Who hired Paladin in VisionQuest? Decoding the identity of the mysterious voice

The first two episodes of VisionQuest, "No Strings" and "Theseus", introduce an intriguing mystery: the identity of Paladin's client. We don't know who hired the bounty hunter in the series, but one thing is clear: the client wants Vision alive. Therefore, the remaining six episodes could be a cat-and-mouse chase between the android Avenger and the bounty hunter.

Episodes 1 and 2 feature a scene in which the mysterious client is hacking Paladin's earpiece and expressing their disappointment with the bounty hunter about failing to capture Vision. Polygon hinted at this mystery in its VisionQuest review and stated that it is one of the long-standing mysteries of the series.

Who is Paladin's employer in VisionQuest? There are four possibilities:

As mentioned earlier, the Polygon review stated that a mystery plot introduced early in the series would be resolved only in the end of the seventh episode. The exact words used in the review were:

"VisionQuest does have some flaws. Across eight hour-long episodes, it sometimes feels like Matalas is stalling between major revelations. We're introduced to a mysterious string-pulling villain in episode 1, and it takes until the end of episode 7 to finally reveal their identity."

The plotline that the Polygon review alluded to could be the identity of the mysterious client. Until then we could do nothing but speculate about the client's identity. In my opinion, there are four candidates for the client:

Ultron

Ultron is the most likely candidate for the client. The only problem is that the first two episodes of VisionQuest reveal that Ultron has evolved a bit. His room is filled with art and TV screens as the genocidal robot is observing art and pushing Vision to be more active. The second episode also sees Ultron encouraging Vision to save his son from Paladin's clutches.

However, the trailers also show a scene in which Ultron battles Vision. Thus, it is possible that Ultron could be the one who set the entire series into motion by hiring Paladin to capture Vision.

Tyler Hayward

Former acting director of S.W.O.R.D., Tyler Hayward played a central role in WandaVision. He is the one who rebuilt Vision in his new body and sent him to kill Wanda in the finale. However, the Maximoff family managed to subdue him, and he was finally arrested in the finale. We have not seen Hayward since then. But he might've escaped to Madripoor.

VisionQuest gives a clue that the mysterious client carries a S.W.O.R.D. signature. Hayward could've somehow hacked the S.W.O.R.D. technology or might have gained some favor with the organization secretly. Tyler Hayward could be hoping to reboot Vision to be his personal weapon.

Jocasta

We know that T'Nia Miller is playing Jocasta in the MCU Disney+ series. But we don't know what role she plays in the series. In fact, the first two episodes do not even hint at her presence. Thus, the mysterious female android could easily change her voice and hack Paladin's communication device.

Moreover, it is easy for androids like Ultron and Jocasta to pay a bounty hunter millions of dollars without any consequences. Therefore, these two android characters are the most likely candidates for Paladin's client. But there is also a wild card entry.

Billy Maximoff

Agatha All Along's Billy Maximoff is the most unlikely candidate of this list. However, the reason why he is included on this list is because the client wants Vision alive. If Billy is indeed the client, he would want to reunite with his father and brother, and he hired the best person who could locate any missing person.

"Vision, rebooted and having escaped from those who sought to weaponize him, has been in hiding. Searching for new meaning, he consults the AI personas embedded in his programming, including Friday, Edith, Jarvis, and the infamous Ultron. His discreet existence ends when a bounty placed on his head thrusts him on the run with Thomas Shepard, a mysterious boy who may be Vision’s son, reincarnate."