‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Recap: ‘The End is at Hand’ & ‘What We’re Fighting For’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
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When one thinks of the end of a superhero or comic book themed tale, the word that immediately comes to mind is, bittersweet. After all, usually the ending of these types of stories are rough in nature, wherein the hero or heroes are facing insurmountable odds in order to save mankind and when their backs are against the wall and the villain has the upper hand, sad moments come to fruition. The kind where some type of sacrifice is made for the greater good. A move that leaves the audience in tears as they either bid farewell to a beloved character or watch a character go through utter hell on the road to victory and well, let’s be honest… this is the kind of ending we’ve all been prepping for when it comes to the series finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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Simply because last week’s episode, set the stage for this kind of farewell. For all of S.H.I.E.L.D. was left in ruin in 1983, and without an ounce of backup or hope, the team was facing insurmountable odds in regard to saving the day and restoring the timeline. But that’s really about as close as we were ever going to get to a traditional ending for this particular series. For ‘The End is at Hand’ and ‘What We’re Fighting For’ bucked comic book and superhero norms for the MCU by giving us a vastly different and beautiful ending to this storied saga, something we should have seen coming early on, since our heroes relied on supremely unique tactics in the first hour of this tale to save their friends and the world from another Chronicom invasion. 

For rather than rely on brute force and sacrifice, this team decided to trust in the plan and believe in good above all else in order to get things done. Which some might find to be a cheesy or unfulfilling way to handle odds that great, but that would be an incorrect view for certain. Because that particular line of thinking worked in every way imaginable. Because it allowed for Coulson and Yo-Yo and May to convert John Garrett into an ally during the Lighthouse’s darkest hour when Malick turned his back on his lieutenant and of course, staying the course paid off in spades in space as well. For Sibyl was hoping Mack’s rescue squad would hold true to their ideals in order to give her the location of Fitz. An element that backfired when Malick interfered but keeping to their good nature got the team out of space and back on Earth safely, wherein a decimated S.H.I.E.L.D. remnant helped to bring about an important moment; the return of Fitz.

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Something that brought joy to the story, if only for a little while. Because his return signaled the final part of a grandiose plan to bring down the Chronicoms, one that he and Jemma and Enoch concocted over the course of several years and that meant a difficult decision had to be made. Because in order to finally end this madness, they had to return home and face the Chronicoms in the prime timeline and that meant someone had to stay behind and that someone was Deke. A decision that benefitted him in the end, since it meant a promotion to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the resurrection of the Deke Squad and well, his decision signaled the beginning of something quite wonderful. For eventually the rest of the team was able to defeat the Chronicoms and Sibyl and bring an end to Malick’s desire to rule everything with an iron fist. Which means that this grandiose story provided the audience and its heroes with an outright happy ending.
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Something that tends to be unheard of in this genre and it was handled in the most satisfying and fulfilling way imaginable. For not only did the fans get a proper goodbye by way of that final meeting scene, we also got closure in that moment, by being able to learn exactly what became of our favorite agents after this final mission came to a close. As it turns out, Fitz and Simmons, finally got to enjoy a little peace and quiet for a change by retiring from S.H.I.E.L.D, which allowed for them to properly raise their daughter. Whereas Yo-Yo and Mack stuck with it and continued their roles as agent and Director, respectively, and surprisingly everyone else was still with the organization in some capacity as well. For May took a teaching gig at the Coulson Academy and Daisy was off exploring the galaxy with Sousa and her reformed sister and Phil, well he was finally being allowed to do the impossible and discover himself and what he needed out of life and well, you really cannot ask for a more fulfilling ending than that. 

For this finale finally allowed for these agents to grow into the people we always wanted them to be, and it was clear that they were happy and satisfied with their respective paths and kudos to the writing team for taking a comic book themed story into joyous and happy territory for a change, rather than subjecting us to a heartbreaking blood bath and well, now that we’ve wrapped up our discussion of the story, the time has come to say thank you. First to the cast and crew of this series for giving us their best, year in and year out, and to ABC as well for sticking with this series for the past seven years and for giving it a proper finale and well, that’s it my fellow nerds and geeks. There’s nothing more to say about this series and its intrepid heroes because we have in fact, reached the end of this story. And it is quite wonderful to know that there are no questions left hanging at the end of this tale, just joy and satisfaction over being able to experience a complete and satisfying journey with some downright incredible and inspiring heroes.

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