Marvel fans have been getting their weekly dose of MCU content since VisionQuest premiered in October. It's a welcome return for the Marvel TV format which, outside of Daredevil: Born Again, has been somewhat reserved in its content rollout over the pats few years (especially when compared to the glory days of 2021 and 2022). But Disney Plus has been releasing new weekly installments of the Vision spinoff, setting the stage for the long-awaited Avengers: Doomsday this December.
Being the final installment in the WandaVision Trilogy - continuing on the story set forth in WandaVision and first sequel series Agatha All Along -we all expected VisionQuest to be a big one. What we didn't expect was for it to kill off fan-favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe characters in relatively close succession. And that doesn't even account for all of the deaths in the series.
Be warned: This article will contain MAJOR SPOILERS from VisionQuest episode 7. Don't read on if you haven't seen the episode yet.
Ultron kills FRIDAY in VisionQuest's penultimate episode
The penultimate episode of VisionQuest, "Immolation", featured a number of twists and turns that very much recaptured the magic of the "Agatha All Along" twist in WandaVision and the Witches' Road twist in Agatha All Along itself. When all was said and done, it turns out that The Client who hired Paladin is the original version of Ultron - or, well, the human upon which his avatar is based. Yes, that means we get twice the James Spader in the VisionQuest finale, and twice the Ultron to boot. However, that reveal seemingly led to a shocking death.
Ultron himself was perplexed by the reveal that Jo Carrington was seen talking to a human version of him back in the 2000s, but not nearly as perplexed as FRIDAY was. Tony Stark's long-standing AI (portrayed by Orla Brady in the Disney Plus series) had infiltrated Jocasta's mind to figure out her plan, get to the bottom of the Client debacle, and see if she can help Vision ultimately save the day. And, for a moment, it seemed like she might even work with Ultron to pull it off.
However, in the penultimate episode's shocking closing moments, Ultron - upon discovering that the Client is where his human avatar originated from - pushes FRIDAY out of Jocasta's mind, sending her off the balcony before her human avatar turns into her original code and vanishes. If that visual looked eerily familiar to you, it's because that is exactly what happened to JARVIS in the second episode of VisionQuest when he sacrificed himself so that Vision could live. And, with that, it appears as if Ultron turned on FRIDAY, killing her off as the big reveal confirmed that, in a way, it was Ultron all along (even if he wasn't fully aware of it).
If this is indeed the case, it would make FRIDAY the second long-standing MCU character to be killed off on the show and the third / fourth major death on the series. Paladin (played by Todd Stashwick) may have been killed by Ultron's human self in the closing moments of the episode too, as his van was blown up by the nefarious individual.
- JARVIS - Sacrificed himself to save Vision (episode 2)
- Katerina Wells - Killed by Ultron to appease Jocasta (episode 4)
- FRIDAY (presumably) - Seemingly deleted by Ultron in Jocasta's mind (episode 7)
- Paladin (presumably) - Killed by Ultron's human lookalike (episode 7)
The one loophole that could allow FRIDAY to return
All that being said, there is some hope here. Ultron has been the most complex character in the series thus far, which isn't all that surprising considering how fascinating the former Avengers: Age of Ultron villain is, so it's hard to read where he's actually coming from. And yet, it's clear that there is an element of him that does feel connected to Vision and Tommy Maximoff. He may not admit it, but Tommy's comments about connection got under his skin
With that in mind, there is always the possibility that Ultron simply threw FRIDAY out of Jocasta's mind to protect her from discovery. Ultron always likes to be one step ahead so that he can play the game as he pleases, but he wasn't able to do that upon realizing that the Client has more answers than he has. Perhaps he's simply decided that the safest way to get to the truth would be to do it on his own. And honestly, Ultron has always done things his own way, so we wouldn't rule that out.
It's safe to say that fans are worried about FRIDAY's fate. The similarities in how she seemingly had her code deleted and how JARVIS sacrificed himself are clear, so there is definitely cause for concern - just as there is cause for concern in Ultron's flip-flop behaviour.
If FRIDAY truly is dead, that would mark the end of another era for the MCU. The character made her debut as Tony Stark's trusty AI in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron (voiced by Kerry Condon) and has since appeared in the likes of Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Little did Marvel fans know that her long-awaited return in VisionQuest might be the last time that the character is seen.
We're still rooting for you, FRIDAY! Hang in there.
VisionQuest releases new episodes on Disney Plus on Tuesdays.
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