Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s earliest and most controversial relationship has taken some recent hits from the cast and crew.
Fans of the relationship between former agent Grant Ward and current agent/Inhuman Skye have been congregating since since the pilot episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. But early hopes for a romantic rendezvous began to plummet after the reveal that Ward was a Hydra mole; after two kidnappings, multiple interrogations, and frequent use of brutal force, the SkyWard ship hit its lowest point in the midseason finale.
(x)
You might even say Skye shot the ship full of holes.
But perhaps more damning is the change in tone among the cast and creative team of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Even Brett Dalton, who plays Ward and has been among the most enthusiastic supporters of the relationship, has come to admit that the odds now seem significantly smaller.
“Once he comes to the end of wrestling with all of his demons, he makes a promise to reunite Skye with her dad,” Dalton tells TVLine. But Skye’s reaction to that forcibly-kept promise seems to have settled the romantic question for the actor.
“Her shooting me three times kind of answers the question of, ‘Are you into this? Is this gonna work?'” Dalton says. “It was a big statement for her to make. Things can never be the same.”
Meanwhile, Clark Gregg shared his thoughts on SkyeWard to Zap2It, suggesting that the relationship would not be a healthy one.
“It’s all these people who are like Charles Manson marriers,” Gregg jokes. “As Ward has killed more and more people, the SkyeWard fans got a little smaller but a little more zealous.”
So where does all this leave the once-hopeful relationship?
Ward, it seems, will be dancing a twisted tango with the brainwashed Agent 33. (Who just so happens to look exactly like his former frickle-frackle friend, Melinda May.) While a romantic relationship between the two is not confirmed, Ming-Na Wen seems fond of the warped situation.
“It’s sort of ironic,” she muses, “because Ward is hooking up with someone who looks like May but isn’t May.”
We’re not sure what Wen thinks “hooking up” means, but we’re pretty sure it’s not a lifeboat for the U.S.S. SkyeWard.
As for Skye, we predict problems both more important and more dangerous than what remains between her and her former friend/crush/stalker. Having come through the Terrigen mist with incredible, earth-shaking abilities, Skye’s most significant relationship right now is probably between her and her own terrifying power – and the people she loves, who may be hurt by what she can do.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2, episode 11, “Aftershocks,” airs on Tuesday, March 3 at 9:00 p.m. on ABC.