History Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS3E9Closure

* NonActionBigBad: Malick tells Ward that one of the reasons he wants Ward to lead the team through the portal (and be a partner in command in general) is that he isn't a soldier while Ward [[{{Badass}} has proven himself to be one of the best field agents HYDRA has ever produced.]]

** Immediately on the heels of sniping Rosalind, Ward sends HYDRA goons to kill Coulson, who [[{{Badass}} promptly defeats them all]]. Ward insists after the fact that he was merely keeping Coulson on his toes, though he'd have been pleased had they actually succeeded.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Ward makes it clear once again how much Kara meant for him, and the second Coulson puts his brother in harms way, [[BigBrotherInstinct he losses his cool.]]

* FreudianExcuse: Played with; Coulson questions the original members of the Bus to further develop a profile on Ward and possible weaknesses. The questioning develops a profile of Ward that points to him using a hero complex to justify the cognitive dissonance of any horrible thing he does, in response to his abusive childhood and the "Well" incident. While Thomas Ward seems to confirm that analysis, he points out that ''he'' suffered an abusive childhood too and ''didn't'' become a psycho; and Coulson and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. still won't forgive his crimes.

* MoralityPet: Thomas is the only person that Grant cares about--albeit in an ''extremely'' twisted way--despite the fact that Grant indeed was the one who pushed him down the well.

* XanatosGambit: Ward plays a simple one in the beginning. He needs Coulson alive so that he will [[BatmanGambit perform a few very specific actions]] (sending [=FitzSimmons=] to investigate an old portal research site, to start), so he kills Rosalind to drive Coulson to despair. Then he sends his mooks to kill Coulson, knowing they'll fail--but if they succeed, he gets his closure. Malick lambastes him for this (even though Coulson survived), as the grander plan is more important than Ward's petty revenge.

* StopHelpingMe: [[invoked]] Thomas does ''not'' want his brother's "help." He points out that when Grant killed their parents to "protect" Thomas, their dad needed a walker to get around.

* RealityEnsues: Coulson skydives into the portal from above... and is launched up from the other side at the same speed,[[labelnote:of course]][[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out.]][[/labelnote]] eventually tumbling down a cliff and hitting his head on a rock. It's a miracle he was simply ''knocked out'' as a result. Thankfully, a sandstorm ensures that Ward and his team don't see any of this.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: With a little bit of KirkSummation mixed, Thomas is able to put a massive dent in his brother's defense about his actions.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: With a little bit of ShutUpHannibal mixed, Thomas is able to put a massive dent in his brother's defense about his actions.

* BiggerBad: Malick's words to Ward indicate he was higher in the Hydra food chain than Alexander Pierce, the BigBad of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Ward makes it clear once again how much Kara meant for him. And the second Coulson puts his brother in harms way, [[BigBrotherInstinct he goes completely berserk.]]

* FreudianExcuse: Subverted. Coulson questions the original members of the Bus to further develop a profile on Ward and possible weaknesses. The questioning develops a profile of Ward that points to him using a hero complex to justify the cognitive dissonance of any horrible thing he does, in response to his abusive childhood and the "Well" incident. While Thomas Ward seems to confirm that analysis, he points out that ''he'' suffered an abusive childhood too and ''didn't'' become a psycho; and Coulson and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. still won't forgive his crimes.
* GodzillaThreshold: Mack mobilizes Lincoln and Joey as part of Daisy's unit, despite acknowledging that Andrew may have been on the level when he recommended against putting them in the field. Lincoln lampshades this, realizing that Mack's only doing this because he's short on time and assets.

** Coulson taunts Ward by letting him know they traced his call and they're coming for him, which both makes Ward desperate and makes Coulson's stealth tech mostly worthless, since HYDRA knows what to look for. Immediately lampshaded by May and Mack, who see it as proof Coulson is getting dangerously unstable.

* IronicName: The title of the episode is a reference to Ward's ArcWords, but besides that, the episode is effectively Part 1 of the mid-winter finale and essentially ends on a {{cliffhanger}}; thus, by the end the audience has anything ''but'' closure.

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Coulson really walks the line between black and white, to the concern of his team.

* TheMole: Subverted. It briefly looks like Banks has killed his S.H.I.E.L.D. escort, but it's actually Giyera puppeteering him. He turns the gun on Banks next.
* MoralityPet: Thomas manages to be the only person that Grant cares about--albeit in an ''extremely'' twisted way--despite the fact that Grant indeed was the one who pushed him down the well.

* NotSoDifferent: Ward says this word-for-word about him and Coulson. He's none too happy to find out how right he is when Coulson tells him he kidnapped Thomas. Shown in a kind of funny way too when both of them have a temper tantrum and throw away their phones at one point.
* PlotHole: The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are walking around in this episode discussing the exiled Inhuman and HYDRA's goal of bringing it back but there's no indication ''how'' they know this. Ward only found out about it from Malick, and while the good guys have learned HYDRA is much older than they think and were involved in Will's expedition to the planet, there shouldn't have been any way to know the rest.
* PunchAWall: Coulson does it. With his [[SuperStrength robotic hand]], no less.

* RedOniBlueOni: How Malick views his partnership with Ward: Ward is by far the more capable combatant and field agent, while Malick is the more mature and concerned about HYDRA's ultimate reason for existence.
* TheReveal: It really was Grant all along who pushed Thomas down the well; however, Christian and both Ward parents were still horrible people.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Coulson takes Bobbi and Hunter on an off-books mission to assassinate Ward. Even when the mission starts to get mixed into [=FitzSimmons=]'s capture by HYDRA and their plans to re-open the portal to the alien world, it's clear Coulson isn't thinking too clearly about anything other than taking Ward down.

* ShutUpHannibal: Thomas effortlessly shuts down his brother's idea about "protection":
--> '''Grant:''' I know this is tough to hear, but sometimes, you got to do a bad thing for the right reasons.\\
'''Thomas:''' Stop trying to justify what you did. Just ''stop''. They were my parents, too. And yeah, they were horrible people, '''but you are so much worse.'''

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Rosalind. See DroppedABridgeOnHim above.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Daisy tells Coulson that she completely understands how Ward was manipulated by Garrett into joining HYDRA, with a CallBack to her own experience nearly being taken in by her own mother, and that having a screwed up childhood as both of them had explains why he turned out the way he did. She still doesn't think the adult Ward deserves any mercy.
* TemptingFate: When Rosalind says she plans to go back to the ATCU, Coulson is concerned that Malick could be on to her. Rosalind insists that it'll just be another day at work while she gathers information, and doesn't even have time to go into detail before she gets a bullet through the neck courtesy of Ward.

* WhiteSheep: Apparently Thomas is the only member of the Ward household who's ''not'' an utterly awful human being.

* YouAreInCommandNow: Coulson appoints Mack as the Acting Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. while he goes out on his personal mission of revenge.

* BiggerBad: Malick's words to Ward indicate he was higher in the Hydra food chain than Alexander Pierce, the BigBad of Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier

* RealityEnsues: Coulson skydives into the portal from above... and is launched up from the other side at the same speed, eventually tumbling down a cliff and hitting his head on a rock. It's a miracle he was simply ''knocked out'' as a result. Thankfully, a sandstorm ensures that Ward and his team don't see any of this.

** Ward murdering Rosalind and sending Coulson on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge is quite similar to [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Angelus murdering Jenny and sending Giles]] on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* ShoutOut: Upon encountering the ActionSurvivor Simmons, Ward states he likes the [[MadMaxFuryRoad Furiosa vibe she has going]].

** FridgeBrilliance: It was already established that [[ParentalFavoritism he was the favorite child]], so there's the possibility that helped.

* RevengeByProxy: Ward kills Rosalind to hurt Coulson for what he feels is SHIELD's role in her death.

--> '''Grant:''' I know this is tough to hear, but sometimes, you got to do a bad thing for the right reasons.
--> '''Thomas:''' Stop trying to justify what you did. Just ''stop''. They were my parents, too. And yeah, they were horrible people, '''but you are so much worse.'''

* FreudianExcuse: Subverted. Coulson questions the original members of the Bus to further develop a profile on Ward and possible weaknesses. The questioning develops a profile of Ward that points to him using a hero complex to justify the cognitive dissonance of any horrible thing he does, in response to his abusive childhood and the "Well" incident. While Thomas Ward seems to confirm that analysis, Coulson and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. still won't forgive his crimes.

* NonActionBigBad: Malick tells Ward that one of the reasons he wants Ward to lead the team through the portal (and be a partner in command in general) is that he isn't a soldier while Ward [[BadAss has proven himself to be one of the best field agents HYDRA has ever produced.]]

* DidntSeeThatComing: Ward is blindsided when Coulson reveals he kidnapped Thomas. It's enough for him to slip up and allow a trace on his phone.

** Similarly to Coulson, Malick calls out Ward for giving in to his desire for revenge at the possible cost to the mission, sending his men in to kill a man HYDRA needs alive.

* TheMole: Subverted. It briefly looks like Banks has killed his S.H.I.E.L.D. escort, but it's actually the telekinetic HYDRA agent puppeteering him. He turns the gun on Banks next.

* NonActionGuy: Malick tells Ward that one of the reasons he wants Ward to lead the team through the portal (and be a partner in command in general) is that he isn't a soldier while Ward [[BadAss has proven himself to be one of the best field agents HYDRA has ever produced.]]

* TheReveal: It really was Grant all along who pushed Thomas down the well; however, Christian and both Ward parents were still horrible people as well.

* RealityEnsues: Coulson skydives into the portal from above... and is launched up from the other side at the same speed, eventually tumbling down a cliff and hitting his head on a rock. Thankfully, a sandstorm ensures that Ward and his team don't see any of this.

** Similarly t Coulson, Malick calls out Ward for giving in to his desire for revenge at the possible cost to the mission, sending his men in to kill a man HYDRA needs alive.

* ItsPersonal: For both sides. Ward makes a point to Coulson by killing Rosalind, in exchange for Kara's death. This sends Coulson over the edge and he completely redirects all efoorts to track Ward down and kill him.

* NotSoDifferent: Ward says this word-for-word about him and Coulson. He's none too happy to find out how right he is when Coulson tells him he kidnapped Thomas.