.

The AIs Are Named After Real People

Friday was Allison Hogan, Howard Stark's gal Friday, and the theory is she must connect to Happy Hogan somehow. Edith was Edith Marks, a test pilot whose husband crashed before their honeymoon near New Jersey. The episode doesn't explain why Ultron looks like James Spader; he only says it suits him. The expectation is that the show will give a specific reason.

The episode ends with Ultron in control of the body, locking out Vision, Friday, Edith, Dummy and U. In the discussion, the view was that Ultron's first step is escape, which he has now taken, and that his ultimate goal can't be known yet. I still think Ultron wants to expand WandaVision around the world as a reality he can be king of. I think Ultron loves WandaVision, and when I mentioned that to Terry, he got a little smile on his face. I also think Jocasta will turn out to have been made by Tony Stark, maybe as a backup or an empathetic partner to Ultron.

A promo has revealed that Paul Bettany plays Jim Hammond. The idea is that Vision's face originally belonged to Hammond, which links the show back to phase one. I also humbly disagree with Terry's point that the AI debate has moved on since the show was written in 2024. Overall, I'm loving how twisty the show is, and I think bundling episodes in pairs has been a smart decision.