Note: there will be spoilers below!

Recap

On the alien planet. Fitz, Ward, and HYDRA soldiers are walking around. They have six hours until the next portal opens. Fitz tries making a move against Ward but it doesn't work. If he doesn't make it back, Simmons will be slowly tortured. Over a hill, they find an old giant HYDRA symbol.

Mack questions Hunter and Bobbi about why they let Coulson jump off the plane into the portal. Looking at the castle on their monitor, it looks like they're bringing in a bunch of Inhumans in containers. Mack decides they have to quietly enter the castle without backup. Even cloaked, the Zephyr-1 would be detected.

Malick tells Simmons that Fitz is a sacrifice for Death. On the planet Fitz finds Will's place. He tells Ward he's going to be their guide. Ward is ready to kill Will. Fitz yells that they need him. Will's leg is injured. He was attacked by "It." Coulson wakes up in bed with Rosalind. He overslept. She keeps telling him it's time to get up. He's dreaming, obviously, and wakes on the alien world. Fitz and Will try making a plan to run as they walk towards a canyon.

Mack, May, Daisy, and the others work their way into the castle. Lincoln shorts out the lights at the castles. Simmons escapes and finds the Inhumans in their stasis containers. She comes across Andrew and he tries talking her into letting him out, saying he can help. He says he's the only on that can protect them. She opens his pod when HYDRA soldiers come in as her turns into Lash.

The dust storm starts up. Will starts killing soldiers in the storm. Coulson finally catches up and starts shooting soldiers. He shoots Ward in the leg. Says he's not there to save Fitz. Fitz is smart and will find his own way out. Ward mentions he's bleeding and the thing smells blood.

Daisy almost gets shot. Joey saves her. Melts bullets before they hit him. May finds Simmons. They work their way to where the portal will be. May is missing, looking for Andrew. Lincoln wants to destroy everything instead of risking "It" coming through. Lash killed all the Inhumans in the castle. Mack makes the order for everyone to leave. He's going to stay until the last possible minute for Coulson, Fitz, and Will to make it out. They argue but he puts his foot down. May is the next director if he doesn't make it. Daisy says she's staying since she can keep the portal open and she’s his partner.

Ward is Coulson's prisoner. He's not looking for mercy or absolution. He chose HYDRA for petty and personal reasons. He wanted father figure and closure. What he saw today made up for everything. He has a purpose. He says its's not death but a new beginning. The fact that Coulson is there means they’re in it together and he’s part of a grand plan. They find the remains of a city. Will tells Fitz there used to be nine cities. The civilization feared change and fought among themselves. He knows a lot about it. When Fitz asks how he knows, he says because he was there. Will died saving Jemma. He and Fitz start fighting.

Coulson shoots Will as he's about to smash Fitz with a rock. Ward knocks him down from behind. The portal opens. Ward is beating on Coulson. Will starts walking toward the portal. Fitz shoots him several times in the back. Shoots it with the flare gun. It lights up. Portal is closing. Coulson manages to get the upper hand over Ward. As he lies defenseless on the ground, he smashes Ward's chest and leaves his hand behind.

With the portal ope, S.H.I.E.L.D. fires missiles at castle. A containment unit shoots up. Mack's bringing them in. Everyone's happy. Simmons notices Will's not there. Fitz is sorry and gives Coulson a look.

End: Malik drives off to airport. Ward is in the road. But is it him? Malik says, "I'll be damned."

Thoughts

This was such a heavy episode. I had the chance to watch it twice before trying to put my thoughts into words. Honestly, I couldn't watch that final scene between Coulson and Ward. The show writers aren't messing around. They've been giving us cliffhanger after cliffhanger. This was the biggest and now we have to wait until March. Seeing Coulson crush Ward's chest was heartbreaking, even if he's done a bunch of bad things. He's that villain we all love despite everything. At least we got a bit of closure right away in seeing he (or it) made its way to Earth. Thankfully they didn't leave that part out until March. Ward pretty much is gone and now possessed by the ancient evil. Things won't be the same.

There were other cool things besides this big confrontation. I want to know more about the ancient city on the alien world. The idea of there being nine different cities and gigantic HYDRA symbol there was unexpected. Hopefully we can find out more as Will/It started telling Fitz about it.

As if MORE Evil Ward wasn't bad enough, Andrew/Lash is also on the loose. He just killed a bunch of Inhumans who were supposed to be Ward/It's army. Is Lash going to continue killing Inhumans? Will he eventually come face to face with this ancient evil?

Did Coulson do the right thing by killing Ward? This is a whole other discussion we could spend some time on. He's supposed to be the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and not go off on personal vendettas. That is why he temporarily turned things over to Mack. Can he simply resume his duties as if nothing has changed? Fitz gave him quite a look at the end. He had reason to hate Ward but does he agree Coulson did the right thing?

Thank goodness for Hunter to bring in a tiny bit of humor. I loved when they were looking at the thermal readings of everone in the castle and he was waving so they were sure it was them.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has not failed to deliver this entire season. We had a major bombshell dropped on us. We'll need time to process all of this. This is a mid-season finale we won't be forgetting any time soon.

We have an interview with Brett Dalton HERE to find out his take on everything that's happened and what Ward's future may be.

Loved the episode and really am looking forward to where the show goes from here. Joey was awesome using his powers and useful ways and Coulson killing Ward was brutal. Kinda bummed about Will though. He lived on that death rock for over a decade, died protecting Jemma, then got body jacked, and then got his body decimated to add insult to injury. Like gosh.

Thought the episode before this was better this one was good but felt more like setup for the cliffhanger then a real conclusion to anything. Was expecting more of a fight with Ward and Coulson.

But I am excited for what's to come.

Another great episode and midseason finale!

That final look between Coulson and Fitz was very telling that Coulson killing Ward will cause all kinds of character drama coming up!! LOVED IT!

Ward is finally dead, good. Coulson did the right thing and all of you know it. What an amazing episode the action, the drama, the feels, ugh! Wow, I'm was so emotionally conflicted during this episode. Looks like I'll start watching Agent Carter from season 2, the teaser was good.

@feartheliving: That's an awesome guess for what the Ancient Evil is! I've been racking my brain all night, but that seems more plausible than anything I considered.

@kokemabb200: Wish I could take credit for it. Saw someone mention it last week and I was like damn that's what it, it all makes sense. Before I saw that I was still hoping the planet was the MCU version of Ego.

I think that was me, but I found the idea in the Youtube comment section... I feel so dirty...

@stahlflamme: By comments that's what I was referring to. I didn't see it mentioned on CV so unless you were also saying it on youtube (specifically the AOS recap show on Collider) don't think it was you.

@feartheliving: No idea who that is, do you mind dropping the name in a spoiler tag? Super curious.

@wardishy:

@feartheliving: Nice, thank you. Makes a lot of sense.

Have this on the DVR at home can't wait to watch it tonight!

I kind have been lost about will. I thought in a episode previously that it was hinted that he was supposed to be red skull or some hydra leader lol but I could just be making this up in my mind. This was mostly from me not paying much attention to that part of the storyline. Who the hell is he anyway, i assume he is the undead ward that appeared at the end.

Glad to see ward finally dead. Not excited about this bs drama it will bring, ward left alive most likely would have found a way back from that planet, one of the few times there is a black and white choice on the show. Kill him there and never worry about it or leave him to "die" and he ends up being a problem again for shields and the agents when he finds a way back.

Were we supposed to know who the inhumans were that got killed by lash?

Damn!!!!!!!!!!!......the best comic book show on tv......nothing else comes close........damn you March.....you're too far away

I want ward to redeem himself

@feartheliving: who is that?

Glad the old book on Ward is closed. There is only so long you can keep it open on something like TV and still have him be a regular. I'll be honest though I saw this coming.

Still don't like this new ancient inhuman Hydra history thing they got going on. Not that the story is particularly bad just that I don't like it for Hydra.They could and should have retooled the Serpent Society for this. Maybe even add the Serpent Crown too it.

Great mid season finale. Look forward to what happens next year.

I've been rereading Hickman's Secret Warriors and if this show goes down that road, I may need to start watching it. I'm one of those DC TV Show/Marvel Movie guys right now besides the Netflix stuff Marvel is doing. I do hope that Peggy Carter gets on Netflix because I do want to watch that.

Part of me wants to watch this, but its so far along i'll never be able to catch up.

@redhood1047: Im sure he'll get right on that after he wakes up from the dirt nap Coulson gave him.

I was genuinely surprised that Coulson actually killed Ward. The way he killed him, slow and painful, spoke volumes. Now I have a bunch of other questions like, "What the hell was the city on the planet", "How will this new big bad's personality differ from Ward's". I look forward to seeing what Brett Dalton does with the character now.

@feartheliving: thank you! Honestly after reading about it that's got to be the character they're going with

I'm still scratching my head as to why that's not on Netflix yet.

It's not like you have to do it all at once there's enough breaks in the schedule that you could catch up. I mean we have 10 weeks of Agent Carter at the very least until AOS comes back.

This show has improved but it still feela forced and unnecessary. It is a good watch while Daredevil season 2 comes out.

I can't be the only confused by the look Fitz and Coulson shared can I? Everybody on that team wanted Ward dead, and wouldn't hesitate to kill him. So why was he so taken aback?

Probably never know which planet they were on.

Do you have Netflix? Just one episode a day and you'll catch up in no time. It's a great show! It's probably my favorite comic book show.

Called it even though I was still kinda wrong.

Great episode. AoS continues to be the best comic book show on TV currently, something I didn't think I'd say early in the first season. And I'm surprised they actually killed Ward lol. Speaking of which...

What do you have against Ward lol. It seems like every review, you complained he wasn't dead yet or they still hadn't beaten him.

@soarlozer: Basically, Will was part of a NASA program that wanted to "explore" the other world. Unbeknownst to him or his team, the program was funded by HYDRA who wanted to bring "It" back. Will managed to survive for 14 years. Jemma met him while trapped on the planet and he eventually helped her escape while holding "It" off. When Fitz was there, he tried to save Will, only to discover Will had actually died fighting "It" and was now in "It's" control. Fitz burned Will's body, but we see a worm-like creature escape Will's mouth. Ward was killed by Coulson, but we see him at the end, now in possession of "It".

@pelykan: Good call.

So many fundamental issues that are wrong with this show S.H.I.E.L.D; One is a chain of command, no one follows orders and everyone talks back and or questions said orders. Also, Chloe Bennett is still freaking anoying, her acting is weak and needs to be replaced or just killed off like every other B/C class in-human.

@indomitableregal:ah okay I forgot the thing that was chasing them never appeared in this episode, and never saw a worm leave his mouth.

@sachmoo: I dunno either, I could have sworn at one point fitz even wanted to kill ward himself. I assume because the way Coulson did it, usually being a good guy means you kill in self defense, by crushing wards chest was "mean/cold blooded murder" since he was unarmed and shield logic would be to either arrest him or leave him there to "die".

My logic is he would have eventually found a way back and continue to terrorize the team/server hyrda and he got a justified death for all the people he has directly and indirectly killed.

Basically the look was to let us know that next season is going to have lame drama and team members picking a side on if it was right to kill ward like that or at all. Guess it will be fitz and daisey vs everyone else.

@child_of_the_past: Will "It" said there was a civilization that killed itself through war, so most likely what ever "It" is killed everyone directly or indirectly by causing paranoia turning everyone against each other like The Thing.

@soarlozer: I don't thinkanyone will care that Coulson killed Ward. At this point everyone on the team has tried to kill Ward at some point. I think they'll be more concerned if Coulson continues to make reckless or semi-reckless decisions and becomes a bit more ruthless in his tactics after these events.

The good part about Ward being the bad guys is that it's probably his last season which is good.

That's one of the lesser parts of the CW/DC shows, they keep resurrecting everyone in some form.

agreed

Nailed it! Good job. Truly a 5 star episode.

A few things that slipped through the cracks where the excellent siege of the Hydra castle. I loved Mac stepping up and the whole attack was interesting and well planned. The team of Daisy, Joe, Lincoln and May was awesome. Lash getting loose was a cool twist. They kinda glossed over how Gemma caused the death of all those inhumans. Wonder if they'll explore that at all.

great episode except for the ending with Ward.

Glad Ward's death was painful. Bad guys should die and are not in any way lovable.

Agreed on the 5 star review. I find it a bit ironic that on Monday's Super Massive Tony was using Ward as an example for why you shouldn't kill villains off. Then in the next episode that aired Coulson kills Ward. Not saying the example was invalidated by this death because they kept him around a while and the actor will still be there but I found it funny.

As for the episode, I am so glad Coulson killed Ward. As much as I enjoy Ward as a character, Coulson needed to end him. He had gotten off with too much already. So much of this episode got me thinking. I really want to know more about that planet, I want to know what the alien parasite thing is that took control of Ward, where will this show go from here? Great stuff. This show and The Flash are neck and neck for my favorite comic book TV show (not including the Netflix Marvel stuff) and I never expected to be saying that. I gave up after how bad (imo) season one was but a buddy of mine convinced me to catch up halfway through season 2 and now I have been loving it ever since.

@indomitableregal: I wouldn't have been complaining had people stopped campaigning him as a "character in the grey who could be saved". I'm really glad he's gone after all the opportunities SHIELD had. Now we get to focus on a new villain who's basically evil personified from the looks of things, which I have nothing against.

@mfundroid: Fair enough. Personally, I gave up on him being redeemable as soon as Agent 33 died. I just liked him because he was a really good villain. And I liked the fact that he somehow managed to survive because it was pretty apparent to me that SHIELD was capable of killing him. He always managed to barely evade them through sheer resourcefulness, as opposed to AoS trying to elevate him into some sort of super agent that's all of a sudden untouchable.

That being said, I'm excited to see what they do with him now since he's been taken over by "It".

Ward as good villain, but if wasn't going to become Taskmaster then it was time for him to go. If he would have become Taskmaster then killed off, I would have been furious. This was a good send off to a good character.

Right, so I am an ancient evil that killed a Civilisation and possesses the bodies of my victims - but for 10 years a trapdoor had me bamboozled. Until I think I might want a nap conveniently before the heroes turn up, then it is no trouble at all. Could have done with that nap though, because apparently a wounded scientist can put up a decent fight against me after I willingly let him expose the fact I am not who I am pretending to be.

I am at least grateful that, after having to keep the portal open for her friends to escape, Daisy decided to keep it open a bit longer while the teamed walked away/turned their backs, and gave me the opportunity to sneak through.

@the_amazing_spider-fan: He lets people kill each other and has the memories of the corpses he possesing that were explanations for two of three of your complains.