Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been dropping Terrigen bombs all season long, but its latest super-powered return is anything but Inhuman. What major Marvel hero dropped into tonight’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. installment ‘Afterlife,’ who else was surprisingly resurrected, and how does it set up Avengers: Age of Ultron? We should probably talk about that!

You’re warned of all the spoilers from tonight’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. installment “Afterlife” from here on out, but Inhumans, step aside. Deathlok is back, and he’s paving the way to the Age of Ultron! Tonight’s hour saw J. August Richards making a surprise return as the Deathlok-ed Agent Mike Peterson, sporting some slick new upgrades as he rescued Coulson and Hunter from the new S.H.I.E.L.D. outside of Bruce Banner’s old cabin.

Not only that, but it seems Coulson has been in contact with Deathlok all along as a globe-trotting agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and called in Mike’s “reinforcements” after Hunter referenced their “bad options” for rescuing Skye and the team. To do that, Coulson brings in Mike to pursue their latest lead on the enigmatic Dr. List (Henry Goodman), a scientist known for capturing and experimenting on those with powers, and one we’ve already seen hanging out with one Baron von Strucker, as well as certain super-powered twins.

Agents of SHIELD Afterlife Age of Ultron
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Oh, and who do you suppose Coulson enlists to avoid Hydra closing in on Skye, Lincoln, Gordon, Raina and the other as-yet-unnamed Inhumans? None other than Grant Ward himself.

Of course, Deathlok’s wasn’t the only surprise return of the hours, as Skye found out that Raina too was present at the mysterious “Afterlife” city housing other Inhumans and potentials. Skye nearly shook Raina apart before a familiar face broke up the brawl, none other than Skye’s mother Jiayang, un-aged and apparently stitched back together. The Inhuman elder kept that bit of parental bombshell to herself, but later popped in for a quick hello to Skye’s father, the increasingly erratic Cal (Kyle MacLachlan). Thankfully, Skye has the dreamy Lincoln to keep herself grounded for the moment.

Agents of SHIELD Afterlife Skye Lincoln
Wordplay on so many levels.
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So what’s up with Admiral Adama Robert Gonzales and the so-called Real S.H.I.E.L.D.? Well, after Skye’s quaking outburst last week, Gonzales vows to hunt her down, as well as any other powers Coulson might have assembled, even indoctrinating May into the organization’s board to help steer S.H.I.E.L.D. in the right direction. Even Simmons seemingly swayed to the cause of unlocking Nick Fury’s mysterious toolbox, the fallout of which saw Fitz resigning and leaving either S.H.I.E.L.D. behind, but surprise! Simmons left the real toolbox in Fitz’s care, and even packed a tasty sandwich to boot. Those kids might make it after all.

So where do we go from here? We have it on good authority that J. August Richards’ Deathlok will stick around for the near future, and might that lead us to a certain Hydra base in pursuit of Dr. List, or the deadly Baron Strucker? Will Season 2's final installments go all out with Deathlok and Coulson against Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, or a full-on Hydra-Inhuman war? Will Lincoln ever get his deep-dish pizza?

Stay tuned for the latest from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Age of Ultron, Deathlok’s return and more, and check back next week to see “Melinda” spill the beans about Bahrain and the infamous “Cavalry”!

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