Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Episode 20: Emancipation Recap With Spoilers

News of the events of Captain America: Civil War play on a TV screen as Coulson sits in a bar. Coulson reads of Peggy Carter's death in the newspaper. May is there and tries to get him to focus on the matters at hand. Coulson tells May to go out the back before General Talbot comes in the front. Talbot informs Coulson that the Sokovia Accords are law now, and the President wants S.H.I.E.L.D. to register any Inhumans they have working with them. Coulson refuses, saying they work in the shadows. Coulson tells Talbot to buckle up, signals the bartender, and the booth they are sitting at lowers down.

Daisy hacks the S.H.I.E.L.D. base cameras while blood is being taken from her. Hive is there and notes how persistent S.H.I.E.L.D. has been. He is losing his patience. Radcliffe takes a look at Daisy and says she's done donating blood for the day. Radcliffe seems out of sorts.

Radcliffe tells Hive that they need volunteers. Hive says he's recruiting some, a gift for Daisy.

May brings Lincoln his meal. Lincoln is desperate to get out of quarantine, but May insists he's not ready. May warns him that they can turn him over to Talbot right now.

Simmons is still annoyed with Lincoln. Fitz says he's fine now, but Simmons says Coulson wants Lincoln locked up. Fitz is busy trying to keep Daisy out of system. Fitz and Simmons try to steal a moment but are interrupted by May. May wants them to stop focusing on Daisy and start trying to figure out Hive.

Coulson gives Talbot a tour of the off-the-books SSR base they've using for headquarters. He introduces Talbot to Yo-Yo. She doesn't want to be put on the list for fear of a price being put on her head. Coulson has Yo-Yo demonstrate her powers. Coulson insists that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s index taught him nothing good ever comes from a list.

The Watchdogs continue training at a camp. They feel the Sokovia Accords don't go nearly far enough.

Lincoln begins speaking to Daisy, assuming that she's found a way to hack in and listen. She communicates by sending a message to a video screen in his room.

Lincoln feigns sleep until Daisy tells him he can move. She's looped the footage of him sleeping so that no one will know they're talking. Lincoln says he wants to be with Daisy, with no Hive or S.H.I.E.L.D. attached. She cuts him off as Talbot and Coulson approach his cell.

Yo-Yo finds Mack. He's still beat up from his encounter with Daisy. He doesn't want what happened to Daisy to happen to Mack. Mack is worried that Hive has something apocalyptic planned. Yo-Yo tells him he needs a beer and some faith, and that evil wins when good people become a afraid and give up the fight.

Watchdogs in a van move to abduct someone.

Talbot tries to convince Lincoln that the list is for everyone's protection. Lincoln agrees to register and tell Talbot everything he wants to know if Talbot will get him out of quarantine.

Coulson takes Talbot to see Lash next. Talbot can't believe they haven't put Lash in gel stasis, but Coulson believes he could become an asset.

Daisy communicates with Lincoln again, asking if he really wants to leave.

Talbot asks about Daisy. May says she's on assignment, but Talbot already has satellite images of Daisy with Hive.

The man the Watchdogs are trying to abduct takes off. They corner him an ally. Its James they're after. He picks up a chain, sets it on fire, and fights them back. Hive appears behind them. He says he's the one who invited them, and he wants them to become what they hate. James drags them in.

Talbot is shown footage of the planet where Hive was imprisoned. Fitz, Simmons, and Coulson explain what Hive is and how he controls Inhumans. Talbot says this is exactly why they need the list. Coulson explains that Hive tried to create his own Inhumans but failed, but Fitz and Simmons reminds Coulson that he and Daisy both have Kree blood.

The Watchdogs are brought back to Hive's base. Radcliffe begins his experiment. There are screams from inside the chamber where the Watchdogs are and then silence. Radcliffe says that now they wait.

Daisy connects with Lincoln again. She begins walking him through an escape. They get the door open, knock out the guard, and Lincoln makes his way out.

Talbot wants to make a military strike against Hive, but Coulson says there's no time for that.

Daisy distracts May so that Lincoln can sneak by.

Fitz notes that Hive stole something from an ATCU facility, but they don't know what. Fitz gets an alert and realizes that Lincoln has escaped.

James opens the door to the Watchdogs and finds that they've change into some primitive form of Inhuman.

S.H.I.E.L.D. spreads out to search for Lincoln. He runs into another dead end as Fitz tries to shut him in and Daisy out. Mack shows up to help him. Mack thinks she may try to fly Lincoln out through the Quinjet. Fitz is locked out of the system, so Mack goes to take care of it. Daisy can't see into the hangar's upper deck. Lincoln goes anyway. Lincoln finds the camera ripped out and Mack grabs him and tries to hold him down. Lincoln uses his powers to escape Mack's hold.

Hive orders the Watchdogs to remove their restraints and they do. He orders them to bring him Dr. Radcliffe and they obey. Radcliffe is worried, but Hive approves of his "Primitives" and tells Radcliffe to create more.

Lincoln prepares to fly out with the Quinjet. Daisy promises to meet him alone. Yo-Yo, Coulson, and Talbot arrive just in time to see the Quinjet take off.

Daisy tells Hive that Talbot is on his way. Hive says he'll prepare to greet him and tells Daisy there's something he wants to show her. He introduces her to the Primitives, their "children." He says he'll need all of her blood to make more of them.

Talbot insists on calling the president and having that Quinjet shot out of the sky, but May appears with Lincoln at his side.

The Quinjet lands at Hive's base, and Lash waits inside. Lash immediately attacks Hive.

May explains Lincoln and her plan to trick Daisy to the rest of the team. Lincoln doesn't believe Lash will kill Daisy, and May explains that she brought Lash onto the Quinjet while Coulson kept Talbot distracted. Lincoln believes Lash's purpose is to kill Hive.

Hive tries to infect Lash with parasites, but Lash burns them away with energy and then burns a hole in Hive's chest. The Primitives attack Lash, but he fights them off. Radcliffe runs, but Daisy, weak from losing blood, defends Hive with her powers. She collapses from exhaustion after having no effect on him. Lash draws Hive's parasites out of Daisy and tells her that now she is free. He carries her back to the Quinjet, but James stabs him through with his burning chain. Daisy uses her powers to knock James off the Quinjet. Lash dies in front of her. Daisy radios in to the base that she's coming home.

Daisy is brought in with a guarded escort. The team greets her and welcomes her back. She tells them that Lash died and that Hive is still alive. Simmons orders her to the med bay. Lincoln realizes that Lash's purpose wasn't to kill Hive, but to save Daisy.

Simmons reports that Daisy is free of Hive's sway, but that she is experiencing withdrawals. Fitz and Simmons believe they know Hive's plan. He wants to create a shockwave to disperse the pathogen and turn a huge number of humans into Primitives, but that he'll need a way to disperse it high enough. Talbot says he has one, revealing that he stole a warhead from the ATCU facility.

Yo-Yo visits Mack in his room. She looks at his drawing of a motorcycle. They talk about Daisy's return and their chances of winning. Mack says he's ready to stand and fight. She tells him to open his hands, close his eyes, and not to open them until he leaves. She places something in his hands, tells him to keep the faith, and leaves. She left him her gold cross chain.