VisionQuest theory: is the client Jocasta's husband, not Ultron?

VisionQuest episode 7, the second to last episode, reveals the face of the mysterious client. On the surface, the client appears to be the human avatar Ultron chose for himself. I don't believe Ultron is the client. From what I've pieced together, the client is Jocasta's husband. I think he's something like a grandfather figure to the Ultron AI, and possibly the person Ultron was unknowingly modeled after.

The episode also has Vision accept that he is the Vision. There's a lot to break down. The client situation is complicated, so I'll start there and then move on to what happens inside Vision's mind.

Why Ultron isn't the VisionQuest client, despite the reveal

The show wants you to think the client is Ultron. At the end of the episode, the mysterious client is revealed to look like the human avatar Ultron has chosen. But many things Ultron has said, and many things the episodes have shown us, point to him not being the client.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner created Ultron, and they didn't model him after any particular person. Ultron said as much earlier in VisionQuest when the characters talked about their human avatars. He said he was simply created by Banner and Stark and was not modeled after anyone, at least not intentionally.

His behavior points the same way. When Jocasta gets access to her subconscious and Ultron goes with her, they end up in what looks like the same apartment where Vision trapped or imprisoned Ultron. Ultron seems genuinely confused. That's one reason I don't believe this is Ultron in human form pulling the strings.

When he talked with Friday, Ultron made it seem like he's good. He's not going to let Jocasta kill everybody, and he says she isn't the real villain because someone is behind the scenes. He doesn't say he's that person. He says he doesn't know who it is, and I believe him, because he's genuinely surprised when he sees the apartment and again when he sees himself with Jocasta. When he tosses Friday off at the end, I think he's saving her. Maybe Jocasta found out Friday was there, so Ultron got rid of her quickly so she wouldn't be deleted. We'll have to wait and see.

Phineas T. Horton's source code links Vision, Jocasta and Ultron

A big part of this episode is a source code that comes from Phineas T. Horton. He appears only in Vision's mind, in his subconscious, along with Jim, the original synthezoid and the original Human Torch. That rules out two big theories that I and many other people had. It is not Jim trying to get inside Vision's body. And it's not Phineas T. Horton trying to get a human body for himself after somehow living on through AI.

Jocasta, when she was human, was Dr. Josephine. We already know her partners sold her AI and technology to Stark Industries. The source code for Jim, and everything Phineas T. Horton put into it, is part of Vision. It's also part of Jocasta. Ultron was created from the same AI technology Tony Stark bought from Dr. Josephine, so he carries the same Jim and Phineas code too.

Hidden flashbacks show Jocasta married to a human Ultron

Marvel tried hard to hide these frames, and it took some time to find them. If you pause on particular moments of this episode, there's a major detail about what's going on. When Jocasta goes into the apartment, she gets flashbacks. In them, she's with a man and she's romantic with him. That man is revealed to look like a human form of Ultron.

This human isn't the AI Ultron. He's a human that Ultron might have been slightly based on. They aren't the same people, but they share code, much as Vision shares code with Jim and Phineas T. Horton without being them.

In these flashbacks, you can see what looks like a wedding ring on Josephine's ring finger. So I believe she was married to this person, who I'll call human Ultron. That's part one of who the client is: Dr. Josephine's husband. She doesn't remember how she became a synthezoid or that she was married. But as she goes deeper into her subconscious, barriers are removed and she starts to remember everything.

On the television, an AI duo wins the Stark award. Ultron even wonders aloud: "I wonder who you shared the prize with." The show never says it, but it was this person, her husband.

What Jocasta's husband wants with Vision's body

My theory is that he either wants Vision's body so he can upload his own mind into it, or he wants it for Jocasta so he can swap her consciousness into it. Vision's body seems much more advanced, and it seemingly has more realistic human tissue.

So it seems like he's either trying to bring his wife back to life by making her the most realistic version of who she was as a human, or he wants to become a synthezoid himself so he can live forever with her. I think it's one of those two explanations. Since he says he wants to give Vision a heart, he might be talking about putting himself inside Vision's body. I'll probably go with that one, but we'll see.

Why Ultron's avatar looks like the client

Part two is why Ultron's chosen avatar looks like the client. As the television said, this was an AI duo, a husband and wife working on the same thing. The AI designed by Jocasta and the client is what Tony Stark bought, and it went on to make J.A.R.V.I.S., Vision and Ultron.

That means the client's own code is inside Ultron. Ultron doesn't know about it because he doesn't have access to those files. That explains why he's genuinely confused.

The client could be Dr. James Bradley or a descendant

As for who this person is, I think he's one of two people, and it comes down to the notebook Phineas T. Horton's daughter takes at the very beginning of this episode.

In the comics, Phineas T. Horton moved to Wisconsin to work for Victor Timely, who appeared in Loki season 2 as a variant of Kang the Conqueror, at least as the MCU makes it appear. In the comics, he's a time traveling Kang. That's not very relevant to VisionQuest, though you can see what might have been the plan to link this to Kang back when Kang was still the plan.

Here's the relevant part. In the comics, Phineas T. Horton had a partner, Dr. James Bradley, and together they created the first synthetic man. They disagreed about their goals for it, so Dr. Bradley started making his own second android. Horton was chasing fame and wanted to publicize their work. Bradley advised against it because they knew exposure to air caused the Horton cells in the android to ignite. Horton did it anyway, it led to disaster, and Bradley felt betrayed and split, taking the second android with him.

The episode's opening doesn't show Horton with any partner. But his daughter takes that notebook. I wouldn't be surprised if she gave or sold it to someone, or married someone who got it and began working on AI, with the research passed down. So I believe the client could be Dr. Bradley, with his story retconned so he picked up Horton's work rather than working with him, or a descendant of Dr. Bradley who has been going against Horton all along and wants to build a better android than the Vision. The other option is that he's simply a descendant of Phineas T. Horton himself.

I don't think it's Phineas T. Horton, and I don't think he somehow put his consciousness inside an AI. Whoever it is most likely created Jocasta with his own technology based on Horton's code, which explains why that code got into the AI he and Jocasta designed, and why Ultron and the client look the same. He clearly has money and connections, so getting the precious metal to make her wouldn't have been a problem. I don't think he's connected to Ultron at all beyond helping design the original AI source code Tony Stark bought.

That leaves big questions. Is Ultron going to be a villain at the end of this, or good? Did he destroy Friday or save her? The nanobots that could be used to kill everybody are still out there. Will Jocasta and her husband use them, forcing Ultron to step in with Vision, or will Ultron use them himself with Jocasta? And does he somehow kill the client?

Vision accepts he is the Vision through the Ship of Theseus

While Jocasta's subconscious revealed the client, Vision was going into his own, where he met key people who help him become the Vision again. Once more it comes back to the Ship of Theseus. As Vision goes deeper, he sees memories of what happened in Westview and can't take them. That's classic psychology: he's grieving, but avoiding it. He knows the truth but hasn't accepted it, because accepting it means dealing with the loss.

He talks to the old Vision, to Jim Hammond, the original synthetic man and Human Torch, and to Phineas T. Horton, all inside his head. He has some of Jim's code, so he could be communicating with Jim or what's left of that code. Beyond that, talking to the Vision is him talking to himself. And he accepts that he is the Vision.

The Ship of Theseus question goes like this: a ship sits in a museum, and as its wooden boards rot they're replaced until none of the old boards remain. If you build a ship from the old boards, which is the original? According to Vision, both are the real ship and both are not, but you can choose. Vision chooses to be the Vision. He has the Vision's memories and the feelings and emotions he was given. The grief of losing Billy, Tommy and Wanda was so much that he refused to accept it until this episode.

The source code may give Vision a version of his comics power source

Vision also receives the source code, which I think is a play on the solar power source Phineas T. Horton originally invented. That power source is what powered the creation of the synthetic humans, including the original Jim.

In the comics, Vision is created out of Jim Hammond's body by Ultron, who stole that body to make him. Marvel is sticking true to that in its own way. Ultron did create Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, though not out of Jim Hammond's body. But as we're now finding out, Vision has Jim's source code inside him.

It seems like he might now have some version of that power source, which the Vision has in the comics. It lets him absorb sunlight and cosmic radiation and convert it into energy. So he might have a new power set, or he might be slightly stronger now.

A Maximoff family reunion is being set up

What the end of this episode sets up is that the Vision we've always known is back. He has all the memories and experiences, and he was brave enough to say yes, I am the Vision, and yes, I have lost my family. Not all of it, though. Tommy is there, and Vision fully takes responsibility, claims he is Tommy's father, and loves him.

Billy hasn't appeared yet, but he's supposed to be in this series, perhaps in the finale, maybe at the very end of the next episode. So Vision should be reunited with both sons. And it's widely reported and rumored that the Scarlet Witch will return in Avengers: Doomsday and or Avengers: Secret Wars. Ultimately, a Maximoff family reunion is set to happen. As for the client, whoever else he turns out to be, I believe 100% that he's Jocasta's husband.