TV Recap – “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Season 7, Episode 12 – “The End is at Hand”

It’s all coming to an end. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is ending its seven-year run with a two-part series finale. The first part of the finale is fittingly titled “The End is at Hand” and, after last week’s episode, it sees the team put in one of the toughest positions they’ve have ever been in.

The episode opens with Mack, Daisy and Sousa in the quinjet watching the Chronicom ships firing on S.H.I.E.L.D. bases on Earth. They try to formulate a plan but Mack is only worried about first docking with the Zephyr, which they manage to successfully do. Once they do though, one of the Chronicom ships pulls the Zephyr on board, trapping the team inside.

The three agents wait with weapons drawn at the bay door of the quinjet for someone to open it an come on board. After a few seconds, Sousa asks if it’s possible Malick and his goons are on the other side of the door doing the same thing, which prompts Mack to open the door. To their surprise, there is no one there waiting for them.

They slowly explore the Zephyr only to find no one on board, except for the agents Malick killed last week. Mack gives the order to scan the Chronicom ship and see if they can find Simmons and Deke.

Malick and his group make their way down a futuristic hallway that has to have been used in Star Wars at some point, with Simmons and Deke in tow. Malick gives Simmons one more chance to give up Fitz’s location before a projection of Sibyl pops up and a Chronicom injects Simmons with something. She and Deke are then thrown into a cell and locked up.

Malick and Kora meet Sibyl in her actual physical form for the first time. Malick gloats about all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. targets being destroyed before Sibyl interrupts by pointing out that the Lighthouse still stands. They discuss the fact that the Lighthouse can withstand any external attack and Malick gives a nod to Garret while assuring Sibyl that they have it under control. She points out that none of it matters if Fitz is still alive. She reveals that the injection she gave Simmons is dissolving her implant and they’ll soon know his location.

In the Lighthouse, Coulson, May and Yo-Yo try to come to terms with what just happened to S.H.I.E.L.D. Suddenly, some kind of strange signal takes over the base’s computers. May wonders what the Chronicoms are doing now while Coulson goes to work on figuring out what’s happening.

Malick and Kora make their way around the ship when she questions his relationship with the Chronicoms and why he killed her mother. He serves her up some more kool-aid, telling her how evil her mother was and how dangerous Daisy is. He quickly wins her back over. Meanwhile, Garrett teleports into the Lighthouse and plants a bomb on a wall.

Deke tries to find a weakness in the cell while Simmons complains about a tingle in her head. Deke explains that it’s just the implant, which visibly confuses Simmons. He tries to explain and help her remember everything but it’s clear her entire memory is slipping.

Daisy manages to find Deke and Simmons on their scan and Sousa also points out Kora. Daisy proclaims that Kora won’t stop her from getting back Simmons and, in the best gag of the episode, Mack reminds her of Deke, to which she responds, “sure.” They lay out a plan for Daisy to get to their friends while Mack and Sousa try to get the hangar doors open for their escape. Before she makes her way out, Sousa stops Daisy and kisses her.

Coulson struggles to figure out the mysterious signal when May notices Garrett’s presence in the base. They watch from a security camera and see that he is planting bombs around the base. They discuss a device they have that can stop Garrett from teleporting.

On the Chronicom ship, Daisy makes her way to Simmons and Deke before she is interrupted by a projection of Sibyl, which also appears on the Zephyr for Mack and Sousa. She tells them that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been destroyed and they’ve already lost. She ends her transmission and Malick argues with her to let him kill the agents. She explains that Daisy and Simmons reuniting increases the odds of them learning the location of Fitz and that he should not interfere.

Mack and Sousa discuss what Sibyl just told them and Sousa tries to assure Mack that it isn’t true. He then reminds him that they still need to create an escape route. Mack agrees and fires a missile at the hangar doors but it does nothing.

Malick and Kora discuss Daisy’s presence and Malick builds her up again as being very dangerous. He assures her though that together, they are more powerful than Daisy. He reminds her that her sister is the only one that can ruin their plan and no longer cares what Sibyl has to say, they need to finish her.

In the Lighthouse, Coulson paints a big red X on the floor. May examines a piece of tech and the two have a conversation about the new versions of themselves we’ve gotten to know over the course of this season. They’re interrupted when Garrett shows up right on that X. Coulson gets him talking to distract him before Yo-Yo gets the device on him. He tries to teleport out but can’t. Coulson tells him he has to disarm the bombs or else he’ll die with them.

Garrett calls Malick and asks him to deactivate the bombs. Malick refuses and is willing to leave Garrett to die. Garrett seems shocked and the final bomb seems to be charging up for detonation before Yo-Yo rushes away with it. An explosion brings the walls crashing down on Coulson, May and Garrett.

In a pile of rubble, Yo-Yo searches for Coulson and May. He finds that Coulson used his body to shield May from debris. She explains that she rushed all the bombs to one spot, which only caved in a portion of the base. Coulson finds Garrett still alive and May to save him, explaining that he’s their best chance to help their friends.

Mack and Sousa prepare for an attack form the Chronicoms, who promptly arrive on the Zephyr. Mack uses a piece of tech to knockout six hunters. He then picks up one of their weapons and explains to Sousa that they have to hold off the rest of them long enough for their friends to get back. Meanwhile, Daisy continues to make her way to her friends when two Chronicoms make their way towards her. Daisy freezes and the robots walk right past her without even so much as a look.

May explains that Garrett will make it and Yo-Yo races in with an injury on her arm. She explains that she was searching for an exit and got impaled by a piece of rebar. Even worse is the fact that they’re trapped in the base. Garrett wakes up and begins to question what’s going on. Coulson explains that Malick has changed the timeline and it’s not too late for Garrett to switch to the right side. Garrett agrees, but Coulson is distracted when he notices a pattern in those mysterious sounds they had been hearing.

Finally, Daisy gets to Deke and Simmons. Deke embraces her but Simmons is hesitant and clearly doesn't remember Daisy. They convince her to leave by promising she can get a “costume” just like Daisy’s. As they walk, they reprise the earlier gag where Daisy forgets to mention Deke as part of her mission.

Sibyl explains to her crew that the implant ins Simmons’ brain has now been dissolved before questioning Malick on Kora’s location. He assures her she is resting. Pacing, Malick asks what will happen if they don’t get the information they need. Sibyl explains Simmons will have no choice but to let them know and assures Malick that he can do what he wants with the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Mack and Sousa prepare for another attack, with only 50 Chronicom-killing shotgun shells. Sousa instead comes up with a plan to use the six killed Chronicoms as explosives, referencing an episode from earlier in this season in which one Chronicom tried to use itself as a bomb. Mack agrees to the plan.

Daisy, Simmons and Deke make their way back to the Zephyr and Simmons’ memories start to return before they’re stopped by Kora. Frustrated, Sibyl explains that she is going to ruin their plan. Daisy sends Deke and Simmons to the Zephyr while she stands off with Kora. Daisy defends herself from a couple of attacks while she convinces her sister she’s on the wrong side.

Coulson figures out that the code is the location of an “084” – an object of unknown origin. The team discusses what to do with the information and Coulson points out that they’re trapped in the base. Garrett offers to help them by teleporting them out. May and Yo-Yo immediately turn him down but Coulson is more open to the idea.

Mack and Sousa attach the six robots, creating some sort of massive bomb. Simmons and Deke show up and Deke questions the “suicide bomb.” Mack assures him it was only in case they didn’t get back to the Zephyr. Sousa tries to go help Daisy before Mack orders him to stand down and find him some duct tape instead.

Sibyl and Malick argue over their now-failing plan before the come across Kora. She explains that she doesn’t think Daisy is bad. Malick grabs a weapon from a Chronicom and shoots Kora, evidently stunning her rather than killing her. He orders a Chronicom to lock her up.

Daisy gets back to the Zephyr and the team prepares to take off. Mack fires two more missiles at the doors, but this time the Chronicom bodies are duct taped to them. They create a massive explosion, allowing the team to get away.

At the S.H.I.E.L.D. bar, Garrett teleports the team in and a voice immediately orders them to freeze. Before the team can react, a gun is fired and Garrett is shot in the head and killed. Coulson explains to the mysterious figures surrounding them that they’re S.H.I.E.L.D. and they followed the same broadcast to that location. The lead agents steps out of the shadows, followed by the agent who shot Garrett, who is revealed to be Victoria Hand.

The team is shown a group of packages the agents have placed on the bar. They were apparently told to bring them here at this moment, without actually knowing what they are. Coulson examines them but can’t figure out what they’re for. Luckily, the rest of the team shows up at the bar and Simmons seems to know exactly what to do with the pieces. She begins to assemble them while muttering something about marriage. She finishes but there is a piece missing. Just then an old man shows up with one last piece. He explains that he either got it from his friend Enoch or one of the Koenigs. Simmons takes the last piece and uses it to open up a hidden passage in the wall, complete with another mysterious device.

They bring the new device into the new mysterious room and attach it to the other device. Simmons continues to question her marriage and suddenly realizes her ring is the final piece of the puzzle. She inserts it into the device and it opens up a portal, allowing a masked man to drop into the room. The man removes the mask and finally the team is reunited with Fitz! He tries to embrace Simmons but she stops him because she still doesn't remember him.

In the tag, Sibyl sees that the team has arrived in New York. Malick urges her to give him some hunters and he can wipe them out. She explains that there is only a small chance of him succeeding, but a 100% chance that this will be the last time the team will ever be together.

This episode included some powerful moments but it also felt as though it missed the mark at times. There were plenty of opportunities for some really big reveals and cool moments and it just didn’t fully deliver. We did however get a showdown between Daisy and her sister and we got to see Malick’s team start to crumble. And with one half of this two-part finale still to come, there’s still time for some more cool moments as the series wraps up.

Mike Mack
Mack is the Editorial Director for Marvel and ESPN content and he has covered comic cons, theme park events, video game showcases and other fun events. He is a fan of theme parks, sports, movies, Marvel Comics and is a self-proclaimed "nerd."