Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just wrapped up its sixth season. It did so with a few shocking plot pieces and a premise that takes season seven in a very different direction. The series was the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first foray into television. Over the course of its six seasons, there have been a lot of new directions and shocking moments for the show, like the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., the emergence of Inhumans, and journeying into space.
Though Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is largely a series focused on action and adventure, plenty of attention is paid to the relationships amongst the characters. Those relationships lead to plenty of happy moments on the series, but also moments that seriously broke the heart of the viewers.
When Simmons First Admitted Defeat
The first season of the series might not be a fan favorite, but the sixth episode, “FZZT,” certainly is. It’s the first time in the series that the possibility of losing a major character occurred, and Jemma Simmons broke the hearts of the entire audience when it did.
Initially isolating herself from the rest of the team, Jemma worked to figure out an antiserum for the Chitauri virus she contracted. After she and Fitz failed multiple times, she finally admitted that she didn’t know how to save herself. Though Fitz wanted to keep trying, Jemma was afraid they were out of time. She hit him with a fire extinguisher, hoping to get him out of the way, and jumped from the plane, sacrificing herself to keep the team safe. The fact that her antiserum actually worked and she was saved before hitting the ocean below didn’t lessen the emotional blow.
In The Underground Kree City
When Inhumans debuted on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., it wasn’t without a few sacrifices. A visit to an underground city created by the Kree long ago ushered in a new era, but it also took a popular character from the show.
Tripp followed Skye and Raina into the chamber containing an obelisk in the center. When Tripp saw the crystals emerge from the obelisk, he attempted to kick it away, thinking he could help the situation. Instead, his kick caused shards of the crystal and its container to embed in him. Since he wasn’t an Inhuman, the terrigen crystal actually poisoned him. It looked like he would undergo terrigenesis as well, but then his body crumbled to dust, leaving Skye to witness it as she was cocooned herself, her quaking abilities emerging in her grief.
When Daisy And Lincoln Said Goodbye
When Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. first introduced Lincoln in season two, he wasn’t an immediate fan favorite. His background as a medical student, his willingness to do the right thing, and his relationship with Daisy endeared him to the audience. Season three saw all of those things make him a target.
By the end of the season, the agents had exhausted so many of their options in their fight against Hive. Rather than allow Daisy to sacrifice herself to keep Hive away from Earth, Lincoln chose to do it himself. As he flew the quinjet with himself and Hive on it into space, he explained to Daisy via radio that he didn’t mind going out saving the world. Their tearful goodbye was cut short once he was out of range, but Lincoln did save the world from the first Inhuman.
When Mack Lost Hope
Season four revealed something about Mack most of his teammates didn’t know: at one time, he had a daughter. He and his ex-wife lost Hope to an illness, and his grief stayed with him long after. That’s why, when he had the chance to see how his daughter would have grown in the Framework, he didn’t care about the possibility that the world wasn’t real.
Elena entered the Framework to explain what happened to him. After her revelation that nothing in the Framework existed, Mack still couldn’t bear to leave his little girl behind. Elena agreed to stay, even as the Framework disappeared around them, if he didn’t want to lose Hope again.
In A Box With A Monolith
Jemma Simmons missed out on the events between seasons two and three. Swept up by a monolith, she ended up on another planet. The monolith stayed in a containment box with the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where Leo Fitz spent all of his spare time studying it.
Fed up with not finding any of the answers he wanted, and tired of not being able to get Jemma back, Fitz gave into his anger and approached the monolith himself. In a heartbreaking sequence, he screamed and hit the monolith, pleading for it to “do something,” before other agents came in to stop him.
When The Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Said A Spy’s Goodbye
S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t simply lose agents to heroic deaths. Sometimes, they were forced to leave the organization behind. That was the case for Bobbi and Hunter in the middle of season three.
While on a mission in Russia, Bobbi and Hunter found themselves caught and apprehended by authorities. With S.H.I.E.L.D. technically acting as a rogue group, the two couldn’t admit to working for the organization without starting an international incident. S.H.I.E.L.D. was forced to disavow the two, leading to an emotional sequence in which the team couldn’t approach them to say goodbye. Instead, they bought them drinks from afar and raised their glasses in a toast, giving them a “Spy’s Goodbye.”
When Davis Took A Fall
In season six, the series said goodbye to a recurring character present since the very beginning. Agent Davis made his (unnamed) debut early in season one, guarding Fitz and Simmons while they worked. He survived a building falling on him, AIDA’s attempt at taking his life, and countless missions. Season six saw him as part of the team searching for Fitz in space. Unfortunately, that was his last mission.
The latest season also saw Izel jump into his body and use it against the rest of his team, walking off the second story to his death. The moment ranks amongst the most heartbreaking for the series because the audience was finally getting to learn more about him and his friendship with Agent Piper. Davis and Piper both refused to hurt one another while inhabited by Izel, so it made the sequence of events all the more tragic.
When May Became The Cavalry
While May’s nickname was used for laughs in season one, season two showed the audience how tragic the backstory of the Cavalry really. May got the name for saving a large number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents singlehandedly. What she had to do to achieve that was awful for her.
When May entered what appeared to be an ambush, everyone she came across seemed like they were out to get her. Though May didn’t understand it at the time, a little girl named Katya had undergone terrigenesis. Her Inhuman ability allowed her to control everyone she touched. When May realized Katya was the one causing all of the violence and destruction, she tried to find a non-lethal way to stop her, but she couldn’t. Ending Katya’s life caused May to make the decision to leave fieldwork for many years.
When The Doctor Operated On Daisy
As a result of their brains being connected to the Framework, several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have memories of two different lives. For Coulson, it was being a teacher, for May it was being a high ranking Hydra agent, but for Fitz, it was being The Doctor.
Fitz’s previous brain injury, combined with the dueling memories, allowed for the Doctor to become his dominant personality to fix a problem in season five. That problem was creating a device to house the energies of three monoliths so that a tear in the dimension would close. To do that, he needed Daisy’s power. The Doctor performed neurosurgery on Daisy against her will to remove an inhibitor placed in her brain by the Kree. Likewise, the Doctor made sure Jemma Simmons had a gun on her so she couldn’t talk Fitz out of it. It was a completely different kind of tragic for Fitz and Simmons than the show was used to.
At The Bottom Of The Ocean
Season one closed with S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrating Hydra’s Cybertek offices and bringing the organization to its knees. It also, however, closed with another heartbreaking moment for Fitz and Simmons.
Ward betrayed the duo by shuttling the containment pod they hid in out of the plane and into the ocean. After sinking to the depths, the duo had to find a way to plan an escape. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough oxygen for both of them to reach the surface. Fitz used that knowledge to give himself the courage to tell Simmons how he really felt about her. He intended to sacrifice himself so she could make it to the surface. Simmons, though shattered by the revelation, managed to drag him to the surface with her.