Note: there will be spoilers below!
Recap
On the alien planet. Fitz, Ward, and HYDRA soldiers are walking around. They have six hours until the next portal opens. Fitz tries making a move against Ward but it doesn't work. If he doesn't make it back, Simmons will be slowly tortured. Over a hill, they find an old giant HYDRA symbol.
Mack questions Hunter and Bobbi about why they let Coulson jump off the plane into the portal. Looking at the castle on their monitor, it looks like they're bringing in a bunch of Inhumans in containers. Mack decides they have to quietly enter the castle without backup. Even cloaked, the Zephyr-1 would be detected.
Malick tells Simmons that Fitz is a sacrifice for Death. On the planet Fitz finds Will's place. He tells Ward he's going to be their guide. Ward is ready to kill Will. Fitz yells that they need him. Will's leg is injured. He was attacked by "It." Coulson wakes up in bed with Rosalind. He overslept. She keeps telling him it's time to get up. He's dreaming, obviously, and wakes on the alien world. Fitz and Will try making a plan to run as they walk towards a canyon.
Mack, May, Daisy, and the others work their way into the castle. Lincoln shorts out the lights at the castles. Simmons escapes and finds the Inhumans in their stasis containers. She comes across Andrew and he tries talking her into letting him out, saying he can help. He says he's the only on that can protect them. She opens his pod when HYDRA soldiers come in as her turns into Lash.
The dust storm starts up. Will starts killing soldiers in the storm. Coulson finally catches up and starts shooting soldiers. He shoots Ward in the leg. Says he's not there to save Fitz. Fitz is smart and will find his own way out. Ward mentions he's bleeding and the thing smells blood.
Daisy almost gets shot. Joey saves her. Melts bullets before they hit him. May finds Simmons. They work their way to where the portal will be. May is missing, looking for Andrew. Lincoln wants to destroy everything instead of risking "It" coming through. Lash killed all the Inhumans in the castle. Mack makes the order for everyone to leave. He's going to stay until the last possible minute for Coulson, Fitz, and Will to make it out. They argue but he puts his foot down. May is the next director if he doesn't make it. Daisy says she's staying since she can keep the portal open and she’s his partner.
Ward is Coulson's prisoner. He's not looking for mercy or absolution. He chose HYDRA for petty and personal reasons. He wanted father figure and closure. What he saw today made up for everything. He has a purpose. He says its's not death but a new beginning. The fact that Coulson is there means they’re in it together and he’s part of a grand plan. They find the remains of a city. Will tells Fitz there used to be nine cities. The civilization feared change and fought among themselves. He knows a lot about it. When Fitz asks how he knows, he says because he was there. Will died saving Jemma. He and Fitz start fighting.
Coulson shoots Will as he's about to smash Fitz with a rock. Ward knocks him down from behind. The portal opens. Ward is beating on Coulson. Will starts walking toward the portal. Fitz shoots him several times in the back. Shoots it with the flare gun. It lights up. Portal is closing. Coulson manages to get the upper hand over Ward. As he lies defenseless on the ground, he smashes Ward's chest and leaves his hand behind.
With the portal ope, S.H.I.E.L.D. fires missiles at castle. A containment unit shoots up. Mack's bringing them in. Everyone's happy. Simmons notices Will's not there. Fitz is sorry and gives Coulson a look.
End: Malik drives off to airport. Ward is in the road. But is it him? Malik says, "I'll be damned."
Thoughts
This was such a heavy episode. I had the chance to watch it twice before trying to put my thoughts into words. Honestly, I couldn't watch that final scene between Coulson and Ward. The show writers aren't messing around. They've been giving us cliffhanger after cliffhanger. This was the biggest and now we have to wait until March. Seeing Coulson crush Ward's chest was heartbreaking, even if he's done a bunch of bad things. He's that villain we all love despite everything. At least we got a bit of closure right away in seeing he (or it) made its way to Earth. Thankfully they didn't leave that part out until March. Ward pretty much is gone and now possessed by the ancient evil. Things won't be the same.
There were other cool things besides this big confrontation. I want to know more about the ancient city on the alien world. The idea of there being nine different cities and gigantic HYDRA symbol there was unexpected. Hopefully we can find out more as Will/It started telling Fitz about it.
As if MORE Evil Ward wasn't bad enough, Andrew/Lash is also on the loose. He just killed a bunch of Inhumans who were supposed to be Ward/It's army. Is Lash going to continue killing Inhumans? Will he eventually come face to face with this ancient evil?
Did Coulson do the right thing by killing Ward? This is a whole other discussion we could spend some time on. He's supposed to be the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and not go off on personal vendettas. That is why he temporarily turned things over to Mack. Can he simply resume his duties as if nothing has changed? Fitz gave him quite a look at the end. He had reason to hate Ward but does he agree Coulson did the right thing?
Thank goodness for Hunter to bring in a tiny bit of humor. I loved when they were looking at the thermal readings of everone in the castle and he was waving so they were sure it was them.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has not failed to deliver this entire season. We had a major bombshell dropped on us. We'll need time to process all of this. This is a mid-season finale we won't be forgetting any time soon.
We have an interview with Brett Dalton HERE to find out his take on everything that's happened and what Ward's future may be.