VisionQuest: Theseus

"Hello. My name's Vision and I'm here for the trap."

While the first episode was all about introductions, this one focused on the actual purpose of the show: finding family.

Vision as a character has never been terribly exciting, but has always stood as an example of the anti-evil artificial intelligence trope. He’s stalwart and good, worthy of Thor’s hammer and a true hero. It was totally believable that Wanda fell in love with him, and his purpose beyond that heroism was discovering his place in the world. Of course he was an Avenger, and that made it somewhat easy for him.

This version of Vision has no convenient and easy definitions to fall back on. He’s alone, isolated, hunted and has the memories of his former life but not the emotional connection to them. He’s harder, more robotic and willing to kill. It allows the character room to grow, and while he may be on the path to reclaiming what he once was, that isn’t a guarantee.

Paul Bettany once again does a great job navigating through the tough, almost straight-man role, which is thankless. Especially for an actor as charismatic as Bettany, suppressing his more over the top tendencies and delivering a subtle performance that grounds the character. This also leaves James Spader a chance to ham it up, and he does it with his usual deadpan snark.

Yet the relationship between Vision and Ultron is fascinating, and not unlike a father and son or perhaps older and younger brothers. Although that relationship was already defined by J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision, explicitly stated by Vision at one point during the episode. So the idea of family was already a part of this version of Vision, which is something the original Vision didn’t have.

Maybe this is better, starting from scratch, learning how to be a person instead of it being easy and complete. Not that going through the hard lessons of growing up is desirable or simple. Ultron once said that Vision was painfully naive and perhaps that is still true. For all his intelligence, it never occurred to him that Paladin would have a multi-stage trap in play using Tommy as bait.

The trap feels like something Ultron should've warned him about, but it’s somewhat easy to forget that Ultron may be the ultimate big bad here. As exciting as that raid at the horrible psychiatric facility was to watch, at its core was a desperate attempt by Vision to find more family. Vision may not have stated it or would even admit to it, but he needs Tommy. He needs family, perhaps more than even the original Vision would be able to express.

Tommy is also in desperate need of a family and place in the world. Billy’s spell to combine Tommy with a drowning boy seems to have been a bit premature. Thomas Shepherd wasn’t quite dead, meaning the two minds are competing, leading to his incarceration and meeting Lisa. Their escape from that bus was a lot of fun and did confirm that Tommy does have his speed powers, but has no idea how to use them. I’m curious if Lisa will come back into the story at some point down the line, but I’m not one hundred percent sure she’s trustworthy.

Which brings me to the emotional center of the episode. While Vision does manage to save Tommy, or maybe they save each other, it comes at a heavy cost. Vision gets damaged from adamantium rounds (nice continuity with recent movies, I might add) which is a metal that is actually stronger than vibranium. This causes an interruption in Vision’s power supply and the only solution was to delete one of the AI’s to conserve power.

I should’ve seen it coming, but it still hit pretty hard. I honestly did not think I would get so emotional when it happened, but when J.A.R.V.I.S. stepped up to sacrifice himself I started to get teary. There were five long running characters introduced in Iron Man: Tony, Pepper, Fury, Coulson and J.A.R.V.I.S. (most of which are no longer active). Such a long running presence and one that I liked just went out like a hero.

While technically J.A.R.V.I.S. was partially destroyed during Avengers: Age of Ultron, this feels more permanent. I am not entirely sure why it feels so different. Maybe because he was in a human form. Or maybe it is because they took the time to establish that Vision and J.A.R.V.I.S. had a real familial relationship. Or maybe it is because even Ultron was saddened by his death. Whatever the reason, he’ll be missed.

Bits:

Vision looked genuinely confused by Tommy coming back for him, and I loved how Tommy said "you're my something" because they still don’t quite know what they are to each other.

Who was in that painting? I suppose we don’t know Tony’s full history when it comes to his creations, and perhaps there was a first attempt at an AI that went sideways.

Ultron is now appearing to Vision in the real world. That cannot be good.

How is Vision going to repair himself? Does he have a self-repair mode? I do like the fact he is no longer indestructible. That means that Wolverine could take him down with his Adamantium claws.

I was not fully aware of the Ship of Theseus story, and I loved how Ultron broke it down. That the people who rebuilt the ship initially were his family in honor of the man who saved him.

Quotes:

Ultron: "So who are you?"
Vision: "I don't know. I don't know. I have his memories, but not his feelings. I have his face, but not his virtue. All I can feel is... the weight of him. His... legacy, his worthiness, his name."
Ultron: "Everyone changes. Humans can be ten different people in a day. The un-algorithmic alacrity with which they wobble, my goodness. Learn from them."

Vision: "I don't understand."
Ultron: "When a monster has your son, don't be the ship. Be the goddamn king."

This was a better episode than the first by quite a bit, and really did a great job establishing the emotional journey we are about to go through.

3.5 out of 4 Traps set by villains

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

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