Coulson faces his demons, Ward faces the truth, and nothing will ever be the same after the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. mid-season finale, “Maveth.”
Always a choice
“Maveth” is an episode of transition. More than a punctuation and less than a true conclusion, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. mid-season finale runs along in fits and spurts of dust and blood. It is a point of no return; it is, fundamentally, an exercise in choice.
That theme is obviously what powers the events on Maveth, but it is equally so on Earth. Lincoln’s speech on the eve of the castle invasion emphasizes (however glumly) that the strength of the “Power Rangers” lies in their choice to act, not the fear they feel. Later, Joey’s actions save Daisy’s life (and give us our cutest Joey moment yet).
But in “Maveth,” good intentions and necessary decisions can also lead the way to Hell. (Literally.) Simmons understandably chooses self-preservation over Hydra’s bullets and frees Andrew, but her choice begins a deadly unraveling of events. With Lash back on the loose, the deaths of the jellied Inhumans may just be the beginning.
[Insert moment of silence for the ice-cold embers of May’s happiness]
And of course, even the most selfless of decisions can presage horrific consequences. Mack and Daisy risk their lives to remain with the portal, and their success feels like a major victory — proof that loyalty and friendship can defeat the chaotic brutality of a world turned inside out.
It feels that way. Until we learn what crawled out of the portal after Coulson and Fitz.
Heroes
But we’ll get to that in a minute.
The choices made on Maveth stand out even more starkly than those made on Earth — livid against the landscape, and explosive in their potential. (That’s a nice way of saying that this shit is super crazy.)
Fitz, for example, finds his truckload of good intentions turned to dust when Will Daniels is revealed to be The Creature Hydra seeks. Simmons’ chaotic escape in “4,722 Hours” was, it seems, staged that way for a reason — the real Will died in the attempt to set her free.
Tragically, this represents another selfless decision that nearly precipitates disaster (as most of Fitz and Simmons’ choices have done this season, actually).
Fitz is ultimately able to destroy Will’s reanimated and horrifically stubborn corpse, but back on Earth, Simmons is clearly devastated at Will’s loss. Her love for Fitz is not in question, but the truth about Will’s death — and the forthcoming consequences — may suggest further trouble for both Simmons and Fitz when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns.
Villains
Anyway, you want to talk about the Thing? Let’s talk about the Thing.
Against all odds, Grant Ward finds the pieces of his story fitting together in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. mid-season finale. The character has always been an avatar for the power of choice as he proceeded down the bloody path of vengeance; now Ward finds himself making one last, inevitable decision.
He decides to have faith.
Ward’s long, skeptical, deadly history with Hydra culminates in the discovery of trust, of relinquishing oneself to a greater cause. Finding the skull-like symbol on Maveth closes the circle of Ward’s doubts and desires, leaving behind a man soothed with the certainty of a zealot.
But in the darkness of Maveth, Coulson takes the opposite journey. He is haunted by the loss of Rosalind Price, literally goaded into action by her memory — but he has lost the light that once showed him the way. Coulson has always been a complicated man of complicated decisions, but he always knew how to find true north; he always stopped himself before going too far.
That is not the case on Maveth. It may be Ward who begins their final fight, but it’s Coulson who ends it, in one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s most potent and complicated developments.
It’s not that Ward might not deserve to die; that depends on who you ask, though objectively Coulson isn’t wrong when he remembers Ward’s many victims. But in the crucial moment, Ward is beaten, disarmed, borderline unconscious. He finally, finally poses no threat to Coulson or his team.
But, blinded by Rosalind, Coulson kills him anyway. Slowly. Intimately. With his false hand over Ward’s heart, itself so false for so long.
Sin comes home to roost
Did Ward know that Coulson would do this? Did he truly understand his place in the “grand plan” he boasted of? Was Coulson guided off this cataclysmic precipice into depths unknown, a final devastating revenge?
We may not ever learn the answers to these questions; the fact is, they just don’t matter. The audience need look no further than Fitz’s horrified expression to know that Coulson has just crossed a terrifying line. Coulson himself seems to know it; he tries to leave his sin behind by literally removing the guilty hand and leaving it on the sands of death.
But the hand, and the sin, come home to roost — as they always do.
With his corpse so conveniently vacated, Ward is embodied by The Creature. He crawls back to Earth just in time to reunite with Gideon Malick, an unnatural force wriggling beneath his flesh.
Ward is dead, but his hatred and brutality live on, more powerful than ever.
We still don’t know the extent of The Creature’s devastating abilities, but one thing is indisputable: Coulson’s vengeful choice has kicked off a chain of events so inevitably cataclysmic that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will never be the same.