The Entire Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Timeline Explained

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." was the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first foray into television, following the adventures of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson and his team as they handled strange and otherworldly cases. Like its cinematic counterparts, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." brought in characters from the comics, both classic and obscure, including the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider, the Secret Warriors, Quake, the Inhumans, the Kree, Bobbi Morse ("Mockingbird"), and others.

One of the reasons why "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is required viewing for MCU fans was that the series often referenced events from (and filled in the gaps between) the movies while still managing to cultivate its own lore and function as its own entity. Because the show lasted for seven seasons (in addition to a short digital spinoff series), it covered significant ground while also allowing characters to grow and relationships to deepen. It balanced sci-fi and fantasy elements, and built up a loyal fanbase.

The timeline for "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." became quite complex throughout its run, covering multiple storylines that dovetailed with each other, featuring some characters who would die only to return, and jumping across space and time on numerous occasions. With that in mind, here's a breakdown of the major events that became cornerstones of the show, explained in simple terms even a S.H.I.E.L.D. rookie agent could understand.

One of the biggest complaints about the first half of season one of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." was that it was too safe and predictable, lacking any real tension or personality. However, that all changed with the second half of the season, as it crossed over into the events of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," where it is revealed that HYDRA has been growing inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. for decades after its apparent demise in "Captain America: The First Avenger."

This revelation was a massive turning point for the series, as it not only put the agents on the run but revealed that Grant Ward had been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. the entire time. It was also revealed that agent John Garrett (Bill Paxton) was himself a HYDRA agent, in addition to being the financier behind Project Centipede.

Agents Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons are nearly killed by Ward, but are ultimately rescued by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who assists Coulson's team in bringing down Ward and Garrett. With S.H.I.E.L.D. in shambles, Coulson is appointed as its new Director and charged with the task of rebuilding the agency. While Coulson rebukes Fury for using GH.325 — an experimental drug derived from the blood of a Kree corpse — to revive him after he was killed by Loki, Fury tells Coulson that he values him as much as any Avenger, because he represents a vital moral compass of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Skye is kidnapped from S.H.I.E.L.D. and taken to Afterlife, a community for Inhumans. There she is introduced to Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell), who teaches her about Terrigenesis and life as an Inhuman. It's also in Afterlife that its leader, Jiaying (Dichen Lachman), is revealed to be Skye's mother, who had survived Whitehall's experiments and had been searching for Skye for years. The two reunite with Calvin (Kyle MacLachlan), and it seems they'll finally be a family again.

However, unbeknownst to Skye, Jiaying plans to bring her fellow Inhumans to power by unleashing the contents of Terrigen crystals upon the world, which would cause latent Inhumans to undergo Terrigenesis and awaken their abilities while killing off the human population. Jiaying orders some Inhumans to hijack several of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s quinjets and fire missiles at Afterlife, to frame the agency and use the event to enact her plan.

After a confrontation with Calvin, Coulson convinces him to join forces, stop Jiaying and rescue Skye. Coulson, May, Fitz and Cal infiltrate the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft carrier the Iliad, which is now under Jiaying's command, to rescue Skye and end Jiayang's plans. Skye faces her mother before she enacts the final part of her scheme, but Jiayang is killed by Calvin, and Skye uses her vibrational abilities to knock the Iliad into the ocean.

In the aftermath, Skye decides to go by her birth name, Daisy Johnson, and lead a new S.H.I.E.L.D. team of Inhumans put together by Coulson to give them a new purpose.

Hive, still inhabiting Ward's body, hijacks a missile silo with the intent to launch a warhead containing an airborne pathogen that turns humans into "Primitives" that answer only to Hive. However, Hive's plan is thwarted by Coulson and his S.H.I.E.L.D. team, who use a mind probe on Hive to disorient his mind long enough to be captured. Unfortunately, the warhead is stolen by J.T. James (Axel Whitehead) and Giyera (Mark Dacascos), who are under Hive's influence, and free him from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody.

James and Giyera set off a bomb at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base that turns agents into Primitives, as Daisy breaks out of her cell and confronts Hive, who easily defeats and captures her. Daisy is then taken aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane the Zephyr, which is secretly boarded by May and Fitz to rescue her. They're soon joined by Coulson and the others, who plan to send the warhead into space in the quinjet to detonate away from the human population.

However, Hive pursues Daisy onto the quinjet as she decides to fly it herself with the intent to sacrifice her own life in the process. That is, until a wounded Lincoln fries the manual control system and ejects Daisy, flying the plane himself. He professes his love to Daisy over the communications system, leaving Daisy devastated with his final heroic act and passionate admission. Six months later, Daisy has left S.H.I.E.L.D. and is now operating as a vigilante who the press dubs "Quake."

Still on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D., Quake is tracking the terrorist organization the Watchdogs when the fiery Ghost Rider appears; in this incarnation, the Rider's human form is mechanic Robbie Reyes (Gabriel Luna). S.H.I.E.L.D. attempts to apprehend Ghost Rider, but Quake intervenes and decides to help him find out what the Watchdogs are up to. Reyes tells Quake that his uncle, Eli Morrow (Jose Zuniga), was incarcerated for causing a massive explosion, and that he believes that atoning for Morrow's crimes will repay his debt to the Devil and rid himself of the Ghost Rider.

Quake reunites with S.H.I.E.L.D., who Ghost Rider is now working with to track down the Darkhold, a mysterious book that Morrow was studying. It was during an experiment with the book that the explosion was caused which led to his imprisonment.

Morrow escapes from prison and is traced by Rodriguez, Reyes, and Quake to where he's drawing power from another dimension using a demon core that he's created which is about to destroy Los Angeles. The team sends Morrow to another dimension. Reyes turns into Ghost Rider to hold Morrow in place as the team enact their plan, but is dragged through the portal with his uncle. In the aftermath, Director Mace tells the press that Quake was working undercover against the Watchdogs for S.H.I.E.L.D., and that she's officially reinstated.

Quake and Simmons enter the Framework to retrieve their friends, only to discover a completely altered reality, one in which Simmons is dead; Fitz is wealthy and in a relationship with Aida (now going by the name "Ophelia"); Coulson is giving lectures about Inhumans instead of working for S.H.I.E.L.D.; May is working for Hydra; Mack's daughter, who died years earlier, is alive; and Quake is romantically involved with Ward, both of them working for HYDRA. However, there is a group, called the Resistance, aiming to take down HYDRA from the inside that includes Ward.

Meanwhile, Fitz is working on a project for Ophelia called Looking Glass, which would enable her to enter the real world with a new human form.

Now that Quake, Simmons, May, Coulson, Mace, and Mack are aware of what's truly going on, they escape the Framework and return to reality, along with Fitz who is still in love with Ophelia. Once out of the Framework, Fitz begins to confuse the memories of his two lives and eventually comes to his senses. He rejects Ophelia and makes clear his true feelings for Simmons, which enrages Ophelia and sends her back to Ivanov. He plans to use the Darkhold against the Inhumans and to apply the reality of the Framework to the real world. However, their plans are stopped by a surprising return from Ghost Rider, who takes the Darkhold to another dimension to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

Coulson allows himself to be captured by General Hale (Catherine Dent), who has been tracking down the agents for their involvement in the assassination attempt on General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar). However, it's revealed that Hale has been working for HYDRA, who had previously made a pact with the alien alliance, the Confederacy. Hale intends to go against this alliance with Whitehall's particle-infusion chamber and gravitonium by creating a "Destroyer of Worlds," hoping for it to be Quake.

General Talbot, now out of his coma, decides to atone for his mistakes and fuses with the gravitonium himself, becoming powerful enough to fight the Confederacy. But his new powers consume him, so he takes over the Confederacy and believes himself capable of taking on Thanos. Talbot heads to Chicago to retrieve more gravitonium to boost his powers, but is met by the agents. During the fight, he nearly absorbs Quake, which would have resulted in Earth's destruction, as revealed in previous episodes.

Luckily, Quake was given the last of the Centipede Serum by Coulson (which was initially reserved for him in his now-dying state), increasing her powers enough to defeat Talbot by blasting him off the planet and into space. Fitz was crushed under the rubble from his efforts to evacuate the city, but the team decides to get back to 2091 to get Fritz, who was put in a cryogenic sleep, as future Fritz' help is no longer needed.

On Earth, a S.H.I.E.L.D. team led by Mack contends with bizarre reality distortions which lead to the arrival of a group of mercenaries. Their leader, who goes by the name Sarge, looks exactly like the deceased Phil Coulson. Sarge's squad robs a jewelry store and evades capture by S.H.I.E.L.D., but the agents manage to get a clue via one of the corpses left behind by Sarge. Through an autopsy of the body, which is covered in unusual crystals, S.H.I.E.L.D. surmises that Sarge may have a dire fate in store for Earth. Also discovered inside the corpse is a bat-like creature called a Shrike, which escapes and infects Damon Keller, Yo-Yo's boyfriend, who manifests crystalline protrusions before she kills him.

May is captured by Sarge and his squad, and learns that they're actually trying to destroy the Shrike, which are beginning to infect Earth. However, she still suspects them, and manages to apprehend and hand them over to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. S.H.I.E.L.D. tracks down two new Shrike hosts and captures them, but when they put them in the same Containment Module, the Shrike violently react and put the entire Zephyr One plane in danger. Mack is forced to ask Sarge for help, who agrees but only if he gets his truck and crew back, to which Mack complies — ultimately saving the plane and everyone aboard.

Immediately after the success of their previous mission, Fitz whisks the team back to 1931 New York City to buy themselves time to find which S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets the Chronicoms are looking for in their quest to invade Earth. To aid them on their mission, Simmons introduces the team to an LMD version of Phil Coulson. This version of Coulson wrangles with his new life, as two years of memories following his demise flood his mind.

The agents travel across time, visit important eras from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history, and encounter the ancestors and younger versions of various S.H.I.E.L.D. acquaintances and enemies. With the help of Enoch, May wakes up from her time in the stasis pod with her injuries healed. Her empathic powers (which she acquired from her brief stay in the Fear Dimension) are vital in convincing the Chronicoms to end their invasion of Earth.

One year after their final adventure together, the team gathers virtually to catch up on old times, reveling their current whereabouts: Fitz and Simmons have left the S.H.I.E.L.D. life to raise their daughter; Mack is still leading S.H.I.E.L.D. with Yo-Yo by his side; Quake is exploring the galaxy on Zephyr Three; May is a professor at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Coulson Academy; and Coulson is traveling the world with an updated version of his beloved flying car, Lola.