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Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Grant Ward Brainstorm

By Christina Roberts

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There is a lot to be said about ex-Agent Grant Ward on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. He went from being a wooden, stereotypical love interest to one of the more charismatic, interesting characters on the show. That’s what the reveal of being on Hydra’s side will get you.

In all of Grant Ward’s screen time, we have heard about his dysfunctional, abusive family, his older brother who forced him to torture his younger brother, and his parents who were worse than that. This season, we had the opportunity to meet his older brother, Christian, and discover things about Ward we didn’t know. But who is telling the truth about whom?

Let’s lay down the facts.

Grant Ward is the middle child, the oldest is Christian, a United States Senator, the youngest, Thomas, and a nameless/ageless sister somewhere in there. Their parents were abusive, mostly his mother, who only kept Thomas out of the “torture ring” as I will now call it. Other than this, there is not much information on the Ward family. We only have one flashback, and it is of the “well incident,” when Christian forced Ward to torture and nearly kill Thomas.

In “The Things We Bury,” Ward gets Christian to confess to making him do that to Thomas at the well. But we know Christian as a senator and a member of the Ward family, and those two things can be a volatile mix. Before Ward was transferred into US Military custody, he told Skye that they can’t trust a word Christian says. So when Christian confesses to forcing Ward to torture Thomas in that well, do we trust him or do we dismiss it? Brett Dalton has a thought on that, and he told Zap2It:

"“We can debate whether or not it was an honest confession or a coerced one, but he definitely needed to hear certain words from his brother about that particular event in his life…I think he heard what he needed to hear. I don’t know how true or untrue that was, but I do know he needed to hear those words from his brother.”"

He also makes mention of how Ward will seem like a brand new man. Despite my crazy theories on how Ward may not have actually killed Christian and their parents, it sounds as though the brief glimpse of the news report we got in the last episode is true. He literally buries his past after getting confirmation (whether true or false) that he has always been the subject of oppression and manipulation.

Now that he knows the truth, he can move past it. Even with Christian’s confession about both the well and how he only put four men on him during his transfer from S.H.I.E.L.D. to US Military to give Ward the chance to escape, none of that makes up for years of abuse.

But then that brings in the question of where his loyalties lie and what his motives really are. He has stated that he was more loyal to John Garrett than Hydra, but Hydra is the only institution that will give him a second chance right now. I can’t see him working for them completely; however, it’s the perfect way to keep him part of the show and not have him locked in a basement somewhere.

We will never see his parents–not in the present, at least–and we may never know the fate of Thomas. But now this mysterious sister intrigues me. I haven’t re-watched season one like I wish I could, but I believe there’s only one mention of her. Is this a detail the writers have forgotten or something they will bring up and leave as a cliffhanger? Maybe Thomas sought refuge in this mysterious sister? I have a feeling that while Ward seems to have moved past his familial troubles, it may not be the end of the road for him.

With how long he held onto that “well incident,” I can’t see him being done with his family quite yet. He holds onto things a little too long.

Does it really matter if we can trust Ward or not? That sense of mystery around his loyalties and his truthfulness only add to the complexity of his character. Sure, they are times when Brett Dalton may play him a little too over-the-top. It still works for the character. He is so incredibly creepy, especially when it comes to Skye.

Talking about Grant Ward results in endless circles. We may never get a clear picture of the agent who started out so one-dimensional. And maybe that’s not a bad thing.

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