2. What We’re Fighting For – (Season 7, Episode 13)
The official series finale picks up shortly after Fitz reunites with the team in the 1980s after being absent for the entirety of the season. Although they’re initially annoyed with him, he explains that they can still get back to their original timeline using the Quantum Realm. Coulson refuses to leave the Chronicoms to take control over the alternate timeline, and Deke suggests harnessing the city’s energy to bring the Chronicom ships back with them.
Sousa initially offers to stay behind, but Deke volunteers to remain instead so Sousa and Daisy don’t have to split up. After setting everything up, the team says their goodbyes and successfully enters the Quantum Realm, along with the Chronicoms. Deke is left alone with the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, immediately accepting a role as their new leader. Aboard the Zephyr, Fitz attempts to jog Simmons’ memory. We get flashbacks of them revealing that they spent years together, building a life before finishing the time drive with a new piece of the time monolith created by Flint.
After successfully returning to the present, the team splits up. Mack, Daisy, May, and Coulson infiltrate the main Chronicom ship while Yo-Yo, Sousa, and Fitz go with Simmons to the temple where their battle against Izel happened, closing the loop from the finale of season 7 and answering all the questions left lingering. While Mack gets Kora, Daisy’s sister, from one of the cells, Coulson and May take on Sybil, the lead Chronicom, and her hunters before taking control of the ship. After Kora agrees to help them, they defeat the Chronicoms by using her and May’s combined powers to give them empathy.
After an epic showdown against Nathaniel Mallick, Daisy emits a blast that sends him flying backward, destroying the entire fleet of Chronicom ships and seemingly killing herself in the process. She’s found floating in space and is picked up by the Zephyr One, where she’s revived by Kora. With everything resolved, Fitz and Simmons return to Flint and Piper, who were unknowingly watching over their daughter Alya, named after Simmons’ favorite star.
A year after that final mission together, the team reunites virtually to catch up. May is teaching at the new Coulson Academy with Flint as one of her students. Simmons and Fitz retired to spend time as a family. Daisy is exploring space with Kora and Sousa. Yo-Yo, Piper, and Davis still work for S.H.I.E.L.D., with Mack still serving as Director. Like the pilot, the final shot shows Coulson flying off in an upgraded L.O.L.A., gifted by Mack.
It’s becoming rarer for shows to end on their own terms and deliver a satisfying finale. It’s particularly unheard of for them to do it twice, but somehow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to. The final episode concludes the show perfectly and gives satisfying endings for all the characters, even the minor ones.