'Agents of SHIELD' Season 3 Finale: Renegade Quake In The Future Of The MCU

Tonight's season three finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D left us with a resounding conclusion to the season long reign of Hive. As well as some losses felt by the Agents of Shield. But overall, the season three finale left no expectation unmet. A death had been prophesied earlier this season by Inhuman, Charles Hinton, but it wasn't until tonight that we found out who the death was of. There have been several Inhuman casualties this season, but tonight's loss will be felt deeply by Daisy a.k.a. Quake. Sadly, the casualty is a member of Daisy's team of Inhumans, but Daisy isn't done with the Inhumans yet, even after this small setback.

Recap of the season three finale of "Agents of SHIELD".

For the entirety of "Absolution" and "Ascension", the focal point of the season three finale was on Hive's goals being clearly fleshed out while the Shield agents worked to find a way out of the locked-down Shield base, after Hive infected all the agents inside the facility. There wasn't much else in terms of development of the series until the last 20 minutes of "Ascension". During that segment of the season finale, Daisy and Lincoln attempted to bring down Hive. They both attempt to sacrifice themselves to take Hive off into space with the warhead on-board of the Quinjet, but Lincoln forces Daisy off the jet while he takes Hive along with him into outer-space. After we see that the warhead has been detonated, the scene cuts to a logo, indicating a time-jump of six months in time. When we're returned to the events happening, we can see newspaper clippings of Daisy at work on the streets. From what we can see in the newspaper clippings, Daisy has been hard at work, and going by her comic-book moniker of Quake. With her latest acts gaining the attention of SHIELD, Coulson and Mack are out on the search for her. Though, it's a mystery as to how far Daisy a.k.a. Quake could've gone to get tagged for detainment by SHIELD. Unless, Daisy's departure from SHIELD gained the interest of the Glenn Talbot and the United Nations, to have her arrested on the grounds of the Sokovia Accords. In that scenario, it would make sense for Coulson and Mack to be tasked with recovering Daisy/Quake as she's a very powerful, enhanced individual. SHIELD has been tasked by Glenn Talbot to bring in any enhanced individuals for processing, in light of the Sokovia Accords being pushed into legislation.

On another note, we heard from Daisy in her dialogue to 'Robin', that she and her veterinarian friend have somewhere for them to go. Could Daisy be referring to her father as her veterinarian friend? And is she actually forming her team of Secret Warriors, now that she's truly going be her superhero moniker of Quake? There's a lot of missing information between the six month time-jump that we don't witness, after Hive's destruction. Many more events could have happened in the world that would force Inhumans, and enhanced like Daisy to be forced into hiding. SHIELD may have even become compromised. Something did happen within SHIELD to force Daisy/Quake to leave, and we still don't know what that was. What we can confirm, is that Daisy a.k.a. Quake is gathering Inhumans, including Robin, the daughter of Charles Hinton, whom has the potential to become an Inhuman just like her father. That's more evidence to back up the theory of Daisy/Quake forming her team of Secret Warriors, seriously this time. It may have not been a success under SHIELD, but maybe Daisy/Quake can really bring the team to life; without government oversight, that is.

Repercussions of the season three finale of "Agents of SHIELD".

After the concluding scene of Hive being destroyed alongside Lincoln as he sacrificed himself, to stop the warhead being carried into the atmosphere. The entire world would have become a mass of primitive, Inhuman hybrids if Lincoln didn't take off in the Quinjet, taking Hive along for his last ride. Luckily, but unfortunately for Lincoln, the warhead was stopped, but at the cost of his life. The loss was felt by the entire team, as they'd all initially were weary of Lincoln during his time as a SHIELD agent, but he'd become a friend to them all, earning their trust as a SHIELD agent. The loss will be acknowledged next season, but it's apparent that Daisy is already feeling the setback of losing Lincoln.

The concluding scene between Daisy and Lincoln had the two coming to revelations of their relationship, but the revelation came too late for either of them to act upon it. With their reunion being cut short by Lincoln's sacrifice, Daisy leaves SHIELD to pursue her own missions. Some could argue that the sacrifice of Lincoln could have been avoided, but within the continuity of the Marvel universe, the death of Lincoln will likely set Daisy on her path to becoming Quake. And from what we saw in the concluding scene of the season three finale "Ascension", it appears as though Daisy has become Quake in her full incarnation, as she's no longer a SHIELD Agent, and is now on the run as a vigilante.

Concluding scene opens the door to season four.

And there was the small addition of another individual who may turn out to be pivotal character in season four of "Agents of SHIELD". In the ending scene of the season three finale, Dr. Holden Radcliffe (John Hannah) made an interesting breakthrough in his research. During the aforementioned scene, we can hear Radcliffe talking to the artificial intelligence designed into his computer, AIDA. Within the scene, Radcliffe explains that he didn't bring Fitz or Simmons on in his new project, but the recent breakthrough has the potential to stop any more losses from being incurred by their team. We've heard the same thought from Tony Stark in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Tony Stark thought of Ultron as a way to stop wars before they start; and we all know how that turned out. Back to the "Agents of SHIELD" season three finale. Radcliffe's breakthrough turned out to be something we've witness before, but not fully. In the scene, Radcliffe explains how he's become able to transfer the artificial intelligence of his computer, AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Data Analyzer) into a fully functioning body, one of the LMD's (Living Model Duplicates). Now that sounds awfully familiar to Tony Stark's plans for JARVIS to be integrated into the empty shell, created by Ultron. Can this event be interpreted as Dr. Radcliffe fully integrating an artificial intelligence into a functioning 'LMD? Did Dr. Holden Radcliffe create another Ultron in AIDA? We'll have to wait for season four of "Agents of SHIELD" to roll around, to find out.

Towards the end of the season three finale of "Agents of SHIELD", we can see Mack and Coulson out on a mission. And it isn't clear as to what their mission is at first. But then we get the glimpses of newspaper trimmings mentioning someone by the name of Quake and she appears to have become well known in cities like New York and other major cities. Quake is more commonly known as Agent Daisy Johnson on "Agents of SHIELD". But in the concluding scene of the season finale, we can see that Daisy a.k.a. Quake has become a wanted fugitive. Mack and Coulson have been tasked with tracking her down, regardless of how unsuccessful they've been in their previous attempts. At one point in the scene, Mack and Coulson do receive confirmation that Quake has been spotted. However, she escapes before Coulson and Mack can arrive. During their pursuit, Mack mentions the Director to Agent Coulson, implying that Coulson is no longer the Director of SHIELD. It's possible that Coulson lost the title of Director due to his actions during Season Three of "Agents of SHIELD". Or something may else may have occurred to cause his demotion. But the more important question is who could have taken over as Director of SHIELD? The most plausible candidates stand between Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross and General Glenn Talbot. No one else currently has the credentials or the privilege to govern in the Marvel universe other than these two known figures. Or in a completely different circumstance, a new Director is assigned to SHIELD, or another Agent may have been up for a promotion; possibly Agent May?

But the more important question we need to be asking here, is what has gone in the MCU' since Daisy a.k.a. Quake has left SHIELD? There would definitely have to been some event happening that would call for Quake to step out of the shadows, and begin to operate outside of SHIELD jurisdiction. She's becoming a full-fledged vigilante, and we've seen in the newspaper trimmings of her appearances that she's made her presence known in San Francisco as she's causing quakes there; was Daisy caught in a confrontation with someone in San Francisco or did SHIELD get close to apprehending her. Then there's the front page on Daisy/Quake in the New York Times, asking the question on whether Daisy is a hero or a rogue? And a small Easter Egg to the Daily Bugle is dropped as Quake is mentioned on the front page of one of the Daily Bugle's issues. Then there's one very small glimpse of a newspaper trimming, noting the occurrence of an earthquake in North Dakota, when there hasn't been an earthquake in North Dakota in over 30 years. All those events are set to have happened within the six month time jump. If Quake has shown her face to the public, how many other superheroes have risen to the occasion alongside her? And what could have forced these heroes out of the shadows? In the scenario that Daisy/Quake has landed on the forefront of a battle in New York, who is she up against, and could Daredevil or the Defenders be standing by her side, or possibly opposite of Daisy and a new team of Secret Warriors? There seems to be a substantial amount of events happening in the public's eye, with Daisy/Quake at the forefront of it all. Something is going to drag Daisy out of hiding, but what could force her out of hiding? We can't tell exactly what she's been doing in San Francisco and New York, but it definitely appears as though Daisy Johnson a.k.a. Quake is going to work, causing collateral damage to the surrounding areas; similar to the aftermath left in the wake of the Battle of New York in The Avengers (2012).