‘VisionQuest’ Finds Something Resembling Peace in Its Final Episode

I’m struggling, here, trying to figure out how I want to start this. Because I like the parallelism of beginning my first VisionQuest recap with Vision’s opening monologue from episode one and then starting my final VisionQuest recap with Vision’s closing monologue from episode eight. But that’s a writer’s detail, the kind of self-indulgent stylistic flourish that makes me happy but doesn’t necessarily serve you, the reader. The more truthful, and relevant, opening to this piece would be to acknowledge that, for all my carrying on about how VisionQuest is an anomaly among Marvel Studios projects for having a more complex theme than “let’s use our incredible power to protect those among us who cannot protect themselves” (which is still an admirable goal, by the by) and showing that through big, bombastic fight scenes, there is another recent Marvel project that has done some unique thematic work while still feeling like the kind of movie we’ve come to expect from the studio. Spider-Man: Brand New Day posited that not only should Peter Parker (Tom Holland) not go it alone, but that he could not—at least, not if he didn’t want to end up like Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal). And it was a lesson that Frank learned, too, eventually, a rare example of a carefully chosen side character serving the plot rather than just tagging along as a sidekick. VisionQuest episode eight, “Forever” (which also serves as its finale, barring a surprise second season renewal), finally manages to effectively bring together its two storytelling modes, which had at times been frustratingly disparate throughout the series’ earlier entries: the long, deep conversations about the nature of humanity, family, optimism, and what we owe each other as friends, neighbors, and loved ones; and the action-driven plot that Marvel films and TV series are known for. Instead of feeling like separate stories, the two complement each other nicely in a fitting end to one of Marvel’s most contemplative projects to date. Point is, credit where credit’s due: both VisionQuest and Spider-Man: Brand New Day have seen Marvel pushing outside their comfort zone in a truly refreshing way. And now, if you’ll indulge me. That’s the ending monologue that Vision delivers in “Forever.” A remarkably more self-assured assessment of who Vision is and where he stands than the opening monologue he delivered in “No Strings.” He’s the Vision. He’s a father. And, maybe, he’s a son. But whatever his relationship with Ultron is, it is something, and even acknowledging that is a big step forward. “Forever” opens with Virgil Horton (James Spader), who we learn was Jo Carrington’s husband. He’s the one who sold her tech to Stark, and he also secretly got a job working for S.W.O.R.D., where he helped rebuild Vision while siphoning parts to build a body for Jo. His plan was to delete Vision’s code and take over his body, so he could be worthy of Jocasta’s new synthezoid form. But Jo is too furious with him for selling her tech to Stark, and she wants nothing to do with him, human or synth. With some help from Tommy (who’s reconnected with Billy [Joe Locke] via dream-binding) and Paladin, Vision and Jo subdue Virgil and his guards. But Virgil, unable to accept that Jo won’t welcome him back with open arms, shoots her, critically damaging her body. With her last bit of strength, she throws the hard drive that Virgil locked Ultron in into a swarm of nanos, allowing Ultron to reform his body, crush Virgil to death, and make it to Jo’s side just in time to hold her as she dies. There are a few hand-to-hand combat fights in the melee, but nothing approaching the type of big climactic battle we’ve come to expect from a Marvel film or TV series. Instead, after Jo dies, Ultron, in his anger and his fury, regresses to his most dangerous and pessimistic self. “They want extinction,” Ultron says about humanity. “They write it into scripture, paint it into art, and lull their children to sleep with deathly bedtime stories. The end is the only thing they truly believe in.” So if death is what they want, he’s going to give it to them. He unleashes the nanos on the nearest population center: London. There are 9.3 million targets identified. And he sets them to self-destruct. There’s no override, no kill switch. No amount of fighting is going to save anyone. The only way to stop the swarm is for Vision to convince Ultron to turn it off. © Marvel So instead of a climactic fight, we get a climactic conversation. It takes place in Vision’s Mindspace, which he’s set up as a mid-20th-century sitcom (called UltraVision, naturally) designed to “maximize moral-emotional convergence.” And the nano swarm is due to hit London in about eight minutes, so he’s going to need to compress time as well. The only problem is that puts a lot of strain on his power core, so he can only keep it up for so long before his body shuts down. Even still, for 500 episodes of UltraVision, with montages of wild episode names and wilder theme songs (“Don’t Kill the World” is just one example), Ultron remains firm in his commitment to wiping out humanity. But then Vision’s core starts to burn out, and Ultron realizes that Vision has toasted Ultron’s core, too. Even if Vision can’t convince Ultron to stop the nano swarm, he can make sure that Ultron won’t ever be able to do this again. And what’s Ultron supposed to do when he realizes that his own son is so convinced he’s wrong that he’s willing to take them both down in order to stop him? “We couldn’t process this alone,” Vision says, and he’s talking about the grief he feels about losing Wanda, the grief Ultron feels about losing Jo, and the grief they both feel for each other. “Fine,” Ultron says. “Fine.” He stops the nano swarm. “I had strings, but now I’m free,” he sings, and then he disappears. He’s not gone forever; of course he’s not—he’s still out there, but Vision believes in second chances. Maybe Ultron will go to the Louvre, the Met, the Modern. Maybe he’ll burn them all to ash. “Hard to say. 50-50,” Ultron tells Vision. “A coin flip,” Vision responds. But Vision has to get going—he’s having dinner with both of his sons that night. Maybe, one day, they’ll be able to have dinner with their grandpa, too. Or maybe he’ll end the whole world first. But, if VisionQuest has taught us anything, it’s that doing the difficult emotional work of finding ourselves and figuring out who we are is worth it. Vision got there, in the end. Hopefully, Ultron will too. And, of course, there were some end-credits teasers, too. For more on those, click here. Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.