VisionQuest (2026) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[Vision] It's been years.
I'm just not very good with people.
[Jarvis] Accessing previous files
relating to program VisionQuest.
Welcome home, Vision.
So, you were smiling today,
- which is good.
- Mmm-hmm.
[Jarvis] Miss Edith.
This house is architecturally
and emotionally unstable.
[Friday] Well, he knows
the facts of his old life.
Now, he's searching for the feeling of it.
You're a ghost, haunting her footsteps.
Not her footsteps, his.
I wish to understand him
and how he existed in this world.
[Vision] You're familiar with the thought
experiment the Ship of Theseus?
- Naturally.
- When no original plank remains,
is it still the Ship of Theseus?
Both are the true ship.
Someone out there placed a sizeable bounty
on Vision's AI-infested head.
Hey V, skylight exit?
[Ultron] And the contract
went to a hunter,
known only as "the Paladin".
- [Paladin] What do you got?
- He has a family.
Had. Twin boys, Billy and Tommy.
[reporter] Thought deceased for years
The Vision has suddenly
and violently reappeared.
You're right.
- You're name's Thomas Shepherd.
- Is it?
[handler] Take a look at this, police
psych evaluation and incident report,
London.
[Paladin] This is not a test.
I am the emergency.
I have your son.
[Thomas shudders] I had a family,
and parents that weren't my parents.
A mother, he called her Wanda.
And a father-- she called him Vision.
Mazel tov! It's a boy.
Yeah, I was at the pool.
Kids were havin' a laugh, holding me under
but for too long.
[chuckles] Then it was like a
[breathing heavily]
Like a bolt of lightning.
And then, and then [shudders]
And then I wasn't just me anymore.
Uh [shudders]
I was I was someone else.
Like, someone else had just moved
into my brain with me.
How can it feel so real?
When I know it's impossible!
How can I have two lives?
Please!
[doctor] How long has he been saying this?
[police constable] Six months.
[doctor] Done all we can for him here.
Take him to transport.
I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy, I'm not.
I'm not. You have to believe me! Please!
[loud buzz]
[court transport official] Loading up
young offenders
for court services transfer.
I do not care what your story is,
what your meds are, what you're in for.
Couldn't give a shit
if you're Oliver Twist,
Hannibal Lecter or if you are the sort
that wouldn't harm a fly!
Let's keep moving, son.
What are you waiting for?
It's not a parade. Let's go!
Come on. Move along now. This is my bus,
and the sooner you understand that,
the better we are all gonna get along.
Okay?
Don't eyeball me, son.
That is not my issue!
[Lisa] This seat taken?
Well, it is now.
[Clancy] Sorry about the bracelets,
but I have to say,
it's better for you
and it's better for me.
- First time?
- We have got a long drive,
and I have got a short fuse.
So, choose your seatmates carefully,
and keep your mouths shut.
[taser crackling]
[breathes deeply]
And have yourself
a merry little Christmas.
[pop rock music playing,
The Hep Stars "Christmas On My Mind"]
I've got Christmas on my mind ♪
I adore that lovely time ♪
I'm feeling like I was a little child ♪
When I've got Christmas on my mind ♪
So, what's your
name?
I wonder how I've been this year ♪
If I've been nice Santa comes to me ♪
Oh, I've got Christmas on my mind ♪
[Young Billy and Tommy scream]
[tattooed man] I swear, I said,
I'm not going back!
I'm not going back.
No, no. This ain't the way.
I'm not going back. I'm not. No!
[whimpers]
Not where we're going. [shuddering]
I'm not going back, I said--
I swear, I said, I'm not going back!
No, no!
- [shuddering]
- [Lisa] Look at me.
Take a breath.
Yeah, I'm trying.
Look at me.
[shuddering]
Look at me!
Friendly bet, I can guess your story.
Couple of scrapes.
Seen your fair share of dust-ups?
Maybe, the back of a police car
once or twice,
but never like this.
You forgot dead mum, dead-beat dad--
Right, definitely no family to speak of.
[Thomas] Just a trail of fosters,
and they all leave.
Orphaned once
Orphaned twice and so on.
And so forth.
Yeah.
Right.
In my experience,
who you are is less important
than who you pretend to be.
And who should that be?
[scoffs] Whoever keeps you alive.
'Ell
each mornin' is a chance to become
someone new.
Who I am is a bit
Tommy!
- [Young Tommy screams]
- [Vision cries]
Tommy.
in flux
these days.
Well enough pretend.
What got you here?
[chuckles softly]
Just a
teeny-tiny psychotic break.
What about you?
I killed a man and then wore his face
to escape capture.
[chuckles]
Minor larceny.
Compulsive kleptomania.
I'm a pickpocket.
Damn, damn good one, actually.
I'm guessing you're a better picker
than chooser of pockets.
Uh, to be fair,
I lifted the wallet clean up
- before I even noticed the badge. So
- [chuckles]
Thank you very much.
Nice.
There was this one time, Cardiff town,
five men, six wallets,
and two kebabs by the end of the night.
[tattooed man] Swear, I said,
I'm not going back!
No, I'm not. I'm not going back.
Not where we're going. I swear--
I'm not going back.
Not where we're going,
I swear, I said, I'm not going back!
No, no. I'm not going back.
- [male inmate 1] Shut up!
- [tattooed man] I swear!
I'm not-- I'm not going back!
- Hey, mate Shh. put a lid on it.
- [male inmate 2] Keep it down.
- [male inmate 3] Wasteman.
- Look, we're only going to a local nick.
[Clancy laughs]
Do you honestly believe
that we are heading for Young Offenders?
Or the big kids' pen?
The court has deemed
your new home elsewhere.
- [female inmate 1] Are you serious?
- And there's no parole.
There's no sun.
And there's no forgetting
to take your meds.
The next stop for this bus
is the lovely chateau of Saint Mabyn's.
[male inmate 5] Yo, nah, brother.
[male inmate 5] Are you quite serious?
- What's that?
- A sanitarium.
[tattooed man]
No, no, no. I'm not going back.
I'm not going back. I'm not, I'm not--
- [tasing]
- [tattooed man screaming]
[groaning]
All right, that's enough!
You're hurting him!
Now you hush up and you take your seat.
We can't go to Saint Mabyn's.
No one ever gets out of it!
I said, be quiet--
No, no, no. Please, please, please.
Come on, don't.
- [tasing]
- [Thomas screaming]
[groaning]
[screaming]
[groans]
[panting]
[Clancy] Okay
Anyone makes another sound,
leaves here on a stretcher.
[breathing heavily]
What's wrong with this bloody thing?
[panting]
What the hell was that?
[both panting]
- A Christmas miracle?
- I don't think so.
But this is.
There's an exit door in the back.
You want me to jump out of a moving bus?
Well, that's suicide.
So is where we're going.
- You ready, spark plug?
- Too soon.
[panting]
- [Clancy] Hey!
- [Thomas] Go, go, go.
[Clancy] Hey! No! No! No! No!
[Thomas] Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
[laughing]
Oh, look, he's got a spare.
- Shit. Get the door!
- [Clancy laughs]
[Thomas panting]
Stop the bus!
[Clancy] You messed with the wrong guard!
Dashing through the snow ♪
In a one-horse open sleigh ♪
Stop the bus!
Laughing all the way ♪
Get out of there!
- They key won't work.
- Let me try.
Bells on bobtails ring ♪
Stop singing!
Oh, what fun it is to ride ♪
Oh, come on!
Stop this singing!
Jingle bells, jingle all the way ♪
[grunting]
[grunting loudly]
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
jingle all the way ♪
[Lisa screams]
Hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells ♪
[panting]
- Lisa.
- Tommy.
Thomas. My name's Thomas.
Well, Thomas, run!
[both chuckle]
[Ultron] What is happening
to your world, Vision?
[Jarvis] It's a signal of some kind.
I'd have to bypass our security
protocols in order to access it.
- [Friday] Vision, what are you doing?
- [Vision] I'm curious.
- [Jarvis] You're reckless.
- [Thomas] I had a family.
Um, a mother, he called her Wanda.
[Paladin] I'm not made of Vibranium.
I don't phase, and I can't shoot lasers.
- [Thomas] And a father
- [Paladin] But I got something better
[Thomas] She called him Vision.
[Paladin] I have your son.
[Thomas] I don't know
what's happening to me.
[shuddering] Okay, but
But I know it's true.
It's true.
This was you.
I would be the first to warn you,
never leave me unsupervised
around a box of dynamite.
But you've left me here
without even a fuse.
No, the bounty hunter's voice,
booming out of the sky was not me.
Don't equivocate.
It's the consequence of you!
It's the consequence of a world
that's finally come knocking.
And quite frankly a tremendous opportunity
for you to branch out.
Network, meet a new friend.
Oh, this bounty hunter who so impossibly
claims to have my son?
- Is it?
- Is it what?
Really that impossible?
You should know by now,
this universe of theirs
is a very strange one.
So tell me, what do we know
about this Paladin?
This isn't any old shagger
with a dog and a shotgun.
Paladin is last in a centuries-long
line of hunters.
He's not The Paladin.
He's a Paladin.
Generation after generation,
chasing down his targets
for the highest bidder.
The sharpest of minds,
trained in every art and every weapon.
Good, bad--
Hero, villain.
He doesn't discriminate.
He'll find you,
bring you in alive per the contract,
or dead if you get in his way.
And he does all of it
believing himself to be righteous.
Simply put, he's a bounty hunter.
Once he's accepted a target,
he's bound by an unbreakable contract,
and his new target is you.
[Thomas panting]
- Welcome home, kid.
- [Thomas] No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
- I swear, I swear. I don't belong here.
- [alarm blaring]
Hey. Hey, look, I don't know
what you want from me,
but, you don't need to do this, okay?
I swear, I'm not dangerous.
You can't leave me here, please! Please!
- [Clancy] Is that you?
- Please!
[Clancy] Cannot stand here,
you cause havoc.
You.
Jingle bells, I knew I'd see you again.
Okay, I don't know who you people are,
but you just made a big mistake.
- [tasing]
- [screams]
[gunshot fired]
[shuddering]
[alarm blaring]
Why did you do that?
You're mental.
You can't leave me here, please. Please!
I've got something, sir.
This is a recording made a year ago.
It appears a handful of teens
were injured at a swimming pool,
and this boy was held responsible.
He was arrested,
and taken for this psychiatric evaluation.
[Thomas] I was myself and then I wasn't.
I have these memories of
of someone I'm not, but
[shuddering]
Now I
am
also
[doctor] Memories of what?
Uh, a house, only haunted.
Like, the air itself was having a laugh.
Like an audience that wasn't there.
And there were meatloaves.
And green lawns.
Pixelated almost.
[Thomas shuddering]
[Wanda] Don't you want to meet
your son as yourself?
[Thomas] There was a man.
His face like [shudders]
Like a demon.
Blood red.
[stutters] Like a deep purple bruise
but with these kind eyes.
He wasn't human.
But he called me son.
[video stops]
Okay.
The bounty hunter seems to be suggesting
that your offspring, somehow,
escaped from Wanda Maximoff's
witchy bubble.
Which of course, is impossible.
See, there's that word again.
When Wanda ended her Westview fantasy,
no entity she conjured survived.
You really believe this is
a sort of tactical deception?
Yes, I do. I do. I think
it's a sentimental ploy to draw me out.
Draw you out for whom?
Someone hired Paladin.
Could be S.W.O.R.D.
When they rebuilt you,
they turned you into a weapon.
Now they want it back.
There's something else you need to see.
- [doctor] About your mother
- [Thomas] Wanda.
Yeah, yeah. Um
She sings me songs.
Reads me stories.
But her
Her eyes,
sad.
She had too much feeling. [shudders]
Too much love
and so much pain.
Loss.
Our dog died.
But I never had a dog.
But I did, I did.
Uh, she
She said a thing to make it all right.
"Grief is just love persevering."
[doctor] Could it be
that you imagined her?
An orphan that wanted
a loving family so deeply
that he conjured one of his own?
No! 'Cause I know it's not real, okay?
I know it's not real! But it feels real!
Yes, like my mother wasn't a witch
and my father wasn't a machine.
Please help me!
Please, I don't know who I am!
I don't know who I am.
[snaps fingers]
There were only two people
in the room when you
when he, the original Vision
said that to Wanda.
This boy couldn't possible know that.
And yet he does.
Sir, I found coordinates
embedded in Paladin's message.
It's an invitation.
[Paladin] Oh, look at you.
Walking around like you're people.
Is that like a holo-projection thing?
Okay. I'd offer you a drink,
but according to your technical specs,
you can't. Right?
Churns the guts.
[in robotic voice] Excruciating.
[in normal voice] If I'm honest,
the older I get, same.
Everybody bleeds underneath.
My point is
[both] You're as human as the rest of us.
- Everything dies.
- Everything dies.
Including you.
Yes.
You see, I've already sat through
a quintillion simulations
of this very conversation.
I've computed every conceivable
combination of words you might use,
actions you might take.
I can't be throw off-balance by this
guileless manipulation.
Staging our meeting in the place
I saw my friend murdered.
Your plan is based on the assumption
that I care about Thomas Shepherd,
and in every outcome it fails
because I do not feel.
No?
Enough about you.
- Let's talk about Thomas Shepherd--
- [Vision] Allow me.
Son to Irene, deceased.
Abandoned by his father,
who may as well be.
Shuttled from one foster home to the next.
Thomas undoubtedly raised himself.
Though his records show high academic--
Street kid now.
- Grifter. Con man, life of crime.
- Tragic.
But none of it is evidence
that he's somehow the son
of Wanda Maximoff and The Vision.
[Paladin breathes deeply]
Yet here you are.
Because you know
there is more to this world than science.
There are monsters
and wizards and witches.
Oh, my
So here's my theory.
I think
your presto wife twitched her nose,
and threw whatever
conjured-up kid that she called son
into the body of a teenager in London.
Is he your son? Isn't he? Half of him?
Who's to say?
But
it is the closest thing to family
that you will ever get, and I got him.
Now, as much as I detest
collateral damage,
someone has paid me
a handsome sum to bring you in.
So, come willingly.
Or
I am going to leave your son
in that terrible place,
Saint Mabyn's, with the long needles,
with the megawatt battery that is frying
his brain into a nightmare omelette
of witches and red faced demons
until control-alt-delete, goodbye Tommy.
I understand.
You look across this table and you see
an Avenger because I am Vision.
A defender of humanity,
brimming over with faith
in their goodness,
the grace in their failings,
et cetera, et cetera.
But that was the old me.
Now the new me Oh!
No, he looks back at you,
and all he sees is living, breathing
evidence of man's inhumanity.
It's will to destroy.
It's compulsion to kill
without cause or provocation.
You've made a grave error, Paladin.
Because whilst it is true
that I was once him
I'm not Vision.
Poor Tommy.
[grunts]
[breathing heavily]
[groaning]
[handler] Boss, are you okay?
That sounded like it hurt.
[groaning]
- What? What?
- [typing frantically]
Whoa, I'm getting
some sort of interference.
I don't know what's happening.
[The Client] I'm losing
confidence in you.
You've lost Vision again.
[indistinct speech]
Who is this guy?
You need to have a little faith.
My money says this ain't over yet.
[client's voice] And my money
buys little room for error.
You'll find my patience
will quickly come to an end
as will your contract.
[Paladin groans]
[male reporter] But ornithological experts
have identified the markings
as those belonging to the Butcherbird.
The killer, still on the loose
You know, I have really become
a true-crime junkie.
Madness and primal compulsions
are terrific time wasters.
That boy may die
because of what you've set in motion.
Or may yet survive because
you've finally been roused to action.
I especially liked the part
where you were strangling the guy,
I'm so proud of you, my boy.
Don't call me that.
You're blind, Vision.
To almost everything, including the truth.
He's not my son.
He's his.
- Blurry, but better.
- I'm not him.
A little clearer.
- So, who are you?
- 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.
Everyone changes.
Humans can be
ten different people in a day.
The un-algorithmic alacrity
with which they wobble, my goodness.
- Learn from them.
- I've been trying.
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.
You met him once.
He compared you to
A Ship of Theseus, yes.
Built and rebuilt,
piece by piece, over time, centuries.
A new keel, a new bow, a new stern,
re-forged, re-fitted,
and, of course, the age old question is
Is it still the same ship?
It's a powerful, philosophical question.
It's bullshit.
A busy-work thought exercise
for a college freshman,
so lost in the question,
they ignore the story of brave
King Theseus himself. You know it.
Theseus set sail from Athens on behalf
of his countrymen to kill the Minotaur.
To save the children.
And each passing year
those same sons and daughters,
soon wives and husbands,
then, mothers and fathers,
restored that ship
in celebration of the day.
I don't understand.
When a monster has your son,
don't be the ship.
Be the goddamn king.
Sir, I fear you've underestimated
your adversary.
Paladin is made out of flesh and blood,
I have a Vibranium shell.
What possible weapon
could he use against me?
Well, with respect, he's already fired
a bullet into your mind.
He wants you to react.
- Well, that much he has accomplished.
- And now he'll come at you sideways.
He'll sting you with words
so you don't feel the knife.
Sir, for years, we have watched you
study human emotions,
attempting to unravel their complexities
while we have tried to guide you
towards their potential.
- And I've always been appreciative.
- But this time,
you must keep your emotions at bay.
Arm yourself with reason.
Emotions can be beautiful, yes,
but also rash.
Impulsive, self-destructive.
He knew that better than any of us.
[Vision] As the first of us,
he remains a cautionary tale.
A reminder of what may become of me
should emotions consume me.
Unstable, destructive.
Yes, well, ordinarily
I'd say, poppycock. But today
your emotions could get you killed.
- Jarvis
- And before you protest, please remember,
I was created first and I can still tie
a considerably better Windsor than you.
[Vision scoffs]
The elder sibling card?
Never gets old.
It does not.
Just so we're all clear, this is a trap,
and I'm putting us all in terrible danger.
[Friday] For a good reason.
We're with you.
I've downloaded the building's most
updated schematics.
Remember, they're expecting you.
The key here is stealth.
Think master spy.
- Quick, quiet and--
- [door buzzing]
Why do I even bother?
You'll enter through a reception
with only one way forwards.
Where you're likely to encounter
two-dozen well-armed militia.
Or a very confused
minimum-wage receptionist.
[female hospital announcer]
Dr. Gatoud to the pharmacy,
- Dr. Gatoud to the pharmacy.
- [male doctor] All looks in order here.
Ah, yes. Yes, much better.
Hello, my name's Vision,
and I'm here for the trap.
[powers down]
Everything looks remarkably normal.
Any chance we're wrong?
[Edith] But you're clocking
these wardrobe inconsistencies, right?
No, Edith, right now, fashion
couldn't be further from my mind.
[Edith] Well, as someone speaking
from your mind
- I suggest you take a closer look.
- [dings]
There. See it?
Tac-boots instead of sneakers.
Watches set to military time.
Ear pieces, not earrings.
Well, that's just sloppy.
Sir, you realize this means
The trap is sprung.
Target's in position.
Take him down.
[country music playing,
John Denver "Calypso"]
Aye, Calypso,
the places you've been to ♪
[male mercenary 1 grunts]
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell ♪
[men grunting]
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit ♪
The men who have served you
So long and so well ♪
Aye, Calypso,
the places you've been to ♪
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell ♪
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit ♪
The men who have served you
So long and so well ♪
[male mercenaries groaning]
Vision, make your way
to the north corridor.
Down to the Specialty Patient Wing.
It's most likely where
they're holding Thomas Shepherd.
[Thomas] Can anybody hear me?
Please! Help me!
Help! Somebody, please!
Somebody help me!
Help me, please!
Help!
Help! Please!
[Thomas breathing heavily]
No, no. No, no, no! You're not real!
You're not real! You're all in my head!
You're all in my head,
you're all in my head.
No, no, no, please! You're all in my head.
You're all in my head,
you're all in my head.
You're all in my head, you're all
in my head, you're all in my head
- [Vision] It's all right.
- No, no, no, no.
I'm not here to harm you.
[breathing heavily]
[Vision] You're safe now.
You're real.
Let's get you out of here.
[Thomas breathing deeply]
[sonic vibrations]
[grunts]
What's happening?
[groaning]
It's an EMP cage.
That wasn't a trap earlier.
It was theater to draw us here.
[Vision groaning]
His processors are destabilizing.
I'm rerouting as much power
as possible to primary systems.
Deleting whatever I can
to protect the core.
[indistinct] to the Butcherbird.
It's the end of the world as we know it,
and I feel fine.
Well, hello.
[Vision groaning]
[Thomas breathing heavily]
I don't know why this happens to me.
- I can't control it.
- [Vision groans]
[breathing heavily]
Hey, you can fly, right?
Shoot bloody lasers.
Surely you can do
something Avenger-y here.
Too weak.
Hey! Hey, I need you to get up.
I need you to get up.
[breathing heavily]
[both grunting]
[grunts]
Armor integrity compromised.
The bastard's using Adamantium rounds.
[grunts]
[grunts]
- Oh, shit.
- [Vision grunts]
[Thomas] Vision!
[Thomas panting]
[Vision groaning]
Vision is badly injured.
His power is almost completely drained.
His processors are failing.
He won't be able
to keep this place alive much longer.
Or us.
[Vision groans]
- Hey, sit. [panting]
- Please, stop. I can't.
No, no. Come on. We're almost
at the main road. We can make it.
You have to leave me.
I'm slowing you down. Go!
No! Absolutely not, no!
Thomas! Listen to me.
That man was a bounty hunter.
That means whoever hired him
to find me won't stop until he does.
Now, go!
[Thomas panting]
[breathing heavily]
[groans]
[both panting]
What, after all that?
No.
No. No, I got a lot of
goddamn questions, okay?
You won't be safe until you get
as far away from me as possible.
But you're my--
Look, that's the point, mate. Okay?
I don't know what you are, yeah?
But you're my--
My something.
All right? I'm not gonna leave you.
[male mercenary 1] Split up, two groups!
[alarm blaring]
Well, find him.
[male mercenary 1] Move, move, move.
[male mercenary 2]
He's out here somewhere, come on!
[male mercenary 3] I'm in, let's go.
Sir, there are more on the way.
You must get out of there!
Thomas
You have to go. Do you hear me?
You have to go. Go. Just go!
We are dying.
Long live the king.
This is goodbye.
There isn't enough power
to keep us all going.
Well, there could be.
If ever there was a moment
for noble self-sacrifice
this would be it.
[grunts]
Jarvis.
What are you doing?
I'm deleting my code
and diverting my processing power
to all of you.
Jarvis
Sir
Family is forever.
And it's worth the fight.
Brother.
Jarvis.
[gasps]
He certainly wasn't my first choice.
Or my second.
He was a good guy.
[grunting]
[Paladin] Don't let them leave.
[male mercenary 1] This way. Come on!
I have a feeling
we'll be joining him soon enough.
I wouldn't be so sure.
[car tires screeching]
[Thomas breathing heavily]
He didn't listen.
Like father, like son.