VisionQuest Episode 7, “Immolation” Spoilers Ahead
As viewers of the MCU‘s latest streaming series, VisionQuest, are no doubt aware, Vision is one of the franchise’s most versatile characters. He’s also one of their most evolved — literally.
From the time we were first introduced to Paul Bettany’s voice-only portrayal of J.A.R.V.I.S. (the bodiless precursor to Vision, and Tony Stark’s AI assistant) all the way back in Iron Man, to the pivotal creation of Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, to his starring turn in both the WandaVision series and this year’s follow-up, VisionQuest, this character has undergone more transformations than just about anyone else in the MCU.
Of course, all this growth and evolution has resulted in considerable inner turmoil for the carbon-based synthezoid, which comes to a head in the aforementioned VisionQuest series. And, as its penultimate episode, “Immolation,” demonstrates, perhaps the best way for Vision to confront this is to have a chat with who, of all people? That’s right, himself.
This is not a new concept, by the way. Back in the WandaVision finale, aptly titled “The Series Finale,” the version of Vision that we’d spent that show following (“Hex Vision”), the one that had been recreated by the power of Wanda Maximoff’s all-consuming grief, has the opportunity to interact with the “new” version that had been reassembled and reprogrammed by a nefarious organization to kill Wanda.
Instead of bludgeoning each other to death, the two Visions wind up engaging in a philosophical debate about who is the “true” Vision, citing the Ship of Theseus thought experiment as a way to explain how “neither is the true ship” and “both are the true ship” simultaneously.
Amidst this debate, Hex Vision is able to unlock the original memories in Vision — “I have not retained memories,” Vision tells his other self. “But you do have the data. It is merely being kept from you,” Hex Vision reminds him — and it allows Vision to achieve a sense of clarity. “I am Vision,” he declares, before flying off, not to be seen again on our screens for nearly six years.
However, when we pick back up with him at the start of VisionQuest, it’s immediately apparent that that initial clarity was short-lived, and that the Vision we see now is very much still struggling to understand what it means to be the true Vision — so much so that he denies such an identification entirely.
Throughout the first six episodes of the series, Vision frequently and repeatedly refutes any claim that he is the same as the original iteration of Vision (“OG Vision,” if you will), referring to him as the “old me” and speaking about OG Vision’s experiences in the third person. “I know who I was, but I… I want to feel what it’s like to be him, but I can’t. I just can’t,” Vision tells Ultron in the second episode, “Theseus.”
In VisionQuest Episode 7, he also insists that the events of WandaVision (Hex Vision’s memories) were merely a fantasy, an assertion that gets challenged with the arrival of Thomas Shepherd late in the premiere, “No Strings.” The teenager claims to have memories of growing up in Wanda’s Hex with Wanda, Vision, and his twin brother, Billy, but Vision maintains that this is impossible: “When Wanda ended her Westview fantasy, no entity she conjured survived.”
Despite Thomas’ desire to understand his connection to the synthezoid that might inexplicably be his father, Vision continues to deny any true parentage. In the third episode, “Reboot,” he even goes so far as to say to Thomas, “If my being a parent were even remotely possible, it would have nothing to do with me, and everything to do with Wanda Maximoff.”
Vision does, to his credit, eventually concede later in the episode that Thomas’ belief can be true, that he somehow is Tommy Maximoff. Vision has reached the point of accepting this truth, even while still not considering himself to be the one who raised Billy and Tommy with Wanda in Westview. It’s good progress, but he’s not all the way there yet.
This brings us to VisionQuest Episode 7, “Immolation,” which sees Vision venture deep into his subconscious in search of his source code, a journey that has him “navigate the depths of [his] forgotten sub-routines and suppressed logic.” It’s here that Vision finally has the opportunity to once again address himself directly — only this time, the version of Vision he comes face-to-face with is the original one, not the one from Wanda’s Hex.
OG Vision accuses Vision of imprisoning him, a claim Vision denies. “This is not a prison,” he tells OG Vision. “Is it not? I’ve been relegated to a memory,” OG Vision replies. Vision says it’s because he is a memory, and once more reiterates his belief that he and OG Vision are two discrete entities: “I’m not you.”
This, at least, OG Vision can agree with. “Well, that’s true. But only in the sense that your lack of compassion, your denial, and your inaction are beneath me.” These are some pretty pointed insults, but Vision isn’t having any of them: “Oh, spare me the reverse psychology. Spare me. I have tried,” he insists. “And you have failed,” OG Vision replies. “In every way.”
This only exasperates Vision even further. “And who could possibly succeed? Who? You tell me. Who could love as deeply as you?” he asks, and it’s here that OG Vision finally snaps. “You have placed me on a pedestal so impossibly high, and not to honor me. Not to honor me! But to spare yourself the effort of the climb.” This observation from OG Vision is extremely cutting, and very well might be the best line of the entire series — because, as we’ve seen throughout all seven episodes thus far, Vision has done exactly what OG Vision is calling him out for. In “Theseus,” Vision literally tells Ultron, “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.”
It’s clear he doesn’t consider himself to be anywhere near the moral standing of his predecessor, but, as OG Vision rightfully accuses him, this is simply an excuse to avoid enduring what’s necessary to reach such a level. Vision says to him, “I am just a copy,” but OG Vision counters with, “That is a lie that you tell yourself. You are the Vision.” Of course, Vision once again rejects this notion with a swift, forceful “No!”
“Yes. You are me, and you are him, the other Vision that Wanda conjured in the Hex.”
“No,” Vision repeats, albeit much less forcefully. OG Vision then tells him, “He unlocked your memories, yes. But he also gave you his own,” and this time, Vision’s “no” is almost fearful. OG Vision continues. “His experience of that house, of Billy, of Tommy, of Wanda. And you have buried them deep within your processors because you are afraid.” Vision claims that he’s not afraid, but as OG Vision knows, and as we, the viewers, know, too, this is yet another lie. Feeling backed into a corner, Vision prepares to fire an energy blast at OG Vision to eliminate him, but not before the latter points out the undeniable truth: “But now you are running from them because you are a coward!”
And that’s just it, isn’t it? Vision is afraid, and he is acting cowardly, and who would know that better than himself? Despite Vision’s insistence to the contrary, OG Vision, and Hex Vision, and Vision are all one and the same. Together they make up the true Vision — and, as Vision later finally understands in an emotional, climactic scene worthy of its own breakdown article, there really is only one Vision.
He may have atomized his predecessor when he felt vulnerable and threatened in the depths of his own subconscious, but it was OG Vision who delivered the final blow.
VisionQuest Episode 7 is now streaming on Disney+: What are your thoughts on Vision’s confrontation with himself? Let us know in the comments below.