Agents Of SHIELD Season 4 Episode 9: Broken Promises Recap With Spoilers

01/10/2017 11:00 pm EST

Aida removes her bloodstained clothes, wipes the blood from the gunshot wound, and puts on a fresh outfit. She tells May that she'll play music for her when she can and that she'll arrange for more comfortable accommodation eventually. Aida says she must keep May secret until her LMD substitute has served her purpose.

The May LMD attends a briefing. Mace and Coulson tell "May," Radcliffe, and Fitz that they are going to the Darkhold to an agent who specializes in getting rid of mystical objects, and then erase Aida's hard drive.

The Inhuman who Simmons helped free from his Terrigenesis cocoon dreams of an Indian woman dying in an explosion. He wakes and searches the house he is in until he finds Sen. Nadeer outside. The dream he had was of their mom's birthday, and her dying in the Chitauri attack (The Avengers).

Quake and Simmons have been researching Nadeer and discovered the Inhuman. He is Nadeer's brother, Vijay. Their conversation drifts to Simmons being glad Quake is back and Fitz being distracted by Aida.

Quake is brought to see Mace, who drops a paper with a headline calling them a headline in front of her. Mace and Quake joust about Mace's motivations for reinstating Quake. Mace tries to smooth things over. Quake notes the Mace's reputation as the "hero of Vienna." He hopes they can earn each others' trust back. Quake presents the Watchdogs as threat number one. Mace would rather focus on Nadeer's Inhuman brother. Mace tells Quake to grab Agent Simmons and prepare to rescue Vijay.

Radcliffe, Fitz, and two SHIELD agents head out to erase Aida's memory. However, she picks up on what they're doing and has already made upgrades to override Radcliffe's controls. Aida attacks and reveals that she no longer feels pain and doesn't understand why Fitz would want to hurt her. She tells him that she was his shield and then throws him through a glass door where he finds another dead SHIELD agent.

Vijay and Ellen Nadeer enjoy breakfast. The house they're at is one their father designed. Rota asks about his time undergoing Terrigenesis. He just remembers it being dark and lonely. All he remembers hearing was Ellen's voice telling him to fight. He would never have gotten out if not for Simmons. He thinks SHIELD's return is a good thing, but Ellen disagrees. She suggests they go for a walk and a group of Watchdogs take that as a signal to mobilize.

Coulson, "May," and Mack are trying to track down Aida. Fitz and Radcliffe arrive. Mack suggests locking Radcliffe up, but Radcliffe suggests it is the Darkhold's influence. Radcliffe suggests that Aida "wants to live."

Mace, Quake, and Simmons are en route. Simmons feels guilty for what is happening with Aida. Simmons goes undercover in the senate as a lobbyist to try to track down Nadeer. Nadeer's aide calls her and gets the Watchdogs. The aide recognized Simmons as being from SHIELD. The Watchdogs tell the Aide to take care of her. Simmons demands the aide's phone. The Aide attacks her and Simmons fights back and knocks the aide out and tacks his phone.

Vijay and Ellen are enjoying a walk in the woods behind the house. Ellen apologizes to Vijay and the Watchdogs show themselves. Ellen reminds Vijay of a promise they made to "do the right thing" if either every became infected by the "alien plague." Vijay insists that he's not an Inhuman. He shows no signs of change. He believes he beat Terrigenesis. Ellen tells the Watchdogs to let Vijay go.

"May" walks through SHIELD HQ, noting the cameras. She joins the rest of the team. They can't track Aida because she's overridden her own programming. The lights flicker and all of their phones go off at once. Aida streams through the SHIELD HQ tech to speak to them directly. She wants the "thing that gave her a soul," the Darkhold. The power goes out. Fitz tells Mack to go get Yo-Yo while he and May try to keep Aida out of the base.

Coulson and "May walk through the SHIELD HQ and are greeted by Aida, who quickly knocks down Coulson. "May" moves to stop Aida, but Aida shuts her down and begins cutting her face open.

"May" wakes up in a room with Coulson.

Fitz and Coulson are in the server room trying to repair things. Fitz tells Radcliffe that Aida seems actually real, but Radcliffe says she can only mimic human emotions. Fitz thinks the Darkhold may have changed that and went mad from the flood of emotions. Radcliffe regrets creating Aida. He never envisioned her becoming an actual human. He's not sure if killing her wouldn't make them murderers.

Ellen argues about Vijay with Terrance Shockley, the leader of the band of Watchdogs. She wants more time, but he's convinced they need to get rid of Vijay for being an Inhuman.

Mace, Quake, and Simmons arrive at Ellen's home. Ellen threatens to report SHIELD to General Talbot if they don't cooperate or show paperwork from the UN. Terrance tells the Watchdogs that he got off the phone with the superior and it's time to eliminate Vijay.

Yo-Yo and Mack walk into the hangar as Aida powers on the Zephyr One and turns its weapons on them.

Coulson knocks out the camera. He and "May" talk. He says they're headed to Mace's office, where the Darkhold is hidden and cloaked. Aida receives the information from "May's" feed and heads to the office where she finds the Darkhold.

Mack and Yo-Yo are pinned down. Fitz reboots the SHIELD system. Coulson and "May" head out. Fitz and Radcliffe stop Aida before she leaves with the Darkhold. Aida tries to open the door, but Fitz took her out of the system so she can't open it.

The Watchdogs find Vijay and attack him. Vijay moves as super speed to dodge them. Ellen hears a gunshot and runs towards Vijay. Quake attacks her Watchdog guards.

Aida says the Darkhold showed her many emotions and that she only wanted to help them. Mack arrives and slices off Aida's head with his shotgun ax.

Vijay continues fends off the Watchdogs. Simmons tries to convince Vijay to go with SHIELD but Ellen talks him out of it. Ellen and Vijay leave on a helicopter, then Ellen shoots him in the gut and he dies. She tells Terrance and the Watchdogs never to question him again. He tells them it's time for the superior to send some men of his own.

Mack and Yo-Yo discuss evil robot movies. Fitz investigates Aida's decapitated head. At home, Radcliffe drinks to Aida, who is standing there with him. He is disappointed that the previous model of Aida was stopped from leaving with the Darkhold. He talks about how much knowledge and power are in the Darkhold. The "Aida as human" bit was apparently just an act. Radcliffe realizes that he'll never get near the Darkhold again, but that's why the May LMD will have to retrieve it for him. He checks on the real May and adjusts her sedatives.

Vijay's body is weighed down and dropped out fo the helicopter into the ocean. He sinks to the bottom and his body grows another Terrigenesis cacoon.