Upset over how Avengers: Infinity War affected the MCU?
It could affect Agents of SHIELD even more. General Talbot goes into pure Zod mode this week after being loaded with gravitonium. His ego and powers grow to dangerous levels that could destroy the earth. There’s also a lot of debate over what has happened, especially whether Coulson should live.
SPOILERS BELOW PICTURE
SPOILERS BELOW
For much of the series, General Glenn Talbot has been a bit of a chump but a good friend to SHIELD.
Now, he has become all-powerful thanks to the gravitonium loaded inside him. He thinks he’s better than all of the Avengers combined.
This is bad, and could be dangerous.
Adrian Pasdar hasn’t had this much power since he was an evil lawyer in the show Profit, but this is too much. One thing is for sure: his confidence has made him a very tough adversary, and he plays the situation very well. When he and Coulson get on the ship, Qovas (Peter Mensah) isn’t sure what to think of Talbot, until he sees Talbot literally crumple a Remorah to death. Then the alien figures he should kneel before General Zod Talbot.
When the other members of the Alien Confederacy arrive, they dismiss him as a puny human. Again, he uses his powers and suddenly there’s a vacancy in the AC Board. That’s because he crumpled one of the board members. This is after he mocks them by calling them Democrats because they like rules and regulations. It really shows he just wants to take charge and not worry about rules. That sounds like a certain Republican.
It’s also revealed that the AC never intended to keep its pact with Earth, which is hardly a surprise. They just needed resources to prepare for a battle with Thanos.
Yes, that Thanos.
According to the episode, this is probably happening around the third act of Infinity War when some of the Avengers battle Thanos’ Black Order and their beasts in Wakanda.
The plan is to find more gravitonium to battle Thanos. There’s some question if they know about the Infinity Gauntlet, and how two snapping fingers make everything moot.
Still, Qovas hopes more gravitonium will defeat him. Talbot thinks more gravitonium will make him the ideal weapon, and it looks like this is the AC’s only option.
Naturally, Coulson doesn’t like the idea, but Talbot is in no mood to listen
Then someone else arrives: Taryan (Craig Parker) of the House of Kasius. Yes, that’s Kasius’ dad. He’s also interested in Talbot and what he can do. He convinces Qovas can use Talbot as a weapon against Thanos, although Coulson suspects it’s a trick. No one listens to him, and he winds up getting captured.
While this is happening, the SHIELD crew makes the Zephyr space-worthy, just as Robin the Seer predicted, May and Daisy try to save their boss, but May get captured and Taryan grabs Daisy. He has plans for her…as his own weapon. Since the Kree made the Inhumans, this makes sense. It also revives the chance she wound up destroying the world, but it also hints if she does, the Kree are also at fault and will make sure no one knows that.
You almost forget that all this is happening in a time loop, and some are still trying to break it. That is still an issue, as Elena still thinks Coulson has to die to break the loop, while Daisy and May will do anything to save him.
Elena’s upset Daisy had to do a secret mission while people were killed by the Remorah. Once Elena discovers Daisy got her mother’s remains to use her DNA to help Coulson, they get into a fight using their powers. A warning shot by May stops both of them, but it shows the clash between breaking the loop and saving Coulson is still going strong.
It carries over when Daisy tells Jemma what she’s doing, and asks Jemma point-blank if she’s willing to let Coulson die. Jemma says no, and that’s that. It’s a tough choice that had to be made, even if morals have to be skipped.
There’s also an interesting look on how Mack is really upset on what has happened, especially how Elena killed Ruby. He wonders what has happened to everyone, even Fitz, who tries to apologize for how Elena tried to free him. Mack thinks Fitz should take a long hard look at himself, but Fitz argues that something things can get complicated, and sometimes regrettable things happen like Ruby’s death. At least Fitz admits his decisions had consequences, but he’s willing to own them. If there is a season six, it may be possible Mack could leave SHIELD in disgust, even if the time loop is broken. If the crew still have issues if they escape the loop, they must work through them if they still want a SHIELD at all in any time line.
Meanwhile, Deke (Jeff Ward) is making himself more useful, especially with his electronic skills bringing the Lighthouse back to life. He tries to admit his love for Daisy but she talks about Lincoln, the boy she lost two seasons ago. Deke decides to reveal that Fitz and Simmons are his future grandparents instead. While a Deke/Daisy pairing would be great, let’s remember he’s from the future, and unlikely to stay if the time loop is broken.
The episode is also the swan song for General Hale (Catherine Dent). She finally admits her mistakes over Ruby and regrets following the Alien Confederacy. However, when she tries to calm Talbot down after he claims he’s surrounded by traitors, this time he doesn’t comply. He crumples her, too, just like he did twice before.
So, it looks like Talbot will be the Confederacy’s weapon against Thanos while Taryan wants Daisy is his personal Destroyer of Worlds just like Kasius did. However, what about Robin? Will she be seen again with one more prophetic picture, the one that will show the end (of the season at least)?
That’s still not known, but Talbot will show off his powers on Earth next week while Coulson collapses and could
face death.