The 'Agents of SHIELD' Time Travel Loop Explained

Agents of SHIELD Season Five sent the SHIELD team to the future. They learned that Daisy [...]

Agents of SHIELD Season Five sent the SHIELD team to the future. They learned that Daisy "Quake" Johnson was responsible for destroying the Earth. But how is that possible when Daisy was sent to the future with the rest of the team?

Deke had posited that it had to do with multiverse theory. Last night's episode, "The Last Day," revealed that the team is actually stuck in a time loop.

The key to all this is Robin Hinton. Robin is a girl with the power to see into the future. Robin was able to see into Earth's future destruction. She then sent Enoch to capture the SHIELD team and send them to the future, creating the time loop.

The way the loop works is that Enoch sends the SHIELD team to the future via a Kree monolith. Once in the future, the SHIELD team eventually figures out a way back to their own time. This seems to involve the use of a time machine that resonates with the Kree monolith in SHIELD's original time. Once back in their own time, Daisy destroys the world anyway. SHIELD herds the survivors on Earth into the Lighthouse. Fitz spends decades creating the time machine that sends SHIELD back in time. As Fitz notes in one of Robin's flashbacks, they have no idea how many times this cycle has repeated.

Once back in their own time, the SHIELD team slowly dwindles down. The last time the SHIELD team is all seen together is at the diner where Enoch picks them up. Daisy isn't seen again after the quake that cracks the earth. In Robin's flashbacks, we see Yo-Yo furious that Mack is dead. Later, Fitz mourns the death of Simmons. The Kree arrive and the humans submit to their rule to survive.

A few things remain unclear. Why does Daisy still destroy the Earth after returning from the future? Also, how can SHIELD break the cycle? Robin may have finally told May what she needs to know by mentioning the Inhuman named Flint. Is he the key to saving the planet, or the reason it ends up in ruins, to begin with?

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

0comments