VisionQuest episode 7 finally answers a season-long mystery: Who is the shadowy Client that hired Paladin to capture Vision? But the long-awaited reveal has left us with more questions than answers.
Warning: full spoilers for VisionQuest episode 7 follow.
After making a deal with The Client to access his own source code in return for control over his body, Vision travels to a familiar palatial home – the ancestral abode that once belonged to Phineas Horton. In the final moments of episode 7, as Vision waits out front to meet his mysterious adversary, the camera tracks an unknown figure from behind as they casually stroll towards the front door. Panning up, The Client is revealed to be an as-yet-unknown character played by none other than Ultron actor James Spader! So what gives?
Right now we can't say definitively who The Client is, as his true identity is being kept under wraps until next week's finale. However, there are plenty of clues that could help us identify the mysterious figure.
For starters, the fact he's living in Horton's mansion and is technically savvy enough to rewrite Vision's source code is undoubtedly significant. In the flashback that opens the episode, we see that Horton is forced to sell off his home to fund the creation of his synthezoid son, J.I.M. (aka Jim Hammond). Could Spader's mystery character be a beneficiary of this sale? Or perhaps he's a descendant of Horton who bought back his ancestral home.
Second, the fact that the character is played by Spader is a major clue that he could have been instrumental in the creation of Ultron. From VisionQuest episode 7, we know that both Phineas Horton and Jim Hammond share a face with Vision, as they're all played by Paul Bettany. This is explained by the fact that Horton's work in creating J.I.M. formed the basis of all artificial life in the MCU, so Horton and Hammond are at the root of Vision's very being, even though Vision was created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.
It tracks that whoever The Client is played a similar role in the development of artificial life, leading to the creation of Ultron. It's also possible that, like Jocasta and Vision, the Client is another synthezoid, currently posing as human. Could this be a way for Ultron to get his body back in the finale?
Or all these theories could be baloney, and The Client is someone else entirely. All we know for sure is that those 'Billy is The Client' theories can finally be put to rest.
VisionQuest episode 7 is streaming now on Disney Plus. Make sure you're there the moment the finale drops with our VisionQuest release schedule, or check out our spoiler-free full-season VisionQuest review while you wait for the final episode.
