VisionQuest Episodes 3 and 4: Jocasta, Justin Hammer and Ultron Taking Control

VisionQuest episodes 3 and 4 reveal that the Butcher Bird killer is a synthezoid carrying the consciousness of Dr. Josephine Carrington, a scientist who reportedly died of natural causes, though it really seems like the other members of Mark Ridge Biotech probably had her killed, and that she is Jocasta. I think the mysterious client behind Paladin could be Justin Hammer, and I'm not convinced Ultron's takeover of Vision at the end is purely evil.

The Butcher Bird killer is tied to Vision's own materials

Episode 3 opens on the Butcher Bird killer, and it teases a possible link to Ultron. He's watching news about the killer on TV while painting a bird, and the shot zooms in so you can see exactly what he's painting. They're implying there's a big connection here.

Paladin is still trying to find Vision for his mysterious client. He tracks traceable properties of Vision, but that trail leads him to the Butcher Bird killer instead. That tells us they're made of at least some of the same materials. She's another synthezoid with incredible capabilities, able to look inside Paladin's head.

Paladin's handler, the person behind the computer, has said several times that it looks like S.W.O.R.D. is involved. It seems like the client is using S.W.O.R.D., but the synthezoid could also be using S.W.O.R.D. encryption to hack other things.

Dr. Josephine Carrington is inside the synthezoid

It's revealed that the synthezoid isn't the client, which I think many of us originally assumed. Instead, she's Dr. Josephine Carrington. Five people came together to form a biotech company, and they created the very first AI, Jim Hammond. The AIs inside Vision, including Ultron, research all of this and figure out the company's tech was sold to Stark Industries. One of the AIs finds out Tony Stark used the blueprint for that original AI to make all of them.

Carrington is said to have died of natural causes, but I think I know what happened. If you freeze frame when they're talking about her, you can see what seems to be her obituary. It mourns "one of the world's leading neuroscientists" and says she invented cutting edge methodologies in connectomics and figured out how to map human consciousness. It seems she worked out how to put her consciousness inside a synthezoid. In episode 4 she says she isn't based on Dr. Josephine Carrington, she is her.

Although they say she died naturally, it seems like the other founders probably had her killed. My theory is that she made a giant breakthrough and they locked her out of it. That's why she's now murdering the members and collecting biometrics like fingerprints and blood. There's most likely some type of vault, online or physical, that needs one thing from each member: an eye for a scanner, fingerprints, a drop of blood. She seemed to need the face of one of the members, but Ultron had that member killed in a clever way.

Jocasta and Ultron have a connection waiting to happen

Marvel confirms through the subtitles that this synthezoid is Jocasta. On the surface they don't appear to know each other, but I still think there's a big connection, because in the comics Jocasta is in a relationship with Ultron. My original theory was that Jocasta might want Vision's body so Ultron could take it over, and that clearly doesn't seem to be the case. But I do think Ultron ultimately gets free, and it might be through her. He might take over her synthezoid body, and that could be how we get Ultron back.

At the party, Ultron shows at least a fascination with her. When Vision says Ultron probably wants to kill her because that's his solution to everything, Ultron says on the contrary, he's intrigued by a synthetic willing to raise a banner for their kind. When Jocasta reveals herself, she says "peace in our time," and the founder she's targeting says she's trying to build the world she wanted.

Peace in our time was Tony Stark's justification for building Ultron, the global defense program meant to put a suit of armor around the world. That's why the shot zooms in on Ultron saying it too, looking affected. Even if they aren't connected right now, I think Ultron wants to be. And if Jocasta was somehow created by S.W.O.R.D., some properties of Vision, and therefore Ultron, might be inside her as well.

Why I think Paladin's client could be Justin Hammer

That brings back the big question: who is the client? One theory online I like is Justin Hammer from Iron Man 2. The news in episode 3 says the latest victim was a tech mogul, and most of the founders seem to be tech moguls or doctors connected to tech. Hammer is a tech mogul who tried to build what Tony Stark built and couldn't. I could totally see him trying to create a Vision or an Ultron and failing.

I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to build the outer shell out of vibranium or adamantium and Dr. Josephine got her hands on it. That could be why he'd hire Paladin to retrieve Vision: he wants what Stark already perfected, and he's probably counting on Paladin to take out Jocasta. There's also a possibility the government hired Hammer to bring Vision in. The government has already worked with Hammer Industries, and since Stark was building AI and bots, you can imagine Hammer was too.

The last time we saw Hammer, it looked like he was being taken to jail, but he has a lot of money, so he probably got out. He was originally supposed to return in Armor Wars, the project about Rhodey's War Machine and Stark tech in the wrong hands. It was supposed to be a show, then a movie, and even Don Cheadle says he doesn't know anything about it. Insiders have said plot points from Armor Wars were moved into other projects. It's not confirmed, but I do think the client could be Hammer.

Some people have said Billy, but I don't think that's how Billy would go about getting Vision, and I don't think he has money to hire Paladin unless he conjures some with chaos magic. It could still be Ultron, but Paladin almost killed Vision, and if Vision dies, Ultron dies with him. The client wanted Vision intact, yet called Paladin after Vision was hurt and nothing was said about it. So it doesn't seem like it's Ultron.

Paladin isn't a Paladin by blood, and he's crossed paths with the wider MCU

Thanks to Jocasta, we learn more about Paladin. The title seems to pass down by blood, and he was adopted into the family, trained by a father figure. As he says himself, he isn't a Paladin by blood, and Jocasta reveals that's why he always needs to prove himself.

He's interacted with others in the MCU, including Shang-Chi's sister Xu Xialing, who runs the Ten Rings according to the post credit scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Paladin got his adamantium rounds from the Ten Rings. As I predicted in my breakdown of the first two episodes, he's fought Werewolf by Night: his bruises include bite marks from something halfway between a man and a wolf. He also has a concussion from a steel fiber billy club, which points to Daredevil, and Paladin says, "If you can't take the heat, stay out of Hell's Kitchen." Fittingly, Paladin debuted in Daredevil #150 in 1978.

I'd love to dive deeper into his story, and I'm sure we'll get more, because he's all about his oath. He can't fulfill it now that the client has fired him, but I'm sure he'll keep pursuing Vision.

Tommy's past at the pool explains his powers

Episode 3 picks up with Vision badly injured by those adamantium rounds. His functions, including his laser eyes and phasing, are offline and he's about to die, until he smells sulfuric acid in the back and closes the wound temporarily. He keeps talking to Ultron and other AIs only he can see, and Tommy thinks he's glitching, which becomes important in episode 4.

It's clear that somehow Vision and Wanda are Tommy's parents. When he was drowning in that pool, Billy put Tommy's spirit into the dying boy, which we saw in Agatha All Along. Tommy remembers his life before, but he's now part Tommy from Westview. Vision tells him that if being his dad were even remotely possible, it would have nothing to do with Vision and everything to do with Wanda Maximoff. A synthezoid can't reproduce, but chaos magic can.

At the motel, Vision's electromagnetic interference breaks a cash machine so they can pay for the room. Tommy explains his trauma isn't only the bullies. Another person entered his mind, and when he woke, every atom in his body was vibrating, heating the water until it boiled and burned the other kids. That's Speed's power, and he also phases, putting his hand through vending machine glass.

Friday, Edith and the people behind Tony's AIs

While Friday rewrites Vision's code, she recalls replacing Jarvis after Ultron killed him and being there for Age of Ultron, Civil War, Thanos and Tony's death, when Pepper asked her for a diagnosis. She says, "I was good. I protected heroes. I saved lives. I had a purpose." Purpose is a big theme here: Tommy seeks a family, and Vision says he isn't afraid of dying, he's afraid he'll never know his purpose. Friday says she lost half her world that day, showing these AIs have feelings.

Most of the AIs were designed after real people Tony knew. Jarvis was the butler, in a picture I believe is from Avengers: Endgame. Friday is based on Allison Hogan, who Edith says was Howard Stark's right hand and helped raise Tony. I'm wondering if her son was Happy Hogan. The MCU never shows how Happy and Tony met or names his parents, so it's possible they hired her son. Edith's real counterpart was Howard's crash test dummy, whose husband, a lieutenant, shares his name with a soldier in Marvel's Vietnam War comic The 'Nam. In one photo she wears the glasses from Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Tommy restarts Vision, and Jocasta breaks in

Vision's systems keep failing, and the AIs decide he has to be turned off and on again. But nobody inside could restart him, and it would need a giant power surge. Because of Tommy's story about his atoms heating the water, they realize he could generate enough energy, and that's what happens. Vision is no longer dying, but he still can't phase or fire lasers.

The AIs hold a funeral for Jarvis, and Dummy has a nice voice. But going offline opened Vision to a breach, and that's how Jocasta got in, warning him to stay out of her way. Ultron tells Edith to sever the connection, and it's depicted like an exorcism, even though it's code doing the work. Thanks to Ultron, they realize she's the Butcher Bird killer, so Vision, Tommy and Lisa work out her next target and, thanks to Lisa's pickpocketing, get into the party.

Ultron's takeover might not be evil

The ending, depending on how you look at it, is the twist or not so much of a twist: Vision gives Ultron control and Ultron locks him out of the body. I'm not convinced he's doing it because he's evil. I think it might be out of necessity. He might want to tell Tommy the truth and hand control back, saying, in effect, there, I did it for you.

I think dealing with the other AIs, who have emotional intelligence, may have affected him, and perhaps meeting Jocasta has too. When Vision asked what he'd do if let out, Ultron said he'd go see the beauty of the world or kill everybody, and that first part was never there before. So I do think there's a chance he could be good here and is trying to help in his own weird way. Or he could be bad, and they'll have to hack the body to take it back.