5 Questions Raised By The Agents Of SHIELD Finale

Last night, Marvel Agents of SHIELD closed out its fourth season with an explosive finale that set the entire series on a new path.

Videos by ComicBook.com

The Agents of SHIELD season four finale episode,”World’s End,” finally brought the nightmarish alternate reality of the Framework down for good.

There was also the final battle with AIDA. At one time, she was a life model decoy created by Dr. Holden Radcliffe and Loe Fitz. By the time the season came around, AIDA had found a way to use technology built with the knowledge found in the Darkhold to create a machine, or rather have Fitz create a machine, that would create a brand new flesh and blood body for her.

She didn’t stop there though. AIDA used the knowledge that Fitz gained by performing torturous and fatal experiments on Inhumans in the Framework to empower her new body with multiple Inhuman abilities, including Gordon’s ability to teleport, Lincoln Campbell’s ability to generate and manipulate electricity, and a healing factor that made her nearly invincible.

Lucky for the Agents of SHIELD that Ghost Rider Reyes, was drawn to AIDA’s dark matter body and came back to Earth to dish out vengeance. Ghost Rider tried to take on AIDA on his own and discovered that he could do damage that she couldn’t heal from, but he still needed SHIELD’s assistance to bring AIDA down for good.

Between AIDA, the Framework, and not one but two cliffhanger endings, the Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD finale had a lot going on. There were plenty of surprising moment and unexpected twists and turns.

There won’t be more Agents of SHIELD until next fall as the show’s fifth season won’t begin until after Marvel’s Inhumans has finished its run. Here are five questions we’re going to continue to ponder until then.

Where Did Ghost Rider Learn To Make Sling Ring Portals?

Ghost Rider had a huge role to play in the Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD finale. As a product of the same dark energy that created AIDA’s new body, Ghost Rider was the only one who do real harm to her.

However, once AIDA was defeated, Ghost Rider needed to move on and return to the much larger war he had been fighting before being called back to Earth.

The agents of SHIELD expected Ghost Rider to use the portal that had been built to access other dimensions, but it turned out there was no need. Ghost Rider swung his chain in the air and created a portal that seemed very similar to the ones created with sling rings in Doctor Strange.

Robbie Reyes tells the stunned agents that he’s learned a few things while he was away. But who taught him? Did he meet Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme? Was it the Spirit of Vengeance himself who taught the trick to his mortal host?

What Did Coulson Offer To Ghost Rider?

As mentioned, Ghost Rider proved to be the biggest threat to AIDA. Unfortunately for the SHIELD team, AIDA figured that out for herself pretty early on and used her teleportation powers to stay well out of reach of Ghost Rider’s hellfire chain.

This posed a problem for SHIELD, but Coulson had a solution. They’d lure AIDA in with the Darkhold and Coulson himself would approach her. It worked. As soon as Coulson was close enough to latch onto AIDA, he revealed that Ghost Rider was using him as a temporary host and burned AIDA to ash.

Robbie Reyes indicated that Ghost Rider didn’t allow Coulson to use him as a favor. It was part of a deal. There was only one reason Ghost Rider went along with it and whatever Coulson offered, Robbie did not envy him the debt. What exactly that remained a mystery.

Who Was It That Took The SHIELD Agents Away?

After Ghost Rider left to rejoin his war, the SHIELD team was left to pick up the pieces of their organization and their mission.

With the public believing that Jeffrey Mace was killed by SHIELD and that Daisy had attempted to assassinate Glenn Talbot, the SHIELD team knew that government law enforcement would be coming for them. Fitz volunteered to shoulder the blame himself, but the SHIELD team decided to face whatever may come as a family.

What came was a group of soldiers who found the team enjoying a meal together at a diner. Rather than simply arresting them, a shadowy agent used a device to freeze the entire group in place, stopping them from putting up any resistance.

Who was it that took SHIELD away? SWORD? Another shady espionage group? Or a new player entirely?

What Is Coulson Doing In Outer Space?

SHIELD being frozen in place and carted off my a mysterious government organization was weird enough, to begin with, but we definitely didn’t see the season finale’s tag scene coming.

The scene shows Coulson waking up in what at first appears to be some kind of cell. That impression doesn’t last long though. He flips a few switches and one fo the walls begins to retract, revealing a window that is looking out onto an asteroid field in outer space.

What is Coulson doing in outer space? How long as he been there? Is it connected to the deal he made with Ghost Rider? Is he the Man on the Wall?

Why Don’t We Have A Ghost Rider Spinoff Already?

Looking back, it is clear that Gabriel Luna’s run as Robie Reyes, the Ghost Rider, was a highlight of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD‘s fourth season.

Ghost Rider started off as a mystically empowered vigilante who often took things too far when it came to punishing the wicked. Soon, Robbie became caught up in a plot for revenge by his uncle, Eli Morrow, that ended with the both of them shunted off to some hell dimension.

When Ghost Rider returned to end the season, he made it clear that he had a new perspective on things. There’s a war being fought across reality and Earth is just one battleground.

Ghost Rider returned to that war in the finale. Ghost Rider involved a war between the primal forces of good and evil across worlds? This is a television series we want to see. Sure, it sounds expensive, but someone needs to make it happen.