'Agents of SHIELD': Is Hydra Back?

Tonight's episode of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD offered some clues about who is really pulling the strings of General Hale and Blue Raven. Could it be another return for Hydra?

SPOILERS for Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, "The Devil Complex," follow.

In "The Devil Complex," the SHIELD team finally managed to bring in General Hale to have a little sit down about her quest to take SHIELD out. It turned out Hale allowed herself to be captured in order to get close to Phil Coulson. The Superior arrived on the scene and presented himself as the one in charge of Blue Raven. Coulson agreed to go with the Blue Raven group so that Hale could show him what they're really up again and quickly realized that Hale was pulling The Superior's strings.

The final scene of "The Devil Complex," Hale is seen reporting to her actual superiors. The scene takes place in a dark room with bright blue alien-looking letters. The person that Hale speaks to remains in shadow, but hands her a vial of odium, the same poison used by Kasius in SHIELD's future timeline, and refers to "the Confederacy." He also hails Hydra before letting Hale return to work.

So what exactly is going on here? First, the letters and the odium suggest that Hale is talking to a Kree. We know that in the future timeline the Kree arrive at just the right time to "save" humanity from the destruction of Earth by taking control of the Lighthouse. We also know that Kasius's father had a special interest in planet Earth. "The Confederacy" likely refers to the formal title of the Kree Empire, though that is uncertain. Previously the Kree were said to have a vast empire, so perhaps this Kree belongs to an offshoot government that left the Empire? Or maybe the Kree is referring to a larger governing body that includes the Kree - either as an entire Empire, or only certain individuals - among its members. Perhaps Hydra is another one of those members.

The "Hail Hydra" line is particularly interesting. We know that Hale has a relationship with Hydra, particularly Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, dating back to her younger days, though she claims to have never been a member, just an ally. In fact, she made clear to Strucker's son that she's building something bigger than Hydra. So why the "hail" to end this conversation?

One theory is that Hale is acting as Hydra in place of Strucker to broker some kind of intergalactic deal. It makes sense that Hydra would have contact with the Kree. The organization was built around the Inhuman demigod Hive who was banished to the planet Maveth. The Inhumans were created by the Kree. Von Strucker, in particular, continued to work in the field of modifying human genetics. His experiments created The Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and the Absorbing Man, so it would make even more sense that he would be the head of Hydra to maintain contact with the Kree.

It's possible that Hale is playing both sides here. She claims she is not Hydra, but went out of her way to recruit Strucker's son for his knowledge of his father's dealings. Perhaps she was specifically looking for knowledge of his dealings with the Kree so that she could be better prepared to deal with them herself.

The one that that doesn't line up is her current obsession with SHIELD. If she is actually trying to protect humanity, as she claims, and the Kree are the true threat, then why not ally with SHIELD instead of hunting them down? After all, they have more experience dealing with Kree and Inhumans than any other organization on Earth, as far as most anyone knows.

Perhaps Hale has some knowledge of the future that SHIELD visited earlier in the season and that SHIELD is supposedly responsible for Earth's destruction. The problem is that doesn't make a lot of sense when considered with her incarceration and interrogation of Fitz earlier this season, in which she seemed clueless about SHIELD trip through time. For now, fans will have to wait and see.

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