The Vase of Zenn-La

The Vision *SPOILERS AHEAD* is a densely symbolic text with a vase representing one of the more compelling and important elements to (literally) hover within that space, providing – like Rosebud in “Citizen Kane” – a key to the existential view of the series. 1/7

In issue 1 we are told, “The floating water vases of Zenn-La are always empty. The methanic sulfite that causes the water to levitate is poisonous to all known species of flowers. The mystery is then not why they are empty, but why anyone would ever make such a vase.” 2/7

The vase also, however, embodies the duality of the story: it’s a vase (aka something very ordinary) but it’s also a supernatural cosmic object given to Vision from the Silver Surfer. Similarly the Visions are all-powerful superheroes, but just want to live a suburban life. 4/7

That duality proves toxic in the end (literally). The vase is what kills Virginia, signaling the outright collapse of Vision’s experiment. As with the vase, Virginia wonders why anyone would make her – doomed to destroy what she touched. She finds no answer & ends her life. 5/7

Through Virginia, the vase becomes a dark & broader existential symbol about life itself. If we suffer & die, what is the point of the existence that contains us to such ends? The series offers us potential answers: love, family, purpose… but no definitive conclusion. 6/7

All in all, the vase of Zenn-La is a grim and fascinating symbol of the fundamental conflicts within the story, one that hovers ominously throughout the entire series, establishing key philosophical themes before, eventually, providing a tragic resolution to the story. 7/7