Unanswered Questions from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Mid-Season 5 Finale
Of course, things were never easy or straightforward. This was no Back to the Future-style time travel adventure; rather, S.H.I.E.L.D. learned they were trapped in a Terminator-style causality loop. Daisy Johnson supposedly quakes the Earth apart at some point in 2018, earning the nickname ‘the Destroyer of Worlds’. The Agents were brought to the future as a way to prevent the doom of the Earth in the present. Later, we learned that while S.H.I.E.L.D. does return to their proper time, they seemingly can’t save the world. They are doomed to continually fail to save the Earth, perhaps in multiple timelines, mired in an endless loop. In fact, there’s a new twist revealed by a future version of Yo-Yo Rodriguez, who unwillingly served as Kasius’ seer: S.H.I.E.L.D. choosing to save the life of the dying Phil Coulson is what causes Earth’s destruction.
This is heady stuff. In the short term, S.H.I.E.L.D. got the win they needed: they brought down Kasius’ Kree regime and, with the help of Flint’s geokinetic powers, the Kree Monolith was rebuilt, sending all of the Agents back to the proper time. So now they have a chance to make things right – even if the history of the future continually leads to the same tragic outcome. However, the preview for “World’s Most Wanted,” the next episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., seemingly sheds the science fiction trappings that epitomized the first story pod of season 5 and returns the series closer to its roots: the Agents are fugitives being hunted by the government and aided by special guest star Dove Cameron.
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s return to 2018 wasn’t entirely a clean break from the Lighthouse or the ramifications of their actions in the future. Our heroes not only left behind some new friends but also some major unanswered questions:
DOES IT REALLY MATTER IF FLINT CAN REBUILD THE EARTH?
Agents of SHIELD Flint Earth Unanswered Questions from Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.s Mid Season 5 Finale
“Past Life” concluded with a hopeful scene between Tess and Flint on board a trawler. Tess was murdered by the Kree and resurrected by the Kree technology that can bring humans back to life (as they once did to Phil Coulson himself) – although their tech doesn’t actually work on fellow Kree. Flint, meanwhile, was an orphaned boy who came into his Inhuman powers after Terrigenesis and, in short order, became a heroic freedom fighter under the tutelage of Mack Mackenzie and Yo-Yo Rodriguez. Flint’s powers were the key to the Agents being able to return to 2018, thanks to in part to Jemma Simmons being able to teach him how to harness his geokinesis. Flint quickly grew competent and confident enough to assemble the Monolith after using the pieces as weapons to dispatch the remaining Kree on the Lighthouse.
At the end of “Past Life,” Tess and Flint observe the remnants of Earth and muse over the “clean slate” and “second chance” humanity now has with the Kree gone. Flint agrees that “There’s a lot that needs fixing,” before Tess hands Flint a tiny globe of what the Earth used to look like and teases, “There’s your blueprint.” The obvious implication is that Flint must now use his powers to reassemble the planet and give the human race back their homeworld, good as new.
While it’s a touching and hopeful sentiment to close this chapter, that’s certainly easier said than done, and Earth cannot be ‘good as new’ no matter how powerful Flint is. Reassembling an entire planet is an entirely different matter than pushing enough rocks together to rebuild the Monolith, especially for a young Inhuman who just discovered his power days ago within the story’s timeline. Flint’s geokinesis powers also wouldn’t account for how the oceans can be restored, how flora can be grown, and how animals would be given life. If you think about it, the best Flint might be able to do is push the asteroid belt that Earth has become back together to form a bigger version of the moon; still a barren and lifeless rock. It would logically take millions of years of evolution to get the Earth anywhere near as lush as it was when it was destroyed.
Humanity also doesn’t have millions of years – they may only have days before the next alien invasion occurs. While Kasius and his forces are dead, his even more evil brother Faulnak is still out there, as is the fearsome unnamed father of the Kasius family. What’s more, there are numerous other alien marauders, like Senator Gaius Ponarian, who attended Kasius’ Inhumans auction and may have an interest in enslaving humanity themselves for the potential Inhumans still alive. In short, the human race continues to have many enemies. Deapite the small cache of weapons S.H.I.E.L.D. left behind, the Terrans’ lone defender is one Inhuman boy. So despite the happy ending Flint and Tess got, the odds of Mankind continuing to survive in the future are not optimal.
WHO ARE DEKE’S PARENTS?
Introduced as a loner only looking out for himself who ran a business selling virtual reality escapes via Framework technology, Deke reluctantly found his best, heroic self while working alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. Deke sadly perished at the conclusion of “Past Life” after helping Enoch repair the isochronous cyclotron which controlled the Kree Monolith. However, when Deke sacrificed his life, the chance to get the answers to fans’ theories about who his parents really are went with him.
Many big questions still surround Deke. We know Deke’s parents were among the True Believers, the cadre of human survivors who believed the Inhuman seer Robin Hinton’s prophecies about S.H.I.E.L.D. destroying/saving the world. Deke’s parents built the isochronous cyclotron based off of designs by Fitz and Simmons from the timeline when S.H.I.E.L.D. failed to stop the Earth from being quaked apart and took refuge in the Lighthouse for decades. Deke’s father’s name was Owen Shaw, who completed the work on the cyclotron after his unnamed wife, Deke’s mother, was killed by the Kree.
Many fans believed that Deke’s mother is the future daughter of Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz, who were finally married in the Lighthouse. This would account for Deke’s innate knowledge of how the Framework technology functioned to the point where he was able to rebuild it himself – it was Fitz who originally designed the Framework. However, even if he never met his grandparents, who may have died before he was born or when he was very young, Deke would have surely heard something about who they were while growing up in the Lighthouse. In addition, Deke’s mother was killed more recently – how is it possible Deke never had these conversations with his parents?
Deke never brings up any knowledge or suspicion he might have that he could be related to FitzSimmons, even while he worked alongside them in the flesh, so it’s possible this is all just a theory and Deke has no blood relation to them (the same way Flint seemingly isn’t related to Mack and Yo-Yo despite those theories). Or it’s also possible Deke knew FitzSimmons are his grandparents and kept it all to himself for reasons unknown. Deke’s death seemingly erases any chance of finding out for sure. (Or does it? Jeff Ward appearing in Chloe Bennet’s Instagram video as she shoots new episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D. gives hope that season 5 hasn’t heard the last of Deke.)
DOES KASIUS’ FATHER INVADE THE EARTH?
In “Past Life,” Kasius was driven (further) towards insanity by the death of Sinara and launched into several villainous monologues about his father. It seems the Kasius family’s interest in the Earth began decades before Kasius himself was sent to oversee the remains of the broken world. Kasius father prized Earth as a “hidden blue gem,” but his invasion of our world was opposed by S.H.I.E.L.D. How will this all shake out?
It seems that the next story pod of season 5 will ultimately lead to the imminent Kree invasion and the final answer to exactly how the Earth is destroyed (or ultimately saved – we hope!). The questions surrounding the Kasius family will then be addressed. This could lead to not only meeting Kasius’ father but also the return of younger versions of Kasius and Sinara to the series, which would be a welcome sight as the Kree couple has emerged as two of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s most compelling villains ever. Overall, Kasius dropped too many juicy hints about his father and his plans for Earth in “Past Life” for the series to just leave hanging.
SHOULD QUAKE HAVE STAYED IN THE FUTURE?
The more Daisy Johnson learned about her supposed role as ‘the Destroyer of Worlds’, the more resentful she became of that unfortunate moniker. However, Daisy also had to seriously consider all of the stories and supposed evidence were true and that, as the most powerful Inhuman in S.H.I.E.L.D., she does somehow quake the world apart (although it may have happened another way, like via gravitonium). Daisy actually took a heroic stand of self-sacrifice when she told Coulson she wouldn’t return with them to 2018. Coulson overruled his protege’s decision, KO’d her with an ICER and brought her along.
But did Daisy actually make the right call before Coulson took her choice away from her? Leaving aside the reality that as the series shifts focus to 2018, it wouldn’t make sense for Chloe Bennet, one of the series’ marquee stars, to sit out the next story pod, Coulson’s decision may doom Earth after all. Removing Quake from the 2018 timeline does eliminate the possibility that she would be the one to tear the world asunder. In addition, had Quake remained in 2091, she would be a boon to the human race as a superhero and defender against the next alien invasion, plus she and Flint could have combined their powers to rebuild the Earth.
It’s hard to blame Coulson for the choice he made, however. On a personal note, Daisy is as much a daughter to him as a protege. In a professional sense, Daisy’s power and her skills as an agent are heavily relied upon. There was simply no way Coulson wasn’t going to bring Daisy home from the future with them. It’s hard to guess exactly what will happen next, but for the short term, Coulson taking Daisy’s agency away from her seems like an act Daisy will “never forgive,” as May pointed out.
What other questions did “Past Life” leave hanging that you wanted Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to answer? Let us know in the comments.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns on Friday, March 2nd @ 9 pm on ABC.
No comments