“But, a thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.”
The Vision, to Ultron, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
I had planned to write a break down of episode 8’s flashback sequences, especially now that we are getting a better idea of what Agatha is up to, and instead I ended up watching Age of Ultron. Twice.
Perhaps not the best use of my time, but I am glad I did. Not only was this the movie that introduced Wanda to the MCU (and Pietro, but that’s not this post) but this was also the movie that introduced Vision, and introduced them to each other.
At this point in the Infinity Saga arc, we have not been fully introduced to the Infinity Stones, although we will had seen four by this point:
- The Space Stone, contained within the Tesseract (Captain America: The First Avenger)
- The Mind Stone, contained in Loki’s scepter (The Avengers)
- The Reality Stone, the liquid Aether (Thor: The Dark World)
- The Power Stone (The Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 1)
We know that the Mind Stone was used during Baron Strucker’s experiments on the Maximoff twins using Loki’s scepter, but we didn’t know what that looked like until this week’s episode of WandaVision. We also saw Ultron remove the Mind Stone from the scepter and place into what was to be his new body, which becomes Vision.
It makes sense Ultron would decide to use the stone, since part of the mapping for Ultron came from Banner and Stark’s experimentation with the scepter while trying to create Ultron.
It is in this same scene that we first experience Wanda’s connection to what will become Vision, through the Mind Stone.
Wanda comments that she can read him, as in read his mind or sense his thoughts. When she first meets Ultron, it is made clear that she cannot read Ultron. Something about the Mind Stone being implanted in Vision makes it possible. It’s also how she is able to see Ultron’s ultimate goal, and what triggers the twins to defect and turn against him.
The story of Wanda and Vision is beautiful and tragic – they are each likely the only other person who could truly understand the other. The Mind Stone had a part to play, but the love they held for each other was beyond that. The stone made the connection, and they chose to find comfort in each other there, instead of opposition.
This post may feel like a cop out, but like I said above, I just watched Age of Ultron.
Twice.