WARNING: The following contains spoilers for WandaVision Episode 8, "Previously On," now streaming on Disney+.
Episode 8 of WandaVision focuses on Wanda's backstory and what led her to creating the Hex, but it also provides insight into Director Hayward, his plans and his motivations. None of it is entirely surprising, but it sets a sinister tone going into the final episode, especially in regards to how he treats Wanda and Vision.
Earlier in the series, Hayward tried to rally the S.W.O.R.D. troops by showing them footage of Wanda breaking into S.W.O.R.D. and stealing Vision's body to resurrect him, but this raised more questions than it answered, like how S.W.O.R.D. got custody of Vision's body and why did they have it torn into pieces. The befuddled reactions of the present S.W.O.R.D. agents, including Monica Rambeau, suggested that whatever was going on was not general knowledge.
However, this episode shows what really happened when Wanda visited S.W.O.R.D., and it's clear from the beginning that Hayward's footage is doctored, and his story is false. Wanda arrives at the facility and asks the man at the reception desk to let her see Vision's body and take it home. He's reticent until Hayward gives Wanda permission to enter. While she uses her powers to open the door that leads into the private sector of S.W.O.R.D., she doesn't hurt anyone; she simply wants in as soon as possible.
She enters Hayward's office and calmly asks him to relinquish Vision's body to her since she is his next of kin and wants to see him properly buried. Wanda's emotional when discussing this, but she isn't at all hysterical, unlike the fake portrayal of her in Hayward's doctored video.
Hayward eventually offers to show Wanda the body, hoping this would explain why she can't take it with her. His office leads to a glass-walled viewing chamber that overlooks the lab where Vision is being dissected and experimented on, and Wanda's immediately struck by this, horrified and confused about how they could do this to a former Avenger who was practically a person, regardless of being artificially created.
However, Hayward argues that Vision was a powerful weapon, ignoring how he's a sentient being. He adds that S.W.O.R.D. has a legal responsibility to dismantle him. To top it all off, he says Vision's body is worth millions since its made of vibranium, suggesting that he was government property because of this.
Hayward also repeatedly attempts to trigger Wanda into lashing out with her powers, commenting that he couldn't bring his loved ones back and trying to plant the idea of resurrecting Vision in Wanda's mind. Wanda then shatters the wall with her powers and descends into the lab, which doesn't alarm Hayward, likely because he was hoping she would attack the agents or do something drastic with Vision's body. However, she just approaches Vision's head in an attempt to feel him one last time.
Soon after this, Wanda gives up on her quest to recover Vision's body and leaves S.W.O.R.D., after which she drives to Westview to see the plot of land Vision purchased for them. There, she loses her composure, and her powers burst forth and create the anomaly, as well as a new Vision. While Monica is sent by Hayward to go to Westview to help the FBI with a missing person, this surprises Monica given S.W.O.R.D.'s jurisdiction; however, with what's now known about Hayward, it's clear he was likely feigning innocence and knew from the beginning what was happening, especially since he was able to track Vision early on.
He later sends a missile into the Hex, presumably to take Wanda down, but Episode 8 sees Hayward and the others involved in Project Cataract harnessing the magical energy that was still present on the missile, which Wanda took down and returned. They use this energy for their new weapon, which is a gray and white Vision.
He's presumably built from the dismembered pieces of the original Vision, but he could also be modeled after him. While he has been offline for sometime, Hayward uses the energy from Wanda's magic to power this new Vision, and it works, with the new synthezoid waking up.
It's obvious, both to the audience and to Monica, that Vision has been Hayward's true target all along, and he perceives Wanda as a weapon, a vague threat and a convenient scapegoat. Hayward is a terrifying villain in his own right and a convenient representation of the kinds of men who have taken advantage of and hurt Wanda throughout her life, so the stakes of their final conflict are higher than ever, especially with a new Vision under his control.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+.