Agents of SHIELD finale from Marvel: What happened in the end was an anti-Endgame

After seven seasons and 136 episodes, Agents of Marvel from SHIELD has finally come to an end. This past season saw the team travel through time, then fought Chronicoms and HYDRA in a new timeline that quickly went off the rails.

That is a big task in itself, but the finale succeeds by doing what the show is best at: completely absurd, but completely serious.

[Ed. note: This contains spoilers for the seventh season of SHIELD, including the two-part finale, “The End is Always at Hand/What We’re Fighting For.”]

See, the deus Fitz machina

When the finals opened, things did not look good for the Agents. They are still in 1983 and there is nothing left of SHIELD but their group and a ragtag group of survivors. The only hope lies in Leo Fitz, who the Chronicoms and Nathaniel Malick knew they could stop their plans, but he has been MIA all season and Simmons can not remember where or when he is, because she and Enoch already their memories of him repressed. The good news is that their Chronicom buddy Enoch (RIP) has left pieces of a device with several SHIELD agents over the decades, and when put together, the genius brings justice to his friends.

Photo: Mitch Haaseth / ABC

Fitz and Simmons decided to live a normal life while they could, even having a daughter named Alya. But by the finale, it was time to deal with her Chronicom threat at home. The Agents know that they can not leave this timeline to suffer, so they are doing the next best thing: use the timeline of their ship to bring the enemy fleet with them back to 2019 via the Quantum Realm. What follows is a conclusion to the threat in a way that is nothing if not inspired.

Yes, Daisy uses her Quake powers to kill Malick and destroy the fleet, and it’s amazing. But the real savior of the day was the power of empathy. It’s thanks to the respective powers of Melinda May and Kora – Daisy’s sister who died in the original timeline, but who lives a lot in the new one – that the Chronicoms stop attacking. It’s cheesy, but it also honors Enoch’s memory because he considered the Agents to be his friends and family.

Mission accomplished

Photo: Mitch Haaseth / ABC

With so much time travel and the use of the Quantum Realm, this season feels a lot like Agents of SHIELDthe version of Avengers: Endgame. By entering the finals, it would have been reasonable to assume that one or two of the Agents would sacrifice themselves to save everyone else.

This was not the case at all. In fact, the show refreshingly gives each of the main characters their own happy ending. Whether it’s Fitz and Simmons retiring to raise Alya or Daisy traveling through space with Kora and Sousa, the show laughs at the idea of ​​bitter endings. Coulson, once dead but now back as an LMD, is making peace with his new lease on life. In fact, he decides to travel the world in his flying car, Lola. May went from a gruff instructor to a teacher at Coulson Academy. Despite Enoch’s serious warning of their breakup before his death, they will all still live together and in each other, thanks to VR hangout sessions. (Except Deke, happily leading SHIELD in the other timeline.)

So much of the MCU feels like homework, and SHIELD certainly at times. But like all jobs, the best moments come from colleagues and what you do together. And if you’re good friends, you’ll always keep in touch, even if one of you is on the other end of the galaxy.

Farewell, Agents of SHIELD. Thanks for the memories and the jackets with the gun.