Violet recaps Season 3 Episode 10 of Agents of SHIELD, titled Maveth, where Fitz and Ward explore the alien planet, while Coulson is not far behind! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
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Episode Recap of Agents of SHIELD, Season 3 Episode 10: Maveth
Ward, Fitz, and the HYDRA soldiers trek across the alien planet. Ward puts pressure on Fitz to figure out where the next portal will show up. Fitz tries to distract Ward and take his gun, but it doesn’t work. They come across a large, broken HYDRA symbol.
Hunter and Bobbi return to the Bus and fill Mack in on what happened. Mack makes a new plan in order to take the castle and secure the portal – but without gunfire or backup. He assigns two teams: one to search for FitzSimmons, and the other to secure the portal. Then he directs Daisy to find a back door.
At the castle, Simmons provides her input on Malick’s team’s calculations on how long the portal will stay open.
Meanwhile, Daisy figures out a secret aqueduct exit, and Mack makes an exit plan.
On the alien planet, Fitz locates the ridge they’re looking for. Then he comes across the manhole where Will’s hideout is located and jumps in. Fitz finds Will sleeping in there, and Ward quickly follows. Fitz says Will is going to be their guide.
Elsewhere on the alien planet, Coulson awakens after having a dream about being in bed with Rosalind.
Fitz pleads for Ward not to kill Will, saying he’s the only one that can get them to the portal in time. Ward finally backs off. Will has a hurt leg, and says he was attacked. Fitz helps him walk.
The SHIELD team sneaks onto castle grounds. Lincoln makes the power go out to give them some cover. In the confusion, Simmons escapes.
Fitz fills Will in about what’s going on. He tells Will they need to figure out a way to lose Ward before they get to the exit. Will tells Fitz to follow his lead, then tells Ward that they need to make it through the canyon, as that’s the only way to make it on time.
Simmons finds a hiding place – among containment units for Inhumans. She finds Andrew, who begs her to open the door, and says he’ll protect her, and that he would never hurt her. Some HYDRA soldiers approach, so she opens the door and hides, while Andrew changes into his Inhuman counterpart and takes care of the soldiers.
As a dust storm begins, Fitz asks Will if he’s leading them to the no-fly zone, and Will says they’re already in it.
In the castle, Bobbi, Hunter, and Bobbi consult the infrared map, and plan their attack.
The dust storm gets worse, and Will takes the opportunity to kill off a couple of HYDRA soldiers without anyone noticing.
Daisy, Joey, and Lincoln fend off attacks. Joey uses his powers to melt bullets meant for Daisy. Outside, a soldier finds Simmons, but May throws a knife into his back. Simmons tells May about Andrew, but May says he’s not the mission.
Ward realizes that some soldiers were taken out – then Coulson shoots a couple more soldiers, and demands that Ward lead the way. It seems that Will and Fitz have already gone off on their own.
The SHIELD team members at the castle meet back up in the room with the portal, but May sneaks off. Simmons tells the others about Andrew, and they realize she must have gone back for him. We see May find some body parts.
Coulson marches Ward across the alien planet at gunpoint, while Ward says that he’s been in Coulson’s position of wanting revenge, and that he’s part of a bigger plan.
Back at the portal chamber, Simmons informs the others of Malick’s plan to bring back an ancient HYDRA god from the alien planet. Simmons says she can only describe how it felt, and that she believes it caused the desolation of that planet. May returns to the group and reports that Lash killed all of the Inhumans that were being held there.
Malick discovers what happened and orders his men to breach SHIELD’s barricades and regain control of the portal chamber. They have less than 15 minutes.
Coulson uses binoculars to find Will and Fitz. He asks how long until the portal opens, and Ward says there’s a timer on his watch. Coulson takes it from him, and sees there’s about 13 minutes left.
Mack orders the rest of the team back to the plane, while he stays behind to see if Coulson, Fitz, and Simmons make it through in time, and to destroy it if they don’t, and names May to succeed him if he doesn’t make it. He allows Daisy to stay, but orders the rest to leave.
As Fitz and Will make their way to the portal, Fitz sees the remains of an ancient city and snaps some photos. He asks Will what he knows about it. Will says there used to be 9 cities on the planet, but they feared change and warred amongst themselves, destroying their entire race. As Fitz patches up Will’s leg, he sees only bones, as Will explains that he knows so much because he was there. Fitz suddenly realizes this is not Will, and not-Will explains that Will died saving Simmons from him. The impostor and Fitz fight.
Just as not-Will picks up a rock to smash Fitz’s head, Coulson sees this happening and shoots not-Will. While Coulson is momentarily distracted, Ward slams into him.
The portal opens, and Daisy and Mack get their guns ready for whatever comes out.
Ward and Coulson fight. Fitz finds the gun that fell from Coulson’s hands, and shoots not-Will, who had begun to walk away. Coulson gains the upper hand on Ward. The portal opens up ahead, and not-Will begins to crawl toward it. Fitz gets out a flare gun and shoots it into not-Will’s back. Fitz yells to Coulson that they have to go, and tells him to leave Ward. Coulson puts his mechanical hand on Ward chest, and crushes his heart. Then he leaves the hand behind. Fitz and Coulson make their way to the portal.
Meanwhile, Mack orders May to deploy missiles to destroy the castle. She follows his orders, and the team members all look sad, thinking their friends have just been sentenced to death. But just then, the containment unit flies up, and Mack tells them to open the doors, that he’s bringing them in. They are share sighs of relief.
When the containment unit arrives, Lincoln and Daisy, and May and Coulson share happy reunions. As the team members exit, Simmons goes to the window of the containment unit and sees it empty, having just missed seeing Fitz step out of it. Then she turns around and sees Fitz, looking both relieved to see him and at the same time, devastated that Will didn’t make it. Fitz and Coulson share knowing glances.
In the final scene, Malick is in the back seat of a car that is driving him to catch a plane, when the car stops. Ward is standing in the middle of the road. But then we see stuff moving beneath his skin and realize that it’s not Ward, it’s the thing that escaped from the alien planet.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 3 Episode 10 of Agents of SHIELD: Maveth
Wow, what a great midseason finale and unexpected twist at the end to leave us with as a cliffhanger! For some reason, I never actually expected Will to make it back, and had thought that he would be killed off in the effort to bring him back. Well, it turns out I was both right and wrong. The real Will was killed by the “thing” while saving Simmons, while the body of Will which had been inhabited by the “thing” was killed off before going through the portal. I honestly had no idea it wasn’t Will until he somehow knew so much about the ancient city that he and Fitz came across — which was only moments before the big reveal — so this was a pretty exciting twist to me that I didn’t see coming. Unfortunately, although Fitz destroyed Will’s body, the thing somehow made it through the portal using Ward’s body. I suppose it must have been due to the discrepancy that Simmons and Malick’s team had with how long the portal would be open. The Ward/Thing must have squeezed through at the last possible second. I hadn’t seen that coming either, though it did seem a bit odd to kill Ward off, like it was something the show wouldn’t do at this point. I guess technically Ward is dead, but the actor is still going to be around for at least a little while longer.
But yeah, that ending, with the slow motion and the dramatic music, and everyone reuniting was so good! I loved it! It was so bittersweet for Simmons, getting Fitz back, but not getting Will back, and all these underlying emotions between the team members and the secrets that only Coulson and Fitz share, and the knowing glances exchanged… It was great. I’m really looking forward to seeing where the next half of the season brings us, and hope it can continue to stay at the level that it’s been at recently!
Josh’s Thoughts: Agents of SHIELD, Season 3 Episode 10: Maveth
COMING SOON
Scenes from Agents of SHIELD, Season 3 Episode 11: Bouncing Back
Here are scenes from the next episode of Agents of SHIELD, titled Bouncing Back:
