Phil Coulson

Phillip J. '' Phil '' Coulson was a highly decorated agent and, for a period of time, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He was Nick Fury's right-hand man for many important missions and his liaison to the Avengers. He served as the primary operative in the Avengers Initiative following a Skrull Invasion of Earth in the 1990s, that led to the surfacing of Captain Marvel. Coulson later ran ground interference, surveillance and tactical operations in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico as part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigation surrounding an incident with Thor and the Destroyer. He was also the primary S.H.I.E.L.D. operative in the investigation into Stark Industries.
During the Attack on the Helicarrier, Coulson was killed by Loki. His death gave the Avengers the push they needed to band together and stop the Chitauri invasion. On Fury's orders, Coulson was brought to the Guest House, a secret facility where he was brought back to life using treatments developed by Project T.A.H.I.T.I., which Coulson had formerly presided over. To preserve his sanity after his resurrection, all memories of these events were removed from his mind.
Coulson returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. to lead a new team to investigate the cases S.H.I.E.L.D. had not yet classified. While on this team, Coulson discovered the truth about the events after his death. During the HYDRA Uprising, despite the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the betrayal of Grant Ward, he led his team against the forces of HYDRA. He then led the charge in the final battle against John Garrett, in which Garrett was ultimately defeated. After the battle, Nick Fury appointed him the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., ordering him to rebuild the organization from the ground up.
As director, Coulson led the new S.H.I.E.L.D. in many battles against HYDRA, crippling that terrorist organization. He made some contacts with the United States Air Force via Glenn Talbot. However, he became a fugitive when another faction of S.H.I.E.L.D., led by Robert Gonzales, attacked and occupied his base. Accompanied by only a few loyal friends, Coulson started a battle to reclaim S.H.I.E.L.D. He eventually made a deal with Gonzales, and they worked together against HYDRA, finally reunifying the two factions into one organization with Coulson as its rightful director. A new threat soon arose, the Inhumans led by Jiaying. In the ensuing conflict, both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans suffered casualties. Coulson himself paid a high price to achieve victory, having his left hand cut off. Coulson was resilient. He started a new project that would ensure the safety of humanity.
The mission of recruiting Inhumans for his team became difficult, as the Advanced Threat Containment Unit, led by Rosalind Price, was also going after the new Inhumans. Coulson developed a relationship with Price while facing threats from Ward's new version of HYDRA, from Lash and from the Inhumans. After Ward killed Price, Coulson followed him to the planet Maveth and killed Ward to avenge all the people he had murdered. Believing that Gideon Malick was the last remaining leader of HYDRA, Coulson discovered that the Hive had returned to Earth from Maveth, using Ward's body as host. With Malick's death, Coulson felt responsible for the new threat. He fought to prevent Hive from accomplishing his plan to change all humans to Inhumans and make them part of Hive. After Lincoln Campbell sacrificed himself to kill Hive and save humanity, the directorship of S.H.I.E.L.D. passed to Jeffrey Mace, while Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie went in pursuit of the former agent turned vigilante, Daisy Johnson.
With the revelation of Lucy Bauer's ambition to find the Darkhold, Coulson created an alliance with Johnson and Ghost Rider to find the book before Bauer did. He was caught in an explosion with Ghost Rider and Leo Fitz, caused by Eli Morrow, and was temporarily trapped in another dimension. He returned with the help of Holden Radcliffe and his Life-Model Decoy assistant, Aida. Coulson then led the last fight against Morrow. Following the revelation that Mace was not actually an Inhuman, Coulson assumed the position of de facto Director while Mace remained de jure Director. Under Coulson's directorship, S.H.I.E.L.D. continued fighting the anti-Inhuman hate group known as the Watchdogs, led by Anton Ivanov, who targeted Coulson. Holden Radcliffe kidnapped Coulson, replaced him with an LMD, and plugged him into the Framework, where Coulson lived as a history teacher. With the help of Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons, Coulson escaped the Framework, only to face off against Aida's threat in the real world.
Coulson killed Aida by temporarily bonding with the Spirit of Vengeance and afterward was sent to the year 2091, along with other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The team discovered that Earth had been destroyed, and the surviving humans were enslaved by the Kree. He and the other agents eventually returned to the present day, although Coulson revealed that he was dying from his old injury, due to his deal with the Spirit of Vengeance. In order to learn more about the destruction of Earth, Coulson was imprisoned by Hale, who not only revealed that HYDRA still existed under her leadership, but also that there was an impending alien invasion. Following his escape from Hale, S.H.I.E.L.D. entered into a conflict with the Confederacy. As Coulson was trying to negotiate with the Confederacy, Glenn Talbot attempted to become a savior but instead became bent on becoming more powerful. Coulson, despite knowing that this meant sacrificing himself, aided in defeating Talbot in the Battle of Chicago and stopped him from amassing the planet's Gravitonium, successfully averting the destruction of Earth. Accepting his impending death, Coulson retired from S.H.I.E.L.D. and lived out his remaining days in Tahiti with Melinda May, eventually succumbing to his illness.
== Contents ==
* Biography
* Early Life
* Recruited by Nick Fury
* Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
* First Actions
* Skrull Invasion
* Chase of Vers
* Debrief with Nick Fury
* The Russian 0-8-4
* Making Connections
* Rescue in Bahrain
* Avengers Initiative
* Kidnapping of Tony Stark
* Chasing Tony Stark
* Meeting Tony Stark
* "I Am Iron Man"
* New Tasks
* Project T.A.H.I.T.I.
* A Busy Week
* Greenland
* Watching Over Tony Stark
* Finding Mjølnir
* Meeting "Donald Blake "
* Attacked by the Destroyer
* New Missions
* The Big Problem
* Russia
* Finding Captain America
* Chitauri Invasion
* Loki's Attack
* Contacting the Black Widow
* Visiting Tony Stark
* Meeting Captain America
* Death
* Resurrection
* The Procedure
* Recovery
* The New Team
* Recruiting FitzSimmons
* The First Mission
* Meeting Skye
* Chase of Michael Peterson
* Recruiting Skye
* Finding an 0-8-4
* Hijacking and Retaking of the Bus
* Meeting with Nick Fury
* Infiltration into Ian Quinn's Mansion
* Searching for Akela Amador
* Skye's Secret
* Chitauri Virus
* Returning to The Hub
* Berserker Staff
* Last Piece
* The Truth Revealed
* Rescue of Hannah Hutchins
* Recruiting Mike Peterson
* Kidnapped by Centipede Project
* Skye's Story
* The Mysterious Weapon
* Tracking the Clairvoyant
* Cybertek
* The Guest House
* Working with Lady Sif
* Chasing Deathlok
* HYDRA Uprising
* Battle at the Hub
* How to Survive
* The Cellist
* The Shield That Protects
* Hunt for John Garrett
* Battle at Cybertek
* Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
* The New Beginning
* Rebuilding the Agency
* Tracking Carl Creel
* The Race Against Time
* Search for Creation
* Search for Skye's Father
* Cleaning S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Reputation
* Solving the Mystery
* Search for the Kree City
* Locating the Kree City
* Stopping HYDRA
* The Director's Duties
* Aliens
* Vengeful Father
* Tough Choices
* S.H.I.E.L.D. Civil War
* Attacked
* Deathlok Reinforcement
* Alliance with Grant Ward
* Bringing the Team Back Together
* Calling in the Avengers
* War Against the Inhumans
* Reunification of S.H.I.E.L.D.
* The New Threat
* 1.14.3 Open War
* Dealing with Calvin Zabo
* Retaking the Iliad
* New Objectives
* A New Organization
* Rescuing Jemma Simmons
* Compromising Solution
* Working with the ATCU
* Divided Attention
* Visiting the Facility
* Confronting Lash
* Operation Spotlight
* Losing Rosalind
* Revenge Mission
* Battle of Maveth
* Hunting Gideon Malick
* Meeting the President
* Working With Glenn Talbot
* Mission in Russia
* Testing Lincoln Campbell
* Preparing for the Future
* Battle at the Transia Building
* Hive's Return
* Compunction
* Infected Teammates
* Looking for Daisy Johnson
* Sokovia Accords
* Capture of Hive
* Battle of the Playground
* Distracting Hive
* A New S.H.I.E.L.D.
* Chase of Quake
* A Ghostly Disease
* Miami Blackout
* Capture of Ghost Rider
* Looking for the Darkhold
* Search for Eli Morrow
* Trapped Between Dimensions
* Defeating Eli Morrow
* Aida's Betrayal
* Jeffrey Mace's Lie
* Director Coulson Again
* Investigating Ellen Nadeer
* A Fake Melinda May
* Encountering Agnes Kitsworth
* Assault on the Superior's Base
* The Framework
* Just a Teacher
* The Truth Revealed
* Losing a Leader
* The New Face of the Rebellion
* Leaving the Framework
* Back to the Real World
* Destruction of Aida
* The Dark and Deep Future
* Into the Lighthouse
* Learning the Truth
* A Mysterious Signal
* Deke Shaw's Betrayal
* Flint's Terrigenesis
* Escape from the Lighthouse
* Future Earth
* Looking for Answers
* Taking the Zephyr in Space
* Back to the Lighthouse
* Return to the Present
* Infiltration into St. Louis Facility
* Heart Failure
* Closure of the Rift
* FitzSimmons' Wedding
* Gravitonium and Murray Jacobson's research
* Principia's Research
* Infiltration of the Ship
* Return of the Lighthouse
* The Gravitonium Threat
* Capture of Hale
* Captured by Hale
* Saving Glenn Talbot
* Melinda May's Confession
* Glenn Talbot's Betrayal
* Siege of the Lighthouse
* Rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D.
* Battle of Chicago
* Retirement
* Leaving the Team
* Final Days in Tahiti
* Legacy
* Remembered Fondly
* Duplicate Self
* Chronicom LMD
* Personality
* Powers and Abilities
* Powers
* Former Powers
* Abilities
* Equipment
* Weapons
* Other Equipment
* Vehicles
* Facilities
* Prisons
* In the Framework
* Hobbies
* Relationships
* Family
* Allies
* Enemies
* Appearances
* Trivia
* Behind the Scenes
* References
* External Links
== Biography ==
=== Early Life ===
==== Recruited by Nick Fury ====
The son of Robert and Julie Coulson, Phil, was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on July 8, 1964. An only child, he wished that he had siblings, idealizing what kind of relationship he would have with a younger brother. The Coulson family identified as Catholic, but they would only attend Mass on Christmas and Easter. Coulson grew up to be a huge fan of Peggy Carter and Captain America, acquiring a vintage Captain America Card Collection over the course of two years. He played baseball in the Little League and had a batting average over .400.
His father introduced him to working on cars, and together they worked on a red Corvette that Coulson kept his whole life. Coulson lost his father at a very young age, and his mother passed away later on. After high school, while in college studying history and learning how S.H.I.E.L.D. had shaped the times, Coulson was recruited to S.H.I.E.L.D., where he studied at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Communications. While at the Academy, Coulson learned about and became an expert in S.H.I.E.L.D. history, appreciating the legends and historical figures he learned about, especially Daniel Sousa, the first fallen S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. After graduating from the Academy, Coulson became a special agent and was taught by Nick Fury alongside John Garrett.
=== Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. ===
==== First Actions ====
Coulson's first mission was with Melinda May. He was sent on a retrieval operation to a coffee shop in Sausalito. The mission did not have an exit strategy and resulted in May spending five hours in the bay until Coulson fished her out. Over the years, Coulson and May developed a strong friendship. During their time together, the two often spoke about being able to pick their own missions and call their own shots. During one of their very first missions together, Coulson allowed May to drive Lola, making her vow to never tell anybody about it. During the 1990s, Coulson was also partnered with Katherine Shane for a few operations.
==== Skrull Invasion ====
In 1995, Coulson accompanied Nick Fury and a S.H.I.E.L.D. team led by Keller to investigate a call about a mysterious woman crash landing in a Blockbuster Video store in Los Angeles. Coulson met with the Los Angeles Police Department security officer who had made the call. The officer told Coulson that the woman was making a call at a nearby phone booth. Coulson was tasked with inspecting the Blockbuster, searching for anything of interest at the crash site.
When Coulson was done, he exited the store and discovered that everyone had left. He was unaware that a Skrull had taken Coulson's form and was driving with Fury. When he asked Fury over the phone why he had left him at the Blockbuster, Coulson overheard the scuffle between Fury and the Skrull and the crash as Fury caused an accident which killed the Skrull.
==== Chase of Vers ====
Coulson then regrouped with S.H.I.E.L.D., where he saw Nick Fury and handed him the police report from the recent incident. Because he thought Fury had much to teach him, Coulson asked Fury if he needed a partner. Fury shut him down at that moment, because Coulson's presence reminded him of the Skrull impostor that had tried to kill him earlier. Coulson assisted Talos, who was impersonating Keller, as he struggled to get into Keller's office. Coulson scanned his ID card to help him, unaware that the real Keller had been knocked out.
Coulson was later part of a team led by the Keller imposter to bring in Fury, who was working with Vers at Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility. As Coulson and Whitcher made their way through the facility, Coulson was informed of the order to bring in Fury dead or alive. When Fury and Vers tried to escape, Coulson discovered them and held them at gunpoint, before trusting his instinct to let them escape. Coulson aided their getaway by telling his team that they had gone a different direction.
==== Debrief with Nick Fury ====
Nick Fury returned from assisting in the fight between the Kree and Skrulls, having lost his left eye. Coulson went to his office and returned with a variety of prosthetic eyes, as well as some files on Carol Danvers. He expressed concern over the Tesseract's location and Fury insisted it would turn up. Coulson didn't know it was inside Goose. Fury then told Coulson that, with Danvers preoccupied on the other side of the universe, he felt the need for an initiative to protect the Earth from intergalactic threats. Coulson assumed S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to find more weapons, but Fury clarified they needed heroes. Coulson then wished Fury well on his recovery before leaving.
==== The Russian 0-8-4 ====
Coulson was tasked by S.H.I.E.L.D. to retrieve an unknown object classed as an 0-8-4 from the Burkov Mining Facility in Russia. Upon arrival, Coulson impersonated an agent of the United Nations in order to access the site and retrieve the object. Coulson and May entered a deserted building, where they found a locked safe. Coulson intended to crack the safe, but May signaled the presence of four SVR agents, prompting them to switch roles: May would open the safe while Coulson tried to convince the SVR agents that his mission was well-grounded.
Coulson did his best to persuade the SVR, whose leader informed him that they had also been sent to retrieve the mysterious artifact. May eventually broke into the safe and stole the object. The SVR agents arrived and searched for her, but she had escaped with Coulson's SUV, leaving him behind. The SVR soldiers mocked Coulson for being abandoned by his partner. They put a hood on him and took him away in their van for interrogation.
May later returned to save him. She smashed Coulson's SUV into the SVR van. The SVR soldiers got out and tried to capture her, but May incapacitated them and released Coulson. The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents flirted as they left the facility, taking the 0-8-4 with them. As a result of Coulson's escape, three of the SVR soldiers were executed. Anton Ivanov was the only survivor of the executions, and he vowed vengeance against Coulson.
==== Making Connections ====
In 2002, Coulson was sent to Cusco, Peru. During the mission, he met and befriended Camilla Reyes, an officer of the Policia Militar del Perú.
Coulson also recruited Akela Amador into S.H.I.E.L.D. While Amador was not a team player and did not see the value of teamwork, Coulson felt he could instill those qualities in her. In 2006, Amador led a raid into one of the gulags run by Vanchat. The mission had a disastrous outcome. Fearing the worst, Coulson sent a second team to verify the loss of Amador's team. The second team found carnage but no evidence that Amador was one of the victims, leading Coulson to believe she was still alive. Coulson followed up on rumors that Amador was being held in Shanxi Province, but she had already been moved by her captors by the time he arrived.
==== Rescue in Bahrain ====
In 2008, Coulson and May joined a S.H.I.E.L.D. TAC team on an Index Asset Evaluation and Intake mission in Manama, Bahrain. They were searching for Eva Belyakov, believed to possess super strength. Coulson attempted to approach Belyakov peacefully but she became hostile and she and a group of gangsters took O'Brien and a young girl hostage. Coulson called O'Brien's phone to negotiate, but heard O'Brien say, "Leave us alone." Hart subsequently led the TAC team to deal with the threat, but they lost communications as soon as they entered the building. Coulson tried calling S.H.I.E.L.D. for reinforcements but was met with red tape.
With the Bahraini military approaching, Coulson decided to send May in alone, while he stalled the Bahrainis by claiming there was a biological weapon inside. They later heard a gunshot. Coulson and the Bahrainis stormed the building and found Eva and the gangsters dead, the S.H.I.E.L.D. team unharmed, and May cradling the body of the girl. Hart and his men had no memory of what happened. They assumed May fought through thirty men to save them, nicknaming her "The Cavalry". Coulson comforted May over her failure to save the child and encouraged her to let the girl go. The incident traumatized May so greatly that she resigned from fieldwork and took a position in the administrative division of S.H.I.E.L.D.
=== Avengers Initiative ===
When Nick Fury encountered Bruce Banner in a bar and saw him transform into Hulk, he called a meeting for some of his S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives. He told the operatives he was embarrassed at how poorly the mission had gone. Coulson told Fury that he and the others would be better prepared the next time Hulk attacked. Fury explained that since Banner was not a super soldier, S.H.I.E.L.D. would consider him a secondary issue and Thaddeus Ross would be allowed to deal with him.
==== Kidnapping of Tony Stark ====
Tony Stark was kidnapped by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan. Coulson and Nick Fury feared that Stark, not being a trained soldier, would tell his captors everything he knew about American national security, since he was involved in making weapons for the United States Armed Forces. Coulson offered to go in search of Stark, but Fury stopped him, saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. was not authorized to operate in Afghanistan. Fury instead sent Coulson to Obadiah Stane, to learn if Stark was a man who would sell his country to save his own skin.
When he arrived at the Stark Industries Headquarters, Stane told Coulson that Stark could not tell the Ten Rings much about the American defense systems. After returning to Fury, Coulson again offered to search for Stark. Fury once more turned him down.
==== Chasing Tony Stark ====
Three months later, Tony Stark was found by the United States Air Force in the desert. Nick Fury did not believe Stark's story that the terrorists' ammo dump had accidentally exploded. Fury thought that Stark had been recruited by the Ten Rings and sent home, where he had all the necessary equipment to make more weapons for them.
Coulson went to a press conference hosted by Stark. He came across Pepper Potts, explaining that he was sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to interview Stark about his experience with the Ten Rings. Potts promised to pencil him in for a meeting later in the month. She also advised him to shorten the name of his organization, as it was too long to remember.
Months later, the agency's satellites detected something that appeared to be an unmanned aerial vehicle. When Fury and Coulson saw the footage of its flight through the streets of Los Angeles, they realized the "vehicle" was actually Stark in a flying armored suit. To be sure, they hacked Stark's computers and found confirmation that Stark was developing the armored suit.
==== Meeting Tony Stark ====
Upon meeting Tony Stark at the Third Annual Firefighters' Fund gala, Coulson informed Stark of his allegiance with S.H.I.E.L.D. Stark claimed he was too busy to talk with Coulson, but he agreed to a meeting at another time.
A few days later, both Coulson and Nick Fury were in Afghanistan, where they visited the village of Gulmira. When an agent found an abandoned camera, they saw footage of Stark in a repainted armor attacking the Ten Rings and destroying their piles of weapons. Back at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Coulson and Fury saw that Stark was being chased by two F-22 Raptors. When one plane went down and Stark risked his life to save the pilot, Fury realized that he was wrong about Stark. He then ordered Coulson to check Obadiah Stane's activities with Stark's finances.
Coulson went to Stark Industries Headquarters, where he encountered Pepper Potts. She informed Coulson that Stane was involved in Stark's kidnapping and attempted murder. Coulson and four other agents tried to arrest Stane, but their efforts were thwarted by Stane who was now wearing his own armor. However, in the ensuing battle, Stark defeated Stane.
Stark and James Rhodes were then taken to a secret base where they encountered Agent Coulson. Coulson told them that Stark's fight against Stane had been good, but that he needed to learn how to become a real fighter, and that his colleagues would teach him.
==== "I Am Iron Man" ====
When Coulson returned to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, he and Nick Fury watched the press conference. Coulson asked for Fury's opinion on Stark's possible future work with S.H.I.E.L.D., and Fury liked the acronym so much that he decided to make it official. A few seconds later, both Coulson and Fury were shocked when Stark publicly revealed that he was Iron Man.
==== New Tasks ====
Nick Fury assigned Coulson to recruit Mr. Hendricks to S.H.I.E.L.D. He took Hendricks through a practice mission in which Coulson pretended to die, and afterward, offered Hendricks his evaluation on his performance. Later, after Tony Stark rejected the offer to join the Avengers Initiative, S.H.I.E.L.D. started to keep tabs on him. After observing Stark rescue a pilot from an enemy area without collateral damage, Coulson wondered if Stark had finally learned how to play a role in S.H.I.E.L.D. He asked Fury for his opinion, and Fury told him not to mistake Stark's actions for any kind of newfound maturity, and said they would keep watching him.
==== Project T.A.H.I.T.I. ====
In coordination with the Avengers Initiative, Nick Fury started Project T.A.H.I.T.I. and appointed Coulson its director. The goal of the project was to create a medicine that could save a mortally wounded Avenger. Located within the Guest House, the scientists assigned to the project used the blood from a decaying alien corpse to create a powerful drug. They called the drug GH.325, and it was capable of repairing injured tissue and curing deadly diseases.
Coulson chose six agents who were dying of terminal illnesses as test subjects. At first, the patients responded positively, but they soon started speaking gibberish and writing strange symbols on anything they could, including their own bodies. Coulson, after seeing the extreme side effects, resigned from his position, recommending the project be shutdown and that the alien corpse be destroyed. He also had the patients' memories replaced and gave them new identities, so they would have a chance at a normal life.
=== A Busy Week ===
==== Greenland ====
A few months later, Coulson and Nick Fury led an expedition to Greenland in hopes of finding Steve Rogers, who had been classified as MIA after World War II. They did not find Rogers, but instead found one of the disabled flying bombs from HYDRA's ship, the Valkyrie. The World Security Council eventually ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to shut down the operation and focus on Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.. Ignoring the direct order, Fury decided to continue with his usual activities, and he told Coulson to do the same.
==== Watching Over Tony Stark ====
At his birthday party, Tony Stark got drunk and had a battle with James Rhodes. So Nick Fury put Coulson in charge of guarding Stark, making sure Stark did not leave his house while he looked for a cure for his Palladium poisoning. Later, Coulson went to Stark's workshop and found one of the early prototypes of Captain America's shield in Howard Stark's casket. Tony Stark took the shield and used it to balance the Particle Accelerator he was building.
Coulson informed Fury about the appearance of a wormhole over New Mexico. Coulson had spent the week trying to warn Fury that the wormhole was a possibility. Fury had Coulson lead an expedition to New Mexico. Coulson contacted Natasha Romanoff and asked her to handle things at Stark's house.
==== Finding Mjølnir ====
On the way to New Mexico, Coulson stopped at a Roxxon service station to buy snacks and fill his car with gas. While he was in the shop, two robbers entered and threatened the clerk with shotguns. Coulson intervened, passing them his car keys and showing them his gun. While handing over the gun, pretending to be compliant, he quickly rendered both of them unconscious. He returned to the counter and bought two snacks, paid, told the clerk to keep the change and to tell the police that she was the one who defeated the gunmen.
Upon arriving in the desert of New Mexico, Coulson and his team discovered the crater site with the mysterious hammer at the center. They labeled the object an 0-8-4 and called in a team to analyze it. Though the locals had discovered the hammer before Coulson's team, no one had been able to lift or move it, not even with the help of their vehicles. Coulson and his men set up a perimeter and a base of operations surrounding the crater. Coulson also consulted with Elliot Randolph, since S.H.I.E.L.D. determined a link between the hammer and Norse mythology.
==== Meeting "Donald Blake" ====
Coulson was sent to confiscate all of the research about the mysterious wormhole that Jane Foster and her scientific team had collected. Coulson and his agents traveled to Puente Antiguo and confiscated all the scientists' equipment, despite Foster's protests. That same night, an unknown man infiltrated Coulson's base and single-handedly took out a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents using various fighting styles. Coulson observed from a distance, asking Clint Barton to prepare to take action against the intruder if necessary. When the attacker tried and failed to lift the hammer, a group of agents easily captured him.
Shortly after, Coulson interrogated the stranger about his identity and training, believing him to be a warrior of some type. The stranger refused to answer questions. The interrogation was interrupted when Erik Selvig arrived and informed Coulson that the stranger was Donald Blake, a member of his scientific staff. An agent confirmed Selving's story by running a background check in the computer database and finding a falsified document created by Foster. Though Coulson knew that Selvig was lying, he agreed to free "Blake," secretly assigning agents to follow Selvig and his friend.
==== Attacked by the Destroyer ====
A few days later, Jasper Sitwell discovered the coordinates of another potential crater site that appeared to have an exact signature match to the hammer. Upon investigation, Coulson and a unit of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents found a gigantic automaton of unknown origin. As the automaton slowly approached, Sitwell asked Coulson if the automaton was one of Tony Stark's inventions. Coulson replied that Stark had never said anything to him about it. Coulson then tried to speak with the automaton, but the iron giant attacked them.
Coulson survived the attack. When the automaton attacked Puente Antiguo, Coulson saw "Donald Blake" gaining mysterious supernatural powers. When "Blake" summoned the hammer and defeated the automaton, Coulson realized that he was actually Thor, the Norse God of Thunder and Prince of Asgard. Coulson confronted Thor, who offered his services in protecting Earth under the sole condition that Coulson return all of Foster's research and material. Coulson agreed to Thor's terms and requested that they be debriefed just before Thor flew upwards with Foster in his arms. Later, Coulson and Clint Barton supervised the transport of the automaton to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility.
=== New Missions ===
==== The Big Problem ====
: "They want Blonsky in the team.""The Abomination?""They really don't like when you call him that."
: ―Phil Coulson and Jasper Sitwell[src]
Coulson met with Jasper Sitwell in a cafe to discuss the news that The World Security Council had ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to recruit Emil Blonsky for the Avengers Initiative. Sitwell and Coulson disapproved. Coulson explained that the Council considered Blonsky a war hero and was pinning an incident in Harlem on Bruce Banner, though it was started by Blonsky after he transformed into the Abomination. After ensuring that Sitwell had the proper Clearance Level, he explained that Blonsky was not in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
Coulson and Sitwell agreed that releasing Blonsky from the Army's custody and adding him to the Avengers Initiative roster would be foolish. Because they were compelled by the WSC order, they decided to send someone to talk to General Ross who would be so irritating that Ross would simply refuse to free Blonsky. Not without reservations, Coulson decided to send Tony Stark. A few days later, Coulson and Sitwell met at the same cafe. Their plan had worked, as Stark's annoying behavior made Ross so angry that he refused to free Blonsky.
==== Russia ====
Sometime later, Natasha Romanoff was sent to Moscow to interrogate Mikhail Fjodorov, with Coulson in charge of the mission. After Fjodorov was killed, Romanoff cut off contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. and started chasing Sofia, who wanted to kill Romanoff and become the new Black Widow.
Coulson followed Chuzhoi and Rogusskii, who had been sent by Starodoub to kill Romanoff. Two of Coulson's agents were killed by Sofia, and Coulson arrived just in time to save Romanoff's life. He gave her the necessary equipment to infiltrate Yuri Klementiev's yacht, where she met Sofia again, an encounter which cost Gennady Markov his life.
After Coulson discovered Sofia's employer was the billionaire Richard Frampton, Natasha went and infiltrated his headquarters in Vladivostok. She learned that Frampton worked for the Ten Rings terrorist organization and that he had made a Jericho missile they intended to explode near the border between Russia and North Korea, destabilizing the peace. Romanoff destroyed the missile, and Coulson led a team of agents to the launch area, where they captured all surviving members of the Ten Rings.
==== Finding Captain America ====
A year after the Battle of Puente Antiguo, a group of scientists successfully reactivated the giant automaton that attacked the city. When Coulson saw this, he told the chief scientist to make the automaton a hundred times smaller and put a trigger on it. The resulting weapon was the Destroyer Armor Prototype Gun, and it marked the beginning of Phase 2 of the Tesseract project.
A few minutes later, Coulson was called by Nick Fury, who informed him that Steve Rogers had finally been found. When Coulson arrived at the place he had been found, he saw his colleagues excavating Rogers' completely frozen, but still living, body from the wreck of HYDRA's giant plane, the Valkyrie. However, there was no time for celebrating, as Fury immediately sent Coulson on another mission.
=== Chitauri Invasion ===
==== Loki's Attack ====
Coulson was at the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility when the Tesseract began behaving strangely. Nick Fury and Maria Hill were called in and, upon arrival, were met by Phil Coulson.
Fury asked for an update on the situation and Coulson reported that he did not know what was happening. Fury ordered an evacuation of the facility, and Coulson took charge of moving the Phase 2 prototypes to a safe distance. When the Tesseract was activated and Loki arrived on Earth to launch an invasion, the facility started collapsing. Coulson ordered the agents to abandon the prototypes and save themselves. They all boarded a helicopter and flew away from the destroyed facility. Fury then ordered Coulson to return to base as their mission was a level seven and they were now at war.
Worried about the safety of Jane Foster, Coulson told a fellow agent to contact her and make her a lucrative job offer at a S.H.I.E.L.D. observatory in Tromsø, Norway, which she accepted.
==== Contacting the Black Widow ====
With the Tesseract in the hands of a hostile demigod, Nick Fury decided to activate the Avengers Initiative and call to action a group of extraordinary people who could protect the planet better than S.H.I.E.L.D. The first candidate was Bruce Banner, but Fury needed Natasha Romanoff to convince Banner. Coulson called Romanoff on the phone, interrupting her interrogation. When Coulson told her that Clint Barton had gone rogue, Romanoff easily defeated Georgi Luchkov and his subordinates. While Coulson went to recruit Tony Stark, Romanoff traveled to Kolkata, India where she found Banner and convinced him to join S.H.I.E.L.D.
==== Visiting Tony Stark ====
Coulson attempted to contact Tony Stark, but Stark refused to answer his calls, forcing Coulson to override J.A.R.V.I.S.'s security protocols and visit Stark in person at Stark Tower. Coulson interrupted Stark's dinner with Pepper Potts and informed Stark that he was needed for the Avengers Initiative. Stark was reluctant to join, until Coulson gave him all the data about the Initiative and the Tesseract. Stark grudgingly agreed. Coulson then drove Potts to the airport while they discussed Audrey Nathan.
==== Meeting Captain America ====
Coulson's next assignment was to escort Steve Rogers to the Helicarrier. Rogers had joined the Avengers Initiative upon Fury's invitation. Aboard the Quinjet, Coulson asked Rogers to sign his vintage Captain America Card Collection, which he had gathered over two years. Coulson was awed by Rogers and revealed that Captain America had been a role model to him.
Once they boarded the Helicarrier, Coulson introduced Rogers to Natasha Romanoff. Romanoff told Coulson that he was needed on the bridge. When he reached the bridge, Coulson informed Bruce Banner that they were searching for the Tesseract, using cell phone signals, cameras, and wireless phones to find its location.
After the Avengers' first mission, Coulson said to Nick Fury that the team was not prepared to face their common enemy and that they needed to be motivated in some way.
When Stark managed to capture Loki in Stuttgart, Germany, Thor suddenly appeared and tried to take Loki back to Asgard. It was agreed that Thor would join the Avengers in their mission against Loki. The group assembled on the Helicarrier, where Thor informed them of Loki's plan to conquer the planet with the army of the Chitauri.
==== Death ====
Later, Coulson met with Thor, informing him that Jane Foster had been moved to a secure location, when Loki returned and put Erik Selvig under his control. Thor thanked Coulson for protecting Foster and said he believed Selvig was a good man, noting that Loki would have targeted him because of his friendship with Thor. Coulson explained that Selvig often spoke of his encounter with Thor.
A brainwashed Clint Barton attacked the Helicarrier with a group of brainwashed mercenaries, allowing Loki to escape from his prison cell. When Coulson reached Loki's cell, he found the Asgardian free and Thor trapped in his place. Coulson threatened Loki with a weapon created from Asgardian technology. Coulson was unaware that he was aiming the weapon at an illusion, while the real Loki snuck up behind him and stabbed him in the heart with his Scepter.
Mortally wounded, Coulson could do nothing to prevent Loki from ejecting Thor from the Helicarrier. Coulson told Loki that he was going to lose, and fired on Loki with the Destroyer Gun, sending him crashing through a wall. Fury reached Coulson just before he died, and Coulson told him it was O.K., that his death would give the Avengers something to fight for. Later, when the battle was over and lost, Fury let his agents know that Coulson had been killed by Loki. Fury used Coulson's death to motivate the divided Avengers into working together as a team. With Coulson as their inspiration, the Avengers defeated Loki, preventing his invasion.
=== Resurrection ===
==== The Procedure ====
Days after Coulson died, Nick Fury had his body taken to the Guest House, where S.H.I.E.L.D. medical staff used an experimental drug to repair his damaged organs at a cellular level, as a part of Project T.A.H.I.T.I. It took at least seven operations, but Fury's doctors were able to bring Coulson back to life. The process was extremely agonizing for Coulson, who begged the doctors to let him die.
Not long after he was resurrected, Coulson began to experience the same mental breakdowns suffered by other patients of Project T.A.H.I.T.I. He began carving alien symbols and screaming at his doctors that he needed to know what the symbols meant. Fearing that he could suffer a horrible death, the doctors chose to erase his memory.
Nick Fury and J. Streiten ordered that some of his memories be altered with a robotic-assisted neural micro-surgery, to make him believe that he had been revived in Tahiti. The fake memories were meant to help him cope with the pain. Coulson was also made to forget everything about Project T.A.H.I.T.I., including the fact he had headed the project. The details of his revival were restricted to Coulson. Streiten maintained that the methods used to restore Coulson to life were unethical and he felt that they should have let him die.
==== Recovery ====
Coulson was told that he had been dead for only eight seconds, but he suspected it was longer. He remembered being somewhere else, in a beautiful afterlife. Later, Coulson rejoined S.H.I.E.L.D. He wrote a report for Nick Fury detailing Chitauri weaponry on the black market and recalled the events surrounding Benjamin Pollack and Claire Wise's bank robberies using a Chitauri Gun, which S.H.I.E.L.D. labeled "Item 47."
=== The New Team ===
==== Recruiting FitzSimmons ====
Coulson arranged a meeting with Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons to recruit them as agents for his team.
When Fitz and Simmons arrived, they were both nervous to meet Coulson. Coulson thought that they were one person, because they were always referred to as "FitzSimmons". Coulson discussed their history at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, mentioning that they were the youngest students ever to graduate, and that they had conducted an unauthorized biofuel experiment, which resulted in an explosion.
Coulson was impressed with the scientists and invited them to join his team. Simmons was excited by the idea, but Fitz was initially afraid of going into the field. Simmons was able to convince him. Stationed on the Bus, the pair designed specialized equipment and compounds on the spot in various emergency situations.
==== The First Mission ====
While Maria Hill was meeting with Grant Ward, Coulson entered, revealing that he was not dead as everyone believed. They discussed their first assignment together, which was to locate and assist Mike Peterson, a known enhanced individual. Later, Coulson spoke with Hill about his time in Tahiti, but said he was more than happy to be back on the job. Hill and Dr. J. Streiten were reluctant to release Coulson for active duty, given the horrific nature of his recovery. They were astonished to learn that Coulson didn't know the truth about his death and resurrection. Hill told Streiten that Coulson could never know the truth.
Coulson went to visit Melinda May, whom he had worked with in the past. He asked her if she would join his team, promising that he would be picking the ops and making the calls. May was still haunted by her last mission with Coulson in Bahrain. She was reluctant to return to combat. Coulson told her that he only needed her to "drive the Bus."
Coulson arrived on the Bus in his car, Lola. As he and Ward explored the plane, Coulson disclosed that the Bus used to be standard issue for new teams until the Helicarriers were created. May appeared and said they had located one of the Rising Tide's most prolific hackers. Ward was more interested in the fact that May was part of the team, due to her legendary status as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson stressed that she was merely the pilot and was not there for combat missions.
==== Meeting Skye ====
During the new team's first mission, they encountered the Rising Tide "hacktivist" known as Skye. She had posted a video of Michael Peterson, the man S.H.I.E.L.D. was searching for, so they wanted her for questioning. Coulson and Grant Ward tracked Skye to her van, where they found her making a video about S.H.I.E.L.D. not being able to stop the Rising Tide. Coulson arrested her and brought her to the Bus.
Coulson and Ward Interrogated Skye. Coulson apologized for Ward's hostility, saying Ward had history with the Rising Tide. Coulson asked Skye where Peterson was and she claimed she didn't know anything. Then Coulson discover that Skye was on the scene when Peterson saved Debbie. During the interrogation, Coulson learned of Peterson's connection to the Centipede Project. To gain Skye's trust, Coulson pretended to give Ward a truth serum and Ward told Skye some low-level intel about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s activities. In return, Skye told Ward what little she knew about the Centipede project.
Using the information given by Skye, Leo Fitz, with the aid of the Echo Chamber, was able to recreate the CCTV footage of the explosion within the Centipede Project lab and determine its cause. Coulson confirmed that the explosion was the result of a man having been submitted to the unstable Extremis process. The video showed the exploding man had a Centipede Device locked onto his arm. By examining a damaged Centipede Device retrieved from the lab, Jemma Simmons learned that the Centipede Serum was very similar to the Super Soldier Serum developed by Abraham Erskine during World War II. The team began working on a plan to subdue Peterson, before he too exploded.
==== Chase of Michael Peterson ====
Michael Peterson kidnapped Skye and assaulted Melinda May. Skye managed to hack into the Bus's computers and alert the team to her and Peterson's location. Coulson and Grant Ward arrived at Union Station and Coulson tried to convince Peterson to surrender. Peterson punched the door off of Skye's Van and tried to escape with Skye and Ace Peterson into the building.
Coulson entered the building, trying to find Peterson to calm him down before he exploded and killed Skye and other civilians. Coulson was able to find Ace, who had been separated from his father. Coulson handed Ace to a police officer to take outside, and promised Ace that he would save his father. Coulson welcomed May as a third party arrived to try to kill Peterson. Coulson ordered Ward to the second floor of the building and take aim at Peterson, while he stayed on the first floor to make sure Peterson didn't escape. Coulson insisted that Ward only fire if he had to, and Ward reluctantly agreed.
Coulson caught up to Peterson and tried to talk him down. Coulson placed his gun down on the ground as a show of peace, but Peterson noticed Ward was upstairs aiming a rifle at him. Coulson said he knew that the Centipede Serum was poisoning Mike's body, reminding him that the man at the Centipede lab had gotten worked up and exploded. Peterson insisted he was not like that man. Peterson claimed that organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. were responsible for him losing his wife and job, angrily saying that the government was waiting to make an example of anyone who stood up against them, like he himself was doing. Coulson said that Peterson was a good man and that he could still become a true hero. Coulson promised to help him. Ward suddenly shot Peterson with the Night-Night Gun.
==== Recruiting Skye ====
After stopping Mike Peterson and getting him the help he needed, Coulson accompanied Skye to take Ace Peterson to stay with his aunt. As they left, Coulson asked Skye if she had thought about joining the team. Skye was undecided, so Coulson assured her that they could do some good. After getting a call from Grant Ward about an 0-8-4, Coulson and Skye flew back to the Bus in Lola.
==== Finding an 0-8-4 ====
Back on the Bus, Coulson was confronted by Grant Ward. Ward complained that Skye was not a trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and didn't belong on the team. Coulson argued that it was because Skye didn't think like an agent that they needed her. He pointed out that S.H.I.E.L.D. employed civilian consultants all the time, using Tony Stark as an example. Ward then informed Coulson that they have been called to Peru to investigate an 0-8-4, an unidentified object, at an archaeological site called Llactapata.
When Coulson and his team arrived on site in Peru, Skye volunteered to warn the local residents of the potential danger. Coulson, not wanting to start a panic, explained that he wanted to keep the investigation contained. He told Skye that she was only there to create a diversion if word did get out. The team was then led to the temple by an archaeologist, who showed them to the 0-8-4.
Once inside the temple, Coulson was contacted by Ward, after he and May had had a confrontation with a group of soldiers. Coulson went out to see what was happening and soon spotted the commanding officer. He recognized her as Camilla Reyes, with whom he had worked years earlier. Reyes wanted to claim the 0-8-4 for Peru. Coulson contended that an 0-8-4 superseded all national claims. The two began reminiscing, when a group of rebels attacked. Coulson's Team and Reyes' soldiers were forced to retreat to the Bus.
==== Hijacking and Retaking of the Bus ====
Ward was able to pry the 0-8-4 out of the wall of the temple before retreating. When everyone had boarded the Bus, Coulson gave orders to set a course for a nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. base to carry out a contingency protocol to contain and neutralize the artifact. Coulson approached May, saying he knew she had not wanted to see combat and he was sorry, but she remained silent. Coulson interrupted Ward, Simmons and Fitz, who were arguing over the artifact. He said that they all had special talents and ordered them to work it out. Coulson then gave Reyes a tour of the Bus.
In his office, Coulson showed Reyes some of his collectibles. She tried to seduce him, but Coulson recognized it as a ruse and knew Reyes and her men were trying to hijack the plane. Coulson told her that Grant Ward should already know that her men would need to eliminate Melinda May from the controls to be successful. Coulson tried to reach May, but was forced to surrender after learning his team was being held hostage. He gave control of the plane to Reyes.
Coulson was tempted to let Reyes kill him rather than give her information on the plane's destination, but Reyes threatened to kill his entire team by dumping them from the cargo bay where they were imprisoned. Coulson learned that the 0-8-4 had been made shortly after World War II by a group of former HYDRA scientists, commissioned by the Peruvian government to use against the rebels. It had been lost during a battle because of its temporal instability, which caused it to vanish and reappear within the stone that the temple had been built around.
Coulson had loosened his bonds, when he saw one of Fitz's drones flying through the cabin. He guessed what was about to happen and used his ropes to tie himself to a post. Fitz caused the 0-8-4 to discharge, blasting a hole in the side of the plane, causing all of the interior doors on the plane to open. Coulson, Reyes, and several soldiers were sucked towards the hole. Coulson managed to pull himself out of harm's way, taking Reyes with him.
==== Meeting with Nick Fury ====
The Bus arrived at the Slingshot facility in the desert, where the 0-8-4 was to be launched into the sun. Skye asked Coulson why they had gone to the trouble of acquiring the object, if they were just going to destroy it. Coulson explained that the 0-8-4 was too dangerous for any one country or organization to possess.
Following his mission in Peru, Coulson went and met with Nick Fury, who was angry at Coulson because of the damage done to the Bus. Fury also warned Coulson that Skye might still be loyal to the Rising Tide. He then ordered Coulson not to let Simmons and Fitz install their fish tank on the plane.
==== Infiltration into Ian Quinn's Mansion ====
The team received a call that a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist named Dr. Franklin Hall had been kidnapped in an incident involving an invisible substance picking up and throwing down trucks. The team investigated and Fitz and Simmons learned that an element called Gravitonium, which could change the effects of gravity, had been used.
Coulson and Ward tracked down the supplier of the vehicles and equipment used in the attack, leading them to Todd Chesterfield who had been paid in gold. When they learned where the gold had originated, they discovered that Hall was being kept by Ian Quinn.
Skye successfully infiltrated Quinn's Mansion and, Coulson and Ward were able to break into the compound. Coulson located Dr. Hall and tried to convince him to leave, but Hall claimed that the Gravitonium was too dangerous to be in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Quinn. Coulson learned Hall's plan was to sink the complex thereby destroying the Gravitonium and Quinn. Coulson realized that if Hall succeeded, thousands of people would be killed, so he shot the glass beneath them, causing Hall to fall into the Gravitonium, which appeared to absorb him.
Back on the Bus, Coulson instructed agent Tyler to put the Gravitonium in the Fridge, a S.H.I.E.L.D. detainment and storage facility, and claimed he wanted nobody to know about its existence, honoring Hall's wishes. After ending the call, Coulson tried to remember how to load a gun. Melinda May entered his office saying that she didn't enjoy these close encounters, which Coulson understood to mean that she was still uncomfortable about field work, but she corrected him, saying that she was ready to return to the field. Coulson questioned whether she meant combat or watching his back. May replied that it meant the same thing.
==== Searching for Akela Amador ====
Coulson went to see Skye in a S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV. He discussed several types of heists, telling Skye he needed her to figure out how someone had been exploiting security systems in a string of recent jewel thefts.
Coulson, Melinda May and Skye went to investigate a robbery on a train, where a group of military officers escorting some diamonds were taken down by a lone woman with her eyes closed. They learned from Skye through social media that the assailant was Akela Amador, who was Coulson's old protégé. Coulson told how Amador was a former agent who had supposedly gone rogue after a bad mission. Coulson decided to hold off on informing HQ so that he could investigate for himself.
Coulson and Grant Ward retraced her steps and tried to locate her, arriving in Zloda, Belarus. They spoke to an Innkeeper who claimed that Amador was an angel because she had correctly sensed the woman had a tumor, which made Amador's abilities more of a mystery. While they were continuing their investigation, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons traced a video signal that seemed to show Amador's point of view. They quickly realized that Amador was looking at them. Fitz, Simmons, and Skye were in a van that was attacked by Amador, who drove into the van's side, knocking it over.
Coulson and his team were fine, but the attack solidified Amador's position as an enemy. Skye was able to decrypt the broadcast and the team discovered that the source of the video was coming from Amador's own right eye, which was a prosthetic. Watching the video feed from her eye, they learned that Amador was being controlled by an unknown person. Coulson remained adamant that the team needed to help her on their own without reporting to HQ. Coulson realized that they could determine Amador's position if they continued to monitor the video feed from her eye.
Coulson found out that May was attempting to bring Amador to HQ. May and Amador began fighting. Coulson arrived before Amador could kill May and sedated Amador with the Night-Night Gun. Coulson waited for Amador to wake up, then revealed to her that his team had rerouted her eye's signal to a pair of glasses being worn by Ward as he carried out the operator's directives with Skye, giving the rest of the team time to disable the failsafe. Knowing she was safe, Amador was able to reconcile with Coulson, her former mentor, explaining to him that if she had followed orders, she wouldn't have been in that situation.
Coulson with May's assistance, tracked down Amador's operator, named the Englishman, only to discover that he too was being controlled by a third party when a kill switch in a similar eye implant killed him. With the case resolved for now, Coulson discussed the loose ends with Amador before saying his goodbyes and handing her over to S.H.I.E.L.D. authorities. He promised her a fair trial, but Amador was simply happy to finally be free of the eye implant's control. As she left, Amador asked May what had happened to Coulson, noting a difference in him. May recounted how he had almost died before the Battle of New York, but Amador said that something had been done to him, before dropping the subject, leaving May confused. Later, Coulson joined Skye in the SUV and talked about the recent mission.
==== Skye's Secret ====
Coulson introduced his team to Quan Chen, leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Hong Kong district who told them that meta-human Chan Ho Yin had been kidnapped. Skye, surprised to find out there were other people with powers, was told by Coulson that Chan was on the Index, a short list of people with incredible abilities kept by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Skye claimed that she was innocent, noting that she has been on the Bus with the team for the last two weeks, but Coulson claimed this would have given her the perfect opportunity to hack S.H.I.E.L.D. Backed by Grant Ward, Skye set out to prove her innocence by helping them find the hacker who sent the leak. In Texas, the team attempted to capture Miles Lydon, an experienced Rising Tide hacker, but he managed to escape them.
Coulson, Melinda May and Quan, along with other agents, infiltrated the lab. Ward released Skye when Coulson told them they needed her help to hack the facility's system. After the agents freed Chan, he quickly killed Quan, claiming that no matter who he went with he would never be able to use his gift. Chan began to attack the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents present, despite his powers causing him pain and burning his skin. Coulson and May injected Chan with an extremely high dose of the Centipede serum, causing Chan's body to overheat and explode. However, with Lydon's help they managed to transfer the energy from the explosion out of the building and into the sky, saving the civilians. Coulson thanked Lydon before kicking him off the plane.
Coulson then turned his attention to Skye and claimed that ever since she got on the plane she had been hiding something. He ordered her to confess or he would be done with her. Skye revealed a chip that had all of the existing information on her parents, from which she only found a single file docketed by S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson decided to let her stay, but in return she would have to wear a Tracking Bracelet that let S.H.I.E.L.D. track her every move, and limited her ability to interact with electronic devices without permission.
==== Chitauri Virus ====
Coulson underwent several medical tests which Simmons questioned, saying that he was not due for a physical for another three months. Coulson said he got a call from his physical therapist and had told her that he had been feeling "rusty".
Coulson and his team headed to the campsite. The team investigated the earlier incident as Fitz and Simmons discovered mysterious electrostatic anomalies and examined a hole in Cross's head. As Simmons went closer to examine Cross's corpse, static discharged from his body before it fell to the ground. On the Bus, Skye researched Cross but claimed that he was clean of any criminal record. Ward said that everyone looks clean on their first "go around". Coulson told Ward he was being too hard on Skye but Ward said that if she wanted their trust back she had to earn it. Coulson defended Skye saying that what she had just done was a good start. Coulson came down to the lab with Simmons who analyzed the victim's body while Fitz stayed out of the lab, expressing a general apprehension and disgust for being around dead things. Simmons showed Coulson the brain of the victim which had been struck by 2,000 megajoules of electricity.
Coulson, May, and Ward quickly drove to the new location with Skye, pinpointing the event to a farmhouse not far away. Coulson told Skye to do a background check on the owner of the farm. The energy signature suddenly disappeared and Ward, May, and Coulson arrived too late to save the owner, Frank Whalen. Coulson, Ward, and May traveled to the local firehouse where Tony Diaz exhibited strange behavior before retreating to the kitchen. Diaz claimed to hear a noise similar to the one heard by Cross earlier. Coulson said that he heard nothing, before noticing a pan lifting in the air. Alarmed, Coulson held Diaz at gunpoint. May contacted Coulson, reporting her discovery of a Chitauri Helmet.
Coulson asked how they got it, and Diaz said it was a souvenir from their clean up work in New York. He claimed that he, Cross, and Whalen were only cleaning it, leading Simmons to realize that Diaz was infected and that the helmet must have had an alien virus on it. Diaz, realizing he was going to end up like his friends, slowly became erratic and frightened. Coulson told Ward and May to evacuate everyone from the building. Coulson stayed, and comforted Diaz during his last moments, sharing his experience from his own brief death, before leaving Diaz to his fate.
Coulson returned to the Bus and told Simmons to begin developing a cure. Simmons told Coulson that the infection was spread through electrostatic energy, as a shock. In the middle of her explanation, a lab tool hovered ominously behind Simmons. Coulson apologized sincerely, and locked her in the lab, as he realized Simmons was infected. Coulson reassured his team that Simmons would find a way to cure herself. Coulson contacted Felix Blake to find out more about the virus. Blake told them they had no record of the virus, but in order to save the rest of the team, they must put their infected agent down. Coulson tried to buy time to avoid this protocol by hanging up on Blake.
Coulson revealed to May that he ordered the physical exam for himself, because of his own doubts. She told him to unbutton his shirt, which revealed the scar left behind by Loki, and she told him that he felt different because he was different. Coulson met with Blake, and Blake warned him that if he kept pulling stunts like this, the "higher-ups" would take the team away from him. Coulson brushed the comment off, and told Blake he would like to see them try. Blake left, jovially noting the change in Coulson's disposition.
==== Returning to The Hub ====
At an unknown location, a captured Coulson was escorted to a torture room to be interrogated. When the interrogator arrived Coulson informed him that his cover had been blown, revealing the interrogator to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Shaw. May and Ward arrived to take out the other men and free Coulson before making their way out of the facility. Together, the agents escaped what was revealed to be an underground base in Siberia, where they used a pair of sleds to escape back to the Bus.
Coulson informed the rest of the team, but noted that the data was clearance level 8 and beyond their priorities. However, Skye questioned this, alarmed at being shut out of the process so quickly and that the rest of the team wasn't privy to the same information as Coulson. Ward countered that every agent can't have the same information, claiming that it would make the entire organization vulnerable. At the Hub, Coulson was asked by Skye if she could research S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data for information about her parents. Coulson told her they had more important things to do, but that he would look into it for her. Jasper Sitwell greeted the group and told Coulson, May, and Ward to join him for the briefing, locking Skye out again as Leo Fitz and Simmons opted to check out the science labs. Coulson, May, and Ward were introduced to Victoria Hand, who informed them that the South Ossetian rebels had developed a weapon called the Overkill Device, which they planned to use to declare their independence from Russia and Georgia. Hand explained that the device was designed to create sonic vibrations that were powerful enough to trigger and disable enemy weapons from a great distance, a technology that posed a wide-sweeping threat.
Before Ward went on his mission, Coulson told him to take care of Fitz, who had next to no field experience. Coulson and Hand discussed his recovery, they noted that not all agents got sent to Tahiti, and Coulson once again strangely responded that it was a magical place. Coulson reassured Hand that Ward and Fitz would complete the mission. Coulson met up with Skye in the hallways of the Hub. She tried to get answers from Coulson, but he coldly told her to "trust the system". With no other way to get answers, Skye decided to come up with a plan for her and Simmons to get the information they need. Coulson found May alone aboard the Bus practicing Tai Chi. May remained silent as he confessed that he did not like hiding information from the team, but realized that he must trust the system.
Coulson confronted Hand about hiding the fact that there was no extraction plan for his agents, claiming that as a level 8, he had a right to know their safety was ensured. Hand pointed out that Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton never had an extraction plan. Coulson retorted that they were aware of it going into the field. Hand simply told him to trust the system. Coulson rejoined the team and they set out to go help Ward and Fitz. Coulson told Skye that he found the file on her parents, and informed her that it was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who left her at the orphanage. Skye emotionally thanked him for the information. Coulson revealed to May in private that he only told her part of the truth and asked for May's help in the rest. Later, Coulson made a phone call to gain information about his mysterious recovery. The agent told him that he didn't have access to the file, despite his clearance level.
==== Berserker Staff ====
Coulson and his team were assigned as part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. clean-up crew after Thor's battle with Malekith and the Dark Elves. While they cleaned up Greenwich University, which was affected by the battle, Coulson explained to Skye about the origins of Asgardians.
Coulson and his team went to investigate the death of Bjorn. Coulson talked to Neils as Simmons discovered that whatever was in the tree was not of earthly origin, and Fitz confirmed that the staff was Asgardian. Coulson tried to get more details from the Ranger when Skye called to say something was happening on the news. Violence had breaken out in the streets of Oslo, resulting in twenty injured civilians. The news revealed that the riot was started by the same couple who had written a startling message on the streets: WE ARE GODS.
Skye asked Coulson to call Thor for help. Coulson states that he did but Nick Fury told him that Thor had gone "off the grid". Coulson then tells them that when Mjølnir landed in New Mexico they consulted an expert on Norse Mythology, Elliot Randolph. Coulson went to meet with Randolph and he told them the story of an Asgardian warrior, part of an army campaign who fell in love with Earth and stayed behind, who possessed a weapon called the Berserker Staff which granted the user incredible strength but drove him into an uncontrollable rage.
Coulson and his team headed to Baffin Island, Canada because Randolph told him to look for clues there. While there he checked in with Skye who doing research online. She had found numerous negative comments left by people regarding the battle in Greenwich. But she did hear chatter about going underground, meaning the Paganists were searching for the next piece of the Asgardian staff underground. Coulson and Fitz followed, only to find the empty-handed Randolph. Coulson took Randolph aboard the Bus for questioning. Coulson tried to get answers out of Randolph but he claimed he only wanted the staff to study it. Coulson explained that from his past experiences with Asgardians, cases like this were personal to him. He told Randolph to get comfortable.
==== Last Piece ====
Ward told Coulson that the Asgardian Staff seemed to be bringing up his worst memory. Coulson replied that the fact Ward was telling him that made him feel like he could trust him, and suggested that Ward let some of his rage out on Randolph. Ward entered the room and attempted to get answers from Randolph. When he did not cooperate, Ward tried to stab him but Randolph twisted and bent the knife, confirming Coulson's theory that Randolph was the Asgardian warrior who stayed behind.
Coulson revealed to Randolph how he found out about his heritage, noting he was not the first Asgardian he had had in his custody and said that Asgardians do not panic when in captivity. Coulson also noted the professor's pen, saying he would not have been able to get it on his salary. Coulson also noticed how Randolph was not curious to learn how he had met other aliens. While the team was amazed by Randolph's presence, May locked the interrogation room on Coulson's orders.
The group arrived at the monastery, in time to see Nystrom stab Randolph with the staff. Ward reluctantly grabbed the staff and attacked Nystrom, whom he managed to defeat. Meanwhile, Simmons was having trouble stopping Randolph's bleeding since she was unfamiliar with his alien anatomy. Coulson stuck his hand into Randolph's wound and told them that since Asgardians heal faster, all they had to do was keep him alive long enough for his body to heal itself. Simmons told Coulson to look for his heart. Coulson found Randolph's heart and managed to save him by stopping the bleeding.
=== The Truth Revealed ===
==== Rescue of Hannah Hutchins ====
Coulson was tempted to touch the staff to figure out his the details of resurrection, but Randolph convinced him against it. Later, Coulson woke up on a massage table and asked his masseuse if he fell asleep. She replied that it meant he was relaxed. He agreed and said that Tahiti was too good to be true. The masseuse said, "It's a magical place." At that, Coulson woke up in his bed from the nightmare.
Coulson and Skye discussed Hannah Hutchins who was the safety inspector at StatiCorp. People suspected her of having telekinetic abilities, as she appeared to be able to move objects with her mind. Skye asked Coulson about it, and he told her that telekinetic powers were unheard of on the Index. The team traveled to Batesville to conduct an index asset evaluation and intake. Civilians had crowded around Hutchins's house, demanding that she be arrested. Coulson's team and the police were unable to calm the citizens, prompting May to sedate Hutchins. On the Bus, Coulson asked May to go into the interrogation room with him, both for protection and to get Hutchins to trust them. Coulson and May entered the Cage and Hutchins awoke and started backing up against the wall, scared. Coulson tried to appear friendly, and gave her a bottle of water and introduced himself and May. Coulson's gentle interrogation of Hutchins pulled up more information about the Staticorp accident.
Apparently, Hutchins had been receiving complaints for weeks about the coupling assembly coming loose at the bolts. Tobias Ford had been the technician there. Hutchins had gone down every few days to check the bolts and found no more issues. Coulson informed her that they believed she may have acquired some sort of telekinetic ability as a result of the accident. Hutchins broke down as she realized they thought it was her who had caused the freak accidents. Coulson explained that all of the incidents had one thing in common: her. Hutchins insisted that they were not her doing, and Coulson asked who she believed was causing it. After hesitation, she admitted to believing demons were haunting her because God did not protect her anymore.
Coulson and his team discussed Hutchins. Skye insisted that Hutchins was "overly nice"; she took the job as safety manager because she actually cared about people's lives, and she volunteered at a shelter and rescued puppies. Skye pointed out that person like Hutchins, who had lots of empathy would be completely devastated by the loss of life. Hutchins blamed herself. Skye begged Coulson to let her talk to Hutchins as a friend, but Coulson denied her request, saying it was too dangerous. In his office, Coulson set Skye straight about May's past. It was not an assault or a rescue. It was an index asset evaluation and intake that "went south."
A civilian girl and some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were being held captive by the followers of the gifted individual. May had gone in to retrieve them and took it upon herself to cross off the enemy force. Coulson said that May was never the same after that incident. He said she had once been warm and mischievous, much like Skye. Their talk was interrupted by Ford, who locked Skye and Coulson in the office. Coulson constructed a makeshift bomb out of his collectible Walkie-Talkie Wristwatch, though it pained him to destroy it. Later, Coulson praised Skye on her ability to read people and learn how their minds work. He said that was why he wanted her to pay close attention to this mission because he knew that one day she would be very good at it. Later, Coulson, Skye, Ward, and Simmons played "Upwords" in the lounge. Fitz walked into the lounge with shaving cream covering his face and hand. The team burst out laughing.
==== Recruiting Mike Peterson ====
Coulson recruited Mike Peterson to his team as super-soldier support. Soon, soldiers working for the Centipede Project sprang Edison Po from prison after perfecting the Centipede serum. Coulson's Team traced a Centipede-powered soldier, Brian Hayward, to an abandoned factory and walked into an ambush by a squad of Centipede-powered soldiers. When Po and Raina saw that Peterson still had his powers despite not having had an injection in quite some time, they realized he was the key to Stage 3 of their plan.
Coulson's team discovered that the soldiers had been subjected to the same eye procedure that Akela Amador had underwent. Po told Raina that he informed the Clairvoyant about her. Raina asked who the Clairvoyant was and Po replied that the last person who tried to learn the identity of the Clairvoyant had received a knife in the eye. Coulson and Ward went on a mission to investigate Brian Hayward, one of the Centipede Soldiers who was identified on the CCTV footage. As they drove to the location of Hayward's sister, Ward managed to get Coulson to open up about his previous relationship, which included dinners at the Richmond. When they met the sister of Hayward, Ward approached her telling her Heyward had won the lottery and needed to contact them. They traced her call when she called her brother to tell him what had happened, giving them the current location of Centipede.
==== Kidnapped by Centipede Project ====
Mike Peterson tried to contact his son, Ace Peterson, and learned that he has been kidnapped by Project Centipede. Peterson appeared to offer himself in exchange for his son's release. Coulson escorted Peterson to the exchange where Peterson revealed that Centipede actually wanted Coulson in exchange for Ace, not himself, but he hesitated go through with the betrayal. Coulson told Peterson it was okay, understanding that he had no other choice.
Coulson was initially tortured by Edison Po, who told him that the Clairvoyant couldn't glean the information they wanted because the Clairvoyant had been unable to sense Coulson since his resurrection. The Clairvoyant decided that Po's methods were ineffective and killed him, after which Raina took over Coulson's interrogation. She used a scanning device to compel him to remember aspects of his being brought back to life. Coulson experienced flashbacks in which a reluctant Dr. J. Streiten and others operated on him. During the flashbacks, Coulson's skull cap was removed and his brain was directly stimulated by a robotic apparatus, while Coulson begged to be allowed to die. Coulson's team rescued him, after which he confronted Streiten, who told Coulson he had been dead for days, not minutes, and was resurrected at the orders of Nick Fury. Streiten reveals that after his revival, Coulson had lost the will to live, and that the doctors manipulated Coulson's brain to give him false memories and restore him to the man he was before.
==== Skye's Story ====
While Skye and the rest of the team visited S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Science and Technology, Coulson and Melinda May traveled to Mexico City, Mexico, where they tracked down former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Richard Lumley, who had been involved with Skye's case and fell off the grid soon after. Lumley told Coulson the story of that long-ago op. Shortly after returning home, the other agents involved in the op began to be eliminated until only he and Linda Avery remained. Avery took steps to hide Skye in the foster care system. She made sure Skye would never be in one home for too long, before Avery was murdered herself. Coulson, tired of secrets, revealed this to Skye. He feared that learning of all of the lives lost on her behalf would shatter her spirit, however, Skye's resilience surprised him. She was grateful that S.H.I.E.L.D. had protected her all of these years and considered them to be the family that she never had.
==== The Mysterious Weapon ====
Upon learning of Ian Quinn's ties to the Clairvoyant, Coulson focused his team's efforts on finding and apprehending Quinn. After the mission at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Science and Technology, the team was informed by John Garrett about some mysterious weapon in Jamaica. The team went to the town of Negril and found the weapon. After some skirmish with the guards they managed to get the weapon onboard the Bus and fly off. Once they examined the weapon, Skye was able to hack the weapon's code and track its origin to the remote town of Limoux, France. During the flight to France, Coulson had a video conversation with Garrett about the weapon and Garrett's former protege, Agent Ward.
=== Tracking the Clairvoyant ===
==== Cybertek ====
The team found records of Quinn making a ten-million dollar purchase from Cybertek. Coulson believed that Cybertek would deliver the purchase to Quinn personally, so his team went undercover. Coulson made arrangements with the Italian authorities to allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to take over the investigations on Cybertek. He placed his team on the train on which Cybertek security chief, Carlo Mancini, was traveling to make the delivery to Quinn.
Unfortunately, Coulson and his team were betrayed by local officer Luca Russo, who was working with Cybertek, and was being paid large amounts of money to ensure that Cybertek's deliveries went unhindered. Coulson, and Agents Grant Ward and Melinda May, were separated from the train, leaving only Agents Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and Skye to track the delivery.
Coulson managed to track down his team, Cybertek and Quinn to a mansion on the Italian countryside. He arrived too late prevent the delivery of Quinn's purchase from Cybertek, a prosthetic leg. The leg had been made for captured former S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee, Michael Peterson, in the Clairvoyant's efforts to transform Peterson into the cybernetic assassin called "Deathlok". Coulson was also too late to prevent Quinn from shooting Skye twice in the stomach at the behest of the Clairvoyant. After taking Quinn into custody, Coulson found the wounded Skye and called for Simmons. Simmons managed to temporarily prevent Skye from dying by placing her into a Hyperbaric Chamber, which lowered her core body temperature for the two-hour transport to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trauma Zentrum in Switzerland.
==== The Guest House ====
Coulson tried to contact Nick Fury for answers. Dr. Jazuat told the team that Skye could only remain alive on life support. In grief, Coulson and his team returned to the Bus. Enraged, May began to beat Quinn senseless until Coulson ordered her out. Coulson decided that they would look for a way to save Skye's life, like the doctors had for him. Coulson explained to Ward, Fitz, and Simmons what actually happened in "Tahiti".
Coulson greeted John Garrett, Ward's former S.O, as he boarded the Bus and asked for Quinn. Coulson explained to him the situation and convinced him to help them save Skye, but not before a fight broke out between Ward and Garrett's new trainee, Agent Antoine Triplett. Coulson and Garrett stopped the fight, explaining that Garrett convinced HQ to let him interrogate Quinn. Coulson and Garrett entered the box with Quinn, who explained that he wasn't feeling very cooperative. Garrett grabbed Quinn's tongue as he was speaking, and threatened to tear it out. They began to question him regarding Project Deathlok. Quinn told them that the last person to ask about that program wound up with "two in the stomach", and Coulson almost punched him. Coulson asked if he shot Skye because she saw what they were delivering to him. Quinn responded that he did it because the Clairvoyant told him to.
Coulson argued that the Clairvoyant must have had something pretty deep on Quinn to make him shoot an unarmed girl. Quinn explained several occurrences with Garrett's Team as proof of The Clairvoyant's powers. He said that The Clairvoyant saw everything, except how Coulson returned. It was revealed that The Clairvoyant planned everything that happened so that Coulson would dig deeper into his own death and return in order to save Skye.
Coulson was told by May and Simmons that they were not sure they should dig deeper, partly because Fitz and Simmons didn't fully understand the file. Coulson insisted that they had to do everything possible, even if it meant giving the Clairvoyant what he wanted. May told Coulson that she agreed they should do whatever it took to save Skye. Coulson and the team prepared to enter the Guest House, which was not a S.H.I.E.L.D base, figuring that there might be hostiles. Agents Triplett and May were left aboard the Bus in case their skills were needed there. The field team reached the doors, only to be greeted with the protocol sentence, "How was the drive from Istanbul?" After many attempts to convince the occupants to help (while they repeated the same sentence three times), they decided they needed to say "pretty please" and broke into the hostile environment. Communications went down, but they continued in spite of it.
Coulson found the operating room where he was resurrected, and experienced flashbacks of the horrific procedure. Garrett and Ward continued to look for the triggering device after figuring out that the timer was separate from the actual explosive. Coulson entered an area marked for radiation and refused to put on a suit despite Fitz's warning, because there was no time.
Coulson was found by Garrett, who told him not to let Skye take the drug. They barely made it back on the Bus, which took off in a huge explosion. Coulson entered the medical pod yelling for them to not administer the drug, but Simmons had already proceeded. Coulson was confronted by May, who congratulated him for doing the impossible by saving Skye, and asked why he was not happy about it. Coulson flashed back to entering the room marked T.A.H.I.T.I. and finding that the drug was being extracted from half of a corpse of an unknown alien in a cryotube. He concealed this from May, saying that he did not want Skye to suffer as he had. He left to sit with Skye as she recovered.
==== Working with Lady Sif ====
Coulson and his team investigated an energy reading in the desert, consistent with the imminent arrival of Asgardians. They encountered Sif, who had come to Earth seeking Lorelei. Sif explained that Lorelei had escaped imprisonment in Asgard during the attack of the Dark Elves, and that to neutralize her power to control the minds of men, she would have to fit a special collar around Lorelei's neck that prevented her from speaking.
Coulson and his team, along with Sif, arrive at Rosie's Desert Oasis, where they met with policemen who were already enthralled by Lorelei. The police shot at them. While Coulson and Ward dealt with the policemen and the Dogs of Hell who were stationed outside the building, Sif entered and confronted Lorelei who was accompanied by several Dogs of Hell. Lorelei enthralled Ward and the two escaped together. When Coulson, Sif, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. team caught up with them, the two were nowhere to be found. The team realized it was too late. Ward and Lorelei, planning to eliminate any threats to Lorelei's rule, had commandeered the Bus, with help from an enchanted Fitz, who had locked Sif in the interrogation room, and imprisoned Simmons and Skye in the recovery room. Coulson, pretending to be under Lorelei's power as well, learned of Simmons' location and freed her. Lorelei encountered May and claimed that Ward revealed to her that despite their sexual relationship, his heart was with someone other than May.
The team defeated Lorelei. Sif thanked Coulson for the team's aid and said that she would bring Lorelei back to Asgard on Odin's orders. She said she would let Coulson be the one to tell Thor he was not deceased. Coulson approached Skye and confesses that he discovered that the drug used to revive them both was alien in origin. Despite how disturbed Coulson was by this fact, Skye remained optimistic. Coulson swore they would get answers, beginning with tracking down the Clairvoyant. He ordered Skye to keep the origin of the drug a secret until Fury gave them the truth.
==== Chasing Deathlok ====
Coulson and his team went to an abandoned racetrack where they found Deathlok and Thomas Nash. Nash was later killed by Grant Ward because Nash appeared to be the Clairvoyant.
Coulson grew concerned because the case was solved too easily. When Skye discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. psychological files had the same information the Clairvoyant knew, Coulson realized that the Clairvoyant was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, not a psychic. Believing that Ward killed Nash to cover up his tracks, Coulson interrogated him and Ward denied having any association with the Centipede Project. Skye entered to tell Coulson that Melinda May had a secret phone line on the plane. Coulson, believing that May was working with the Clairvoyant, held her at gunpoint. Suddenly, Victoria Hand took over the Bus and ordered her men to kill everyone on board except Coulson, whom she wanted taken alive.
=== HYDRA Uprising ===
==== Battle at the Hub ====
After Captain America exposed to the public that HYDRA had been growing inside of S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA agents sent out a secret message to other agents that it was time to reveal themselves. Coulson and his team, along with Agent John Garrett, received the message and concluded that Victoria Hand must be the Clairvoyant. Hand was leading them to the Hub to be killed, and knowing that Jemma Simmons was there, Coulson's Team and Garrett decided to fight their way through the teams of HYDRA agents to rescue Simmons and capture Hand.
Coulson argued with Garrett about whether they should kill Hand or just capture her. Coulson figured out that Garrett was the Clairvoyant, when Garrett accidentally revealed that Raina and Coulson were both in the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine, something Coulson did not include in his report. Coulson then realized that Garrett had masterminded everything, including his torture and Skye's being shot, all so Coulson could lead Garrett to the Guest House. Suddenly, a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents burst in. Coulson ordered them to arrest Garrett, identifying him as the true Clairvoyant. Garrett ordered the HYDRA sleeper agents in the team to execute the legitimate S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Coulson rejected Garrett's offer to join HYDRA. As Garrett prepared to execute all of them, the group was rescued when Skye and Grant Ward successfully blew up the main generator.
Coulson and the team then subdued Garrett and his men, as Hand arrived having heard Garrett's confession. The true S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took all HYDRA agents into custody. Hand told Coulson to stay in contact. With Nick Fury presumed dead, they were the two highest ranking agents alive who were not HYDRA.
==== How to Survive ====
After the attack on the Hub, Colonel Glenn Talbot contacted Coulson and told him that he would be sending a peacekeeping force to establish order. Coulson, seeing through Talbot's lie, immediately left the Hub with his team and Agent Antoine Triplett. After taking off on the Bus, Coulson, knowing that every government agency would be after them, had Skye collect everyone's badges and delete all of their information. Coulson received some coordinates. Believing that only Nick Fury could have sent them, Coulson took a leap of faith and followed the coordinates. They led to a secret base called Providence. There they met Agent Eric Koenig, who revealed to Coulson that Fury was indeed still alive. Koenig threatened Coulson not to inform the rest of his team, as only he, Captain America, and Maria Hill were trusted to know Fury's status.
==== The Cellist ====
Grant Ward soon arrived at Providence. He told the group that HYDRA had raided the Fridge, taken all of the weapons S.H.I.E.L.D. had recovered, and released the entire criminal population. That included Marcus Daniels, a man Coulson had put away after he began stalking Coulson's former lover, Audrey Nathan. Coulson took Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and Antoine Triplett to search for Daniels. When Coulson and his team encountered Daniels in the park, he revealed to them that S.H.I.E.L.D had made him stronger. They realized that Daniels would not stop until he got Audrey. The team convinced a reluctant Coulson to use Audrey to draw Daniels out so that they could subdue him with concentrated light powered by the Gamma Power Reserve. The plan was successful and Daniels was killed. On their way back from Portland, Coulson decided to forgive Melinda May for keeping secrets. He realized that he would not be able to accept forgiveness from Audrey (for hiding from her after his resurrection) until he was willing to forgive others. When the team returned to Providence, however, they found the base empty. May, Eric Koenig, Skye, and Grant Ward were gone.
==== The Shield That Protects ====
As the others who returned with him from Portland tried to get their bearings, Coulson repeatedly watched Providence's security footage in hopes of learning what happened to his missing team members. When Jemma Simmons found Eric Koenig's body and Leo Fitz found a message from Skye saying, "Ward is HYDRA," they knew Skye was in trouble and needed their help. Colonel Glenn Talbot found them with help from Maria Hill.
After Coulson explained to her the situation, Hill assisted Coulson's Team in escaping from Providence to Los Angeles and acted as a distraction so Coulson could board the Bus, where Skye and Ward were located. Unknown to Coulson, Deathlok was also on board. As the Bus ascended and Deathlok and Ward attacked, Coulson rescued Skye using Lola. They landed outside a hotel, where the team and Melinda May, who had returned, met to rest. Before he could rest, May gave Coulson the information he wanted: who had led Project T.A.H.I.T.I.. Surprisingly, it was Coulson himself who had led the project, before resigning and asking Nick Fury not to use it.
==== Hunt for John Garrett ====
The next morning, Coulson met with his team to make plans to stop John Garrett and retrieve the Bus. Coulson decided that he and Melinda May should go undercover as unemployed S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists seeking work atCybertek in order to obtain information on Deathlok, in the hopes it would lead them to Garrett. Coulson learned that John Garrett was "patient zero," the first Deathlok. Eventually, Coulson's team found the Barbershop Headquarters in Havana, Cuba Garrett was using. When they entered, they were surrounded by Centipede Soldiers and Kaminsky with the Berserker Staff.
==== Battle at Cybertek ====
Coulson and his team fought their way out, after Skye hacked the Barbershop Headquarters' computers. They decided to take the fight to John Garrett using a tracker Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons had planted on the Bus.
After landing at the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility in New Mexico, Coulson and Antoine Triplett created a diversion and stole a heavily armed armored Humvee and stormed the facility. Inside, Coulson confronted Garrett and Deathlok. After being thrown around by Garrett in a fight, Coulson was joined by Director Nick Fury, who gave him the Destroyer Armor Gun. Coulson and Fury took out the other Centipede Soldiers then confronted Garrett, as Deathlok targeted them. However, Deathlok turned on Garrett. Garrett tried to convince Coulson to call off Deathlok, but Coulson and Fury left the decision to Deathlok.
Coulson oversaw the taking of the Centipede soldiers and Grant Ward into custody by United States Armed Forces. However, Garrett survived and tried to use the Cybertek machines to heal himself. Coulson destroyed Garrett using the Peruvian 0-8-4.
=== Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. ===
==== The New Beginning ====
Onboard the Bus, Coulson and Melinda May spoke to Nick Fury about Project T.A.H.I.T.I.. They asked why he used it on Coulson after Coulson's recommendation to terminate the project. Fury told him that he wanted Coulson alive because he was one of his most trusted agents. Coulson was touched but asked why Fury would take that risk, since the project had been designed to resurrect an Avenger. Fury responded that Coulson, due to his great heroics and leadership capability, was considered an Avenger. After telling Coulson that, May believed he was okay and fit for duty. Fury named Coulson as director and gave him the Toolbox with the task of rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D., then Fury disappeared.
Within the box was a map that led Coulson and his team to the Playground, where Jemma Simmons was waiting for them. After they hugged, she assured them that Leo Fitz was alive, although she did not comment on his mental health. They were then greeted by the Playground's guardian, Billy Koenig, who looked exactly like his late brother, Eric Koenig. Koenig welcomed them and assured them that whatever resources they had at the base were Coulson's to use as he deemed fit. The team then prepared to begin Nick Fury's mission of rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D.. Later that night, Coulson awoke from bad dreams and began writing in a symbolic language.
==== Rebuilding the Agency ====
Despite all odds, Coulson began slowly rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D., with his old team serving as the core around which he assembled more agents. For three months, Coulson sat outside the cell of Grant Ward, but Ward refused to speak to him. Ward said he would only speak to Skye. Meanwhile Coulson recruited Isabelle Hartley, Idaho, and Lance Hunter. He gave Skye an assignment to study the Words of Creation, and he consulted with Andrew Garner about his urge to write in the cryptic symbol language. He didn't tell anyone about the meetings, not even Melinda May, Garner's ex-wife.  He sent two agents to infiltrate HYDRA, Jemma Simmons as a scientist for HYDRA, and Bobbi Morse to watch her back. To maintain her cover more easily, Coulson did not tell Simmons about Agent Morse or her mission. Morse eventually became the Head of Security at HYDRA Laboratories.
A month later, Coulson informed Melinda May that he was heading to London to recruit more former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into their organization. In reality he met with Sam Koenig in America to discuss Theta Protocol. Koenig informed Coulson that Jemma Simmons was doing well undercover at HYDRA and that Robert Gonzales had not been located and had likely been assassinated by HYDRA. Koenig asked Coulson how Leo Fitz was doing, and Coulson told him there had been some progress with his mental state. Koenig handed Coulson his new lanyard before looking over Theta Protocol, which was the repair and storing of Helicarrier No. 64 so that it could be ready to be used in case of a world-endangering emergency.
Upon returning to the Playground, Coulson sent a team consisting of Hartley and Hunter to buy an 0-8-4 from a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Roger Browning. The operation failed because Browning did not bring an 0-8-4 but instead brought a file on it. That file was stolen by an unknown assassin who killed Browning and escaped. Later, at the Playground, after receiving information about the assassin's identity, Coulson ordered Skye to talk to Grant Ward to get intelligence about the assassin. Coulson then sent Hartley, Skye, and Melinda May to kidnap Glenn Talbot so they could talk. Talbot refused to cooperate, so Coulson tricked him into relinquishing his fingerprints and codes to the Government Storage Warehouse holding the Obelisk, the first 0-8-4. All of Coulson's field agents went undercover to the storage facility. Hartley found the artifact, but, to defend herself against the Absorbing Man, she touched it. Coulson was called for instructions since Hartley was fatally injured. He ordered them to proceed. Only May knew that it was a two-pronged mission. The second part was to obtain a Quinjet with cloaking technology, since Leo Fitz's brain damage made him incapable of duplicating the technology for the Bus.
==== Tracking Carl Creel ====
May went after Carl Creel. Coulson ordered her not to engage, despite Creel having killed Hartley and Idaho. May felt guilty when Creel killed a waitress who accidentally touched his Obelisk-infected skin. She told Coulson that she should have stopped Creel as she planned. Coulson said May would have died also and claimed that Hartley's and Idaho's deaths were his responsibility, despite May's reassurance they weren't.
At the Playground, as Coulson and the field agents tried to find a way to stop Creel, the group was contacted by Raina. She revealed the Obelisk had a tracker installed in it. Lance Hunter then arrived, having seemingly escaped from General Glenn Talbot. At his debriefing, Coulson asked Hunter what Talbot had offered him to get him sell out S.H.I.E.L.D.. Hunter was initially furious that Coulson had not sent out a team to stop and kill Carl Creel. Eventually he confessed, telling Coulson that Talbot had offered him two million dollars and a proper burial for Hartley, but he assured Coulson that he had declined the offer.
When the team finally tracked down Creel, Coulson ordered Hunter to stay at the base, but after Hunter begged him, Coulson allowed him to accompany the others. As Skye, May, and Antoine Triplett got prepared, Coulson ordered the team to wait until Creel revealed his HYDRA contact before engaging. Hunter, however, wanting revenge, knocked out Skye, Triplett, and May with an I.C.E.R. and attempted to kill Creel himself. Fortunately Coulson arrived with the Overkill Device, which had been modified by Fitz and Alphonso Mackenzie. He stabbed Creel in the back, causing the Obelisk to turn his body to stone, incapacitating him.
Coulson gave Hartley a proper burial service, receiving Hunter's gratitude. Coulson then convinced Hunter to join S.H.I.E.L.D. full time. He said he needed agents to do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Hunter agreed and Coulson ordered him to rat him out to Talbot. At the Playground, May berated Coulson for going into the field like he did and told him she knew that he was resisting his urges to write the Words of Creation. Coulson was tired of fighting the urge and began writing it while May recorded.
Later, Coulson met Talbot and dropped Creel off to him, telling him to lock him up more securely this time. He promised to drop off "gifts" like that from time to time, so Talbot could keep getting promoted. Coulson asked for a favor in return: for Talbot to give S.H.I.E.L.D. breathing room. Talbot openly refused, but before he could order his men to capture Coulson, the team arrived with the now cloaked Bus. They warned Talbot not to get any ideas. 
==== The Race Against Time ====
Coulson attempted to make contact with Agent 33, but discovered she had been kidnapped by HYDRA. Upon returning to the base, he informed Agent May about the situation. Coulson then went to have dinner with Jemma Simmons, his mole in HYDRA. As they ate, they discussed Donnie Gill and the fact that HYDRA had a file on him. When Simmons asked about Leo Fitz, Coulson told her that he was fine. Coulson took the intel Simmons gave and prepped his field agents for their mission without revealing Simmons' part.
When Gill revealed himself in Casablanca on the Maribel del Mar, Coulson accompanied the others in the cloaked Bus, desiring that Gill become an asset for S.H.I.E.L.D. When he learned that Gill was brainwashed into taking the Sandbox for HYDRA, Coulson ordered that no HYDRA agent was to communicate with him. This order caused Lance Hunter to almost kill Simmons, but she was saved by Melinda May, who was ordered to maintain Simmons' cover. After the mission in Morocco, Coulson confronted Fitz about torturing Ward. Coulson spoke about being director and the secrets he kept, including keeping Grant Ward in the basement.
==== Search for Creation ====
Later, Coulson and the team planned the retrieval of a painting which had mysteriously survived a fire unharmed and also had the Words of Creation carved on its back. Thanks to the assistance of Hunter and Skye, Coulson and May were able to infiltrate the party where the painting was the main attraction. During their mission the team discovered Glenn Talbot was also there and had taken the painting. Strangely, Talbot made a deal with them to examine the painting as long as they were in a secure location.
May, wanting to make sure Talbot was telling the truth, tailed him, only to be subdued by Agent 33 and Sunil Bakshi. Agent 33, disguised as May, took May's place and lied to Coulson, claiming Talbot was telling the truth. As Coulson and 33 arrived at the location, Coulson discovered her deception when he mentioned them going to get a cup of coffee, a drink May hated. As the real May battled Agent 33, Coulson pursued and knocked out Bakshi and retrieved the painting. Afterwards, Coulson told May that he wanted her to kill him if he were to go insane because of the GH.325.
==== Search for Skye's Father ====
Later, the team was contacted by Raina who wanted to meet up with Coulson. At a restaurant, Coulson met Raina while Hunter, May, and Skye watched from a distance. During the conversation, Raina admitted she knew Skye's father, and threatened to blow Simmons' cover if Coulson did not release Skye to her custody. Coulson, having a back-up plan, refused the deal. Turning the tables on Raina, Coulson got her to admit where Skye's father was and had her agree to draw out Daniel Whitehall in exchange for protection. Skye beat the team to the location and found it empty, except for two dead men who had been killed by her father. Skye, horrified, called her father a monster.
Back at the Playground, Hunter met his ex-wife, Bobbi Morse. Shocked and surprised to see her and her dyed hair, he asked Coulson what she was doing there. Coulson told Hunter to "play nice". In his office, Coulson tried to apologize to Skye. He revealed that he had been writing the Words of Creation under May's watch. Coulson was upset that the symbols were incomprehensible to him. Skye said that they were a map.
==== Cleaning S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Reputation ====
Coulson watched Senator Christian Ward, brother of Grant Ward, have a televised debate with Julien Beckers. Senator Ward denounced S.H.I.E.L.D. and proposed the eradication of the organization. Understanding the long term implications this would have on agents around the world, Coulson asked Skye to postpone researching the Words of Creation and talk to Grant about his brother. Coulson activated the Inertial Confinement Laser Barrier to interrupt their conversation when it strayed into discussing Skye's father.
Coulson went and talked to Senator Ward personally to ask him to recant his position. He agreed to do so if Grant was relinquished to him. Coulson then allowed Skye to learn all Grant knew about her mother and father before having him turned over. Senator Ward then kept his word. He publicly stated that S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA were separate organizations, one dedicated to law enforcement, the other bent on world domination.
Coulson learned that Marcus Scarlotti was seeking Beckers, so he told Walters' team to find and protect him. Coulson did not know that Beckers was a HYDRA agent. Consequently, Beckers and her team were slaughtered. When Melinda May called Coulson to inform him that the HYDRA agents were in custody, he was more concerned about the loss of his agents. Later, Coulson and a team of agents delivered Grant Ward to the FBI. Ward escaped shortly thereafter.
==== Solving the Mystery ====
Coulson was once again drawing the symbols when Skye walked in and told him that despite all her leads, she could not find out where the supposed map led. Coulson told her that his compulsion to draw the symbols was increasing to the point where he could not stop. When Skye asked him what to do if they could not find the answer, Coulson changed the subject. He wondered about the progress Melinda May and the other agents were making on finding Grant Ward, so he contacted them. Agent Antoine Triplett informed Coulson about finding Ward at a Philadelphia bus station with a large number of explosives attached to him. Coulson told Triplett to continue following Ward but not to engage him.
Later, Skye told Coulson that a contact of hers, who was a "crime scene junkie", informed her of the murder of Janice Robbins, a woman who had the same mysterious symbols carved into her skin. When Coulson saw her picture he said Robbins was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. At the crime scene, Coulson and Skye found out that Robbins was putting the symbols in her artwork. Back at the Playground, Coulson noticed that her artwork had more symbols than Coulson's carvings.
Skye found out that Janice Robbins' original name was Rebecca Stevens. She had been a S.H.I.E.L.D. level 6 agent in the past and had worked at the Triskelion, but had contracted cancer and died five years ago. Wanting to find out how that was possible, Coulson had Alphonso Mackenzie and Leo Fitz retrieve Stevens' body. After the autopsy, Jemma Simmons revealed that Stevens had the same GH.325 serum in her as Coulson and Skye. Coulson blamed himself for Stevens' death as he was in charge of Project T.A.H.I.T.I. Wanting to save others like Stevens, Coulson went into the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine where he found out that Stevens and numerous others suffering from deadly diseases were administered the serum. As Coulson went as deep as he could, Skye contacted May and told her of Coulson's use of the machine. May ordered them to get him out of it.
After a struggle, Skye managed to snap Coulson back to reality by holding him at gunpoint. She told him that May said he should be locked up for awhile. Coulson agreed, and, as the two went down to Vault D, Coulson told her that Sebastian Derik was the murderer and he was going after Hank Thompson. Skye said she would send some agents to Thompson's location to protect him. Coulson said that would be unnecessary. He pushed Skye into the cell and trapped her, telling her he had to finish this on his own. Coulson arrived at Thompson's house and asked him at gunpoint if he was drawing the symbols in any shape or form. Thompson denied ever seeing them. He indirectly revealed that Derik had beat Coulson there. At that point, Derik knocked Coulson out.
Derik tied up Coulson and Thompson. He reveled that despite having his memories erased, the pain from carving the symbols into his skin helped him to retrieve those memories. He said he carved the symbols into the other patients to help them to remember, too. While Derik was threatening to carve the symbols into Coulson, Thompson, having remembered some of his S.H.I.E.L.D. training, managed to free himself and his family. Derik saw that he was free, and threw his knife at him. Thompson caught the knife and freed Coulson.
Coulson and Derik dueled and Coulson nearly choked Derik, trying to get him to look down at Thompson's workshop. Skye and Mackenzie arrived and made Coulson release Derik. Coulson eventually managed to show Mackenzie what he had discovered: Thompson's model train city, when viewed from above, looked just like the mysterious symbols. Derik was turned over to the authorities. Back at the Playground, Coulson asked Thompson to rejoin S.H.I.E.L.D., but he refused, choosing to live a simple life. After Thompson departed, Coulson revealed to the others that his compulsion to draw the symbols was gone, having finally discovered what they were. Coulson gave his senior agents a new mission: find the city that matched the Words of Creation before HYDRA did.
==== Search for the Kree City ====
Coulson took Skye, Antoine Triplett, and Leo Fitz with him to Hawaii, where he realized that the Kaena Point Air Force Base was too difficult for them to infiltrate. A satellite relay station in Laura Creek, Australia, would be an easier target. That station went online as a backup for the Hawaiian facility when it was down. Coulson ordered an EMP to be set up that would disable the Oahu station for six minutes. When Coulson's team entered the Australian facility, they were ambushed by HYDRA.
Pretending to be a captive, Calvin Zabo (Skye's father) offered to help save Triplett when he was shot. Coulson realized who he was, but he had to allow his escape in order to save Triplett. Coulson promised Zabo that they would finish their conversation. When Coulson arrived back at the Bus, he was clearly shaken by the experience. Before he and Fitz could tell Skye that they had seen her father, the satellites found the Kree City.
==== Locating the Kree City ====
After having located the Kree city, Coulson and the others briefed the agents on the plan to stop HYDRA from using the Diviner to kill hundreds of people. The plan was to send a survey team into the city through an opening in San Juan, locate the temple, and then blow it up. Bobbi Morse asked about the Obelisk, since, even without the temple, the weapon was still dangerous. Coulson reassured her that when it got to that moment, they would deal with it.
Later, Sam and Billy Koenig saved Raina from being captured by Agent 33. Coulson learned from Billy that Agent 33 was still alive and that HYDRA was trying to capture Raina rather than kill her. Coulson told Billy he would be sending Melinda May with an extraction team to help them safely transport Raina. Coulson went to Skye and May as they watched news on the death of Senator Christian Ward and told them they would be splitting up the teams since HYDRA had finally located Raina. Coulson told Skye that she would be aiding in the interrogation of Raina, claiming that Raina would probably respond better to her. Coulson told May that he did not want Skye on the city mission because he did not want her to encounter her father and told May to keep an eye on her.
Coulson and Morse searched for the entrance to the Kree City in Puerto Rico. While they searched, Coulson reassured Morse that he had no intention of keeping the Diviner, as he was fighting for the lives of ordinary people. Morse met with her contact, who was unwilling to help them get down to the garrison, because he was scared of the legend that the place was haunted and that those who entered did not return.
Inside, Coulson watched as the D.W.A.R.F.s were sent down a hundred foot shaft leading to the hidden underground city. Then the drones lost their signal, though the tablet control still worked. Alphonso Mackenzie was sent down to investigate. When Coulson heard his screams, Mackenzie was hoisted back up. Mackenzie then slapped Coulson into a wall as his eyes turned red.
As the team attempted to subdue him, Morse ended up electrocuting him with her staves, causing Mackenzie to fall back down into the hole. Coulson ordered them to seal the shaft. Morse yelled that Mackenzie was still down there. Coulson told her that Mackenzie was no longer himself.
==== Stopping HYDRA ====
Melinda May went to San Juan to inform Coulson, Fitz, Morse and Simmons that Grant Ward had taken Skye and Raina. Coulson surmised that Ward was probably taking Skye to meet her father. Coulson told Bobbi Morse to make sure Diego did not reveal anything to HYDRA and told her that they would do everything they could to help Alphonso Mackenzie, but they had to stop HYDRA from entering the city first.
May blamed herself for letting Ward take Skye. Coulson assured her that Skye would be fine, since May had turned her into a capable agent who could handle herself. As the team prepared, Coulson told Sam Koenig to report back to the Playground. He said if things went south, he would need Sam and his brother to enact the Theta Protocol. Coulson received a call from Morse who told him that HYDRA forces were in Puerto Rico in the old abandoned Ponce de León Theater‏.
Coulson and May went to help Morse and Hunter stop HYDRA. Together all four stormed the theater. Coulson killed Daniel Whitehall as the latter was about to shoot Skye's father, Calvin Zabo. Angered that he lost his chance for vengeance, Zabo attacked Coulson and nearly beat him to death. He was stopped by Skye who held him at gunpoint and told him to leave. Skye apologized to Coulson and told him she was going destroy the Diviner and stop HYDRA's plan.
Chasing after her, Coulson met up with May again and had her lower him down into the city so he could save Skye. Inside, Coulson was attacked by Alphonso Mackenzie, whom he briefly managed to subdue. With Skye inside the chamber and no one else around, Coulson was again confronted by Mackenzie. Fortunately, Mackenzie returned to normal once the Diviner was activated. Helping Mackenzie to his feet, the two watched as the city began to crumble.
==== The Director's Duties ====
Coulson, not being able to sleep, observed Skye as she slept in quarantine. When she awakened, they talked about how the death of Antoine Triplett was affecting the other senior agents in the Playground. Coulson told Skye, who blamed herself, that HYDRA was going to pay for his death.
Coulson called a meeting of his senior agents to discuss with them his plans for Sunil Bakshi. During the conversation, Alphonso Mackenzie, who was still suffering from the effects of going down into the Kree Temple, challenged Coulson's authority, believing his plan unsound. An argument ensued among the agents until Coulson had enough and told everyone, especially Mackenzie, that Triplett had known his place and would not have hesitated to obey Coulson's orders. Coulson then dismissed everyone.
The next morning, Coulson made a deal with General Glenn Talbot to give him Sunil Bakshi, who had now recovered from his suicide attempt, in exchange for Talbot's assistance in handling any remaining HYDRA forces. Coulson and Melinda May were transferring Bakshi to the custody of General Talbot when the S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV he was in was hit by a truck filled with mercenaries. Coulson and May were seemingly both fatally shot in the ensuing gunfight and one of the mercenaries escaped with Bakshi after a firefight. This was a ruse to have Bakshi lead S.H.I.E.L.D. to the new leader of HYDRA, since Daniel Whitehall was dead.
Coulson's plan was successful and, using Bakshi as bait, they were able to trick HYDRA into assassinating three of their own leaders before recapturing Bakshi and delivering him to Talbot. Back at the Playground, Coulson listened as Mackenzie apologized and asked to work on Lola. Coulson asked if the miniature version that he had in his office could fly and Mackenzie told him that it could not. Coulson then left and returned the Howling Commando Gear to Mrs. Triplett and informed her of the death of her son Antoine. As she began to cry, Coulson hugged her and looked at a photograph of the Howling Commandos. Later, Coulson secretly sent Mike Peterson to search for Dr. List, one of the few remaining heads of HYDRA.
==== Aliens ====
Coulson was having a conversation with Alphonso Mackenzie about him becoming a field agent when Melinda May informed them about a situation in Portugal. Once the team arrived in Faro, they found Lady Sif who did not recognize them and could not remember why was she on Earth. As they investigated, Skye found an online video of Sif fighting an unknown man. Back on the Bus, they discovered the stranger was wounded by Sif and that his "blood" was blue. At the site of the battle, Sif still could not remember anything but Coulson deduced that she was working undercover because she was wearing Earth clothes instead of her Asgardian armor.
Coulson spoke with one witness, Mr. Cardozo. He told Coulson that the stranger Sif had fought took helium from the balloons on the boardwalk. Bobbi Morse then called and informed Coulson about a possible lead in the local hospital. Morse and Skye were sent to investigate. There they were attacked by the stranger, who managed to knock down Morse and escape. Back on the Bus, when Skye mentioned that the stranger might be Kree, Sif realized that "Kava", which she was seeking, was not a person, but the Kree word for keys. They realized Kava was actually Chaves, the city in Portugal where the HYDRA leader Daniel Whitehall discovered the Obelisk in 1945. The agents then ambushed the Kree and captured him.
When Coulson and Sif interrogated the Kree, he introduced himself as Vin-Tak and said he would earn their trust. Back in the Playground, Vin-Tak took his Truncheon from Coulson and touched Sif with it, restoring her memories. Vin-Tak then told them about the Diviners and the Inhumans. When they asked Skye about what she saw in the Kree City beneath Puerto Rico, the building started shaking. Coulson asked Skye what was causing that, and she said it was her. Sif then wanted to take Skye to Asgard, but Coulson would not let her. As May told Skye to run, Coulson tried to stop Sif and Vin-Tak, but Vin-Tak attacked him and threw him across the room.
May then took Skye to Vault D where Sif soon found them. Coulson arrived just in time to see Skye shooting herself with an I.C.E.R., which finally convinced Sif she would sooner hurt herself than anyone else. Sif then took Vin-Tak, who had lost his memory after a fight with Bobbi Morse, back to his home planet. Before she departed, she warned Coulson that the incoming threats could be more than he could handle.
==== Vengeful Father ====
Coulson visited Skye in the interrogation cell on the Bus, where she was moved after the violent display of her powers. Coulson told her that they put her name on the Index. Later, Coulson had a conversation with Agent May and they decided to call May's ex-husband, Dr. Andrew Garner, a psychologist who specialized in working with gifted individuals from the Index.
Later, after welcoming Garner into the Playground, Coulson was called by Agent Royce who informed him about the break in at the Brynmore Psychiatric Facility. Coulson talked with Agent Morse about the break in and asked her about Agent Hunter's apparent disappearance. Morse replied that a permanent job in S.H.I.E.L.D. was not something Hunter would take. Once they arrived at the facility, Coulson and Morse discovered the attackers were led by Calvin Zabo. In the facility's secret sub-basement, Coulson and Morse were attacked by John Bruno, a former government assassin, but Morse easily overpowered him. The other individual they sought, David Angar, was missing. Back on their plane, Coulson used traffic cameras to search for the license plate on Zabo's RV.
Once he realized what Zabo was planning, Coulson and Morse went to Manitowoc, Coulson's home town. At the Manitowoc High School, Coulson and Morse discovered that Angar had rendered an entire field of students unconscious for Zabo to hold hostage. Coulson surrendered to Zabo, who declared that he was planning on exposing S.H.I.E.L.D. for their "barbaric" inhibitions of gifted individuals before it could do the same thing to his daughter. Coulson replied that it was to stop criminals, not cheerleaders.
Suddenly, Agent May turned up with a gun to Skye's head, threatening to kill her if Zabo did not surrender. Zabo called her bluff and admitted that no one in town was even listening to him; he passed the microphone to Angar so his voice would affect all of Manitowoc. Suddenly, a mysterious man appeared on the field and teleported Zabo away. Coulson, May, and Morse then quickly defeated the remaining members of the Slicing Talons, but Skye suddenly unintentionally generated an earthquake and fell unconscious. Later, in the Playground, Jemma Simmons told Coulson that whatever powers Skye and Raina had were already inside them, and not artificially created like the powers of Angar or Michael Peterson.
==== Tough Choices ====
In his office, Coulson talked with Melinda May about what to do with Skye. Though May agreed with Andrew Garner's suggestion that Skye should be removed from active S.H.I.E.L.D. duty, Coulson hesitated.
He eventually decided to take Skye to Nick Fury's cabin, which was designed as a safe house for people with powers. He told her that he had to pull her from active duty. Before he departed, Coulson gave Skye the gloves Simmons had made to dampen her powers. He advised her to try to learn how to control her powers.
Back at the Playground, Leo Fitz asked Coulson where Skye was and he replied that that information was confidential, but that she was safe. In his office, Coulson and May had a video conversation with General Glenn Talbot who informed them that Agent 33 and Grant Ward had broken into his base to liberate Sunil Bakshi. After the conversation with Talbot, Coulson and May agreed that Alphonso Mackenzie was hiding something, and that they should find out what.
=== S.H.I.E.L.D. Civil War ===
==== Attacked ====
While Alphonso Mackenzie was looking under Lola's hood, Coulson confronted him about the extra component he put in the model of Lola in his office, revealing that he knew about Mack hiding something. When he asked him about his loyalty, Mack replied that he was only loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson then ordered three agents to point their guns at Mackenzie. Suddenly, an EMP burst through the base, shutting down all the electronic equipment and Mackenzie used the opportunity to escape. Coulson and his agents ran into Leo Fitz, who was immediately sent to turn the power back on.
Coulson and Melinda May continued the search for Mackenzie and Bobbi Morse, who had attacked May a few minutes earlier while claiming to work for "the real S.H.I.E.L.D." Jemma Simmons called Coulson and informed him about taking down Morse, then an unidentified gas began pumping through the Playground's vents, knocking out Coulson and all of his agents. When Coulson awakened, the base was controlled by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by Robert Gonzales. Coulson had not heard anything about Gonzales since the revelation of HYDRA's existence. Coulson and Gonzales then talked in Coulson's office about Coulson's and Nick Fury's abilities as director. Gonzales tried to convince Coulson his own way of leading S.H.I.E.L.D. as the right one. Coulson refused to open the Toolbox for Gonzales, who gave it to one of his agents to give to Anne Weaver.
Suddenly, Melinda May entered the office, knocking out Gonzales and two of his agents with an I.C.E.R. Coulson then escaped from the base via the secret elevator while May stayed behind and surrendered to Gonzales' agents. Later, Coulson came in contact with Lance Hunter, who had managed to escape from Gonzales' headquarters aboard the aircraft carrier Iliad. Hunter accepted Coulson's offer to be a full-time S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and Coulson told him that he planned to retake S.H.I.E.L.D. from Gonzales.
==== Deathlok Reinforcement ====
Stealing a Jeep from Honest Eddie's Car Dealership, Coulson and Lance Hunter went to the Retreat, where they found video footage of Skye using her powers to cause a massive shockwave, throwing back two of Gonzales' agents. During that time, Hunter offered Coulson a drink, taking out two glasses, one for himself and the other for "the person keeping me warm". He jokingly stated that he would make an exception in Coulson's case. Coulson told him that he needed to keep his head clear.
While Hunter slept, Coulson made a decision to contact Mike Peterson before alerting Robert Gonzales about their location. The next morning Gonzales' S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrived to arrest them both. Over Hunter's protests, Coulson told Gonzales that his plan was to steal one of their Quinjets. Coulson used his 21st Century Howling Commando Gear to create a hologram illusion, tricking the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, before stealing their uniforms. Before Coulson and Hunter could escape, however, they were caught by another team of Gonzales' agents and arrested. They were rescued by Mike Peterson, who attacked the guards and took out the agents.
With the Quinjet now under their control, Hunter asked Coulson why he had not informed him that backup was a super-powered cyborg. Coulson told him that he wanted to see the look on Hunter's face. Coulson told Hunter that he had been using Peterson to track down HYDRA scientist, Dr. List. Coulson explained that his next step would be to find the only man who had a connection between S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA: Grant Ward. Leo Fitz opened the Toolbox and contacted Coulson; Coulson and Lance Hunter decided to retrieve him.
==== Alliance with Grant Ward ====
Coulson, Lance Hunter, and Deathlok took the Quinjet to retrieve Leo Fitz, then flew to find Grant Ward. Coulson confronted Agent 33 in a Tijuana diner, and used her phone to call Ward, telling Ward to meet him in the diner. When Ward arrived, Deathlok sent him to a booth where Coulson waited. Coulson offered Ward a deal. If Ward helped them, he could go through the Project T.A.H.I.T.I. protocol, getting his bad memories wiped. Ward eventually accepted the deal and left to get his things with Agent 33 and Deathlok.
Ward explained he would use the recently brainwashed Sunil Bakshi to infiltrate HYDRA and gain a meeting with Dr. List who could bring them into contact with Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. While in flight, Coulson and Hunter were forced to restrain Fitz when Ward unintentionally provoked him. Fitz voiced his discontent with allying with Ward, believing he and Bakshi would betray them. Coulson assured him that he was sending in Deathlok as Bakshi's bodyguard so they could watch through his implant. Though Ward reminded Coulson that List only wanted Bakshi, Coulson was confident that Bakshi could talk his way out of trouble.
As the meeting got underway, Bakshi went off-script and offered Deathlok to List for experimentation. Ward admitted that it was the only way to get close to Wolfgang von Strucker, resulting in a standoff on the Quinjet. When Fitz noticed that Deathlok was preparing to kill all HYDRA agents present, both parties lowered their weapons so Fitz could tell Deathlok to play along. Coulson's party then followed List's jet on its way to Strucker, but the HYDRA scientist made a stop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through Deathlok's Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant, they learned that List was tracking down occurrences of quantum entanglements across the planet. Fitz realized they were trying to track the teleporter who took Skye. Coulson lied to Ward and Agent 33, saying he didn't know what HYDRA wanted with Skye.
Coulson's Quinjet then landed on the roof of a building where Bakshi was searching for the Enhanced. Through Deathlok's implant, they were able to confirm that Skye was in the building, though Coulson warned Ward against making contact with her. Coulson then took everyone but Fitz to confront HYDRA. As he and Ward went on ahead, they ran into Deathlok, who had a tussle with an unidentified Enhanced who possessed electrical powers. Deathlok suspected that the young man was protecting Skye and pointed Coulson in her direction.
Before he could reunite with Skye, the teleporter appeared and took her, accidentally taking Calvin Zabo along with them. Agent 33 and the wounded Hunter rejoined them, and Ward asked Coulson what they should do next as both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA were coming. Ward ordered the others to escape while he stayed behind. Bobbi Morse and Alphonso Mackenzie soon arrived at the scene and Coulson surrendered himself to them.
==== Bringing the Team Back Together ====
Coulson was brought to the Bus, where he eventually conferred with Robert Gonzales. When Gonzales asked why he had surrendered, Coulson revealed that he needed Gonzales' help to rescue Mike Peterson and the other enhanced individuals being held by HYDRA. Gonzales asked why he should trust him and Coulson said it was because they both had secrets. Coulson had learned from the Toolbox that Gonzales had a secret hidden in his cargo hold. The two agreed that Coulson and his original team would infiltrate the Arctic HYDRA Research Facility to free Deathlok and Lincoln Campbell. In return, Coulson promised he would open the Toolbox for Gonzales.
With the deal made, Coulson called for Grant Ward to fly the Quinjet onto the Playground. When he arrived, it was agreed that Ward would have armed guards with him at all times. Coulson, Gonzales and the others watched the feed from Deathlok's eyepiece which showed the HYDRA scientists removing his eye. In discussing the best plan of attack, Gonzales suggested that they simply bomb the base, but Coulson insisted he would not risk the lives of the enhanced prisoners. Coulson's plan was to take a small team to attack the base with Sunil Bakshi's help. Gonzales put the matter to a vote. Anne Weaver and Oliver voted against the idea, but Gonzales and Bobbi Morse voted to move forward. To Coulson's surprise, everyone turned to Melinda May for the tiebreaking vote. She asked to speak with Coulson in private before makes her decision.
When they were alone in Coulson's office, Coulson confronted May for joining Gonzales. May defended her actions, stating that she had to watch over the Playground in his absence and she did it to protect him. Coulson insisted that he was fine on his own, and May angrily replied that solo was how he operated best. She then demanded he tell the truth about his overseas trips, as Gonzales' people suspected that Coulson was not trying to recruit new agents. She also demanded to know what Theta Protocol was. Coulson refused to answer, stating it was not because he did not trust her, but because she was not Director. May retorted that Coulson was no longer Director as far as anyone was concerned, and admitted that she had personal reasons for her actions. Coulson deduced that she had learned about his secret meetings with Andrew Garner and explained that he only went to him for counseling on his alien writing compulsions. May insisted that he should have told her. Coulson promised to apologize later at length and asked that they focus on the mission at hand.
As Coulson prepared for the mission he was approached by Jemma Simmons who insisted on joining them on the mission. She explained that they would need someone familiar with Mike Peterson's medical history and cybernetic enhancements to treat his injuries. When the team arrived on the Bus they heard a loud thud. They immediately turned their guns on Ward, believing him to have sabotaged the Bus, but it was soon discovered that Skye had been teleported aboard to assist them in the mission.
En route to the HYDRA base, Coulson asked Ward to brief them on the upcoming mission. Ward began to explain Sunil Bakshi's role in the plan but then tried to explain and apologize for his actions since being revealed to be an undercover HYDRA agent. He claimed that his greatest regret was that his actions had destroyed the team. Skye, however, made it clear that she was still happy she shot him. As the team neared the HYDRA base, the Bus was targeted by HYDRA's defense systems. Coulson and the team escaped to the Quinjet just as the Bus was destroyed. Landing the Quinjet, they made their way to the base.
Once they arrived inside the base, they regrouped with Sunil Bakshi and prepared for the mission. Skye, Grant Ward, Jemma Simmons and Bakshi were sent to rescue Mike Peterson and the other enhanced individuals. Coulson, Melinda May and Leo Fitz went to take down the base's defense systems so that Robert Gonzales' men could destroy it. While May defended Fitz as he began to hack the defense system, Coulson sneaked away to download HYDRA files containing information about the location of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and the Scepter. The team regrouped with Skye and Simmons, who had rescued Peterson and Lincoln Campbell. Ward and List escaped and Bakshi lost his life during the mission. The team evacuated just before Gonzales' men destroyed the base.
Back at the Playground, Peterson and Campbell were treated for their injuries. Shortly after arriving, Coulson received a phone call from Grant Ward, informing him that he preferred the idea of escaping rather than being arrested or having his mind wiped. Ward explained that he knew the team would never forgive him but he believed Agent 33 deserved forgiveness as she was a victim of Daniel Whitehall's experiments. Ward said he was leaving Agent 33 at S.H.I.E.L.D. to rebuild her life as an agent. Coulson promised Ward that he would take care of her and treat her well. Coulson then spoke to Robert Gonzales and Bobbi Morse who were discussing the idea of having enhanced individuals in the base. Coulson honored their agreement and opened the Toolbox before casually mentioning the fact that Nick Fury was still alive.
==== Calling in the Avengers ====
Coulson received a phone call from Maria Hill wanting an update on the recent events. Coulson explained that he was keeping Gonzales in the dark about certain details as he felt his method of votes was ineffective. Coulson revealed the location of the Scepter to Hill, who then asked if Theta Protocol was ready. He confirmed that it was ready and ordered her to send in the Avengers to bring down the HYDRA base and capture it and Wolfgang von Strucker.
=== War Against the Inhumans ===
==== Reunification of S.H.I.E.L.D. ====
After the Avengers successfully defeated both Wolfgang von Strucker and later Ultron, Theta Protocol was activated. Both Nick Fury and Maria Hill assisted in the Battle of Sokovia, using the Helicarrier No. 64 to save thousands of civilian lives. After the battle, Coulson was on the Iliad, where he had a meeting with Robert Gonzales and his council. They discussed the recent events and revealed the true history of Theta Protocol. Coulson proposed that he and Gonzales join forces and reunify S.H.I.E.L.D., with Coulson as director and Gonzales and his council as his advisors.
Shortly after this discussion, the alarms on the ship were triggered when the Teleporter and Raina teleported onto the Iliad. They appeared to be searching for what was in the cargo hold. Coulson and Gonzales sent their agents to find them. Gordon and Raina escaped, having failed to destroy the Monolith. At a debriefing, Gonzales revealed that the monolith was alien and had been found on Earth over a hundred years ago. Coulson explained that the only information in the Toolbox about it was the fact that HYDRA was looking for it.
==== The New Threat ====
After Gonzales' people located the Inhumans' home, Gonzales ordered them to prepare for an attack. Coulson convinced him that they should have a meeting with the Inhuman leader, Jiaying, and try and resolve the matter peacefully.
Coulson met with Skye to see if she knew anything about the Monolith. She assured him that neither she nor Lincoln Campbell knew anything about it. Coulson asked Skye about her connections with the Inhumans and her changing loyalties. Skye suggested that if the Monolith was a weapon, then maybe the Inhumans were just afraid of what Gonzales might do with it. Skye told Melinda May that she had heard the story of what had happened to her in Bahrain and revealed that the two people killed were in fact Inhumans.
Coulson later spoke to Skye and she insisted that S.H.I.E.L.D. not go searching for the Inhumans' home. Coulson said they needed to assess how many Inhumans they were dealing and put them on the Index. Skye persuaded Coulson to let her and Campbell go in first, then she informed him that Jiaying was her mother. Coulson later found May in the aircraft hanger and they commented on how much they missed the Bus. Coulson told May that Jiaying was Skye's mother, but May had no reaction. Coulson tried to apologize to May for lying to her about Theta Protocol. May did not want to listen. She told Coulson that the little girl who died in Bahrain had not been killed in the crossfire, but that May had shot her before the girl could kill everyone. They discussed their history and how Coulson had lost control when he began carving the Words of Creation on the walls. May told him that Skye was living proof that he had lost control.
When Skye and Lincoln Campbell prepared to leave the Playground, Coulson spoke to the pair. They discussed the Index and Campbell compared S.H.I.E.L.D. to HYDRA. Coulson insisted that Campbell could trust them. Coulson briefed the team on the plan for visiting the Inhumans' home. Gonzales objected to Coulson going in, as he had too many personal connections to the people involved. When Coulson tried to argue his case, Gonzales used Tony Stark creating Ultron as an example of what happens when one man was allowed to go unquestioned. The matter was put to a vote and it was decided that Gonzales should be the one to go. Coulson agreed, as he did not wish to ignore the views of his council.
The team left the base on the Quinjets and Coulson was visited in his office by Alphonso Mackenzie. Mack informed him that he was quitting because he did not wish to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. under Coulson's leadership. Coulson tried to convince him to stay, but soon accepted Mackenzie's choice and let him go. Coulson watched the mission unfold from his office alongside Lance Hunter and Leo Fitz. Hunter and Fitz remained skeptical of Gonzales leading the mission, but Coulson insisted that he had to put his faith in the council, otherwise S.H.I.E.L.D. would fall apart again. As Hunter and Fitz made some casual comments about the dangers of enhanced people, Coulson said maybe they had been spending too much time together. He was later contacted by Melinda May, who informed him that Jiaying had handed over Calvin Zabo.
==== Open War ====
Melinda May told Coulson that they had lost communication with Bobbi Morse. Coulson sent Lance Hunter to investigate. Jemma Simmons entered and told them that Jiaying had been shot, allegedly by Robert Gonzales. Coulson didn't believe that Gonzales would have done that, so he sent the team to learn more and try to prevent the Inhumans from starting a war.
Melinda May was carried unconscious to the Quinjet after a fight with Skye. The council debated whether Robert Gonzales was really responsible for shooting Jiaying. Anne Weaver defended her former Director and revealed that he had gone to great lengths to secure a peace offering for Jiaying. Coulson agreed but still refused to begin a war with the Inhumans. He sent Weaver back to the Iliad to take command, before speaking to Melinda May and Jemma Simmons about Skye's seeming betrayal. He suggested that Calvin Zabo may know the answers. When Zabo arrived on the base, Coulson demanded to know why he was there. Zabo insisted he was a gift from his family. Coulson sent Zabo into a cell before Jemma Simmons revealed that Zabo had taken some kind of drug before arriving.
Coulson later learned through video footage that Jiaying had sent Gordon to take control of their Quinjet to fire upon their city, resulting in the Inhumans believing S.H.I.E.L.D. had attacked their home. He suspected Jaiying of murdering Robert Gonzales. Lance Hunter and Leo Fitz stormed in, having learned that Bobbi Morse had been kidnapped by Agent 33. Hunter and Melinda May were sent to locate and rescue Morse and kill 33 and Grant Ward.
During a video conference with Anne Weaver and Oliver, Coulson once again expressed his desire not to attack the Inhumans. He did not wish to start a war and risk the life of Agent Skye. Oliver argued that leaving Skye with the Inhumans could risk her exposing all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s weaknesses. Alphonso Mackenzie joined the discussion and explained that although he wished to leave S.H.I.E.L.D., with Robert Gonzales dead, he needed to see the matter resolved. Coulson requested time to speak to Calvin Zabo to try to gain information. Weaver agreed and gave him three hours.
==== Dealing with Calvin Zabo ====
Coulson visited Calvin Zabo in his cell. Zabo complained he was suffering from the intense cold. When Coulson asked Zabo why he had surrendered, Zabo responded that because Coulson did not have children, he would never understand what a father would do for his child. Coulson asked Zabo how he had slaughtered an entire village. Zabo told him he had done it with style.
Taking a break from the questioning, Coulson went to Jemma Simmons to learn what substances had been detected in Calvin Zabo's Formula. Simmons revealed she had found traces of anabolic steroids, methamphetamine, and liver inhibitors, as well as less conventional ingredients such as gorilla testosterone and peppermint. When Coulson asked if the mixture would kill him, she informed him that a single vial should kill a normal man, and that Zabo had taken three.
Coulson returned to question Calvin Zabo, who was now suffering from intense heat and kept requesting more water. Coulson told him that Jiaying had assassinated Robert Gonzales with the intention of starting a war between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans. Zabo refused to believe him. Coulson asked if Jiaying had forced Zabo to inject himself with his Formula as part of the distraction. Zabo divulged to Coulson that it was a formula of his own invention, designed to enhance his strength in order to protect his family. He had taken it of his own free will with the intention of killing as many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as he could.
When Coulson casually referred to Skye as Daisy, Zabo's rage intensified. He claimed that only Skye's family should use her real name. Coulson attempted to reason with Zabo. He pointed out that everything he had done, including wiping out the village and injecting the vials of his formula, was on Jiaying's behalf. Zabo refused to believe he was being manipulated by his wife, claiming that she was not a monster like himself. As he grew more and more angry at Coulson's accusations, his heart gave out and Zabo went into cardiac arrest and collapsed.
Coulson had Zabo rushed to the emergency room and ordered Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz to try and save him. Simmons injected Zabo with adrenaline, which caused him to have a seizure and fall off the table. When he reappeared, he had undergone a transformation. His appearance was monstous and he had incredible strength. Coulson locked Zabo in the medical pod, but he escaped with little effort. Coulson and Fitz-Simmons shot him with I.C.E.R.s, to no effect. Coulson ordered Fitz and Simmons to flee while he tried but failed to reason with Zabo.
Calvin Zabo ran amuck through the Playground, destroying everything he came across. Coulson tricked Zabo and pinned him against a wall with a van and a battering ram. Once Zabo was trapped, Coulson again attempted to reason with the him. Coulson told Zabo that they both wanted the same thing, which was to protect Skye. He said he believed Zabo was a good man who was being manipulated by Jiaying. Zabo told Coulson that he had reassembled his wife when Daniel Whitehall had murdered her, but she had never been the same. He explained that Jiaying's power was to take lives to heal and that in the past, an Inhuman elder would sacrifice their own life so she could live on and pass on tradition. Zabo admitted to having slaughtered an entire village to revive his wife and that Jiaying no longer valued human life. Zabo had tried to find Skye in the hope that it would restore his wife's humanity. Coulson asked if Zabo was willing to protect his daughter from his wife, pointing out that Jiaying was out for blood and there was no way Skye would go along with her plan. Coulson declared that Skye was like family to him and vowed to save her no matter the cost. Seemingly angered by Coulson's words, Zabo managed to free himself, but Instead of harming Coulson, Zabo swore to help him defeat Jiaying and save his daughter.
Zabo was held under armed guard. Jemma Simmons helped counteract the effects of his Formula and restored his appearance. Leo Fitz then informed Coulson that while they had been fighting Zabo, Jiaying and an army of Inhumans had taken over the Iliad. Coulson ordered Fitz to contact Lance Hunter and Melinda May, but Fitz told him they had already left on their mission to rescue Bobbi Morse from Grant Ward and Agent 33.
Fitz later told him that he had invented a device to trap Gordon in a room. As Coulson discussed with Fitz and Simmons whether or not Calvin Zabo was prepared to join them on the mission, they were interrupted by the arrival of Lance Hunter and Melinda May bringing in the wounded Bobbi Morse.
==== Retaking the Iliad ====
Once Morse was safe, Coulson, May and Zabo flew to the Iliad with the intention of fighting back against the Inhumans. May expressed her disapproval of Zabo's presence, but Coulson insisted his knowledge of the Inhumans would be beneficial and if need be, he could be a powerful weapon for S.H.I.E.L.D. to use. Fitz recognized a code being included in the distress beacon. Coulson knew it was a message from Skye, warning them they were heading into a trap. Coulson ordered the other Quinjets to fall back while his own continued on.
Coulson and Leo Fitz found Alphonso Mackenzie protecting the Terrigen Crystals from Gordon, and joined him in the fight. Using Fitz's Quantum Field Disruptors, they trapped Gordon in the room. The team continued to fight Gordon, until the teleporter made a fatal mistake and teleported behind Fitz, causing the iron pole Fitz was holding to be embedded in his chest. As Gordon fell dying, he dropped the Terrigen Crystal he was holding. Knowing that if the crystal broke, it would kill everyone onboard the ship, Coulson dove to catch it. However, the moment he touched it, it began turning his arm to stone. Just as Coulson accepted his fate, Mackenzie used his axe to cut off Coulson's arm, saving his life.
=== New Objectives ===
With the Inhuman threat eliminated, Coulson returned to work and began planning out new ways of dealing with threats against the earth. He put his S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into new positions which best supported their views. He brought Andrew Garner back to assess his team and judge their readiness to continue working in the field. They discussed having Alphonso Mackenzie back on the team and in charge of all alien dealings. Coulson teased Garner about getting back together with Melinda May, then Garner handed him a file of his recommendations for Coulson's new program.
Coulson ordered Calvin Zabo be put through the T.A.H.I.T.I. program, allowing him to begin a new, peaceful life as a veterinarian named Dr. Winslow. Coulson joined Skye as she went to visit Zabo at his new office. Afterward, Coulson asked for her thoughts on leading a new team for people with powers, where they could use their abilities to help protect the world. Skye insisted that if they did this, the team should be kept a secret so the people involved could still live their own private lives. Coulson agreed, noting that his missing arm would be his personal reminder of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s past mistakes.
==== A New Organization ====
As new Inhumans started to emerge, Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. began the task of trying to find them. However, the first four who emerged disappeared, just as a new U.S. government organization, the Advanced Threat Containment Unit, was created.
When a fifth Inhuman named Joey Gutierrez gained his abilities in Seattle, Washington, Coulson sent Daisy Johnson, Lance Hunter, and Alphonso Mackenzie to get to him before the ATCU could. While they collected Gutierrez and transported him to the Zephyr One, Coulson stood with the crowd of onlookers. When Rosalind Price arrived and spoke to her subordinate, Coulson took her picture.
Later, Coulson talked to Johnson about how Gutierrez was adjusting to having powers and knowing that he was an Inhuman. During their conversation, Johnson noted how much Coulson loved the new vehicle. The two were concerned about how the ATCU was finding the newly-powered Inhumans before S.H.I.E.L.D. and causing them to disappear.
Coulson met with Mackenzie and Hunter in his office at the Playground. They discussed Price and how she had past relationships with MI6 and the CIA. Coulson asked Hunter to see Bobbi Morse with the technology they had procured from an ATCU soldier, but Hunter refused.
Coulson went to the lab and saw Morse himself. Once there, he asked her about the whereabouts of Leo Fitz. Morse covered for Fitz, but both knew that he was chasing leads on how to free Jemma Simmons from the Monolith. Coulson and Morse devised a plan to talk to Price without her entourage present, since Morse had figured out her routine throughout Washington, D.C.
In the Washington, D.C. subway, Coulson and Hunter confronted Price, thinking they had tracked her, but Price had set a trap. ATCU soldiers soon surrounded the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Both leaders exchanged quips. After a few minutes of talking, each leader realized that neither organization was killing newly-transformed Inhumans. When Price's phone rang, Coulson's did as well. Both knew that a new Inhuman had emerged. As Price went to take the call, Coulson and Hunter escaped the subway.
Returning to the Playground, Coulson confronted Fitz on his obsession to save Simmons. Coulson compared Fitz's loss to his own loss of Melinda May, who had never returned from vacation months ago.
Coulson left to watch President Matthew Ellis have a press conference, officially announcing the creation of the ATCU. Coulson noted that the President said the same catch phrase that Price said to him about the "laws of nature" changing.
==== Rescuing Jemma Simmons ====
Coulson called Andrew Garner and asked him to assess Joey Gutierrez, to see if he was fit for the Caterpillars program.
Coulson was in the process of putting on his prosthetic hand when he had to run into the room that contained the Monolith. Leo Fitz had broken the seal to the chamber, and the other senior agents were inside trying pulling him out. Coulson berated Fitz for his emotional breakdown, saying he could not afford to lose him to the Kree stone, as he had already lost Jemma Simmons. Suddenly, Fitz ran from the room.
In Coulson's office, Fitz showed the the senior agents that the sample of sand found on him predated the Earth by a billion years. He said that proved the Monolith was a portal and that Simmons was somewhere consistent with that sand. Coulson watched as his agents decided that Simmons had to be rescued. He pointed out that Simmons could be dead, as it had been months since she had disappeared into the monolith. Fitz was not to be dissuaded. Coulson told Daisy Johnson and Alphonso Mackenzie to stay at the Playground to meet Garner when he arrived. Bobbi Morse volunteered to help Fitz with his search. Coulson observed that she was already helping him, since she had covered for him when he went to Morocco to acquire the scroll. Coulson ordered Lance Hunter to continue on the mission they had previously discussed. Coulson then got his file on Elliot Randolph.
As the others departed on their assignments, Coulson gave Morse the file on Randolph and told her that since he was an alien who had been on Earth for centuries, he might have insight into the Monolith. After Morse kissed Hunter farewell and asked him not to get killed, Coulson told Hunter to assure that Grant Ward did.
Fitz, Coulson, and Morse took a Quinjet to Norway where they found Randolph in prison. He had been charged with being drunk and disorderly. Randolph originally refused to go with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, stating that being an alien was dangerous at the time, and that the jail had a good reading selection and good food. Coulson threatened Randolph, telling him that the Advanced Threat Containment Unit would love to dissect a member of the Asgardians. Randolph noted that Coulson had changed and asked about his hand. Coulson said that he adapted to the changing times. When Randolph used his strength to escape his cell, he told the guards that Coulson had done it.
They brought Randolph to look at the Monolith. He told them that he would escape in order to stay away from the portal, but he had no idea what "Amazon Woman" and "Robot Hand", as he called Morse and Coulson respectively, would do. He then read the scroll Fitz had acquired. With Coulson's permission, he told them to board the plane and take him to England.
In an English castle, Coulson found a secret doorway that lead to a room specially made for the Monolith. He then called Mackenzie and told him to pilot the Zephyr One to bring them the stone.
Johnson came with Mackenzie when he brought the monolith. She told the others how Garner had evaluated them in their present mental and physical conditions. Activating the Monolith, they saw a portal open, but there was not enough light for Fitz to see to the other side, so Coulson gave Fitz a flare gun which he fired into the void. When the machine sustaining the portal fell apart, Coulson saw Johnson faint. Trying to awaken her, Coulson called Johnson "Skye". Upon regaining consciousness, she corrected Coulson and said her name was Daisy. Morse noted that Coulson was having difficulty in accepting her name change. Fitz realized that the room acted as a sound amplifier and sound opened the portal. Johnson understood what Fitz was saying and believed that she could open the portal with her powers.
As Morse prepared a probe to send into the void, Johnson used her power to open the portal. Fitz, tied to a life line, entered instead. Watching Johnson straining and the life line falling apart, Coulson ordered the others to bring Fitz back immediately. Ultimately, Fitz returned, with Simmons.
Taking Simmons to a Medical Pod, Coulson and Morse determined through tests that she was not contagious and that she was normal after her experience. When Randolph asked Coulson what Johnson was, he told him that she was an Inhuman, a word Randolph had not heard for some time.
==== Compromising Solution ====
Coulson had Alphonso Mackenzie put a tracker on Lincoln Campbell. When Daisy Johnson came to Coulson, frantic about Campbell being chased by the Advanced Threat Containment Unit, Coulson was not worried. He explained that he had been tracking Campbell since Campbell left the hospital. He watched as Johnson called Campbell asking him to accept help from S.H.I.E.L.D.. Campbell refused, found his tracker, and destroyed it.
Coulson grew tired of "good guys" fighting one another instead of their common foes, so he ordered Mackenzie to get the phone number of Rosalind Price so they could talk. Coulson accessed the line that Price used to talk to the President of the United States and requested a meeting.
At the meeting place, Coulson admired Price's car. Price teased Coulson about his prosthetic hand. Coulson told Price that he knew that she was under pressure from the President to have results, but declaring Campbell an alien fugitive on national news reports was not a good idea. Coulson also knew that Price was hiding something or she would not have met him with such confidence. Price revealed that she knew that Johnson had powers, and, when the time was right, she would have her arrested. Coulson decided to strike a deal with Price. He would work with the ATCU as a consultant if Johnson were left alone.
Coulson returned to the Playground and told Mackenzie and Johnson about his compromise to protect Daisy. The phone rang. It was Price calling to verify Coulson's number.
=== Working with the ATCU ===
==== Divided Attention ====
Coulson was in a Quinjet with Alisha Whitley, while elsewhere her duplicate, Alphonso Mackenzie, and Daisy Johnson sought to recruit Shane and Lori Henson to the Caterpillars program. Coulson was getting real time information from Alisha, when suddenly the monstrous man appeared and attacked and killed the Hensons. Coulson ordered Johnson and Mackenzie to assist the duplicate as she fought the monster. Alisha lost control of her powers when her duplicate was killed.
Coulson called Rosalind Price and the Advanced Threat Containment Unit to support his S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they pursued Lash. When the two groups ran into each other from opposite directions, Coulson was with the ATCU. Johnson asked Coulson why he was with them and he reminded her that they agreed to work together and share information. Johnson was angry, but Coulson had other concerns.
He had called Leo Fitz and Bobbi Morse to do a forensic investigation at the scene of the Hensons' murder. They gathered samples and brought them to the Playground. There Andrew Garner was evaluating Jemma Simmons and Alisha. After the interviews, Garner accused Coulson of hiding Inhumans from him to fast-track the "Secret Warriors" project. As they talked, Melinda May entered the facility.
May and Coulson met and discussed Lance Hunter having recruited her to assist him in seeking revenge on Grant Ward. Coulson wanted to know if May had left S.H.I.E.L.D. because he was working with Garner. May was more concerned that Hunter was involved in an uncontrollable situation. Coulson assured May that when the time came, he would have a support team ready to assist her and Hunter. On a lighter note, May asked Coulson why he was not wearing a tie. He showed her his prosthetic hand and told her that he was still learning. Coulson sent an agent to follow Garner as added protection against Ward.
Johnson had found that an e-mail virus was sent to the Hensons from Dwight Frye, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland. So Coulson called Price and the ATCU to meet him, Johnson, and Mackenzie at Frye's residence. During the interrogation, Frye became unruly, so Coulson used his prosthetic hand to hold the man, telling him that he had a finger which could emit a laser. Price wondered if it was true, but Coulson would not verify.
Coulson abruptly left and returned to the Playground. He permitted Johnson and Mackenzie to accompany Frye to the ATCU Facility, to discover what they would do with Frye there. At the Playground, Coulson had Fitz prepare Zephyr One to carry him and a support team to assist Hunter and May in their Attack on Grant Ward. When May asked for an estimated time of arrival, Coulson told her that he was twenty minutes away and suggested that they retreat. En route, a local convenience store exploded and Coulson had the plane diverted to that location.
==== Visiting the Facility ====
Coulson retrieved Andrew Garner from an assassination attempt at a local convenience store and brought him to the Playground, where Garner was examined by a medic. Melinda May returned to the facility simultaneously after her Attack on Grant Ward. May was relieved that Garner was alive and wanted to know how he survived. Garner thanked Coulson for saving his life and told them a lie about how he had escaped.
Allowing medics to examine Garner, Coulson left the room and saw May and Lance Hunter arguing. Coulson removed Hunter from the mission to find Grant Wardand put May in charge, since May declared that she was now back with S.H.I.E.L.D..
In Coulson's office, Daisy Johnson expressed her disappointment at not seeing the ATCU Facility and her theory that Lash was a member of the ATCU. Coulson advised her to keep her research into Lash off the radar of Rosalind Price, because he wanted her trust so he could see the facility. Johnson asked him if he and Price were getting close, but Coulson dismissed the idea.
To keep the Playground secret, Coulson had Price pick him up from a street corner. Suddenly, Price received a phone call stating that there was a break-in at her residence. She asked Coulson to allow her to attend to it without him, but he refused to leave her car, telling her that she was lying and trying to delay his visit to the facility. Price allowed him to accompany her.
At her residence, they met Officer Stuart, who asked Price if he could search her place to see if anything was missing. Price told Coulson not to look around, but he did anyway, noting that she owned many biographies of Margaret Thatcher. He found that Price had expensive paintings and a baseball bat with many iconic autographs, but no evidence of theft. Price then brought in food from one of Coulson's favorite fast food restaurants. Coulson accused her of staging a break-in to garner sympathy and delay him from seeing the facility. Angered by his accusations, Price tossed the food into a wastebasket and told Coulson to come with her.
Price took Coulson to Endotex Labs, where they watched an Inhuman in an induced coma get locked away in a containment pod . Price tried to justified this action. She told him that they were working on a cure for the Inhumans and would keep them in a coma until they found it. Coulson realized that Price had lost someone. She said that it was her husband who died from cancer. She explained that she wanted to spare these people pain, as she wished she had been able to do for her husband. She then confessed she wanted Coulson to like her, as he had suspected.
==== Confronting Lash ====
Coulson and Daisy Johnson argued about the intention of Rosalind Price and the Advanced Threat Containment Unit to cure the Inhumans of their abilities. Coulson said that he was meeting with president Matthew Ellis about the Inhuman threat. He asked Johnson to talk with Price while they headed to the meeting on Zephyr One. Meanwhile, Andrew Garner went to evaluate Joey Gutierrez in the Cocoon. Price came on board Zephyr One and Coulson told her that Johnson would show her around.
Coulson received a call informing him that Melinda May and Garner were missing. Price then helped Coulson tie his tie and he told her why he had a robotic hand. Johnson entered the room and informed him that Lincoln Campbell and Alphonso Mackenzie had boarded. Campbell came and explained that he believed Garner was Lash. Garner was the only person who had access to Jiaying's ledger which contained all the names of the inhumans from Afterlife. Coulson ordered the plane redirected so they could search for Garner and May. Campbell warned them that Garner could be in the process of becoming Lash permanently.
They soon located May and Garner in an abandoned building at Culver University. With the help of the ATCU, they entered the building and readied the Containment Module. Coulson found the two and saw that May was chained up. He said to Garner that he didn't want to fight against him, but Garner defended his actions and everything he had done against the Inhumans he had killed. Campbell unexpectedly attacked Garner and Garner transformed into Lash and struck back. Coulson gave May a key to release herself and went after them. Coulson saved Mackenzie from Lash and the ATCU soldiers shot Lash. Then Lash threw Price from a great height, and as Coulson yelled, Johnson used her powers to save Price. May calmed Lash down and he transformed back to Garner. May shot him multiple times in the chest, causing Garner to fall into the Containment Module and pass out. Coulson asked May how she knew she wasn't going to kill him. May replied she didn't.
After the fight, Coulson offered Campbell a position with S.H.I.E.L.D.. Garner was taken by the ATCU to be put in stasis while they searched for a cure. Price spoke to Coulson and offered to buy him a drink. Coulson happily accepted. The next day, Coulson was in Price's home and she suggested that they go out and eat. Coulson agreed and the two kissed.
==== Operation Spotlight ====
Coulson's team and Rosalind Price watched as Lash's Containment Module was loaded onto a van headed for Endotex Labs. Coulson questioned if they were doing the right thing. Price insisted they were, since it meant Garner had a chance at remaining human. She promised the ATCU would continue working on a cure. Coulson suggested that she visit the Playground to continue discussing the work of the ATCU. Later, Coulson was asked by Alphonso Mackenzie if he and Price were sleeping together. Coulson refused to answer and told him that he wanted to trust her while the rest of them had to go behind her back.
Coulson then summoned his agents and explained that Operation Spotlight was a mission to infiltrate the Advanced Threat Containment Unit base and to uncover its secrets. He assigned each team member a task. After the briefing, he asked Mackenzie if he had answered his concerns, but Mack replied that it had only raised new ones. After that, Coulson welcomed Price to the base and requested that they be able to scan her phone for any viruses. Coulson realized that Price had brought only her normal phone. They continued flirting and teasing one another. The scan sent the information in her phone to the team in Zephyr One.
In the base's science lab, Coulson told Price about his team's breakthroughs in alien biology as well as robotics and prosthetics. Price received a call, informing her that the Containment Module had caused a security breach in the ATCU base. She asked Coulson if that were true. Coulson said the Containment Module would indeed scan all networks it was near. She informed him that they would shut it down and Coulson told her they needed to find other ways the flirt.
Coulson led Price to his office and he showed her the collectables he had acquired over the years. He was informed by Bobbi Morse that the ATCU was not trying to find a cure for the Inhumans, but was trying to create as many Inhumans as they could. Coulson led Price into the containment room and locked the door. At first, Price thought it was a flirtatious move. She teased Coulson, but he remained serious. He told Price she would now have to convince him that she was not HYDRA and revealed that his team had infiltrated the ATCU base. Coulson tried repeatedly to get the truth from her. She stonewalled and accused him of seducing her to get information.
Price confirmed that Andrew Garner was not being kept at Endotex Labs. Coulson replied that he believed she was lying, as only a HYDRA agent could know about T.A.H.I.T.I. and he demanded she reveal her source. Price confessed she had fallen for him but accused him of no longer being human, after having been stabbed through the heart. When Coulson informed her that his agents had learned the ATCU was not working on a cure, she didn't believe him. She mentioned that Gideon Malick gave her all the updates from the science division, including the T.A.H.I.T.I. information, thus revealing that Malick was HYDRA. Coulson understood his agents were in danger. He allowed Price to order Luther Banks to evacuate his agents.
After returning to the Playground, the agents gathered with Coulson and Price. Price revealed how she had met Malick in 2001 and he had advised her on many key missions, starting when she worked for NASA. After some research, Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz informed them that they had discovered a division of NASA connected to an ancient HYDRA order obsessed with studying the Monolith. Fitz-Simmons showed them the HYDRA logo in ancient symbols which they had found.
=== Losing Rosalind ===
Coulson and Rosalind Price had dinner together at her apartment. Coulson lighted candles while Price brought in their meal: Coulson's favorite takeout burgers. As they ate, Price began telling Coulson about her plans for the next day, including returning to her job in the Advanced Threat Containment Unit. Coulson asked if that was the best idea, and Price reassured him that she would be fine.
Coulson heard a sharp sound and looked over to Price's window, which had been broken by a bullet. Looking back at Price, Coulson saw that blood was seeping from a wound in her neck. Coulson dragged Price from her chair and laid her on the ground, begging her to stay with him. Price lost too much blood and died, leaving Coulson shocked and broken.
As he struggled to grasp what had happened, a phone rang. Coulson picked up to hear Grant Ward mocking him for experiencing what Ward himself had felt when Kara Palemas was shot. Ward warned Coulson that he had sent men to kill him and hung up. Coulson had just enough time to call for extraction and hide behind a wall when two men entered the apartment. Coulson shot the two and quickly rigged an explosive to serve as a distraction. The distraction worked and Coulson brought down three more agents, leaving the apartment and jumping out a window. Evading more men outside, Coulson found shelter and exchanged gunfire with the men until Alphonso Mackenzie arrived and extracted him. On the return to the Playground, Mackenzie asked Coulson about Price, but Coulson told Mackenzie to just drive.
==== Revenge Mission ====
At the Playground, Coulson told Alphonso Mackenzie to ready the interrogation room, then went to his office without saying anything more. In his office, he looked down at his bloodstained shirt before tearing it off then throwing things around the room. Eventually, he calmed down and returned to his team. He interrogated each member of his original team to see if he could find anything he could use against Grant Ward. Coulson learned that Ward loved his younger brother, Thomas, and that it could be a weak spot to exploit.
Coulson returned to his office and began collecting files. Mackenzie asked him what he was going to do, and Coulson replied that he was about to cross lines the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. should not cross. Coulson then appointed Mackenzie the Acting Director until he returned from his mission.
Finding Lance Hunter with Bobbi Morse, Coulson ignored Hunter's condolences. He grabbed Hunter by the throat and pushed him against the wall. Morse asked Coulson to calm down. Coulson blasted Hunter for not killing Ward when he had the chance. When Hunter apologized and swore he would do anything to try again, Coulson released him and informed him that he and Morse would be joining his mission.
On the Quinjet, Coulson told Hunter and Morse that their target was Ward's younger brother Thomas. Hunter came up with a plan to rob the jewelry store where Thomas worked and kidnap him. As they flew, Coulson received a call from Mackenzie informing him that HYDRA had kidnapped Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. Coulson threw the phone against the wall but continued his mission. At the jewelry store, Coulson and Hunter grabbed Thomas and returned to the Quinjet. Coulson called Ward and informed him that he had Thomas and showed him a video feed of Hunter holding a gun to Thomas' head. Once Ward had seen his brother, Coulson terminated the call. Coulson realized he needed to locate Ward, and Thomas offered to keep his brother on the phone long enough to trace the call. Within minutes, Ward called back and Coulson let him talk to Thomas until Morse traced his location. Coulson warned Ward that they were coming and hung up. Dropping off Thomas, the Quinjet continued on to the HYDRA base.
Once over the castle, Coulson watched the thermal scans of everyone in the base, noting that HYDRA had opened the portal and that Ward was one of the people entering it. Coulson began putting on a parachute. Morse tried to talk him out of jumping, but Coulson ignored her and leapt from the Quinjet, falling straight through the open portal and landing on the alien planet.
==== Battle of Maveth ====
Upon impact with the planet, Coulson was knocked unconscious. While he lay there, he dreamed of Rosalind Price, who told him to wake up as his team still needed him. Coulson awoke and began his trek in search of Grant Ward and Leo Fitz. Eventually Coulson spotted tracks and followed them until he found Ward and two guards. Killing the two guards, Coulson wounded Ward and handcuffed him, with Ward warning that he was the only one who knew where to return home, and that Fitz was also on the planet. Coulson continued to the exit portal with the prisoner Ward as guide.
As they walked, Ward confided that being on the planet had helped him find his true purpose, accepting that he was a part of a grand plan whereas previously he had looked for father figures in HYDRA and John Garrett. Coulson listened with distaste as Ward told him that he had realized his obsessions over revenge were insignificant, and that he was a part of something bigger. In response, Coulson wounded Ward again, telling him that he had no idea what he meant and the pair of them continued on through the desert.
The two reached the exit point, where Coulson saw Fitz being attacked by Hive. Coulson shot at the man and saved Fitz, but in doing so gave Ward the opportunity to free himself and attack Coulson. Ward was wounded and weak and Coulson overpowered and beat him, reminding Ward of all the lives he had taken. As Coulson fought, Fitz warned him that the portal was closing. Still thinking of all the people Ward had murdered, including Rosalind Price, Coulson made the decision to kill Ward and slowly crushed his ribcage until he stopped breathing. Immediately horrified by what he had done, Coulson removed his robotic hand and left it next to Ward's corpse. Leaving the body, Coulson returned home through the portal.
Coulson and Fitz barely made it through the portal before it collapsed, reaching the Containment Module before the HYDRA Castle was destroyed. They returned to Zephyr One with Alphonso Mackenzie and Daisy Johnson and were greeted with joy. While the group celebrated their victory over HYDRA, Coulson embraced Melinda May, while sharing a look with Fitz, knowing Fitz had watched him murder Ward and leave his body to rot on the alien planet.
=== Hunting Gideon Malick ===
==== Meeting the President ====
President Matthew Ellis wanted to meet with Coulson, but Coulson was unwilling to reveal the location of the Playground, so he set the meeting at Rosalind Price's home and brought Melinda May. When Ellis arrived, the two started to talk about the Inhumans issue. Ellis thanked Coulson for his actions to solve that problem. Coulson asked if Ellis had legalized S.H.I.E.L.D., and Ellis responded that S.H.I.E.L.D. would continue to operate in the shadows with the Advanced Threat Containment Unit serving as their public face. Ellis promised to appoint a new head for the ATCU, who would answer to Coulson. Before Ellis left, Coulson asked him about Gideon Malick. Ellis said he could not help Coulson catch Malick, because Malick was too powerful. May said that she was sorry that Ellis hadn't given Coulson anything, but Coulson said that he might have.
Sometime later, Coulson asked Leo Fitz his opinion on Lincoln Campbell. Fitz replied that Lincoln was helping them understand the Inhumans' biology. Coulson then ordered Fitz to turn on the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine. Fitz refused, but Coulson said it was not for himself, but Werner von Strucker, who was still in a coma. Von Strucker was put in the machine and Coulson asked him about Malick. Von Strucker said, "just kill me". Coulson asked Campbell to use his powers to draw out von Strucker's memories. He did and Coulson asked again about Malick. This time von Strucker gave him the information on how to communicate with Malick.
Coulson went to a remote location and called Malick. He had May trace Malick's location. Malick answered and Coulson mocked him, noting that since the Attack on the HYDRA Castle, Malick had lost his Inhumans and had been forced into hiding. Malick assured him that his influence was stronger than Coulson understood. Afterward, Coulson tried on the new robotic hand that Fitz had built. It looked human. May comforted Coulson about what had happened in Maveth. Coulson then said that Malick was still collecting Inhumans for an unknown purpose. Later, Ellis called and told Coulson that he had appointed Glenn Talbot as the new head of the ATCU. Coulson was not thrilled with that choice.
==== Working With Glenn Talbot ====
Glenn Talbot would not return Colson's calls, so Coulson met Talbot in the airport after his wife had left. Coulson said that he preferred they would work as partners, but Talbot rejected the idea. Coulson said they should prepare for the Symposium on Alien Contagion about the Inhumans. On their way to Talbot's car, Coulson said he would try to find out which country possessed Inhumans during the symposium. He also wanted to know which one of the delegates was working for Gideon Malick. In the parking garage, Melinda May and Lincoln Campbell warned Coulons that someone was approaching. Coulson saw that it was Carl Creel. May and Campbell fought Creel and Lincoln came close to killing him. Coulson ordered Lincoln to stop using his powers. Talbot then got out of his car and said that Creel was his bodyguard.
In Coulson's office, Talbot demanded Creel join the mission. Coulson's agents refused, claiming he couldn't be trusted. Coulson knew the head of the ATCU must be present at the symposium, so he agreed to Talbot's demand. He then explained that Inhumans weren't welcome at the symposium, and they couldn't bring weapons. On Zephyr One, Coulson told May, Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse that their mission was to enter the delegates' rooms, find clues of foreign Inhumans and uncover Malick's inside man.
During the symposium reception, Coulson introduced himself as Sean Lundwall, an expert on Inhumans. Using his prosthetic hand, he shook each delegate's hands to copy their fingerprints for May, Hunter and Morse to use to gain entry to the delegates' rooms. Talbot suspected everyone of working with Malick. Coulson, Talbot and the delegates gathered in the meeting room and Talbot gave a brief opening statement. The conversation quickly turned to Inhumans, with Coulson attempting to convince the group that they were only seeking peace. While Haruto Yakimura remained skeptical, Anton Petrov suggested that Russia was willing to become a sanctuary state for the Inhumans. Nathi Zuma agreed with Petrov and called for a vote. Talbot and Coulson briefly discussed what their options were.
Moments before Chen called for the vote, Talbot interrupted and called in the guards. He accused Coulson of being a traitor and showed how Coulson had been spying on them all and was not Sean Lundwall as he had claimed. Malick then entered and accused Coulson of being the Director of HYDRA. Coulson realized that Talbot was the traitor. Malick used images of Lash's victims as proof of Coulson wanting to exterminate Inhumans. The guards took Coulson while he asked Talbot what Malick had done to him.
Coulson was brought to the basement and the guards removed his robotic hand. Malick and Talbot entered with Talbot begging that his son be returned to him. Coulson cursed Malick for extorting Talbot and the guards punched him in the stomach. Malick refused to honor his deal with Talbot and locked him in a cell with Coulson, handcuffing them together. When Coulson questioned Malick's motives, Malick explained that he was building an army. Coulson said that Malick would soon be facing a different army, and Malick left the room, ordering his men to execute the pair.
While waiting for their deaths, Talbot joked that he preferred Coulson die first so he could be left in peace at last. When Coulson questioned why he remained confident, Talbot explained that he had a man on the inside. At that moment Creel burst into the room and defeated the guards, saying that he and Hunter had found Talbot's son. When another guard burst in, Talbot and Coulson were forced to run while still handcuffed, with Talbot grabbing Coulson's prosthetic hand on the way. Creel then uncuffed them and Coulson ordered Morse and Hunter to get on Malick's plane to track his location. May told them that Talbot's son was on a truck and Coulson, Talbot and Creel ran to the truck to retrieve him.
Back on Zephyr One, Talbot sat beside his sleeping son as he slowly recovered from his ordeal. Coulson stood by and commented on how happy his wife would be now that he had gotten his son back. They briefly discussed their partnership and when Coulson casually called him General, Talbot told him to call him Glenn, but noted this would only be occasionally. Coulson expressed his concerns to May, that perhaps Malick was reporting to someone or something else.
==== Mission in Russia ====
Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter were hidden inside Gideon Malick's plane. Coulson followed them to Russia, observing their actions from Zephyr One. Coulson listened in as Malick held a meeting with Russian leaders, discussing the Inhumans and the proposed sanctuary. Coulson and the team learned that the Russian minister of defense, General Androvich, was an Inhuman, and Coulson realized that Malick planned to use the minister to stage a coup and kill the prime minister of Russia, who did not support the sanctuary.
Coulson ordered his team on the ground to rescue the prime minister before he was killed. In doing so, Morse killed Androvich and was captured along with Hunter. Coulson had to try to rescue them from prison, knowing that if Russia knew S.H.I.E.L.D. still existed and was working with the United States of America, it could be viewed as an act of war. Coulson, along with President Matthew Ellis, visited the prison where Morse and Hunter were being held.
Posing as an advisor to the Advanced Threat Containment Unit, Coulson was granted permission to speak with Morse and Hunter. Shorting out the prison's video system, Coulson told the two that he would set off an EMP allowing the pair to escape. However, Morse and Hunter refused to run, stating that to protect S.H.I.E.L.D. and the United States, they would allow themselves to be disowned. Though deeply saddened, Coulson allowed Morse and Hunter to make the choice and he eft the room, negotiating their release in return for them never being agents again.
Later, Coulson, along with Daisy Johnson, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, Melinda May, and Alphonso Mackenzie all visited a bar where Morse and Hunter were. Without directly contacting them, Coulson and the others all ordered shots for the two, saying goodbye in the only way they could. Coulson was the last to leave, and took one last look at the pair before departing.
==== Testing Lincoln Campbell ====
Following the Attack on the ATCU Storage Facility by the Watchdogs, Coulson called Alphonso Mackenzie and ordered him to inspect the site. Mack left with Daisy Johnson and Leo Fitz for Zephyr One, as Lincoln Campbell returned from his evaluation at the Cocoon. Coulson told them that he had received Campbell's evaluation and had decided not to assign him to Johnson's mission without explaining why, despite Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter having left S.H.I.E.L.D. Later, Johnson called Coulson and informed him that the Watchdogs used Nitramene to implode the building. Coulson remembered that former agent, Felix Blake, had always wanted to improve its formula.
Campbell later found Coulson walking around the Playground looking for him. Coulson told Campbell he wanted to bring him on a mission. He needed to locate Blake and he knew where Blake's safe-houses were. At first Campbell was pleased that Coulson was inviting him on missions but Coulson explained that he was not happy with Campbell's evaluation and wanted to watch him first hand.
Campbell asked Coulson about his evaluation as they rode in the Quinjet to Blake's possible location. Coulson said the evaluation suggested that Campbell was only there for Johnson, not the cause. The evaluation also said Campbell had trouble controlling himself and taking orders, which had been proven in his battles with Lash and Carl Creel . Campbell said he felt as though he were constantly being tested. Coulson insisted that was being tested because he still needed to be vetted.
They arrived at Blake's safe-house and found it to be in total darkness, so they began exploring with their weapons drawn ready for a fight. Johnson told Coulson she had found Blake's location and he ordered her not to attack. Coulson was surprised when they found Blake in the basement, since Johnson had said he was somewhere else. Blake drew a gun on the pair and Coulson noted how well he had recovered since his encounter with Deathlok. Coulson told Blake he was working for the ATCU now. Blake began ranting about how there had never been a S.H.I.E.L.D., just HYDRA and how S.H.I.E.L.D. was now working with Inhumans, whom he called freaks.
Coulson suspected that Blake was not actually there. Blake commented on how S.H.I.E.L.D. had caused the Battle of New York while the Avengers created Ultron. Coulson ordered Campbell to kill Blake, and Campbell argued against the idea, but Coulson insisted it was an order. Campbell fired a blast of electricity at Blake and discovered it was merely a hologram, just as Coulson suspected. Coulson said he was impressed by how Campbell had handled the situation so effectively.
Later, they learned that the Watchdogs were coming after Johnson and Mackenzie. Johnson informed Coulson that Gideon Malick supported the Watchdogs with weaponry.
==== Preparing for the Future ====
On Zephyr One, Daisy Johnson received a call from Edwin Abbott, who desperately wanted her help. Coulson and his team went to investigate. A shaken Abbott tried to explain that he had already seen these events happen in a vision of his own death given to him by Charles Hinton. Suddenly, the team was attacked by HYDRA, who killed Abbott and used the Extraction Claw to kidnap Hinton, just as he touched Johnson, giving her a vision of her own.
The team returned to the Playground where Johnson explained her vision, saying she had seen Coulson shooting her. They began discussing how they could try and get ahead of the vision and change the future, but Leo Fitz insisted that it was a fixed point in time which could not be altered no matter what they did. Coulson suggested that they keep Johnson from leaving the Playground in hopes of changing the course of the future. Coulson suggested Melinda May should go to save Hinton instead of Daisy.
Coulson discussed the matter with Lincoln Campbell inside his office, where Coulson used the example of The Terminator as a confusing depiction of time-travel. Campbell admitted he had never seen the movie and Coulson joked that he was fired. Campbell suggested that Hinton's visions were a part of a design, as all Inhumans' powers were created to fill an need, using the example of how Raina's vision allowed Johnson to stop Jiaying. They soon found Hinton's family and Campbell threatened that he would kill Coulson if he harmed Johnson.
Coulson then joined the team as they were training May to accomplish her mission as quickly as possible, based on what Johnson saw in her vision, in order to change the vision's outcome. After the first round, Coulson said he wished they could practice for every battle like that. May eventually managed to beat the time limit. Agent Anderson entered the room and told Coulson they had found the building where Hinton was being held by Hydra. Coulson said he heard of Transia Corporation before and Fitz said he had used its technology for his prosthetic hand. Coulson gave May his orders for the mission when, suddenly, the alarms in the base went off, telling them that there was an intruder. Andrew Garner was brought into the base and explained that Lash was taking over and he wanted to say goodbye to May.
Coulson urged May to stay with Garner ,since she would not see him again. May disagreed, claiming Garner was a killer, so Johnson said she would go. At first, Coulson disagreed, but Johnson explained she was their best agent who could save Hilton, and Coulson could stay in the base to change the outcome. Coulson agreed and accompanied her to a Quinjet. He urged her to be safe, accidentally calling her "Skye".
==== Battle at the Transia Building ====
In Coulson's office, he, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and Lincoln Campbell watched the hacked Transia Corporation's CCTV feed. As they spotted Giyera on the feed, they discussed Campbell's "higher purpose" theories of Inhumans' powers. They stopped suddenly when the video seemed to show Grant Ward in the building. Fitz theorized that it was Hive using Ward's body.
They hurried to the building to help Daisy Johnson and look for Ward. Coulson saved Johnson by shooting through a two-way mirror at a HYDRA guard. He then ordered her to the roof to rescue Charles Hinton. Daisy asked Coulson what he was going to do and, to her surprise, he replied that he would find Ward. Campbell found Coulson and Coulson ordered him to locate Ward, while he went to find Gideon Malick. Coulson entered an office and Campbell said he saw Ward. In the office, Coulson discovered charred human skeletons, and he ordered Campbell not to engage with Ward.
=== Hive's Return ===
==== Compunction ====
Coulson was staring at a screenshot of Hive when Melinda May entered his office. She asked him what Hive was and Coulson replied that the lab was working to figure that out. He gave May his condolences in regards to Andrew Garner, but May said she did not want to talk about it. They talked about Coulson having killed Grant Ward. Coulson said he had a feeling S.H.I.E.L.D. was fixing problems they had created. The team had a meeting in Coulson's office to discuss a plan to defeat Hive. They decided to go to GT Agrochemical, a facility which had recently been raided by HYDRA.
On Zephyr One, Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz explained to Coulson that Hive had created small organisms which had consumed the victims' flesh. Simmons theorized that the organisms could also have been used to reanimate dead flesh. Simmons said she could not believe Hive was on Earth. Mackenzie approached Coulson and showed him a screenshot of Giyera in the GT facility. Coulson said that they needed to take Giyera with them, even though Giyera was dangerous even without his powers.
Coulson, May and Mackenzie entered the facility and went to the research room. They saw that the equipment had been taken and everything else had been destroyed. Coulson examined a dead bug and Mackenzie told him that all the data had been removed from the facility. An agent informed Coulson that Giyera was on the move. Coulson shot two HYDRA agents before Giyera noticed him. Coulson ran to an empty room and got out, with Giyera trapped inside it with May. May managed to knock him out and they put him in the Containment Module in Zephyr One.
Fitz told Coulson that the facility's data had been moved to an oil field in Schoonebeek. Coulson noticed that objects were flying around, so he hurried the agents out from the Module before closing it. Coulson asked Simmons why Hive would have destroyed the research from the facility. Simmons replied that Hive either wanted to use it, or he was afraid of it. Coulson asked what Hive was and Simmons said she thought Hive was just a collection of the small organisms that comprised it. Coulson realized Hive was a parasite which possessed the memories of its hosts.
Coulson was upset remembering how he had killed Ward. Fitz asked Coulson if he was OK, and Coulson realized he had unconsciously bent a pipeline with his robotic hand. Coulson said that in contrast to Fitz's justified action against Hive on Maveth, Coulson could not justify having killed Ward. Fitz tried to comfort him by saying Ward had to die, but Coulson said that Ward was now after him. Giyera then escaped the Module and Coulson tried to stop him. Giyera used his power to block Coulson's robotic hand and knocked him out. Giyera landed Zephyr One in the oil field.
==== Infected Teammates ====
Coulson managed to escape Zephyr One with Alphonso Mackenzie, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and a wounded Melinda May. They locked themselves in a storage room at the Schoonebeek Oil Field in order to prepare a counter strike. Fitz managed to repel the HYDRA agents who were attacking the room and they were all saved by Elena Rodriguez and Daisy Johnson, who had gathered the Secret Warriors and captured Gideon Malick. The whole team then got back on Zephyr One and returned to the Playground.
With Malick in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody, Coulson interrogated him, seeking answers about Hive's true nature. Malick revealed that Hive was like a god to Inhumans and that he had killed his daughter Stephanie. He also told Coulson that Hive could sway Inhumans and gain total control over them. Therefore, the Secret Warriors, who had infiltrated the HYDRA base, could have been infected. Coulson had difficulty believing Malick, but to be safe, he ordered the Playground be locked down. He then gathered Mackenzie, Fitz and Simmons to discuss their strategy and ordered the Inhumans be monitored without them noticing, while Fitz and Simmons searched for a cure.
Coulson resumed questioning Malick, and the HYDRA leader described the assassination of his daughter. Coulson said that Malick could get revenge on Hive by telling S.H.I.E.L.D. what they needed to know. Malick reluctantly agreed and gave Coulson all the intel he had. Fitz and Simmons discovered Hive parasites in Lucio's brain, thus confirming what Malick had said. Coulson was informed but before they could plan a course of action, power was shut off to the Playground. During the blackout, Malick was killed and a grenade beside his body exploded, hurting Fitz and Simmons. Coulson found them and was told about Malick's death. He asked Fitz and Simmons to get some rest. He then ordered the Secret Warriors to gather in the common room because he suspected at least one of them could be under Hive's influence. They refused and locked themselves in a room.
While the Secret Warriors were arguing about who could be infected, Coulson ordered a search of their lockers. With Johnson's help, Coulson lured the other Secret Warriors into a Containment Chamber and revealed that the Kree Orb had been found in Lincoln Campbell's locker. Coulson confronted Campbell about being infected by Hive. Campbell stated he was innocent, before being knocked out by Johnson. Afterwards, the Secret Warriors were all locked in separated Containment Chambers. Coulson visited Johnson and told her that he had to disband her team to avoid further infections. He then went to the Playground's cafeteria with May. It was soon revealed that Johnson was the one infected by Hive. She escaped by causing an earthquake which damaged the Playground. Coulson was unable to stop her and she left.
==== Looking for Daisy Johnson ====
After Daisy Johnson's escape, Coulson learned from Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons about Holden Radcliffe, a scientist who could potentially help them find a cure for Hive's infection. Coulson sent the pair to Romania to find him. He also took Melinda May and Lincoln Campbell to reach Alisha Whitley, but not before ordering Campbell to wear a Nanothermite Vest in case Hive infected him. Upon arriving, May asked Coulson what would happen if Johnson or Hive showed up. The interview with Whitley went awry, because Whitley had already been infected by Hive. They managed to defeat Whitley's clones, but Coulson was upset that Campbell had crossed the line and threatened to kill one of the clones. He discussed Johnson's fate with May, saying that Johnson was like a daughter to him. Soon after, they received word of unnatural seismic activity in South Dakota and rerouted Zephyr One there.
Arriving at the site in South Dakota, Coulson discovered the remnants of JT James's Terrigenesis husk and realized that something buried near his house had been unearthed. Thanks to his newly acquired Energy Shield, Coulson and May escaped an explosion rigged by Hive and the Inhumans under his influence. Immediately after, Coulson received a phone call from General Glenn Talbot, who had used Gideon Malick's intel to arrange a broad military operation against HYDRA. Coulson green-lighted the operation and witnessed the destruction of HYDRA with May. However, Coulson had a hard time celebrating the achievement, since Johnson was still missing and Fitz's and Simmons' mission to retrieve Radcliffe had failed.
Coulson kept searching for Johnson and eventually located her in Union City, where Hive had gathered all his followers. Despite his concerns about a possible trap, Coulson sent May and Alphonso Mackenzie to rescue Johnson and kill Hive. Later, Coulson had to mediate an argument between Simmons and Campbell. Campbell wanted to test an antitoxin on himself which could destroy Hive's parasites but might prove fatal. Given the high risks, Coulson refused to sanction the experiment and ordered Simmons and Fitz to find a less lethal solution. He later returned on Zephyr One and monitored the operation against Hive. When the Kree Reapers arrived, lured by the Kree Orb's signal, Coulson ordered his agents to stand down and monitor the situation. The team managed to escape Union City, but they failed to rescue Johnson, who had injured Mackenzie, and they also failed to kill Hive.
==== Sokovia Accords ====
While watching a TV news report about the Sokovia Accords and the Avengers Civil War, Coulson had an interview with General Glenn Talbot. He agreed to take Talbot to the Playground, despite his reluctance to bring S.H.I.E.L.D. into the light, especially regarding the Inhumans, which Talbot wanted to put on a list. Coulson brought Talbot to the Containment Chamber where Lincoln Campbell was locked up. After Campbell agreed to register, Coulson revealed Lash's existence to Talbot. Talbot then said that he knew about Daisy Johnson's rebellion against S.H.I.E.L.D.
Coulson told Talbot about Hive and its plan to create an army of Inhumans. Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz informed Coulson that Hive could replicate the Kree experiment using Johnson's blood, thus creating a virus that turn all humans into Inhumans. When Talbot decided to launch a military strike against Hive, Coulson advised him against it. Their discussion was interrupted when they learned about Campbell's attempted escape. Coulson soon revealed that it was a ruse in order to send Lash to Hive so that he would help them to rescue Johnson. Though Lash was killed by Hellfire, Johnson returned to the Playground, freed from Hive's influence. Shortly after, Talbot told them that Hive had stolen a warhead from an ATCU facility, which he could use to spread the virus, turning all humans into Primitives.
==== Capture of Hive ====
In the wake of Daisy Johnson's return and the impending threat of Hive's virus, Coulson sanctioned an operation aimed at stopping the ancient Inhuman. Thanks to Leo Fitz and Glenn Talbot, Coulson got a government kill code that he managed to transmit in time and S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to prevent Hive from launching his warhead. Prior to the mission, Coulson had Fitz dismantle the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine and provide the equipment to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team to be used on Hive, in the hopes that the memories of his numerous hosts would come to surface and incapacitate him. Coulson later visited Johnson in her Containment Chamber and tried to comfort her, saying that what had happened was not her fault, but Johnson rebuked him, stating she was not worthy of his trust or friendship. Facing her anger, Coulson refused to abandon her.
The operation was successful and Hive was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and brought to the Playground in a Gel Matrix Chamber. Although Hive was in custody, S.H.I.E.L.D. still needed to recover the warhead. Coulson ordered Holden Radcliffe to work with Fitz and Jemma Simmons in order to design a cure for Hive's infection. He also ordered the Playground to be locked down. However, it soon turned out that Hive's followers had smuggled material into the Playground in order to turn the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into Primitives. Though several agents fell under Hive's sway, Coulson and others managed to save Fitz and another agent. Coulson then watched as the Primitives freed Hive and it boarded Zephyr One to use it to transport the warhead.
==== Battle of the Playground ====
With several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents turned into Primitives, the Playground was under siege. Coulson gave instructions to his subordinates to ensure their protection, leading Lincoln Campbell and Holden Radcliffe to the server room, but the Primitives had already taken control of it. Reuniting with Alphonso Mackenzie and a wounded Elena Rodriguez, they all locked themselves in a room. When everybody began to argue, Coulson told them to focus and help Rodriguez instead.
Coulson and the others soon figured out that Jemma Simmons had turned up the heat in order to blind the Primitives, thereby allowing them to move through the base without being seen by their enemies. The team escaped and made their way to Coulson's office, where they found Simmons. Coulson then used his prosthetic hand to remotely call a Quinjet. He ordered the others to stay behind so he could take on Hive alone, since he felt responsible for bringing it to Earth.
==== Distracting Hive ====
The team refused to stay behind, accompanying Coulson on his mission. On Zephyr One, Coulson used a hologram to buy time, distracting Hive, while he and his team infiltrated the plane.
Coulson gathered his troops in the cargo hold and told them his plan was to send the Quinjet into outer space with the warhead containing the Absolution Virus on board. This meant that someone would have to sacrifice themself, and Johnson volunteered. Just then, Primitives arrived led by Hive, forcing Coulson and his agents to fight them. By the time they defeated the Primitives, the Quinjet had left with the warhead, Hive and Campbell, who had forced Johnson out of the Quinjet. Coulson and the others had no choice but to witness Campbell's sacrifice. Coulson told a crying Johnson that they could not bring Campbell back, that he was paying for all of their mistakes.
=== A New S.H.I.E.L.D. ===
Following Hive's death, S.H.I.E.L.D. had to change and Coulson resigned as director in order to insure that the agency could live on and that his friends could continue as agents. Jeffrey Mace became the new director and Coulson returned to being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, teaming up with Alphonso Mackenzie for long missions on Zephyr One.
==== Chase of Quake ====
Alongside his official assignments, Coulson led endeavors to find Daisy Johnson, who had gone rogue after Lincoln Campbell's sacrifice and death. Johnson was acting as a vigilante, whom the press dubbed "Quake". After several days on a stakeout with Alphonso Mackenzie, Coulson found Johnson as she was conversing with Polly Hinton and Robin Hinton. He led in a team to catch her, but she managed to escape.
Sometime later, Coulson was returning from a six weeks mission with Mackenzie, when they were called back to the Playground without explanation. They were greeted by Melinda May, who informed them that Mace had forbidden them from searching for Johnson, as they had repeatedly failed to capture her. However, May tipped them off that Quake had been spotted in Los Angeles, giving them a head start to try to find her before S.H.I.E.L.D. went on an official mission to capture her. Before leaving, Coulson and Mackenzie went to find Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz in the lab, where Coulson was provided with a new version of his prosthetic hand.
Coulson and Mackenzie left the Playground looking for a missing member of the Aryan Brotherhood and a truck stolen by his organization. They found the truck and discovered several slaughtered bodies with jackets featuring the logo of the Cosmogenic company. Coulson went to investigate a Cosmogenic facility and witnessed the arrival of the Chinatown Crew, coming to pick up a weapon they had purchased from the Aryan Brotherhood. When they opened the box, a ghostly being escaped, which appeared to infect the gangsters. They began fighting and killing each other. Before Coulson and Mackenzie could intervene, May's Team appeared and subdued the gangsters. Several members of the Chinatown Crew, who turned out to be affiliated with the Watchdogs, were captured and taken aboard Zephyr One. Afterwards, Coulson returned to the Playground.
==== A Ghostly Disease ====
Following his return to the Playground, Coulson had an interview with Jeffrey Mace. Mace voiced concerns about Daisy Johnson acting as a rogue vigilante while they were on the verge of publicly revealing the existence of the agency. Mace then asked Coulson to give some United States congressmen a tour of the Playground and Coulson reluctantly agreed. During the tour, the group was joined by Jemma Simmons, who had witnessed Chen's madness due to Lucy Bauer's touch. Coulson figured out that something was wrong and took the congressmen to the Quinjet bay instead of going to the Containment Chambers.
After he was told by Simmons to check on Melinda May, Coulson found her in the locker room, nervously emptying lockers and bags and looking for signs of infiltration. Coulson managed to temporarily calm her down, but it became evident that May was infected and she fought against Coulson and the other agents. Eventually she was stopped by Mace, who revealed his Inhuman strength by knocking May down. Afterwards, Mace informed Coulson that he would deal with May and Johnson without Coulson's help, as he could not be objective.
==== Miami Blackout ====
Coulson witnessed Chen's death as a result of his contact with Lucy Bauer and he feared the same could happen to Melinda May. Jemma Simmons went to find Holden Radcliffe to enlist his help. Meanwhile, Coulson, Alphonso Mackenzie and Leo Fitz headed to Miami to investigate an attack by the Inhuman Resistance, who had caused a series of blackouts in cities across America. On the way, they watched a TV interview of Senator Ellen Nadeer, who called for war against the Inhumans.
Coulson and his colleagues arrived in Miami, where they intended to pick up Yo-Yo Rodriguez. However, their car suddenly stopped as the attackers were using a perpetual EMP device which disabled all their electronic equipment, including Coulson's prosthetic hand. They had to locate the EMP source without the aid of electronic devices.
Coulson, Fitz, and Mackenzie arrived at the hotel which had been stormed by the Watchdogs, searching for Rodriguez. They overpowered the Watchdogs and interrogated them. Coulson learned that the Watchdogs had staged the blackouts to blame the Inhumans and hunt them down, using a mole in the Inhumans Registration Index. Meanwhile, Fitz managed to pinpoint the location of the EMP source and led Coulson, Mackenzie, and Rodriguez to it. Coulson and the others managed to turn off the EMP source and arrest the Watchdogs before reporting their success to Mace.
Coulson later returned to the Playground and convinced Mace to publicly reveal S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence earlier than expected. He then watched the announcement on television and received a phone call from May, indicating that she had recovered from her infection.
==== Capture of Ghost Rider ====
After learning that Eli Morrow was linked with Lucy Bauer and an incident at a Momentum Labs facility, Coulson went to visit him at the South Ridge Penitentiary. Coulson offered to get Morrow out of prison in exchange for help in fighting Morrow's former colleagues who were turned into ghosts. However, Morrow refused to collaborate and asked Coulson to leave. Upon leaving, Alphonso Mackenzie recognized Robbie Reyes in his Hell Charger and told Coulson that he was the Ghost Rider, so Coulson and Mackenzie chased him with Lola. After a hot pursuit, the Hell Charger violently hit a cloaked Quinjet, knocking out Ghost Rider, who was taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and locked in Zephyr One's Containment Module.
When Ghost Rider came to, Coulson questioned him. Coulson figured out that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Ghost Rider were after the same people and decided to set Reyes free in order to get his assistance. Coulson wanted Reyes to speak with Morrow, his uncle, about Bauer and her colleagues and let S.H.I.E.L.D. hear the conversation. Ghost Rider agreed and Coulson learned about the Bauers' project of building a Quantum Particle Generator using the knowledge within an ancient book. Before S.H.I.E.L.D. could investigate further, they received an alert about Hellfire, who was allegedly targeted by the Watchdogs.
They soon discovered that Hellfire, despite being an Inhuman himself, was working with the Watchdogs to kill Inhumans. Coulson, Mackenzie, and Ghost Rider flew to Primed and Ready Fireworks and defeated the Watchdogs, capturing Hellfire and rescuing Quake and Jemma Simmons in the process.
Later, Coulson visited Quake and Reyes and demanded their help in finding the Darkhold, saying that neither HYDRA nor Nick Fury could locate it and that Lucy Bauer was after it. Their first lead was Joseph Bauer, who had just awakened from a coma. Before that, Coulson went to the Radcliffe Residence to pick up Melinda May, who had finally recovered from the ghostly virus.
==== Looking for the Darkhold ====
Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie visited Joseph Bauer in his hospital room, after his wife, Lucy Bauer, had awakened him from a coma. Joseph died from the ghostly infection shortly after telling Coulson and Mackenzie that his wife had probably retrieved the Darkhold.
Coulson decided to go back to the South Ridge Penitentiary to enlist Eli Morrow's assistance. Coulson and Melinda May went to speak with the prison's director, but Bauer and her former coworkers had got there ahead of them, infecting the prison's staff and making them believe that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were demons.
Coulson and May were rescued by a S.H.I.E.L.D. team led by Quake. They tried to join Mackenzie and Ghost Rider, who were seeking Morrow, but the team was slowed down by prisoners who had been released by Bauer. They managed to escape, but Quake stayed behind in order to stop the inmates. Coulson enlisted Leo Fitz's help in rescuing Quake. Coulson and the others managed to get out of the penitentiary, only to discover that Bauer had kidnapped Morrow.
==== Search for Eli Morrow ====
On Zephyr One, Coulson monitored a S.H.I.E.L.D. intervention at Momentum Labs, where they learned that Lucy Bauer had reclaimed some pieces of equipment in order to replicate the experiment that had turned her into a ghost so that she could reverse the process. They later had to deal with Jeffrey Mace, who had come to arrest Quake and Ghost Rider after the mayhem at the South Ridge Penitentiary. Coulson ordered Quake, Ghost Rider and Gabe Reyes to hide in the plane's Containment Module. Mace told Coulson that Ghost Rider had murdered Santino Noguera and demanded he be delivered to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Mace figured out where Quake and Ghost Rider were hiding. Coulson was ordered back to the Playground, but he tried to advise Mace against it. He then watched as Ghost Rider forced his way out of the Containment Module and fought Mace. Coulson tried to stop Ghost Rider but it was his brother Gabe who managed to calm him down. After a discussion with Mace, Coulson, Ghost Rider and May headed to an old Roxxon Corporation facility where Bauer and Eli Morrow were supposed to be. When they encountered Bauer, Ghost Rider decided to stay behind. Coulson and May eventually found the Darkhold along with all the equipment set up to replicate the experiment. Coulson trusted May with the Book of Spells and ordered her to bring it back to Zephyr One while he remained in the facility.
Coulson was soon confronted by Morrow. He learned that Morrow wanted to use the Quantum Batteries to gain absolute power of matter synthesis and that he was behind the original experiment that turned Bauer and her coworkers into ghosts. Coulson was unable to stop Morrow and a violent outburst shook the entire facility, making Coulson simply vanish.
==== Trapped Between Dimensions ====
Following the outburst, Coulson was trapped between the Dark Dimension and the Earthly Plane, although he was unaware of his situation at first. He was found by Leo Fitz and the two of them saw the arrival of Melinda May and Alphonso Mackenzie. Coulson and Fitz Discovered that May and Mackenzie could neither see nor hear them. Following their colleagues, Coulson and Fitz found Ghost Rider lamenting over the deaths of several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents killed by Eli Morrow. The three of them returned on Zephyr One, where they heard their colleagues' conversation about their fate. Fitz hypothesized that they were experiencing the same thing as Lucy Bauer, but to a greater extent.
Coulson joined May, who struggled to accept Coulson's fate. When she considered using the Darkhold to find them, Coulson tried to advise her against it, but May could not hear him. Fortunately, Mackenzie stopped May. As they were talking, Coulson heard Ghost Rider screaming as the Spirit of Vengeance forced its way out of Reyes' body in an attempt to escape from Hell. The demonic entity took possession of Mackenzie's body and left the plane, chased by Quake and Robbie Reyes, while Coulson looked on.
Coulson and Fitz returned to the Playground, where Holden Radcliffe had been summoned by Jeffrey Mace to help them bring back their missing coworkers. May told Radcliffe and his assistant Aida that Coulson's disappearance was linked to the Darkhold and gave him the book. However, Radcliffe refused to read the book after having glimpsed its contents. Coulson thought that was a smart move, given the dangers of the Darkhold. Fitz disagreed and told Aida to read the Darkhold, revealing to Coulson that Aida was an android. While Aida read the book, Fitz and Coulson argued about Aida's creation and about Coulson resigning as S.H.I.E.L.D. director, which Fitz saw as a failure that endangered the life of Jemma Simmons.
Using the knowledge of the Darkhold, Aida designed Laser-Coupling Gloves and used them to build an Inter-Dimensional Gate. They were running out of time, as Coulson and Fitz were dragged deeper into Hell, with Coulson nearly completely sucked into the dark dimension. The Gate finally opened and Fitz struggled to pull Coulson out of Hell's grip. The two eventually escaped to safety. Later, Coulson and May discussed what had been done to bring Coulson back and they decided to open Nick Fury's bottle of Haig. They were later informed by Quake that the Spirit of Vengeance had left Mackenzie's body and returned to Reyes.
==== Defeating Eli Morrow ====
While Eli Morrow and the Chinatown Crew were causing mayhem in Los Angeles, Coulson convinced Director Jeffrey Mace to deploy a S.H.I.E.L.D. team made up of Quake, Ghost Rider, and Aida, although Coulson had to admit to Mace that Holden Radcliffe's assistant was an android. Later, Coulson voiced his concerns about Mace to Melinda May and boarded Zephyr One to Los Angeles. On site, Coulson gave a body camera to Ghost Rider and had him enter the Chinatown Crew Headquarters. He then discovered the giant Quantum Battery built by Morrow, containing a Demon Core.
Morrow trapped Ghost Rider inside the Battery and Quake tried to go and help him, but Coulson ordered her not to. Coulson and Quake returned to Zephyr One, where Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz explained that Morrow could trigger a nuclear explosion if anyone tried to interfere with his plans. They were joined by Mace, Radcliffe, and Aida. Coulson and Mace debated what to do. They then argued about Coulson's actions and secrets, as well as Mace's secret collaboration with Ellen Nadeer. Mace told them that he had been blackmailed by the Senator and that he had to protect S.H.I.E.L.D. They decided to put aside their disagreements and work together to stop Morrow, following Fitz's plan.
Coulson went unarmed to the Chinatown Crew Headquarters and confronted Morrow while his colleagues were getting ready for battle. Coulson explained to Morrow that he was not creating matter out of nothing but was harvesting it from another dimension, causing earthquakes around Los Angeles. Morrow dismissed Coulson's theory and threatened to trigger the bomb. S.H.I.E.L.D. had to intervene. With the assistance of Elena Rodriguez, Alphonso Mackenzie, May and Mace, Coulson defeated the Chinatown Crew. Finally, Ghost Rider used his powers to prevent Morrow from escaping, sacrificing himself so that the Quantum Battery would be transferred through an Inter-Dimensional Gate, saving Los Angeles.
Everyone returned to the Playground, where Coulson and Quake discussed the fate of Ghost Rider and Quake's personal crusade. Coulson admitted that he had considered trusting Daisy Johnson with the directorship of S.H.I.E.L.D. Then they joined their friends and watched the T.V. news about the S.H.I.E.L.D. victory in Los Angeles. Later, Coulson finally opened Nick Fury's bottle of Haig with May, unaware that his friend had been replaced by a Life-Model Decoy.
==== Aida's Betrayal ====
Coulson attended a meeting in Jeffrey Mace's office and discussed how to dispose of the Darkhold. Coulson told the others that the book would be trusted to another agent and that Aida's memory would be erased. Coulson soon learned of Aida's rebellion at the Radcliffe Residence and that she had killed Nathan B. Nathanson. Coulson tried to locate Aida, to no avail. When Holden Radcliffe and Leo Fitz returned to the Playground, they hypothesized that reading the Darkhold could have altered Aida's programming. Radcliffe told Coulson that he thought Aida's objective was to become sentient.
While Coulson and the others were trying to locate Aida, the android made contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. and demanded the Darkhold. When Coulson refused, Aida shut down the Playground's systems. Coulson gave orders to his team and went with Melinda May to try to stop Aida. They were soon confronted by the android, who quickly overpowered them and locked them in a storage room. Coulson disabled the camera and waited for Fitz and Radcliffe to power the base again. While waiting, he and May discussed what to do and Coulson revealed that he had hidden the Darkhold inside Mace's office, unaware that Aida was monitoring their conversation using May's LMD's eye camera.
Coulson eventually escaped the room and found Aida, who had seized the Darkhold and tried to escape the Playground before being destroyed by Alphonso Mackenzie. Coulson reclaimed the Darkhold with the intent of quickly disposing of it. After a conversation with Mace, he also learned that Senator Ellen Nadeer was the one behind the dangerous Watchdogs.
==== Jeffrey Mace's Lie ====
Jeffrey Mace gave a public press conference, stating that Quake had been working undercover with S.H.I.E.L.D. all along. Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie were in the crowd managing security. Coulson noticed that one S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was missing from from his post on a rooftop. Immediately after, the Watchdogs attacked in an attempt to assassinate Mace. Coulson and Mackenzie took Mace and Burrows to a nearby Quinjet in order to evacuate the Director. While discussing the assault, the Quinjet was also attacked and crashed in Freyer National Park, killing Burrows and McCafferty and leaving Coulson, Mace and Mackenzie with no opportunity to call for backup. Coulson suggested they try to get a signal, but Mace insisted on finding Burrows' body first.
While searching for Burrows, Coulson and the others heard the sound of an engine and saw a radio truck jamming their communications. Coulson and Mackenzie wanted to stop and destroy the truck, but Mace was keen on finding Burrows and especially the briefcase he was carrying. They stumbled on a Watchdogs squad who had seized Burrows and the briefcase. Coulson and Mackenzie assaulted the Watchdogs, but Mace ignored the fight, reclaiming the briefcase and running away, before being shot and nearly killed by a Watchdog. They soon learned that Mace was not an Inhuman after all. The briefcase contained a super-serum he had been using to gain his super strength, all according to General Glenn Talbot's plan.
Mace's lie drastically changed their situation as there were more Watchdogs to fight. The three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took refuge in a cabin. Coulson ordered Mace to put on his suit and continue acting like the Patriot, since the Watchdogs didn't know that Mace was not an Inhuman. When gunshots erupted, Coulson protected Mace with his Energy Shield and he and Mackenzie took down the radio truck and more Watchdogs. Quake and Melinda May arrived as reinforcements and helped them defeat the last soldiers.
Coulson returned to the Playground and confronted Talbot about Mace. Talbot showed no remorse and angrily left the room, leaving Coulson alone with Mace. Mace told Coulson the truth about what happened to him in Vienna. He also offered to resign and to officially make Coulson Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. again. Coulson refused. He preferred to have Mace remain as the face of S.H.I.E.L.D., while Coulson would be in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. operations.
=== Director Coulson Again ===
==== Investigating Ellen Nadeer ====
Coulson's suspicions towards Senator Ellen Nadeer kept growing. He devised plan to be able to watch her. Daisy Johnson would go to the Capitol to sign the Sokovia Accords, where Nadeer would be in attendance. Meanwhile, Yo-Yo Rodriguez would plant a camera in her office. Despite General Glenn Talbot's initial protest, the plan was sanctioned by Jeffrey Mace. Before departing, Coulson and Talbot argued about their mutual behaviors. At the Capitol, Coulson and Rodriguez infiltrated Nadeer's office, but the Senator had expected their operation and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were arrested by Capitol security.
Since the security guards seemed to know that Rodriguez would be on the mission, Coulson and Johnson suspected the presence of a mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. Nadeer used the break-in to justify a full-scale investigation of S.H.I.E.L.D. Talbot was angry that the mission had failed and brought scrutiny on the organization. He told Coulson that relegitimizing S.H.I.E.L.D. may have been a mistake. Coulson and the other agents returned to the Playground. There, Leo Fitz disclosed what he had discovered by studying Aida's severed head: Holden Radcliffe was responsible for Aida's rebellion. Coulson led a S.H.I.E.L.D. squad to the Radcliffe Residence to arrest the scientist.
After returning to the Playground, Coulson had a drink with Melinda May, still unaware that he was talking to a Life-Model Decoy engineered by Radcliffe.
==== A Fake Melinda May ====
Sam Koenig alerted S.H.I.E.L.D. that Billy Koenig had been abducted by the Watchdogs, prompting Phil Coulson to arrange his rescue. Coulson quickly deduced that Holden Radcliffe, who had let one of his Life-Model Decoys get arrested in his place, was behind Billy's abduction, as Coulson had entrusted Billy with the Darkhold. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were soon joined by Sam, who told them he had lost the trail of the kidnappers. Coulson then tasked Daisy Johnson and Sam to investigate.
Sam revealed that he knew about the Darkhold. He, along with Billy and their sister, LT Koenig, had hidden the book. Coulson and his team located LT and brought her aboard Zephyr One, along with the last Koenig sibling, Thurston. LT told S.H.I.E.L.D. that Billy had hidden the Darkhold within the Labyrinth. Johnson told Coulson that she suspected Anton Ivanov was responsible for Billy's abduction. Fearing the Watchdogs could get their hands on the Darkhold, Coulson took his agents to the Labyrinth to fetch the Book of Spells and secure it.
While Sam went to retrieve the Darkhold, Coulson and May had a conversation which ended in a kiss. Immediately after, LT warned them that the Watchdogs were coming. Sam got the Darkhold and gave it to May, but when Coulson told May to give him the book, May pulled out her gun and aimed it at Coulson. At first puzzled, Coulson soon realized that the real Melinda May had been replaced by an LMD several days earlier and that the LMD was programmed to retrieve the Darkhold for Radcliffe. Quake appeared in time to take down May's LMD. Meanwhile, the Watchdogs arrived, holding Billy as a hostage. A fight erupted and during the melee, Radcliffe managed to escape with the Darkhold.
Coulson returned to the Playground, where he witnessed the destruction of Aida's head and Radcliffe's LMD. However, Coulson could not bring himself to order the destruction of May's LMD.
==== Encountering Agnes Kitsworth ====
After investigating, Coulson learned of Agnes Kitsworth, Holden Radcliffe's former girlfriend. Suspecting that Kitsworth could lead S.H.I.E.L.D. to Melinda May, Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie flew to Caldes de Montbui to find her. Coulson approached Kitsworth while she was drawing and hinted that he knew about her history with Radcliffe. Kitsworth rebuffed him, but Coulson and Mackenzie showed Kitsworth a picture of Aida, which looked exactly like Kitsworth. She reluctantly told them about her relationship with Radcliffe and that she had left him because he could not cure her of a brain tumor. Kitsworth then departed, insensitive to Coulson's arguments.
Coulson found Kitsworth's address and intended to arrest her, but Mackenzie advised him against it and refused to go along. Coulson went to Kitsworth's apartment, where, instead of arresting her, he apologized for his behavior and told Kitsworth about May being kidnapped by Radcliffe and replaced by a Life-Model Decoy. Touched, she agreed to cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson had Kitsworth contact Radcliffe and lure him to Caldes de Montbui so Colson could arrest him. Radcliffe came, along with some Watchdogs , but he persuaded Kitsworth to go with him and he escaped, before Coulson and Mackenzie could arrest him. However, by eavesdropping on the conversation between Kitsworth and Radcliffe, Coulson learned that May was still alive.
==== Assault on the Superior's Base ====
Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons demonstrated a Framework simulation so that S.H.I.E.L.D. would comprehend where Melinda May was being kept. Agent James Davis informed Coulson that the suit of Jeffrey Mace, who had been kidnapped by the Watchdogs, had been located in Nome, Alaska. Coulson and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents boarded Zephyr One and headed for Nome.
There, Coulson discovered the Patriot Suit and a wall covered with newspaper articles and photographs related to himself. Daisy Johnson informed him that the Russian mining facility shown in one picture belonged to the Superior. Coulson recalled his mission with May to this facility several years ago and decided to return there to find answers.
At the abandoned mining facility, Coulson and his team found several skeletons, and one of them had a mobile phone in his skull. When the phone rang, it was the Superior, who told Coulson that the skeletons belonged to the soldiers who were guarding the facility at the time of Coulson's previous mission. The Superior threatened to kill both Mace and May. The agents tracked the Watchdogs' location to Krasnoyarsk Krai. Coulson and his team stormed the Superior's base and Coulson soon confronted the Superior himself.
The Superior said he held Coulson responsible for all the alien related events back to the Chitauri invasion. Coulson dismissed the Superior's accusations, saying he only cared about his friends. The conversation was interrupted by Quake, who came to fight the Superior. Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie found a weakened Mace and rescued him. However, the three were captured by Aida, replaced with Life-Model Decoys and plugged into the Framework.
=== The Framework ===
==== Just a Teacher ====
The Framework had been built by Leo Fitz to run training simulations. Holden Radcliffe altered the Framework when he was holding May captive, so that she would stop trying to escape. He made it so the Framework would take away a person's greatest regret. When Coulson was scanned in, it turned out his main regret was joining S.H.I.E.L.D., robbing him of a normal life. So in the Framework, when Nick Fury approached Coulson about joining S.H.I.E.L.D., he rejected the offer. He instead became a mild mannered history teacher, with a particular interest in the Cold War. When HYDRA rose to power, Coulson was forced to teach their propaganda in his classes. Whenever HYDRA goons showed up to arrest one of his students, Chris Adler, Coulson did nothing to interfere.
Coulson always had a sense that something wasn't right, since his previous experience with memory alteration prevented his real memories from being fully suppressed. Coulson believed the Cambridge Incident - the catalyst for HYDRA's American dictatorship - had been deliberately engineered by a HYDRA sleeper agent, as it made no sense for the mentally unstable Katya Belyakov to be enrolled at the school she attacked. He mistakenly believed HYDRA was enriching soap with mind-controlling chemicals, and so he made his own soap. He also collected things related to his life in the real world, without understanding why, including a brochure for Tahiti and a calendar page for the month of May with a picture of a Corvette.
One day Jemma Simmons entered his classroom after his students had left. She called Coulson by name and claimed that the world he lived in was a digital prison and that he was in reality a high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson was unconvinced. Before he called HYDRA to report her as a subversive, Simmons triggered one of his memories by saying, "It's a magical place". That was the phrase which had been implanted as part of his false memories of vacationing in Tahiti, meant to prevent the negative side-effects of Project T.A.H.I.T.I. After Simmons left, Coulson looked in bewilderment at the things he had collected which were associated with his real life.
Later, Daisy Johnson broke into his car, calling him by name and begging him to remember her. Coulson insisted that he did not know her, but when Daisy said that he was the closest thing she had to family, he finally regained his memory of the young woman he thought of as a daughter.
==== The Truth Revealed ====
After Coulson regained his memory of her, Daisy Johnson helped him cope with the news that he was trapped inside the Framework. Coulson and Johnson then had to leave Alexander Pierce High School when Grant Ward warned Daisy, his girlfriend in the Framework, that HYDRA intended to arrest Coulson. Johnson took Coulson to her apartment, where they were reunited with Jemma Simmons. When Johnson and Simmons mentioned Holden Radcliffe, Coulson produced a newspaper article about the scientist, prompting Johnson to try to locate him while Coulson and Simmons went to a meeting with the resistance.
Coulson and Simmons met a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who took them to the Playground, where they met the leader of the resistance: the Patriot. Mace told Coulson and Simmons about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history, then Ward showed up and informed them that HYDRA had Johnson, so she could not join them. Ward gave them Radcliffe's location. He was on the island of Ogygia.
Coulson, Simmons and Ward flew a Quinjet to Ogygia and quickly found Radcliffe. They confronted the scientist and intended to take him back to the Playground. Before they could interrogate Radcliffee, a HYDRA squad led by Madame Hydra and The Doctor arrived with Zephyr One. Coulson, Simmons and Ward hid in the bushes and watched the confrontation between HYDRA and Radcliffe. When The Doctor shot Agnes Kitsworth, who had been captured by the HYDRA soldiers, Simmons screamed in horror, revealing their presence. A gunfight erupted but Coulson, Simmons and Ward managed to escape Ogygia.
Back at the Playground, Mace questioned the three about what had happened on Ogygia. Simmons broke down and left the room and Coulson told Mace and Ward to go easy on her. Shortly after, agent Burrows brought in Alphonso Mackenzie, who wanted to join S.H.I.E.L.D.
==== Losing a Leader ====
Coulson helped the Patriot fake a car accident in order to stop a HYDRA bus thought to be carrying prisoners. While waiting for the bus, Coulson told Mace that he trusted Jemma Simmons, even if her story about a brainwashed Leo Fitz seemed unbelievable. After taking down the HYDRA team, they discovered that the bus was filled with corpses, and neither Daisy Johnson nor Antoine Triplett, whom the Patriot was looking for, were in the vehicle. Coulson returned to the Playground and assisted some refugees until Simmons came to him. Simmons suggested disclosing the truth about the Framework to Mace, but Coulson advised against it.
Coulson later volunteered to join a mission to the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center. Before departing, he and Simmons met Alphonso Mackenzie and his daughter Hope. Mace later summoned Coulson and provided him with the alias, Jamie Flugelman, a HYDRA agent. Coulson used this alias to drive the recently stolen HYDRA bus to the Center, smuggling the Patriot and agent Burrows inside. Coulson and Mace made their way through the Center and released the prisoners, including Triplett. Before leaving the Center, Coulson spotted one of his former students, Chris Adler, being taken to another building. Coulson decided to save him and entered the building, discovering a room full of children and teenagers being indoctrinated with HYDRA propaganda via the Faustus method. Coulson and Triplett released the children, but in the meantime, a HYDRA squad led by Melinda May had arrived.
When the HYDRA Quinjet fired at the building, the ceiling collapsed. Chris was trapped beneath the rubble with Mace, who managed to save the teen, despite May's arrival. Unfortunately, Mace could not escape. He told Coulson and the others to go while he kept the building standing as long as he could. Coulson and the others fled and watched the building collapse before returning to the Playground.
==== The New Face of the Rebellion ====
Coulson mourned the death of the Patriot, and feared that his death would put an end to the rebellion. Coulson later watched a news report about Daisy Johnson's escape from the Triskelion and Grant Ward asked for Coulson's help in finding her. Coulson advised him against it and recalled the time when he turned down an opportunity to join S.H.I.E.L.D. In return, Ward told Coulson about the time when Victoria Hand recruited him.
Coulson remained at the Playground until Agent Burrows told him and Alphonso Mackenzie that they had possibly located Johnson. Coulson, Burrows and Mackenzie went to assist her and arrived in time to save Daisy and Melinda May from the HYDRA agents chasing them. All of them then returned to the Playground, where May displayed the footage of the body cam she carried during the Infiltration into the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center and suggested they show it to the public to reveal HYDRA's atrocities. However, Johnson was keen on finding the backdoor Holden Radcliffe had told her about and did not want to waste time in the Framework. Coulson replied that helping S.H.I.E.L.D. to broadcast the footage could actually help them to escape the Framework, as it would weaken HYDRA and make the backdoor more accessible.
To that end, Coulson joined a team led by Ward to assault the HYDRA Broadcasting Center. After taking Sunil Bakshi and his team hostage, they recorded and broadcast a subversive message featuring Coulson himself calling for open revolt. Ward and Burrows stayed behind to defend the place, while Coulson and the others began to make their way to the backdoor.
==== Leaving the Framework ====
Back at the Playground, Coulson talked with Melinda May about the rebellion against HYDRA and tried to convince her that the Framework was not realty. May did not believe him and demanded evidence that Coulson did not have. Later, Coulson noticed that everyone at the Playground was staring at him and May explained that he had become the new face of the rebellion following the Siege of the HYDRA Broadcasting Center. The S.H.I.E.L.D. team had to prepare to leave the Framework, but May told Coulson and Daisy Johnson that Jemma Simmons had left to meet Alistair Fitz.
Once Simmons returned, the team flew to the coordinates given them by Holden Radcliffe and arrived at a steel mill where the backdoor was supposed to be. Coulson pinpointed the backdoor, but it turned out to be in a pool of molten steel. Alphonso Mackenzie, who had not been told about the Framework and thought he was in a real world, voiced his protest, as did May, who still had trouble believing the whole story.
A HYDRA squad stormed the facility and attacked the team. When Johnson opened the portal, Coulson tried to go through it but was shot by a HYDRA agent. Heavily wounded, Coulson told May to throw him through the portal and she did. Coulson awoke in the real world, back at Anton Ivanov's base. Seconds later, May woke up as well. Spotting Aida plugged into the Framework, Coulson destroyed her body by cutting off her head. Coulson and May were later joined by Leo Fitz, who was traumatized by his actions as The Doctor in the Framework. Before they could help Fitz, Aida appeared in the living body she had she had created for herself, and teleported away with Fitz.
==== Back to the Real World ====
Coulson and Melinda May had little time to process the fact that Aida had gained Inhuman powers before they were confronted by Anton Ivanov, who attacked them with one of his synthetic bodies. Coulson destroyed the android with to his Energy Shield but upon discovering that the base was filled with Ivanov's bodies, Coulson and May locked themselves in the room and tried to figure out their next move. Coulson used the time to inform May of all she had missed while she was held captive in the Framework. Two copies of Ivanov eventually breached the door, forcing Coulson and May to destroy them. Ivanov left the base after ordering it be destroyed by flooding.
Coulson brought May to the surface, just in time to see reinforcements come with Zephyr One. Alphonso Mackenzie was still trapped within the base which was on the verge of complete collapse. Fortunately, he was saved by Aida and Leo Fitz, enabling Coulson and the others to safely board Zephyr One and return to the Playground, although it had been destroyed during the Siege of the Playground. After Aida and Fitz were locked inside a Containment Chamber, Coulson and the others tried to plan their next course of action.
While Aida went crazy after Fitz rejected her love, Glenn Talbot and his men stormed the Playground to arrest Coulson and the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents for the actions committed by their LMDs in the Siege of the Playground. Coulson explained the full story to Talbot and he and Daisy Johnson persuaded the General to let them leave on Zephyr One before Aida could kill them all.
==== Destruction of Aida ====
Aboard Zephyr One, Coulson discovered that Yo-Yo Rodriguez had plugged herself into the Framework to bring back Alphonso Mackenzie. At same time, Aida had launched the destruction of the alternate reality, endangering the lives of both Rodriguez and Mackenzie. Later, Coulson was contacted by Glenn Talbot on his way to an international inquiry and told him that no one from S.H.I.E.L.D. could attend the meeting. Upon hanging up, Coulson learned from Daisy Johnson that Ghost Rider had resurfaced. The Rider was brought to Zephyr One, where he told Coulson and the others that he was drawn by Aida, as she was made from dark matter and that he could help S.H.I.E.L.D. defeat her.
After Talbot was shot by a Daisy Johnson's Life-Model Decoy, Coulson led his team to save the General and reclaim the Darkhold. Johnson and Reyes dispatched the Life-Model Decoys and made Aida flee once more. Coulson and the others discussed what Aida's plan was and concluded that she intended to rally people together in their fear of Inhumans in order to create the fascist world she ruled over in the Framework. Coulson asked Reyes if the Spirit of Vengeance residing in him was as desperate to destroy Aida as they were. He said it was. Coulson said he had a plan. They returned to the ruined Playground, intending to use the Darkhold as bait to lure Aida to her destruction, while also refueling Zephyr One so it could continue powering the Framework to ensure Rodriguez's and Mackenzie's survival.
As Coulson powered up an Inter-Dimensional Gate to send the Darkhold back to Hell, he was confronted by Aida, who told him that the only person who could stop her was Ghost Rider but he was not present. Coulson told Aida she should value teamwork and suddenly Jemma Simmons opened fire on Aida with a submachine gun. When Aida then moved to kill Simmons, Coulson stood in her way and Aida gloated, saying Coulson could not kill her. Coulson told Aida that the Spirit of Vengeance could and immediately transformed into Ghost Rider, revealing that he had struck a bargain with the demonic entity. Aida tried to escape but Coulson used Ghost Rider's Chain to trap her and eventually killed with the powers of the Spirit of Vengeance.
The Spirit of Vengeance then went back into Reyes' body. Coulson entrusted him with the Darkhold and Reyes returned to Hell. Rodriguez and Mackenzie, having finally exited the Framework, warned that the authorities were on their way to arrest them. When Leo Fitz offered to take the blame for the team, Coulson joined the others in telling him that they all needed to remain together. Coulson took his team to Rae's Restaurant where they, with the exception of Fitz, were abducted by Enoch.
=== The Dark and Deep Future ===
==== Into the Lighthouse ====
Through the use of the Time Di'Alla, Coulson was transported aboard what appeared to be a space station, where time stood still as a window was destroyed but nothing moved. Time soon resumed its course, and Coulson had to struggle against being sucked into space. Coulson asked two other men who were there about his situation, but they were interrupted by a gruesome scream. Shortly after, one of the men was snatched away by a creature while Coulson and the other man locked themselves in a room to keep the creature out.
The man introduced himself as Virgil, a True Believer in S.H.I.E.L.D. Before Coulson could learn more, Virgil was knocked out by Alphonso Mackenzie who thought Virgil was threatening Coulson. Coulson and Mackenzie took the unconscious Virgil with them and were reunited with Yo-Yo Rodriguez and Jemma Simmons. They discussed finding themselves in space, waiting for Virgil to regain consciousness and give an explanation. Coulson told his friends that he had never heard about a space station inhabited by Humans.
Virgil eventually awakened and disclosed that he knew all their names. He also told Coulson and the others that Leo Fitz was not there with them and that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been sent to save Humanity. Before Virgil could continue, he was killed by a Vrellnexian, forcing Coulson and his friends to flee. The creature caught up with them, but they were rescued by Quake, who destroyed the Vrellnexian with her powers.
Coulson and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents still struggled to understand where they were and how they had gotten there. Coulson assured them that it had nothing to do with his deal with Ghost Rider. They explored the facility, discovering that it had been designed for Human survival, but that some of the equipment featured extraterrestrial warnings. Before they could investigate further, they were violently arrested by two Kree guards who locked them up in a cell.
While Mackenzie and Rodriguez were taken away to be interrogated, Coulson, Simmons and Johnson were released by Deke Shaw, accompanied by a wounded Melinda May. They tried to get answers from Shaw, but he was reluctant to help them after learning of Virgil's death. May pinned Shaw against a wall with his Gravity Puck and Coulson interrogated him. The conversation with Shaw made him understand that he and his agents had been sent into a future where Earth had been destroyed.
==== Learning the Truth ====
Coulson was present when Melinda May and Jemma Simmons returned from their journey aboard the Trawler, and they discussed the fact that they had been sent into the future. Coulson and the others were then approached by Tess, another inhabitant of the Lighthouse, who was told about Virgil's death. Although Tess was doubtful that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents actually came from the past, she eventually believed it upon noticing that Coulson had no sign of ever having worn a Metric on his wrist.
Coulson accompanied the rest of the group to the Exchange, a part of the Lighthouse where the humans traded things. There they learned that the Kree ruled the Lighthouse and the Humans had no hope of overthrowing them because of a lack of weapons and technology. Coulson requested that Tess visit Virgil's room to see if it contained clues regarding the presence of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the future. While there, Coulson learned how little Tess knew about life on the now destroyed Earth, as she mixed up factual and fictional things. Coulson eventually found a notebook hidden by Virgil, and kept it.
Coulson and Tess then returned to the Exchange, and learned that Simmons had been taken by the Kree Watch. They shared the news with Daisy Johnson, Yo-Yo Rodriguez and Alphonso Mackenzie. Coulson agreed to let Johnson follow Deke Shaw to gain information about Simmons' whereabouts, while the rest of the group tried to steal a Kree tablet. Coulson broke a pipe, releasing steam, which distracted the Kree guards, enabling Rodriguez to steal the tablet.
As a Renewal was held in the Lighthouse, Coulson knew that he and his team would be in trouble, since they had no Metrics implanted in their wrists. Coulson went to Grill, the manager of Salvage he had previously encountered with Tess, and offered to trade the tablet in exchange of installing Metrics in their wrists. Grill wanted more for the service. He demanded that Coulson, Rodriguez and Mackenzie work for him, to which Coulson agreed. Coulson had his Metric implanted, but they soon realized that Grill had rigged the Metrics so he could pin them against the wall, as he intended to let Holt kill them.
Coulson was saved by May and Tess, who eventually killed Holt to make sure that a life was paid to the Kree. When the Kree Watch arrived, Coulson showed them his Metric, but the guard noticed that it had not been conventionally formatted. Grill kept the team out of trouble by assuring the guards that Coulson and his friends worked for him. From that moment, Coulson was forced to work in Salvage with Mackenzie and Rodriguez.
==== A Mysterious Signal ====
While working for Grill, Coulson saw Alphonso Mackenzie trying to force open the door of their boss's office. Although he failed, Coulson learned that Grill was keeping the Kree tablet they had traded him, along with a gun, in a closet and decided that Yo-Yo Rodriguez should try to steal it. Inspired by this recon mission, Coulson asked Tess and Melinda May to take him with them on their next journey aboard the Trawler. Tess agreed and Coulson and Mackenzie were enlisted for the next run.
Coulson explained to Tess that he believed Virgil had identified something of interest in a fragment of the destroyed Earth labeled "Segment 616". Coulson insisted it was important they learn what Virgil had been planning and that they needed to go explore the segment. Tess reluctantly agreed. However, the mission was rendered much more difficult when Zev, Grill's right-hand man, was sent along. He suspected the group of stealing from Grill.
Once in space, Coulson asked May how she was feeling, and May admitted she was growing tired of their uninterrupted missions. Coulson comforted her by putting his hand on her shoulder. Coulson hypothesized that they could be trapped in the future forever, although May refused to let him be so fatalistic. When they were facing the destroyed planet, Tess took out the miniature globe she had taken from Virgil's room. Coulson realized that it contained a small knob that opened a panel on the Trawler, revealing a radio station Virgil was likely using to communicate with someone.
Coulson was discovered by Zev, who pinned everyone against the walls of the spaceship using their wrist Metrics. May managed to knock over Zev by rocking the ship and Mackenzie incapacitated him, enabling Coulson to be released. By manipulating the radio, Coulson was able to receive a signal that originated on the surface of the Earth and was bounced off fragment 616. They were unable to establish communication but Coulson recorded the message they were receiving. Mackenzie and Tess argued over whether they should kill Zev, by dumping him in space, in order to cover for their mission.
Zev had cut the Trawler's fuel lines, forcing the group to return to the Lighthouse, where Grill confronted them about the mission they had gone on behind his back. Coulson and the others risked being reported to the Kree Watch, but were eventually saved when Rodriguez planted the gun she had stolen from Grill's office in Zev's jacket, making Grill believe Zev was the actual traitor. Coulson was able to keep working on the radio signal he had recorded. He eventually discovered that there were people surviving on the surface of the Earth who had been in contact with Virgil. Tess doubted that was possible because the Earth was infested with Vrellnexians.
==== Deke Shaw's Betrayal ====
Back at the Salvage, Coulson learned from Melinda May that all Trawler flights had been cancelled. He and the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discussed the recent disappearance of Daisy Johnson, but their conversation was ended by Grill who accused them of working too slowly. As Alphonso Mackenzie was instructed by Grill to recover a debt from Gunner, Coulson used the information he had been given about level 35 of the Lighthouse to plan an infiltration mission to try and find some Kree technology they could use.
Coulson and May went to see Deke Shaw. Since he was the last person they knew that had been in contact with Johnson, they asked him about her whereabouts. Shaw replied that she had decided to go dark and that she was still trying to rescue Jemma Simmons from Kasius. Coulson asked Shaw's assistance in entering level 35, but Shaw was reluctant due to the danger of such an operation. Coulson then played the radio message he had recorded earlier, which convinced Shaw, since he had believed that the people speaking in the message were dead.
Coulson, May and Shaw took an elevator to level 36. Shaw left the elevator with the help of his Gravity Puck, so he could access level 35 and call the elevator from there. On level 35, Coulson and May discovered Kree laboratories, which Coulson realized were used by the Kree to artificially breed human babies as part of their harsh population control policy. Coulson was told that this process was used by Kasius hoping to create more Inhumans.
May told Coulson that she had found genetic data regarding Johnson in the lab's systems which had been entered the day before, meaning Shaw had lied to them and had actually delivered Johnson to Kasius. Coulson was willing to let May beat Shaw for his betrayal, but they were interrupted by the arrival of two Kree guards. The three of them fought off the guards, but Shaw was wounded in the process. With reinforcements on the way, May instructed Coulson to take Shaw with him while she remained to fight the fearsome Sinara.
Having tended to Shaw's wound, Coulson interrogated Shaw and accused him of wanting to deliver the survivors on Earth to Kasius as well. Shaw replied by telling Coulson the stories of his parents, and explained that the person talking on the radio message was Shaw's father. Coulson was willing to believe Shaw's story, but required a sign of his good faith. He ordered him to hand over the reward he had obtained from Kasius for turning over Johnson. Coulson then had Mackenzie lock Shaw in his room, as he felt that it would be safer to have Shaw out of the picture.
==== Flint's Terrigenesis ====
Coulson told Alphonso Mackenzie and Yo-Yo Rodriguez about what he had found on Level 35. He voiced his concerns that Daisy Johnson might be sold at an Inhuman auction. They were then approached by Tess, who informed them that the Kree Watch were gathering teenagers to undergo Terrigenesis. Among those selected was Flint, a young boy who had lost his parents in a Renewal, and Coulson advised Tess to go and talk to Flint to comfort him. As the ceremony proceeded, Flint was enveloped in a husk. However, when it cracked open, Flint was not inside.
Coulson quickly figured out that Flint had been taken to safety by Rodriguez, using her superhuman speed. Coulson, Mackenzie and Tess found them both in the Salvage. Tess left with Flint, planning to hide him in the Trawler. Coulson remained in the Salvage, listening to Rodriguez's story of her own Terrigenesis. However, they were interrupted by Grill, who had overheard everything and pinned them down, planning to deliver both Flint and Rodriguez to Kasius to be sold.
Coulson attempted to talk Grill out of it, referring to how they seemed to fulfil the prophecy about S.H.I.E.L.D. agents coming from the past to help Humans. Grill dismissed this as nonsense and still intended to turn them over to Kasius. As the situation grew more intense, Flint's geokinesis manifested and he began hurling rocks at Grill. Eventually, through his powers, he created a massive boulder which he hurled at Grill, killing him. Coulson and the others hid with Grill's body in his office to avoid the Kree Watch.
Coulson and Mackenzie eventually left the office, looking for Tess so they could smuggle Flint onto the Trawler. They soon discovered that Tess had already been found and murdered by the Kree Watch.
==== Escape from the Lighthouse ====
The Vicar ordered the human population of the Lighthouse to disclose any information they had on the whereabouts of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Flint. Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie returned to the Salvage and attempted to keep the news of Tess' death from Flint, but were soon forced to tell him. The group was then rejoined by Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons, who had escaped from Kasius, along with Deke Shaw and, Leo Fitz, who had found a way to join his friends in the future.Noticing that Flint had disappeared, Coulson went to look for him with Mackenzie and Johnson, and learned Flint had been captured by Sinara, after murdering the Vicar. Coulson shot at Sinara multiple times then was attacked by Maston-Dar, another fearsome Kree warrior. With Mackenzie's help, Coulson escaped from Maston-Dar, while Johnson rescued Flint. All of them then retreated back to the Salvage, where they discussed the possibility of reaching the surface of the Earth with the Trawler.
Since Sinara and Maston-Dar were still in pursuit, Coulson and his team returned to the Salvage and blocked the door. Flint used his powers to reinforce the barricade with boulders, but Maston-Dar used a weapon to blow holes in the walls. Shaw was able to use his Gravity Puck to move everyone to the Trawler's landing bay. When they all reached the ship, Coulson realized that Shaw could not fly it. He asked Flint whether he could, but Flint opted to remain in the Lighthouse to protect the humans. Mackenzie and Yo-Yo Rodriguez volunteered to stay behind and help him. Coulson agreed.
Coulson and the rest of the team boarded the Trawler. With no one else to fly the spacecraft, Coulson opted to pilot it himself, joking that it shouldn't be much different than driving Lola. In reality, flying the Trawler was harder than Coulson anticipated, although he managed to maneuver the spaceship above the Earth.
=== Future Earth ===
==== Looking for Answers ====
Coulson could not prevent the Trawler from crashing to Earth, although no one was hurt in the brutal landing. The team was rescued by a group of True Believers led by Samuel Voss, who took them to their base located on the wreckage of Zephyr One. There, Coulson and the others were reunited with Melinda May, who told Coulson that more mysteries had surfaced. Earlier, May had been welcomed by an elderly Robin Hinton, an Inhuman the agents had known as a little girl in their own timeline.
Coulson and May went to talk with Hinton, after Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons failed to get answers on their own. Coulson asked Hinton what S.H.I.E.L.D. was supposed to do, but she gave cryptic answers. She then spoke Coulson's full name and said he was the only one who could bring all the pieces together, before grabbing his hand and saying this was the day when all ended. Unable get anything more from Hinton, Coulson went to see Daisy Johnson to brief her. He also instructed her to see Fitz and Simmons to remove her Inhuman Control Device.
Coulson and May returned to Hinton, asking her about Alphonso Mackenzie and Yo-Yo Rodriguez, but got no answers. They asked Enoch for help, but the Chronicom admitted that in the past it had taken several days to get answers from Robin. As he and May discussed their plans, Coulson was approached by Hinton, who handed him a new drawing of Zephyr One flying into space.
Coulson and May went to see Voss to review the True Believers' armory, where they found a fragment of the Time Di'Alla, the artefact which had sent them into the future. Although Voss told them that no one had been able to find any other piece of the monolith, Coulson brought the shard to Fitz and Simmons, who inferred that it fit into an Isochronus Cyclotron built by Owen Shaw. To get more information on this new lead, Coulson instructed Johnson to speak with Hinton.
Later, Coulson and May realized that the True Believers were turning on them. Voss planned on preventing them from returning to their own time, as he believed Quake was responsible for the Destruction of Earth. Coulson fought his way to Johnson, who was defending herself against Voss and two True Believers. Coulson helped Johnson defeat Voss, but couldn't stop him from killing Hinton to prevent her form giving S.H.I.E.L.D. any further help. Coulson and the team mourned her death, then May announced that one of Hinton's drawings pointed to the answer: Flint was the key to returning to their own timeline.
==== Taking the Zephyr in Space ====
Coulson talked with Enoch about using Flint's geokinetic powers to rebuild a Time Di'Alla so that the team could return home. That meant that they had to take Zephyr One into space, despite the gravity storms. The Chronicom instead advised that they take shelter in the caverns and wait for the storms to subside. Still, Coulson had his team ready Zephyr One for space travel, although that proved to be quite challenging due to the damage the plane had sustained.
Coulson then went to see Melinda May and asked her how she felt after Robin Hinton's death, knowing that in the alternate timeline, May had actually raised Hinton as her own daughter. Coulson assured May that he had no problem believing that May could have been a mother. He also told the team that he would let Deke Shaw decide of Samuel Voss' fate. Later, while reloading his prosthetic hand, Coulson discussed with Daisy Johnson having her Inhuman Control Device removed. Johnson preferred to leave it in place, as she feared that her powers could be the source of the Destruction of Earth.
Coulson then rejoined his team as they prepared the plane for takeoff, noticing that Shaw had returned after choosing to spare Voss' life. The team attempted to fire up the engines, but they malfunctioned, pinning the plane on the ground. Coulson was willing to follow Enoch's idea of going into the caves, until Jemma Simmons came up with the idea of allowing the gravity storm take them to space and then using the new Gravitonium-based thrusters of the plane to fly. Coulson agreed to this plan.
Despite the anchors malfunctioning, and Coulson being mildly injured due to brutal turbulence, Zephyr One was eventually released from the surface of the Earth thanks to the team's efforts and the violence of the gravity storm, enabling May to pilot Zephyr One in space. Coulson then instructed Johnson to make contact with Alphonso Mackenzie in the Lighthouse. Once Mackenzie replied, Coulson informed him of their return and asked him whether Flint was still with him.
==== Back to the Lighthouse ====
Coulson and his team returned to the Lighthouse using Zephyr One's Containment Module. They left the plane to be inspected by the Kree Watch while they entered the building. Coulson made sure Enoch was safe after leaving him behind to prepare the Isochronus Cyclotron, then he instructed Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons to find Flint and give him the shard of the Time Di'Alla they had brought. Meanwhile, Coulson, Melinda May, Deke Shaw and Daisy Johnson attacked a group of Kree soldiers who were guarding Inhumans, in order to save the Inhumans and get them to the Trawler.
Remaining with Johnson, Coulson was attacked by an Odium-empowered Tye. Coulson shot him repeatedly with his I.C.E.R., but Tye was impervious to its effect and threw Coulson against the wall. Tye was eventually defeated and killed by Johnson, enabling Coulson to reach the Trawler's bay where they were reunited with Tess, who had been resurrected, like Coulson, by Kree blood. Coulson expressed sympathy towards Tess, assuring her that her second chance at life would be worth it.
Leaving the Inhumans with Tess, Coulson was contacted by Enoch. The Chronicom informed him that the Kree had found him and that he only had minutes before the Kree Watch attacked and ruined S.H.I.E.L.D.'s chances to return to their own time. Shaw offered to return to Zephyr One. Coulson warned him that he would be at a heavy disadvantage, but Shaw insisted, saying all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had to survive, so Coulson agreed to let him go.
Coulson had Johnson hack into an elevator so they could reach Kasius' suites, where they planned to create the Monolith. Johnson revealed that she wanted to remain in the 2091 Lighthouse, as she feared her powers might be the cause of the Destruction of Earth if she returned. Coulson refused to respect her decision, stating that he needed Johnson to lead S.H.I.E.L.D. one day. Knowing he could not change her mind, Coulson incapacitated her with his I.C.E.R. before taking her to the suites.
In the suites, Coulson and May were reunited with Fitz and Simmons, who had found Flint. Alphonso Mackenzie told Coulson that Yo-Yo Rodriguez had briefly left. Coulson then watched as Flint used his geokinesis to create the Time Di'Alla S.H.I.E.L.D needed to return to their own time. Coulson called Shaw to inform him the Monolith was ready and he congratulated Shaw for his help. Noticing that Mackenzie was missing after leaving to look for Rodriguez, Coulson agreed to let Simmons go look for them. Taking Johnson in his arms, Coulson then waited for the Time Di'Alla to be activated, sending him back to his own timeline.
=== Return to the Present ===
==== Infiltration into St. Louis Facility ====
Coulson and his team materialized, finding themselves still in the Lighthouse. They were afraid Flint's monolith hadn't worked, but Leo Fitz realized they had traveled back in time, just in the same place. Their appearance in the Lighthouse triggered an automated orientation video of General Rick Stoner. They learned from the video that the Lighthouse was built by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a secret emergency bunker. Coulson stated there was nothing about it in Nick Fury's Toolbox. He then told Alphonso Mackenzie to have his injuries looked at, but Coulson refused medical attention himself, saying he wanted to remain with Daisy Johnson, because she would have questions upon waking.
The orientation video that had been playing in the background mentioned a storage facility in the basement, where they also kept all the state-of-the-art tech. Coulson sent Melinda May there, telling her they needed communications. May left, taking Fitz with her. Coulson was alone in the room with Daisy when she woke up complaining that he had I.C.E.'d her. She looked around and asked if they had made it home. Coulson replied that there was no universe in which he would have left her behind.
Meanwhile, in the basement, May and Fitz were startled to find three monoliths and a Chronicom named Noah. Noah explained that the Lighthouse was a safe place to store unsafe items. Noah led Fitz and May to a room from which he had been monitoring Earth. May was alarmed by what she saw on one of the monitors and called Coulson to come have a look. Coulson came and saw the video feed of an unusual beam of light coming out of the sky. He feared it was what Samuel Voss had warned him about in the future. Coulson learned that the light beam was focused on a spot in St. Louis, Missouri, and determined they needed to go there immediately and investigate.
The team needed to get to the cloaked Zephyr One without being spotted, because they were fugitives being sought by General Hale and her task force. Noah directed them to a secret tunnel that emerged in the town of River's End, not far from the Lighthouse. Johnson stayed behind, out of fear her powers would cause the Destruction of Earth, and the others set out. When they arrived in River's End, they all paused to smell the fresh air and feel the sunshine, relishing being back in their own time.
Coulson had Mackenzie break into and hotwire a 1975 Volkswagen van that was parked with a for sale sign in the window. In order to get Mackenzie's cooperation, Coulson had to promise they would return the van when they were done with it. While driving through town, a police car flashed its lights and siren at them. The agents were nervous but the officer thought they had purchased the van and only wanted to comment on it.
They arrived at Zephyr One without further incident. Onboard, Coulson inquired of May how she was feeling. May quipped that she had never loved gravity more. Coulson groaned and doubled over in obvious pain. May advised him to have Simmons check him out. Coulson again declined medical attention, saying it was only a headache. Simmons and Fitz approached with information. They had pinpointed the location of the beam of light. They informed Coulson it was at Aerospace Industry's laboratory, and the light was not coming down from the sky, but emanating from the lab. It was the Kree Orb Hive had used to call the Kree to Earth.
Arriving at the laboratory, Coulson fired his weapon at the door to gain entry. Inside, the building appeared deserted. They found a literal firewall and Fitz scanned for signs of life, detecting someone beyond the firewall. They opened the door with guns drawn and found Piper pointing a gun at them. Piper explained that she had searched everywhere for Coulson and his team, had spotted the beacon, and went there to warn the laboratory staff. While she was there, the Orb had activated and the staff couldn't shut it down, so she sent everyone away for their safety.
Fitz was easily able to dismantle the Kree Orb and remove a timer that looked manmade. At that point, Piper drew her gun on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and a group of armed individuals in masks and tactical uniforms walked through the door. They were followed by a woman in a mask and leather catsuit, whom they later learned was Ruby Hale. Coulson turned to Piper and commented, "You cut a deal." Piper admitted it, saying she was most wanted too. The armed men ordered the agents to drop their weapons and they complied. Coulson asked Piper why she did it. She stated that when Hale picked her up, she had thought Coulson and his team were dead. Piper told Hale everything she knew about Anton Ivanov, Holden Radcliffe, LMDs and the Framework. She went along with the trap because Hale had guaranteed the S.H.I.E.L.D. team would not be harmed, just arrested.
Ruby Hale ordered her men to kill the S.H.I.E.L.D. team. Yo-Yo Rodriguez used her Inhuman speed to disarm the men, then May engaged them hand-to-hand. Rodriguez and Mackenzie joined the melee. Coulson questioned Piper about General Hale guaranteeing their safety, and Piper realized that Hale had lied. Mackenzie shot one of the men in the face, revealing electric circuitry. He realized Hale's men were actually Sleeper Mechs. While they watched the fight from the inner room, Coulson kept needling Piper, trying to get her back on his side. Piper finally relented and offered to cover Coulson. They moved to the outer room, shooting at Hale's robots.
During the fight, Ruby Hale threw one of her Chakram at Rodriguez, severing both her arms. Mackenzie grabbed Rodriguez; the team took the Kree Orb and they quickly retreated to the Lighthouse where Jemma Simmons went to work attending to Rodriguez's injuries. In a different room, Coulson and the others awaited word of Rodriguez's condition.
==== Heart Failure ====
Coulson and May approached Fitz and asked if Simmons had cleared him after getting banged up when the monoliths exploded. Fitz said he was fine but felt foolish that he hadn't realized the beacon was programmed to overheat and explode. Coulson told him not to blame himself; Hale had declared war on S.H.I.E.L.D. Fitz said Hale had done something worse than that. He showed them video from a D.W.A.R.F. he had sent to analyze the damage in the basement. The elevator carrying the D.W.A.R.F. opened on level 27, revealing an immense forest inside the Lighthouse. Coulson said he would have thought it impossible, but after being transported to the year 2091, his threshold for preposterous was way out of whack.
Fitz then replayed the only transmission received from a D.W.A.R.F. in the basement level. It showed a mysterious glowing crack in the wall. He speculated that when the three Monoliths exploded, they blew a hole in space-time and that the crack was another dimension bleeding back into their world. Coulson said the good news was that Daisy was probably not responsible for destroying the Earth. Fitz replied that the bad news was that the end of the world may have already begun.
After Deke Shaw and Johnson were attacked by a Kree Warrior while retrieving supplies, Fitz hypothesized it was their fears come to life. He showed Coulson, May, Shaw and Johnson another video transmission from a D.W.A.R.F. in the basement level in which Lash's face could be seen. Fitz stated his belief that when the Monoliths exploded, they tore open a Fear Dimension and that the alien energy emanating from the crack in the basement wall was reaching inside their minds and making physical manifestations of their deepest fears. The Kree Warrior was Johnson's fear; Lash was May's; and it turned out that the forest on level 27 was Shaw's fear.
Fitz said he had sealed off the lower two-thirds of the Lighthouse where the majority of the phenomena had occurred, but that it was already spreading. He believed that if they used the Gravitonium from Shaw's Gravity Puck, they could create a perpetual force to stitch together the tear in space-time. Someone would have go to the tear in the basement and activate the device, and that person might get sucked into another dimension or killed by a fear manifestation. Coulson said it was a risk he would have to take, and walked off.
Johnson, May and Fitz followed Coulson, arguing that he shouldn't be the one to risk his life. Both May and Johnson volunteered to go instead, but Coulson overruled them, saying he was going alone, end of discussion. Johnson reminded him that basic military tactics dictate that one should never jeopardize a general when a soldier can do the job. Coulson countered, saying he was looking at the big picture. Johnson was needed to lead and inspire S.H.I.E.L.D. Johnson said there was no S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. Coulson started to argue that S.H.I.E.L.D. was a symbol that must continue no matter what. In the middle of his argument he collapsed.
After Coulson was revived, he sent Shaw out of the Lighthouse with a to-do list, telling him to be careful and avoid getting arrested again. He then joined Alphonso Mackenzie, Johnson, May and Fitz in the control room. Simmons walked in and stated that the MRI showed necrotic tissue branching out from the lethal wound Coulson had sustained in his heart and left lung when he was killed by Loki. She said the tissue appeared to have been dead for several years, there was no cure and the condition was progressing rapidly.
May correctly guessed that Coulson was dying as a result of the deal he struck with Ghost Rider in order to defeat Aida. Coulson confessed that whatever alien voodoo had been holding him together, Ghost Rider burned through it. That was the price he agreed to pay for help from the Spirit of Vengeance. Johnson was angry that Coulson had hidden his condition form them. Coulson told her he hadn't wanted them distracted with looking for a solution for his condition when they had bigger problems. Johnson said they had a solution, that Tess was brought back from the dead in the 2091 timeline. Coulson admitted he just didn't want to go through being resurrected again. Johnson stormed off in tears.
Coulson caught up with Johnson. She told him she couldn't lead S.H.I.E.L.D. without him. Coulson told her to believe in herself, that she was capable of more than she imagined. She said there was no S.H.I.E.L.D. without him. Coulson hugged her consolingly.
Meanwhile, a fear manifestation in the shape of Simmons tried to kill Yo-Yo Rodriguez in the infirmary. The rift between dimensions was expanding and they couldn't wait any longer to seal it.
May found Coulson sitting alone in a corridor. She asked him if the knowledge that he was dying was the reason he had stepped back from pursuing a romantic relationship with her. Coulson said he didn't want her to waste her time on another lost cause. May said that was her decision and she accused him of just giving up on his life. Coulson stated he had come to terms with his impending death, having already had his second chance at life and he didn't want to be greedy. It was time to make space for somebody else to lead the team, meaning Johnson. May said that none of the team was ready to give up on him. Coulson replied that he had every intention of walking back out of the basement; just because he had made peace with dying didn't mean he was in a hurry.
==== Closure of the Rift ====
Leo Fitz equipped Coulson with a .50 caliber handgun, a helmet with a gas mask and a camera and microphone, and the Gravity Containment Device he had fashioned from Deke Shaw's Gravity Puck. Fitz warned Coulson that he might run into manifestations of his own fears and the fears of all his team members while in the basement. He also warned Coulson not to get close to the dimensional rift when he activated the device, or he could get crushed by its gravity field or sucked into the Fear Dimension.
Before getting into the elevator, Coulson made Fitz promise to do the thing they had discussed, regardless of whether Coulson survived the basement. He was cryptically referring to Fitz proposing to Jemma Simmons. Fitz was reluctant to commit, but Coulson asserted that symbols and institutions were important; they gave people something to believe in.
In the elevator, Coulson donned the helmet and confirmed visual and audio contact with his team in the control room. He jokingly asked what the odds were that he would find a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the basement. Melinda May told him to shoot first and ask questions later. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Coulson drew his gun and stepped out. The video and audio in his helmet immediately stopped working and he was cutoff from his team.
As Coulson started looking for the rift, he encountered a fear manifestation in the form of Mike Peterson. Peterson greeted Coulson and said there was nothing to be afraid of. He said he was unarmed and that the air was fine. Coulson checked the air quality sensor on his belt, then took off his helmet. Peterson then said he was a figment of Coulson's imagination and that he was there to help Coulson face the facts. He told Coulson that he was still lying on the operating table, dying, after being stabbed in the heart by Loki. He said Coulson had never been to Tahiti, Malta, Puerto Rico, outer space, the Framework or the future. Coulson put his gun away and took out the gravity device. He told himself to get back to work and ignore what the fear manifestation was saying.
Peterson then asked which made more sense: being brought back to life after being dead for days; having false memories implanted; living in a world with alternate realities and rocks that tear holes in space-time; or that his brain was being stimulated with electricity to revive it and his subconscious was trying to make sense of what he was experiencing. Peterson then said that Coulson's life since being stabbed by Loki had been just a dream. He said Coulson never had a flaming skull; it was a dream triggered by the pain of electrodes on his scalp. He said Coulson was never a history teacher in an alternate reality; he was just remembering his father.
Coulson told him to stop. He said that Peterson was just a manifestation of his fear of dying. Coulson said he thought he had come to terms with death, but he was finding it hard to let go. Peterson told him that was why his mind had created a story where he spent years doing all the things he never got a chance to do, like vacationing in Tahiti, traveling to the stars, owning his own plane and a car that could fly, having his own S.H.I.E.L.D. team that became his family, and becoming a hero. Coulson said Peterson didn't know what the members of his team meant to him and told him not to say they were nothing. Peterson replied that they were a reflection of Coulson, that he was one of the good guys.
Peterson then commented that Coulson was still holding the gravity device. He pointed to the light emanating from the rift and told Coulson he was ready to walk into the light, and suggested they go together. They started walking toward the rift, then Coulson stopped abruptly and told Peterson he was not buying it.
Peterson grabbed Coulson by the lapels, causing him to drop the gravity device, and threatened to drag him into the rift himself. Suddenly the manifestation of Peterson was shot by the real Deathlok and vanished. Deathlok approached Coulson, who had fallen to the ground, and told him to pick up the device. However, before he could activate it, a manifestation of Lash appeared. Deathlok punched him and he disappeared. Vrellnexians started crawling out of the rift. Coulson and Deathlok fought them until they had killed them all.
Coulson activated the Gravity Containment Device and it created a powerful gravity field that pulled Coulson and Deathlok toward the rift. As they were struggling against the gravity field, a manifestation of Hive appeared. Coulson punched him and Deathlok finished him off with his Forearm Rocket Launcher.
The gravity device finally closed the rift, causing Coulson to fall to the floor on top of Deathlok. When they sat up, Coulson was sitting between Deathlok's legs. He asked if Deathlok was real. Deathlok jokingly asked if that would make their situation any less awkward.
==== FitzSimmons' Wedding ====
Following the completion of the mission, Coulson joined Leo Fitz and Deke Shaw for the wedding of the former and Fitz himself replied that the gravitational field contains the crack, but with a pinch of Gravitonium it would not last long the container and that a much more effective solution is needed but the important thing is that the anomalies would immediately disappear and he also said that they had to thank many people and Shaw said in a joking tone not to overdo it and also said that the situation was very precarious at the beginning, but he had told all the agents, that Coulson himself had asked him to track down, Daisy Johnson's story and that he had managed to buy the items on the list as if he were shopping and, despite so much effort, managed to get some beers for the wedding.
Shaw eventually confessed to Coulson and Fitz that he was very upset when he keyed in the codes on his phone that had taken him to the middle of a meadow, thinking about why the Quinjet did not arrive at the speed of light and also said that he had succeeded. to avoid the insects, putting his own pants inside his shoes, so they would not sneak into his legs and tickle him, much to Coulson and Fitz's perplexity and the latter said that they should not only thank Shaw, but also Deathlok and that he was talking about him.
Fitz then asked Coulson if Peterson would stay with them, but Coulson said he wouldn't stay, as he works alone, but that he has shaken hands with S.H.I.E.L.D. and to find a doctor for Officer James Davis, but who would be leaving after the festivities tonight, to which Fitz said it was fortunate that he had arrived in perfect timing, to which Coulson agreed.
Fitz took the opportunity to ask what Coulson was facing down there, but the latter asked Fitz if he was trying to buy time, as the elevator had been standing still for a minute and adjusted Fitz's dress to make it presentable, before accompanying this last at the altar by Jemma Simmons.
Having heard the initial Fitz-Simmons exchanges, Coulson walked past the two of them and began to make a speech, in which he said they were all gathered at a time everyone expected, and said that important members of the team had come in mind the marriage already before the Fitz-Simmons themselves and that it would have been playing with fire, marrying the two of them by passing every second of every day and asked who was in favor of marriage, to which everyone said yes and Coulson then asked Fitz-Simmons to exchange the promise of marriage, listening to the speech that Simmons had written for Fitz, to which all of them cried tears of joy, after hearing him and Coulson told Fitz to give his promise to Simmons, encouraging him to make the promise with the words he thought of saying to Simmons, which he himself did.
Once Fitz had said what he thought of Simmons, Coulson told him and her to take the rings quickly and exchange the promise of marriage, with the help of Coulson's own words and the latter said that he declared them husband and wife, with the powers that were given to him by the two newlyweds and said that the groom can kiss the bride, to whom everyone applauded.
==== Gravitonium and Murray Jacobson's research ====
Following the conclusion of Fitz-Simmons' marriage, Coulson went to see how Rodriguez is and Mackenzie said she was nervous and Simmons asked Coulson himself how she is, to which the latter said that he felt like when Simmons saw that he did not was fine and Coulson begged the latter to stop asking, then informing Rodriguez that Fitz was building the best prosthetics in the world, which will unfortunately take some time, as the materials are too few and asked Rodriguez to rest and heal, to which the latter said that, having always been on the move, she is not used to waiting and Coulson ordered her to try to be patient, showing her his prosthetic hand, telling her that no one notices that it is fake and that it was very fun. Rodriguez guessed, even before Coulson could finish, that Fitz always adds the same sensations, but Coulson reluctantly said that he himself feels nothing, but that he is used to it in the end.
Rodriguez asked Mackenzie if he felt like dating a Cyborg and the latter told her that it wasn't the parts that mattered, but the people, much to Simmons' amazement, but Mackenzie himself said that the only thing he really hates about robot is that they have neither heart nor soul, which humans have. Rodriguez then told Mackenzie that he authorizes him to make her nervous again, but Simmons asked her to "pass the ball", about getting nervous, as she wanted to interrupt the party to rest Rodriguez herself and she asked for a beer, to which Mackenzie told, before she leaves with Coulson what she can do, provided she abides by Simmons' advice.
Mackenzie told Coulson then that they had to go on a mission to find the pieces that Fitz needed and the latter passed them just in time to inform them that the Gravitonium of Shaw's buckle was not powerful enough to close the crack, describing it as close the dam with scotch tape. Coulson then asked Fitz how soon he will begin to reopen and the latter said that, given the increase in electromagnetic waves, he said they had cash days, later apologizing to Coulson for his insensitivity to him.
The latter said, then, that despite their fate of dying everyone, they must at least prevent everyone from dying at once and Mackenzie said it took more Gravitonium to close the crack forever, to which FItz said he saw it difficult, as they hadn't seen him for almost 6 years, which is why he said they all had to look for him.
Mackenzie reminded the other two that Rodriguez is no help unless they help her and that they shouldn't forget her and Coulson said Johnson hopes to kill two birds with one stone and, when they reached the latter at the command center, Johnson herself said that Cybertek had Gravitonium in their lab and that it was the same company that had made Deathlok's Prosthetic Leg, but May reluctantly said that Ian Quinn is missing and Raina died at the hands of Jiaying and they concluded that the Gravitonium had vanished into thin air.
Johnson said they had managed to find the scientists who worked for Quinn, to which they told Shaw, when he came in and asked who it was that he was a rich and very evil one. Coulson revealed that Shaw was invited by himself, since in his time he had seen far more Gravitonium than they thought and Shaw could help them narrow down the search a lot.
Johnson went on to explain, then, that the doctor who studied Gravitonium was Dr. Joseph Getty and Coulson confirmed that he was dead, as they searched for him and Johnson said that all the death certificates of the Cybertek scientists of those who died in the recent years have been signed by a man, Murray Jacobson.
Fitz sensed, therefore, that they must still be alive and that their death could be a cover to escape justice, even though Johnson, despite agreeing with Fitz, had not found anything on the Internet and, starting the facial recognition, he found numerous identities, including the most recent one that is called Lewis Casalino and that he was a real estate agent in Bathon Rouge and Coulson replied that they had to talk to this guy, despite Shaw said they were still looking for them and that they spared no expense to catch them.
Coulson thus proposed to go at night, taking advantage of the darkness to not be noticed and that if they manage to convince him to find Getty, they will have found the Gravitonium and Johnson offered to accompany him, since the Inhuman Control Device is preventing her from using their own. powers, although Coulson said he wanted to go alone and Johnson said it was the simple fact that he wanted to get some air and Shaw offered to accompany her, but Coulson forced him to stay with Fitz, despite his protests and this last and Shaw argued about their wits and Johnson asked Shaw to be smart by staying in the Lighthouse.
After finding Casalino, Coulson and Johnson asked him to join them and ask him questions, but he ran away, forcing Mackenzie and May to intervene, barring his way and forcing him to put the gun away, despite Casalino being impassive, but he put it down. just as Mackenzie revealed herself to him, calling Casalino "The Candy Man", revealing to the team that the two of them had known each other for a long time and Casalino called Mackenzie "Mack Hammer", exchanging a friendly hug, much to the amazement of the team.
Mackenzie told the team that his real name is Anthony Caine and that he was his roommate at S.H.I.E.L.D. academy, to which Coulson asked why he called him "The Candy Man" and Mackenzie told him that he called him that because he was one. who gave people everything, forcing the academy to expel him, since he never came to class and was not a student, unlike Mackenzie, who was the opposite of him and Caine said they were called respectively "the holy and corrupt ".
Johnson then asked Caine why Mackenzie was called "Mack Hammer" and he replied that this name came from the fact that he was hooked in high school with MC Hammer. Johnson then began looking for Mackenzie's photo as a young man, who all laughed at when they saw it and the latter asked his team not to let this information out of the Zephyr One.
Caine then asked the real reason he was summoned, aside from reliving fond memories with Mackenzie and Coulson replied that the reason they sought him was because they were looking for a Cybertek scientist: Joseph Getty and Johnson reminded him of Caine, when he asked why he should know him, that he had signed his death certificate. Coulson said that this scientist, given his survival, could help him with important information and prevent the Earth from exploding into billions of pieces.
At that point, Caine asked the team if they were aware of the operation paperclip, to which Coulson said they knew what it was, and Caine began to tell that the same thing had happened with the HYDRA and that it provided new lives and identities. thus giving second chances to those who deserved to have them, thus erasing their past. Mackenzie then asked Caine to speak to the man if he knows where he is and the latter asked if he was willing to break the rules, to which he replied yes, as the situation was apocalyptic and the rules do not apply they can follow more.
Coulson said that Cybertek had built the scientists by force, but he didn't like that their criminal records had been cleaned and that they roam the world freely as if nothing had happened and Johnson said that one of them could be the solution to save him, but Coulson remained firm on his decision not to be saved and become a new John Garrett, who had gone insane from the effects of GH.325, but Johnson insisted that Coulson himself must be saved and that Cybertek was tasked with keeping Garrett alive and that he could do the same with him, but Coulson himself, losing his patience, firmly ordered not to be saved, since he had already had an unnatural extension of life and did not want a second and left the control room, although Johnson and May did not give up on their decision to save him and decided to act in secret against Coulson's will.
==== Principia's Research ====
Following Getty's indications of the place where the Gravitonium was last, that is on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Fitz, after receiving information from Coulson, said that they tried to search for the ship in an area they had already searched, but there was nothing and tried to extend the search to 100 miles in each direction from the coordinates to which he had communicated, but the nautical charts showed nothing and the sonar showed no deviations, concluding that perhaps, had been hijacked by pirates.
Coulson said that Getty had confessed that the ship had sunk and Simmons asked if he had considered if he could lie, as he was from HYDRA, but Coulson said he believed him and asked Fitz-Simmons and Shaw to keep looking for the ship.
After a few hours, Coulson learned from Fitz-Simmons, thanks to Shaw's intuition, that the ship was not under water, but in the sky, since the Gravitonium had been struck by lightning, creating a gravitational field around the merchant ship dragging it into the sky and being carried by wind and air currents and asked to search in the clouds, to which May asked Davis if there was any news and the latter said it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, however, before losing hope, they managed to successfully find the merchant ship, much to Johnson and Caine's astonishment that it flew and the latter asked if they often saw them that way, to which everyone, including Coulson, they said yes.
==== Infiltration of the Ship ====
: "Hey, Mack Hammer. Can't touch this.""Now is not the time.""Sorry. Couldn't resist."
: ―Phil Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie[src]
Using the Containment Module, Coulson, Mackenzie and Johnson infiltrated the ship and May said they were in over mode and asked if she couldn't be useful there, but Coulson asked her to stay on the Zephyr One, given her skills as a pilot and that He did not trust Davis so much, to whom the latter said he was in complete agreement with Coulson and Mackenzie reminded the latter not to forget to blow the oxygen, as he would have gone mad without it.
Johnson asked Fitz and May if they received them, to which the two of them said they heard them loud and clear and Coulson admitted that it was strange for him to wander around on a ship 25,000 feet high and Johnson asked how that was possible and Fitz said that the Gravitonium had been charged after being struck by lightning, creating a gravitational field and Shaw explained that it worked like the Gravitonium of his belt and this meant that there must be more of it on the ship than he thought.
After making sure there was a green light on deck 1 of the ship, Coulson and the others discovered the perfectly preserved corpses of the crew, to which Simmons said it must be a case of severe hypoxia and, arriving in the engine room Johnson discovered the container. of the empty Gravitonium, to which he told that whoever was there had not left empty-handed and Simmons asked what was holding the ship in the air if there was no Gravitonium, to which Shaw said it was not possible, since he believed there was Gravitonium in the ship and Mackenzie called Coulson and Johnson, saying he had found it.
Coulson saw that there was not all the Gravitonium and that it was the size of a ball, suspecting that they had separated it from the rest and Fitz replied that it should not be touched or moved, since it generates the gravitational field that keeps it in the air and Johnson he said they wouldn't leave him there. Shaw asked if there was a plastic container on the ship, to which Mackenzie said yes and Shaw said to box it without touching it, to take it away and that they had 90 seconds, before the gravitational field clears, thus giving way to Earth's gravity. to crash the ship, to which Coulson said they could do it.
After Mackenzie successfully captured the Gravitonium, Coulson and the others calculated that they had one minute and thirty seconds to abandon ship. However, before going to the bridge, they encountered a robot who cut their way and Mackenzie complained that the robots are not two, but three and four, as Coulson said there was another one and they began a fierce fight against the robots, although May said they had to leave immediately and Mackenzie offered to keep them busy enough to give Coulson and Johnson time to escape and afterwards he would return with these dead robots.
After they returned to the Zephyr One, Coulson politely apologized to Caine for involving him in this matter and thanked him for the help he gave for the S.H.I.E.L.D., to which the latter said it was a wonderful day, seeing a ship. flying and a robot fight and Coulson said they would take him home with a Quinjet and made sure to shake Caine's hand as a reward for helping. Coulson then left the scene.
==== Return of the Lighthouse ====
Following the completion of the mission to the Principia ship, Coulson and the others returned to the Lighthouse and were surprised to see Rodriguez standing and Coulson himself handed Fitz the Gravitonium ball he had asked for and the latter asked Shaw to come with him and Simmons saw how likeable they began, Fitz and Shaw and Coulson hoped the Gravitonium was enough, suspecting, however, that Hale has the rest and May said that Hale was much more than a zealous general, which Coulson agreed with and he left the scene with May, Simmons and Johnson.
=== The Gravitonium Threat ===
==== Capture of Hale ====
After delivering the Gravitonium to Fitz to close the rift, Coulson and the others flew the Zephyr One in search of Hale, but found no trace of her, being good and cunning at not getting noticed, but, thankfully, thanks to Johnson, who sent the coordinates to Coulson about Hale's location, in order to set an ingenious trap for her, shielding the Zephyr and letting her aboard without his knowledge and throwing a gas grenade to make her pass out and Coulson told Piper she was right about the the fact that she wanted to redeem herself and that she was doing her first step well, to which Piper confessed that she was happy to get the better of Hale for the first time and May replied if she expects the military to have encrypted phones. Coulson then ordered May to call the Lighthouse to confirm that they have taken the general.
While they are flying to the base, Coulson went to talk to Hale, who the latter commented on how many materials the interrogation room was made up of, humorously asking him if he expected Dep Metal and Coulson said he was not here to torture her, but to make two chatting with her and asking questions that had been buzzing in his head for many months, such as why he declared war on S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hale commented on her being melodramatic and said that she was an Air Force General, while he was the head of a terrorist organization and Coulson himself had to be brought to justice and the latter said that bringing to justice and killing are very different things. , but Hale said she was ordered to stop S.H.I.E.L.D. by any means possible. Coulson, however, asked Hale if cutting off his agents' arms, as happened to Rodriguez, was his plan.
Hale sincerely apologized for that fact and said that one of his subordinates had been overzealous, telling Coulson that he certainly understood this, as Johnson had shot Talbot, but Coulson firmly reiterated that she hadn't shot him, but a replicant of her, to whom Hale sarcastically commented on his defense against him and also commented on his motto to get behind his shield and be protected from everything, which is why they follow him blindly, to whom Coulson said that all these words have only one: loyalty.
Hale commented, however, that loyalty has a limit that must not be exceeded and that it takes more to fulfill its purpose, which is to prevent the extinction of humanity, to which Coulson said it is his prerogative to save the humanity. Hale said that very powerful dark forces are involved and that he had a greater advantage over them and Coulson asked why he wanted Gravitonium and what he wanted to save Earth from.
Hale said that although she understood and admired Coulson, she still didn't trust him and he told her that he doesn't give off any positive vibes at all and that the feelings they had towards each other were not mutual and Hale contradicted him, saying that positivity, charisma and empathy had brought him to where he was now, but that it would never take him over his limit and that he had lost sleep, making very difficult choices, but that he did what he was necessary to save the world, although she admitted that sometimes the dead would escape them too, but that she was willing to shoot mercilessly and Coulson said that there was still some humanity left in her and that on the other side there was the right person and Hale tried to persuade him to help her be one and wanted to ask him to come with him so that he could find out what they were going to face.
Coulson, however, declined the offer, sarcastically commenting that he never took orders from a passenger. Hale was still struck by the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cunning, but revealed with a smile that she had always been in the driver's seat, telling him if they thought they were cracking her phone without her knowing and if they believed they were underestimating her, revealing that Carl Creel was also in the driver's seat. board with explosives ready to go off if Hale hadn't been released.
Subsequently, the radar of the Zephyr One signaled the arrival of a Quinjet and Coulson and May, along with Piper, went to greet with weapons the guest who is about to descend and Coulson told Piper not to blame herself, since everything this was just Coulson's own fault and Piper said it would be safer for her to jump downstairs, to which May told her to think about the idea, but, before she could finish, the Quinjet's door opened, revealing inside Anton Ivanov, saying he was happy to see Coulson face to face, asking him if he expected to see him alive, to which Coulson said sarcastically that there had to be a replicant of him somewhere, since, every time he killed a Ivanov's body, a new body of him was created and Ivanov himself said that this time it had become much more difficult to kill.
Coulson, in turn, commented on how his humanity was much more superior, to which Ivanov said that he redefined very well, this time, the basic concept of humanity, telling him that, although some parts of him will always be human, he had gained a lot, in being a Life-Model Decoy, giving it a strength and immortality that not even Ivanov himself dreamed of having, asking Coulson what he thought of it as a beginning. May, however, asked him if he had risen to a new life or asked if he was one of the other Russians threatening democracy, to whom Ivanov said humanity was in danger of mass extinction and will ensure its survival for hundreds of thousands of generations, thanks to its advantage of being a Life-Model Decoy, and Hale herself was a very important part of this project, which Coulson humorously asked if she was keeping her on a leash. Ivanov threatened Coulson to deliver it, otherwise Creel would have detonated the Zephyr One, also saying that there would be no survivors, except Creel and Ivanov himself, thanks to their superhuman durability and patiently awaited Hale's arrival.
After the latter arrived, Coulson asked her if her moralistic facade had dried up, as she used robots built by terrorists, as Hale herself was next to the man who wanted to manipulate the council to turn Humans against Inhuman and that caused the Glenn Talbot accident and Creel said that it was Johnson who shot Talbot, as he had seen the footage and May tried to tell him that it was not the real Johnson, but a replicant of his programmed by Ivanov himself and Hale retorted that all the androids were created by Leo Fitz himself and that, if they didn't want to believe her, they had to quarter Ivanov piece by piece to prove it, since the electronics reminded her a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. technology. and Coulson tried to say that such a thing had never happened before, which Hale asked to prove it and Ivanov enjoyed so much that Coulson himself was not in control of anything. Hale, however, wanted to try to explain to him, as he knew nothing of his plans, asking him to come with him, despite May's fierce objections that he would not go anywhere and Coulson asked if the latter's men would were spared, if he agreed to come with her, to which Hale agreed to the deal.
May, however, angrily asked Hale to give her a second with him, taking him aside and getting angry at Coulson that he can't be serious about going with Hale, but Coulson reiterated that, in order to have a plan in defeating her and counterattacking her, she must first know what plans Hale is working on, to try to get clarity, as they were always one step behind her and Hale herself had the advantage over all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and she swore to May that she would do it with her or without her her discussion of her, even though she knew perfectly well it was a very convincing trap, but she had to risk it.
May tried to persuade him not to go with her and not turn his back on her, but Coulson told her with desperation that what she is doing is inevitable and she no longer wanted to listen to her alternatives, although May said fiercely that what she was doing was suicide and that the latter argument was very recurrent with him at this time and Coulson, becoming more angry than her, said he did not want to wash his dirty clothes in front of the enemy, and May commented with disgust that he was considerate even of his enemies, but eventually she resigned herself, telling Hale that it was all hers.
When he boarded the Quinjet, Ivanov handed him a hood and asked him to give him his arm to check he had no weapons and Coulson sarcastically commented that it was the second worst party invitation he had ever had and Creel asked him for the second time to put on that hood, to which Coulson desperately tried to tell Creel that Hale was manipulating him and Ivanov commented on Coulson's climbing on the mirrors to save his skin and the latter, in turn, commented in a funny way that he was still here and he hadn't left and asked him, taking off his arm and handing it over, why his robots don't have a face and Ivanov said they were just soldiers ready for battle.
Coulson, however, openly suspected that the reason Ivanov himself built that kind of robot, the Sleeper Mechs, was because he could no longer replicate so many bodies of himself since Aida disappeared, noting that Hale was in the flesh. and that Ivanov no longer made decisions by himself, asking him if Hale was holding him by the balls, but the latter told him, starting the Quinjet commands that he had his head in a jar, revealing to him that he had found Ivanov's biological head and kept it with him.
==== Captured by Hale ====
To be added
==== Saving Glenn Talbot ====
To be added
==== Melinda May's Confession ====
To be added
==== Glenn Talbot's Betrayal ====
==== Siege of the Lighthouse ====
To be added
==== Rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D. ====
To be added
==== Battle of Chicago ====
Coulson was lying unconscious aboard Zephyr One in a hospital bed hooked up to various monitors. He was near death. Nearby, members of his team argued about whether to use the last remaining dose of Centipede Serum to save his life, or to combine it with the single vial of Odium they had and somehow use it to defeat Glenn Talbot and prevent him from destroying the Earth.
Rodriguez visited Coulson after he regained consciousness. She let him know that she was never arguing for him to die; she was just looking at the big picture. Coulson assured her he would have taken her side in the argument.
Simmons entered with the Serum and told Coulson it was almost identical to the formula that had kept John Garrett alive, but with extra mojo. Coulson reminded her of what happened to Garrett and the test subjects from Project T.A.H.I.T.I. He warned that bad things can happen when they don't let nature take her course. May came into the room and told Coulson they had gone through a lot to get the Serum. He replied that he wasn't happy he had been left out of that decision. Coulson let May know he was OK with dying but he was having a hard time leaving her. She said, "So don't," and left the Serum on his bedside table.
Meanwhile, they learned that Talbot had made an appearance in Chicago, crashing Qovas' Ship into downtown skyscrapers. The team set out aboard the Zephyr. Johnson announced that she didn't feel that she could hold the team together, but thought Mackenzie could. She called for a vote and Mackenzie was unanimously elected the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Just then Coulson entered. He was dressed and walking and looked like his old self. Everyone assumed he had injected himself with the Centipede Serum. He told Johnson to suit up and handed her her Quake Gauntlets, where he had secretly hidden the serum. He then looked to Mackenzie and asked what they should do. Mackenzie replied, "We save lives."
When the team reached Chicago, Mackenzie, Fitz and May went to rescue civilians trapped on the top floors of buildings Talbot had crashed into. Coulson and Johnson went to confront Talbot on the Quinjet piloted by James Davis. Johnson told Coulson she would hit Talbot hard and restrain him so that Coulson could get close and talk him down. Coulson confessed that he could barely stand. Johnson realized he had not taken the Scorpion Serum. She said Coulson was the only one who could reach Talbot. Coulson told her he had given her all the tools she needed to face Talbot, that she should appeal to his good nature and if that didn't work, she should beat his ass senseless. He opened the Quinjet door and Johnson walked out shouting to Coulson to fly back and take the Serum. When she was out of sight, Coulson collapsed in his seat.
While Johnson fought against Talbot, Davis flew the Quinjet back to the Zephyr and dragged the unconscious Coulson to Simmons. She didn't understand what was wrong with him, then Davis told her Coulson had not taken the Serum. Rodriguez started giving Coulson chest compressions while asking for his forgiveness. Eventually, Coulson was revived.
=== Retirement ===
==== Leaving the Team ====
Back on Zephyr One after the Battle of Chicago, the team gathered looking somber. Melinda May poured drinks for everyone and Alphonso Mackenzie passed them around. Coulson quipped that it was a celebration, not a funeral. But in the wake of Leo Fitz's death and Coulson's failing health, nobody was feeling very festive for Coulson's retirement party.
Coulson gave a speech about how he had spent his life surrounded by heroes, including the people in that room, and that losing good people is part of the job description. He said they didn't have to forget, but they had to move on. Jemma Simmons said he was wrong and that people don't move on. They just close off that part of their heart. Coulson said he regretted not being able to say goodbye to Fitz, but he knew Simmons would tell Fitz for him.
James Davis had been busy hanging a plaque. It read: "In remembrance of our fearless leader/Philip J. Coulson/He gave us his wisdom, his love and his life (a couple of times)."
Simmons gave Coulson the postcard of the Lighthouse, as a keepsake of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new headquarters and to remind him that his team always worked the problem, no matter what. It was the postcard Fitz had written as a message to the team when everyone except him had been abducted and sent to the future. The back read, "Working on it. -Fitz". Coulson assured Simmons that she would find him. They hugged.
Coulson proposed a toast and Yo-Yo Rodriguez hugged him and thanked him. Mackenzie told Coulson he would be calling him for advice as the new Director. Coulson replied that he wouldn't need it and they hugged.
He approached Daisy Johnson, his protégé whom he loved as a daughter. Johnson asked how long he had left to live and Coulson said he had days, weeks if he was lucky. He told her he left her a letter in her bunk telling her how proud he was of her. They hugged and Johnson said she loved him. Colson replied that he loved her, too. Johnson then thanked him for the "spaceship".
Coulson picked up his duffel bag, preparing to depart the Zephyr for the last time. He turned and looked back at his team while holding back tears, then pulled his sunglasses from his jacket pocket and put them on. He stepped off the plane onto white sand and uttered the words, "Gotta say… it's pretty magical." May stepped beside him and asked what else was on his bucket list. Coulson said there was just one thing. May asked, "Parasailing?" Coulson jokingly replied that he had always wanted to try that, then he took May's hand. May rested her head on Colson's shoulder and the two looked skyward as the Zephyr flew off overhead.
==== Final Days in Tahiti ====
Coulson spent his last weeks in Tahiti with Melinda May, talking about their lives and discussing May's idea to recreate S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy in his name. While drinking wine on the beach, Coulson began to feel the pain in his chest once more, and informed May. The pair soon fell asleep on the beach, and Coulson died in his sleep.
=== Legacy ===
==== Remembered Fondly ====
Coulson was greatly missed by all his S.H.I.E.L.D. colleagues, especially Melinda May and Daisy Johnson. After Coulson's death, May returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. to honor his memory and not let his death paralyze her. Johnson, however, had difficulty moving on after Coulson's death. She chose to help Jemma Simmons in her search for Leo Fitz in deep space, because everything on Earth reminded her of Coulson. It wasn't until a year later that Johnson finally read the letter Coulson had left for her. It brought her to tears, but finally gave her some closure.
==== Duplicate Self ====
Unknown to everyone, when Coulson closed the rift to an alleged Fear Dimension, the Space, Time, and Creation Di'Allas created a copy of him that was sent through time and space hundreds of years ago and to a world inhabited by non-corporeal beings, where an individual known as Pachakutiq took over his body. When this happened, Coulson's memories intermingled with Pachakutiq's in a fashion that caused both sets of memories to be clouded. Pachakutiq mistakenly believed that he had had a family that his lover Izel had murdered. This led him to start a crusade to kill her and wipe out the Shrike, adopting the name Sarge. His evil doppelgänger and Izel were eventually killed by Alphonso Mackenzie, before they could doom Earth.
==== Chronicom LMD ====
When the team was forced to travel back to the 20th Century to escape the Chronicom Hunters, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and Enoch created a Chronicom Life-Model Decoy version of Coulson to help them navigate the past. They gave the LMD all of Coulson's memories and the added knowledge of all the events that had occurred since Coulson's death.
== Personality ==
Philip J. Coulson was a dedicated company man who believed in the principles of S.H.I.E.L.D. and felt that his work within that organization helped make the world a better, safer place. As an agent, he always remained calm in a crisis, was competent and resourceful, fearless, heroic and exhibited his trademark cool, dry wit. As Director, Coulson inspired the loyalty of his team by being compassionate, humble, encouraging, willing to get his hands dirty and always willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
Coulson was never ambitious or power hungry. His ego never factored into his decisions. He never relished being the public face of S.H.I.E.L.D. or having to play political games as director. That is why he willingly surrendered the title to Jeffrey Mace and returned to being an agent when S.H.I.E.L.D. was re-legitimized. However, Coulson didn’t agree with the way Mace ran the agency and he disobeyed orders by continuing to search for Daisy Johnson after Mace pulled him off the mission. When he learned that Mace was not an Inhuman, he was able to use the information to regain his power to call the shots, becoming the shadow director, minus the title and the politics.
Coulson devoted his entire life to his job and it left little time for outside interests or relationships. Perhaps that was why his greatest regret, which was reversed when he was imprisoned in the Framework, was joining S.H.I.E.L.D. In that virtual world, Coulson followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a high school history teacher. He got the normal life he sometimes wished he had chosen, but with HYDRA in power, that life was far from fulfilling. He was divorced and living alone, teaching HYDRA propaganda and standing by while his students were arrested.
In the real world, Coulson never found the time to marry or raise children, but he grew close to his team and they became his surrogate family. Coulson was a warm, compassionate father figure to the younger members of his team. He was always concerned for their welfare, dispensing wisdom and hugs, scolding them when they needed it and dishing out dad-jokes.
He considered Daisy Johnson the closest thing he had to a daughter. He rescued her when she was held captive by Grant Ward, helped her find her parents, refused to stop searching for her when she went rogue, fought to save her life when she was shot and, when Johnson believed she would cause the destruction of Earth and refused to go through the time portal, Coulson I.C.E.d her in order to ensure she made it back to their own timeline. He mentored her, challenged her to be a better agent and tagged her to be his successor when the time came.
Coulson also acted paternalistically toward Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz. When Simmons was infected with the alien virus, Felix Blake ordered Coulson to sacrifice her to save the rest of his team. Coulson disobeyed the direct order. After Simmons jumped off the Bus to avoid infecting the others, Coulson scolded her for what she had put him through. Inside the Framework, even with only fragments of his memory, Coulson put himself in front of Simmons during a firefight and then defended her against Mace who was angry she had prevented Grant Ward from killing Fitz. Before attempting to close the dimensional rift in the basement of the Lighthouse and possibly being killed, Coulson made Fitz promise to go through with his marriage proposal to Simmons, whether he survived the basement or not. They shared a warm moment which Fitz could never have had with his own father. When Simmons and Fitz later got married, Coulson walked Fitz down the aisle and officiated the ceremony.
At his retirement party, knowing he had only days left to live, Coulson spent time with each of his team members, consoling them and giving them words of encouragement, rather than making the moment about himself. He told Simmons he believed she would find Fitz. He let Alphonso Mackenzie know he believed in him and thought he was ready to lead. He told Johnson he was proud of her and that he loved her. Then he went off with Melinda May to Tahiti for a taste of the normal life he had missed out on.
Work in progress, more to come...
== Powers and Abilities ==
=== Powers ===
Cybernetic Enhancements: After losing his hand, Leo Fitz created at least three different prosthetic hands for Coulson, each giving him a number of powers.
* Enhanced Strength: Coulson's cybernetic hands gave him some degree of enhanced strength. He was able to keep Lash, an Inhuman with great physical strength, from killing Alphonso Mackenzie by gripping his arm. He was also able to kill Grant Ward by crushing his chest. One version of the hand made him strong enough to crush a metal pipe, rip the barrel off of an assault rifle, and to momentarily stun the android Aida with a single hit. Coulson’s “civvy hand” was strong enough to overpower a Kree soldier’s enhanced strength.
* Scanning: By making direct contact with another person's hand, Coulson could scan their handprint, as he did at the Symposium on Alien Contagion.
* Electronic Disruption: Coulson was able to disrupt electronic signals, such as the audio signal of the security cameras used in the room where Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter had been interrogated.
* Electromagnetic Pulse Emission: Coulson claimed that Leo Fitz could remotely trigger an EMP using the hand.
* Energy Shield: The hand could generate an energy shield that was capable of withstanding explosions and gunfire. When Coulson was fighting against the Superior's LMD, he activated his shield and sliced of the face of the LMD.
* Vehicle Manipulation: Coulson remotely controlled a Quinjet using his hand when there was no other way out of the Playground.
* X-Ray Vision: The hand was capable of projecting x-rays in order to see inside of objects, such as a truck.
* Electronic Communication: When their Quinjet crashed after fleeing from the Attack on Jeffrey Mace, Coulson attempted to call the base with his hand.
=== Former Powers ===
Demonic Possession: In order to kill Aida, Coulson briefly bonded with the Spirit of Vengeance.
* Transformation: While bonded with the Spirit of Vengeance, Coulson could transform into a Ghost Rider.
** Superhuman Strength: While transformed, he was able to easily restrain Aida, despite her superhuman strength.
** Fire Manipulation: While transformed, he had various fire-based powers, similar to the other Ghost Riders.
*** Incineration: He used his fire-based powers to incinerate Aida, who screamed in agony and pain as she died.
=== Abilities ===
* Expert Martial Artist: Coulson was skilled in multiple martial arts and hand-to-hand combat styles. He fought Grant Ward, a highly-trained specialist; held his own against a brainwashed Agent 33; and battled Calvin Zabo, a man with enhanced strength. He easily subdued Sebastian Derik, a highly trained assassin, after having been tortured by him. He fought Alphonso Mackenzie, who had enhanced strength while under the control of the Kree City. He also killed an LMD of Anton Ivanov after leaving the Framework.
* Expert Marksman: Coulson was accomplished in the use of military assault weapons as well as edged weapons, and even wielded experimental weapons during some missions. He shot and killed John Garrett, Daniel Whitehall and Alisha Whitley. He was also accurate enough to shoot Absorbing Man in the head, but he survived by mimicking rubber.
* Master Spy: Coulson was highly trained in intelligence and espionage. He could tell what the man controlling Akela Amador looked like just by her description of how he typed. He maintained very good covers on multiple occasions, including when pursuing Ian Quinn on a train, at Cybertek's offices, and at Gabriel Soto's party in Miami, where he, along with Melinda May, were able to locate all the security cameras.
* Gifted Intellect: To be added
* Master Tactician: A very skilled logistics specialist, Coulson assessed situations and allocated equipment and personnel as needed. He was also very proficient at planning ops. He was a recognized expert on analysis, being able to imagine all the possible scenarios for any given information, and quickly predict the probable one, such as when he deduced that the Clairvoyant was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, or when he correctly guessed why Skye accompanied Grant Ward out of Providence, despite her knowing he was a HYDRA operative. He also exceled at tracking fugitives, locating Grant Ward in Tijuana when he was running from justice. Once he became the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson developed plans and strategies that dealt severe blows to HYDRA and ended the threat posed by Jiaying and her community of Inhumans who wanted to wage war against S.H.I.E.L.D. Glenn Talbot referred to Coulson as his "best wingman" and declared him to be one of "the best military minds the world has to offer."
* Expert Interrogator: Coulson's interrogation skills helped him piece together intelligence from small bits of information. While talking to Erik Selvig, Coulson knew that he was lying about the true identity of "Donald Blake". Coulson had figured out that Elliot Randolph was an Asgardian, based on his interrogation of Thor. While interrogating Glenn Talbot, Coulson knew what to say to get the emotional reaction he wanted to get Talbot's fingerprints. Coulson interviewed each member of his team to learn that Grant Ward's weakness was his love for his brother Thomas.
* Multilingualism: Coulson was fluent in English and Spanish, though he referred to it as "vacation Spanish" because his pronunciation was very American. Coulson used this skill on multiple missions, especially in Peru, where he was stationed in 2002. He also spoke some Russian, but not fluently.
== Equipment ==
=== Weapons ===
* SIG Sauer P226: The SIG Sauer P226 was the standard pistol issued to S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel in the 1990s. Coulson used his to hold Nick Fury at gunpoint at the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility. He had orders to capture him for having sided with Carol Danvers. However, Coulson trusted Fury and let him go, telling the other agents that the stairs were clear.
* Smith & Wesson M&P: The Smith & Wesson M&P pistol was the standard sidearm carried by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Coulson used his to threaten or shoot most of his enemies.
* Smith & Wesson M&P Compact: Coulson used the compact version of the Smith & Wesson M&P pistol on some missions that required high mobility, such as the infiltration of the Guest House to obtain medical assistance for Skye who had been involved in a shootout with the security guards of the base.
* Glock 17: The Glock 17 was the standard sidearm used by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, before being replaced by the Smith & Wesson M&P. Coulson and a team of agents carried those weapons when they tried to capture Obadiah Stane, raiding Stark Industries sector 16, and when Coulson prevented a theft in a gas station in New Mexico. Coulson also took the gun that belonged to Briggs during the Blackout Attack in Miami. He took it to the location of the EMP device, but did not use it in the ensuing confrontation with the Watchdog guards.
* Tokyo Marui Strike Warrior: Coulson obtained Luther Banks' handgun when he was tied up by the ATCU during his attempt to ambush Rosalind Price. Coulson removed his prosthetic hand and knocked Banks over, taking his gun and pointing it at the ATCU operatives inside the train while Lance Hunter summoned a Containment Module for their escape.
* FN Five-seveN USG: The standard sidearm used by HYDRA operatives after its apparent demise and under Gideon Malick's leadership. Coulson took one of these weapons off one of the men sent to kill him when Rosalind Price was killed. He used it to defend himself and kill many of the Hydra operatives, until Alphonso Mackenzie extracted him. In the Framework, Coulson and Jemma Simmons took two of these handguns from the Quinjet on which they traveled to Ogygia with Grant Ward. They used the weapons to threaten Holden Radcliffe but had to hide when Madame Hydra and Leo Fitz arrived to the island. Coulson later used his to open fire on HYDRA members to escape after Fitz killed Agnes Kitsworth. He kept the gun for a subsequent mission to hijack a HYDRA prison transport.
* Ruger P: Using her enhanced speed, Elena Rodriguez disarmed one of the gang members protecting Eli Morrow and put the Ruger P into Coulson's hands, who promptly shot at both men.
* Heckler & Koch HK4: After Grill's death, Coulson took his gun, keeping it ready as members of the Kree Watch were looking for them. He later used it to shoot at Sinara while rescuing Flint.
* Tokarev TT-33: Deke Shaw used to this handgun to threaten Samuel Voss. Coulson later used the same gun when he liberated Voss, holding Voss at gunpoint to cuff him before sending him to the nearby caves for shelter.
* Desert Eagle Mark XIX: Coulson was given this high-caliber handgun for protection when he went to close the rift in the Fear Dimension. Deathlok arrived to help and they fought the manifestations of fear. Coulson used the gun to shoot and kill a Vrellnexian before closing the rift.
* Heckler & Koch MP5A3: Coulson grabbed one of these weapons from an arsenal when he infiltrated the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center within the Framework. He did not have to use it, but he kept it in order to rescue his former students, later discarding it when the building was about to be destroyed.
* Mossberg 500 Cruiser: Coulson and Lance Hunter took these shotguns to stage a jewelry store robbery, in order to kidnap Thomas Ward in a way that made him fear for his life. They wanted to make Grant Ward reckless and so they could locate him and get revenge for what he did to Rosalind Price and Bobbi Morse.
* M4A1 Carbine: The standard weapon used by S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team members, that Coulson used while tracking Deathlok and the Clairvoyant in Florida, and during his attempt to defend Providence base from intruders.
* IWI Tavor TAR-21: This firearm was the standard weapon carried by tactical agents of the S.H.I.E.L.D. faction led by Robert Gonzales, and it became the main weapon of all tactical agents when that faction reunited with the one led by Phil Coulson. Coulson took one of these weapons when he dressed as one of the tactical agents that were sent by Gonzales to trap him and Lance Hunter at the Retreat. Hunter tried to convince him that they should have used the weapons to escape, not knowing that Coulson had another plan in mind.
* Heckler & Koch HK416: Coulson took one of these rifles from the mercenaries hired to kill Jeffrey Mace at Freyer National Park, and used it to defend his position from incoming enemies when they sought shelter in a cottage.
* Orion Flare Gun: Coulson took this flare gun to the party where a Watchdogs squad led by Briggs was about to kill Elena Rodriguez, firing to distract them while he, Leo Fitz and Alphonso Mackenzie confronted them.
* Thunderstick: Coulson was forced to use this device to defeat John Garrett, who had just revealed his true allegiance to HYDRA and his identity as the Clairvoyant. Coulson fought Garrett at the Hub, and finally defeated him by stunning him with the Thunderstick.
* Night-Night Pistol: When Coulson needed to apply non-lethal force to subdue a target, he favored the use of the Night-Night Pistol designed by Agents Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. Coulson used it on Akela Amador when she was fighting Agent Melinda May, rendering Amador unconscious.
* I.C.E.R. (Pistol Version): The Incapacitating Cartridge Emitting Railguns were an upgraded version of the Night-Night Gun, invented by Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. They became standard issue for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Coulson used one in a gunfight against some men enthralled by the Asgardian Lorelei, to knock them out without killing them. Coulson also used one to incapacitate Glenn Talbot aboard the Bus after getting information from him. On another occasion, Coulson used an I.C.E.R. when he attempted to subdue Alphonso Mackenzie who was being controlled by the Kree City, but the weapon was ineffective against him. Coulson and Lance Hunter used I.C.E.R.s at the Retreat to defend against an ambush.
* Destroyer Armor Prototype Gun: When Loki escaped confinement aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Coulson retrieved the Destroyer Gun from secure storage. He confronted Loki with the weapon, but the trickster was actually behind Coulson and stabbed him in the back. Mortally wounded, Coulson managed to fire off one powerful shot that severely hurt Loki, but did not prevent him from escaping the Helicarrier. Coulson used the weapon again during the Battle at Cybertek, where he easily defeated a whole squad of enhanced Centipede Soldiers.
* Peruvian 0-8-4: Coulson retrieved the Peruvian 0-8-4 from the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility, and used it to obliterate John Garrett, preventing Garett from reanimating as he had done after being killed by Deathlok.
* Shotgun-Axe: While the Lighthouse was being attacked by the Confederacy, Alphonso Mackenzie lent his Shotgun-Axe to Coulson to use for defense as he could not use his prosthetic hand.
=== Other Equipment ===
* Bulletproof Vest: Whenever appropriate, Coulson wore a bulletproof vest under his jacket during field missions.
* Pick-Lock Device: One of Coulson's favorite gadgets was a small explosive device used to quickly destroy a door's locking mechanism. He used this device to infiltrate "Section 16" at Stark Industries Headquarters in Los Angeles during the operation to apprehend Obadiah Stane. He also used one to open one of the doors at the Centipede Project's laboratory in Hong Kong where Chan Ho Yin was being held captive.
* Flash Bomb: Coulson used a Flash Bomb during the shootout at the Guest House, to blind one of the security guards and allow Grant Ward a clear shot at him.
* QNB-T16 Truth Serum: A supposed truth serum that Coulson used on Grant Ward to earn Skye's trust. Ward later confessed to Skye that they had made it up to manipulate her. Coulson would neither confirm nor deny that the serum was bogus.
* Cigarette Laser: Coulson took the Cigarette Laser from Antoine Triplett's Howling Commando Gear, during his mission to infiltrate Cybertek Corporate Headquarters. He used it to open a secure door inside the building and access the files about Project Deathlok housed in the room.
* Overkill Device: Coulson, despite his new position as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., personally went to confront Carl Creel using an Overkill Device that had been modified by Leo Fitz to disrupt Creel's powers. Coulson ambushed Creel, who was preoccupied fighting Lance Hunter, and stabbed Creel with the device. The device turned Creel's body to stone, in the same way that the Obelisk effected the people who touched it.
* Toolbox: When Nick Fury made Coulson the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he gave him the Toolbox, a compact digital storage device containing all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified files, including many that were for the director's eyes only. In it, Coulson found the coordinates of the Playground which he designated as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new headquarters, and he continued to refer to it whenever he needed information that did not appear elsewhere.
* Prosthetic Hand: After Alphonso Mackenzie chopped off Coulson's left hand to stop the effects of the Terrigen Crystal, Leo Fitz designed at least three different cybernetic replacements for him. Coulson had trouble adjusting to the prosthetic hands, and stated that "nothing feels normal".
* Metrics: In 2091 in an alternate timeline, Coulson had a Metric implanted in his wrist in order to blend in among the human population of the Lighthouse.
* Framework Headset: The headsets were designed by Leo Fitz to enable the wearer to interact with the virtual world of the Framework. Coulson wore a headset when he was held prisoner inside the Framework by Aida.
=== Vehicles ===
* S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV: The Sport Utility Vehicle was used by Coulson and his team as their main method of ground transportation. Coulson used the SUV to pursue Miles Lydon, but he evaded capture by using a computer program that caused traffic problems. Coulson and John Garrett reminisced about past assignments as they rode inside a S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV while searching for the Clairvoyant.
* Quinjet: Coulson and Steve Rogers flew in a Quinjet to reach the Helicarrier. Later, Coulson sent members of his team to steal a Quinjet from a Government Storage Warehouse to get its cloaking technology to use on the Bus. When searching for the Kree City, Coulson, along with members of his team, took a Quinjet to San Juan. While pursuing Calvin Zabo, Coulson and Bobbi Morse took a Quinjet from Ohio to Wisconsin to battle the Slicing Talons. Coulson took Skye to the Retreat in a Quinjet, refusing to tell her where they were going for fear her uncontrollable powers would quake the plane apart. Coulson and team members flew the Quinjet to Milwaukee in pursuit of HYDRA scientist List who was experimenting on enhanced people. When Coulson surrendered to the agents of Robert Gonzales, he had Grant Ward land the Quinjet atop the Bus so the two S.H.I.E.L.D. factions could reunite and lead an Attack on the Arctic HYDRA Research Facility. While trying to locate Jemma Simmons, Coulson brought Bobbi Morse and Leo Fitz aboard a Quinjet to England on the advice of Elliot Randolph, who was assisting them. Within the Framework, Grant Ward piloted a virtual Quinjet to bring Coulson and Jemma Simmons to Ogygia in search of Holden Radcliffe. However, when Madame Hydra and The Doctor arrived, the three were forced to escape the island on the Quinjet.
* Helicarrier: While aboard the Helicarrier, Coulson helped Natasha Romanoff infiltrate Sojourn Enterprises at Vladivostok, informing her that Sofia had obtained the targeting system for Hammer Industries' version of the Jericho missile. On a separate occasion, Coulson accompanied Steve Rogers to the Helicarrier. They were greeted by Natasha Romanov who told Coulson he was wanted on the bridge to help in the search for Loki. He was later joined on the bridge by Rogers and Bruce Banner and Coulson asked Rogers to sign his Captain America Card Collection. Later, after they had captured Loki, Coulson discovered that Loki had escaped his cell, trapping Thor inside and was preparing to jettison the cell. Coulson threatened Loki with the Destroyer Armor Prototype Gun, but Loki tricked him and stabbed him in the back. Mortally wounded, Coulson still had the strength to shoot Loki and injure him, but he couldn't prevent Loki from jettisoning Thor's cell. Before Coulson Died, he told Nick Fury to use his death to motivate the Avengers to work as a team.
* Lola: Coulson inherited his 1962 Chevrolet Corvette from his father, Robert Coulson. As a child, Coulson spent much of his free time helping his father restore it. He resented it at the time, but after his father died while Coulson was still a child, he appreciated the time they had spent together on the car and he kept Lola for the rest of his life as one of his most prized possessions. Coulson once allowed Melinda May to drive Lola during a mission in Madrid, but made her promise not to tell anyone. Coulson revealed Lola's flight capability to Skye when he was called back to the Bus to help with the identification of an 0-8-4. While in Mexico, Coulson and May used Lola to chase down former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Richard Lumley. During the HYDRA Uprising, Coulson rescued Skye who was being held captive by Grant Ward and Deathlok aboard the Bus. Coulson snuck on board, grabbed Skye and they jumped into Lola with Deathlok and Ward firing at them. Coulson fired back with the machine guns housed in Lola's headlights as he backed the car out of the cargo bay with the Bus in mid-flight. As the car plummeted, Skye fell out after not heeding Coulson's warning to "buckle-up". Coulson pulled her back in as he activated the car's flight mode and safely piloted Lola to the ground. Coulson and Alphonso Mackenzie drove Lola when they went to interrogate Eli Morrow in prison. When they were leaving, Mackenzie saw Robbie Reyes inside his Dodge Charger. When Reyes spotted them, he fled. Mackenzie wanted to drive Lola in pursuit, but Coulson would not let him. During the chase, Mackenzie lamented that Lola's flight function was not working. Coulson said it wouldn't be a problem, as Reyes crashed into a cloaked Quinjet.
* Bus: Coulson was given the Bus by Nick Fury to serve as the flying command center for his team. On their first mission together, Coulson and his team flew the Bus to Peru to retrieve an 0-8-4. After bringing the 0-8-4 aboard, the Bus was hijacked by Camilla Reyes and her men. During the fight to retake the Bus, an explosive was detonated that blew a hole in the side of the aircraft. Fury blamed Coulson for damaging the Bus after only six days in use. Coulson assured Fury that it wouldn't happen again. During the HYDRA Uprising, Grant Ward and Deathlok abducted Skye and held her captive on the Bus. Coulson rescued her and they escaped the plane on Lola.
* Humvee: Cybertek security members employed Humvees in their manufacturing facility in New Mexico; one of which Coulson and Antoine Triplett procured at the beginning of the Battle at Cybertek in order to blast a hole for Melinda May and Skye to enter.
* Iliad: After the Battle of Sokovia, Coulson met with Robert Gonzales and his council aboard the Iliad. Coulson proposed that they reconcile the two factions of S.H.I.E.L.D. under his leadership and Gonzales agreed. Later, when Jiaying and an army of Inhumans took over the Iliad, Coulson, Melinda May and Calvin Zabo went to take it back. When Gordon was accidentally killed, he dropped a Terrigen Crystal and Coulson dove and caught it, causing his arm to start to turn to stone. Alphonso Mackensie acted quickly and amputated Coulson's hand and lower arm with an axe, saving his life.
* Jeep: After escaping from Robert Gonzales' faction of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson and Lance Hunter stole a Jeep from Honest Eddie's Car Dealership and went to the Retreat to look for Skye.
* Zephyr One: Coulson took Zephyr One to a meeting with President Matthew Ellis at NORAD, but en route, Alphonso Mackenzie and Lincoln Campbell boarded and said they suspected Andrew Garner of being Lash. Coulson diverted the plane to go apprehend him. After returning from the alternate timeline of 2091, Coulson and his team took the Zephyr to St. Louis to investigate a mysterious beam of light at an aerospace facility. They were attacked by Sleeper Mechs and used the plane to retreat to the Lighthouse. Coulson and Melinda May later used Zephyr One's cloaking capacity to capture General Hale. While Coulson interrogated Hale, Carl Creel threatened to blow up the plane. Zephyr One was then boarded by Anton Ivanov and Coulson was forced to leave the plane with Hale, Creel and Ivanov. Daisy Johnson and May took Zephyr One to search for Coulson. With the help of one of Robin Hinton's drawings, they succeeded in finding and rescuing him. After the Siege of the Lighthouse, Glenn Talbot used his new powers to fly himself and Coulson to Quovas' space ship. Mackenzie upgraded the Zephyr for space travel with RCS thrusters designed by Leo Fitz, and the team went to rescue Coulson and Talbot. While May and Johnson infiltrated Quovas' ship and rescued Coulson, Talbot attacked the Zephyr and stole the Quinjet. Coulson and Johnson made it back to the Zephyr while it was being attacked by Remorath soldiers. During the fight, Coulson passed out due to his failing health. They defeated the Remorath and returned to the Lighthouse. When Talbot was spotted in Chicago, Coulson was unconscious in the Zephyr's sick bay. Before the team left to deal with Talbot, Coulson regained consciousness and Jemma Simmons left a dose of Centipede Serum for him to take to save his life. He walked out of the sick bay, appearing to have taken the serum. When they arrived in Chicago, Coulson and Johnson took the Quinjet to confront Talbot. Johnson was able to defeat Talbot after finding the dose of Centipede Serum hidden in her gauntlet. While Johnson was fighting Talbot, Coulson collapsed on the Quinjet and James Davis piloted him back to the Zephyr where Yo-Yo Rodriguez gave him chest compressions to revive him. After the Battle of Chicago, the team held a retirement party for Coulson on the Zephyr, hanging a commemorative plaque in his honor on the plane. The Zephyr then carried Coulson to his final destination, the island of Tahiti, where he lived out his last days with May.
** Containment Module: Trapped in a subway car in Washington, D.C., Coulson and Lance Hunter spoke with Rosalind Price while an agent of the ATCU inspected Hunter's backpack. The agent accidentally activated the summoning pod of the Containment Module, allowing Coulson and Hunter a means of escape that destroyed the subway car. Coulson later used the module to escape from the HYDRA Castle during the Attack on the HYDRA Castle.
* Trawler: Used by Coulson and his team in the 2091 timeline to maneuver through space. It was later used to get them to the Earth's surface where they found Robin Hinton and the True Believers.
* Volkswagen van: After returning to their own timeline from 2091, Coulson and his team needed to get from the Lighthouse to the cloaked Zephyr One. They reached the nearby town of River's End via a secret tunnel, then borrowed a van that was parked with a for sale sign in the window. After reaching the field where the Zephyr was parked, they left a note in the van asking that it be returned to its owner, John Nickel.
* Confederate Destroyer Ship: After injecting himself with gravitonium, Glenn Talbot took Coulson to infiltrate the ship. Soon after, Talbot got power hungry and killed Hale. The ship was then boarded by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Coulson escaped on Zephyr One.
== Facilities ==
* S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy: Coulson studied at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Communications, where he learned to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The academy fell during the HYDRA Uprising. Years later, when the academy was rebuilt, it was rechristened in his honor as the Coulson Academy.
* S.H.I.E.L.D. Crater Investigation Site: Coulson was stationed at a temporary S.H.I.E.L.D. investigation site in New Mexico due to the discovery of Mjølnir. Coulson oversaw the investigation until Thor attacked the site in an attempt to reclaim his hammer. Coulson monitored Thor's movements on the site, ready to let Clint Barton intervene if necessary. However, Thor failed to reclaim Mjølnir and was apprehended, enabling Coulson to interrogate him.
* Guest House: Coulson was appointed the head of Project T.A.H.I.T.I. by Nick Fury. The project was conducted at the Guest House and the goal was to develop life saving medicine from the bodily fluids of a deceased Kree subject known as G.H.. Coulson oversaw the project but ultimately decided the side effects of the GH.325 were too dangerous. He resigned from the project and recommended it be terminated. When Coulson was killed by Loki, Fury had him brought to the Guest House and resurrected with the GH.325, then erased Coulson's memory of the procedure. Coulson, along with Grant Ward, Leo Fitz and John Garrett broke into the Guest House and took some GH.325, in an attempt to save Skye after she was shot by Ian Quinn. They unintentionally activated a timed self-destruct device. Before fleeing the facility, Coulson found the Kree corpse and learned the secret of his own resurrection. The four narrowly escaped before the explosion destroyed the Guest House.
* Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility: Talos, disguised as Keller, met with Nick Fury at this facility, planning to ambush Vers. Fury learned that Talos was an imposter and tried to flee the facility. Talos ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to shoot Fury on sight. Coulson located Fury, but on hearing his friend's story, trusted Fury and let him go.
* Hub: Coulson and his team traveled to the Hub and met with Victoria Hand who told them that a separatist group in South Ossetia was planning to use the Overkill Device to declare independence from Russia and Georgia. She sent Grant Ward and Leo Fitz to disarm the weapon. Skye hacked into the mainframe and discovered that there was no extraction planned for Ward and Fitz. She reported her findings to Coulson and he confronted Hand, who admitted it was true. Melinda May, Jemma Simmons and Skye returned to the Bus so they could go extract Ward and Fitz. They found Coulson waiting for them inside the Bus to join the extraction mission. After the HYDRA Uprising, the Bus was automatically rerouted to the Hub by Hand's order, as she suspected Coulson and John Garrett of being HYDRA agents. Upon landing at the Hub, Coulson, his team and Garrett avoided capture by using a Mouse Hole to exit the Bus unseen. They discovered where Hand was and Garrett tried to convince Coulson that they had to kill her because she was the Clairvoyant. During the conversation, Garrett let slip some information that Coulson had not told him, thereby revealing himself to be the Clairvoyant. Eventually, Hand took Garrett into custody and left Coulson in charge of the Hub, while she escorted Garrett to the Fridge for detention. Coulson later received a call from Glenn Talbot saying he was bringing a peacekeeping force to the Hub to take control. Coulson feared that Talbot intended to either attack the base or to subpoena everyone and tie them up in court for months. Coulson opted to enact the Odyssey Protocol and evacuate the Hub before Talbot arrived.
* Providence: During the HYDRA Uprising, Coulson and his team went dark and sought refuge in Providence, one of Nick Fury's secret bases. Coulson remained in Providence for several days, where he strategized how to combat HYDRA and learned of Grant Ward's betrayal. He was ultimately forced to flee the base when Maria Hill sent in the United States Armed Forces.
* Playground: When he was appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson discovered the coordinates of the Playground in Nick Fury's Toolbox. Coulson established the facility as the new S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. However, Coulson was forced to flee when the faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. led by Robert Gonzales attacked the Playground. Coulson later returned to the facility when the two factions merged and he continued to act as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. When he passed the position to Jeffrey Mace and returned to being a field agent out on assignment for long periods of time, he only returned to the Playground occasionally. Coulson later became de facto Director, but was kidnapped and replaced by an LMD. After he escaped from the Framework, Coulson returned to the destroyed Playground one last time for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s last battle against Aida.
* Retreat: In exile during the S.H.I.E.L.D. Civil War, Coulson hid in the Retreat with Lance Hunter. When they were discovered, they escaped from the facility with help from Deathlok.
* Lighthouse: Coulson was sent to the future Lighthouse by Enoch, where he blended in by working for Grill and was able to help the Humans living under the rule of the Kree Watch to reclaim control of their fate. Coulson then returned to his own time and he and his team took possession of the Lighthouse, making it S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base of operations. Knowing that he was dying, Coulson appointed his protégée Daisy Johnson to lead the team. Coulson oversaw the defense of the Lighthouse when the Remorath attacked it. Due to his failing health, Coulson eventually retired from S.H.I.E.L.D. and left the Lighthouse one last time before the Battle of Chicago.
=== Prisons ===
* HYDRA Preparatory Academy: Captured by General Hale, Coulson was imprisoned in the HYDRA Preparatory Academy, where he learned about Hale's intention to reactivate Project Destroyer of Worlds. Coulson was able to escape from the Academy with fellow prisoner Glenn Talbot, thanks to the assistance of Carl Creel.
* Ivanov Oil Platform: Having been abducted by Aida and her allies, Coulson was forcibly connected to the Framework, with the hardware being located in an oil platform owned by Anton Ivanov.
=== In the Framework ===
* Alexander Pierce High School: In the Framework, Coulson lived a rewritten life as a history teacher at Alexander Pierce High School, where he taught HYDRA propaganda and did nothing to intervene when HYDRA operatives took away his pupils. Occasionally, Coulson stayed in his classroom after his students had gone home pondering items he had collected, unaware that they represented things from his real life. With the help of Jemma Simmons and Daisy Johnson, Coulson was able to regain some of his memories and he abandoned the school and joined the resistance.
* Playground: Thanks to Grant Ward, Coulson was granted access to The Playground, the only remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. There he helped the Patriot organize the resistance against HYDRA, providing shelter and comfort to victims of the regime.
== Hobbies ==
Coulson is an avid connoisseur and collector of antiques and memorabilia, particularly regarding S.H.I.E.L.D. and the history of espionage, knowing in detail the original specifications of such items as Elliot Randolph's Waterfield 44 pen or Antoine Triplett's Howling Commando Gear inherited from his grandfather.
Notable items in Coulson's collection have included all of the following:
* Lola: The jewel of Coulson's collection, Lola is a vintage 1962 Corvette with modifications based on designs and technologies created by Howard Stark, including flight capability (VTOL).
* Captain America Card Collection: A complete set of vintage Captain America trading cards from the World War II era. (Fury stained them with Coulson's blood, to motivate the Avengers; likely Coulson wouldn't want them back in a soiled condition.)
* Walkie-Talkie Wristwatch: An original walkie-talkie wristwatch made in Poland in 1936. There were fewer than 20 ever made.
* Metal Storm VLE Handgun: A prototype handgun that uses two 7-round 9mm barrels and two 3-round 15mm barrels for non-lethal ammunition.
* Minox Spy Camera: A subminiature camera developed before World War II and favored by intelligence agencies due to its small size and macro focusing ability.
* CXD 23 Airborne Mobile Command Station Scale Model: A scale model of The Bus rested in Coulson's desk in his office of the plane, and was moved to his new office in the Playground.
* 1962 Chevrolet Corvette Scale Model: A scale model of Lola rests in Coulson's office in the Playground.
* Captain America's USO Poster: A promotional poster edited during World War II by the USO, displaying the motto "Trust Cap to lead the way".
* Alphonso Mackenzie's Axe: An emergency handaxe that Alphonso Mackenzie used as a weapon when a group of Inhumans led by Jiaying attacked the Iliad, that Mackenzie had to use to cut Coulson's hand when he prevented a Terrigen Crystal from breaking, and his hand began to turn into stone. Coulson hung the axe in his office, as both a memento and a reminder.
* Platinum Tie-clip Camera: A tie-clip used as a camera.
* S.H.I.E.L.D. Pin: The personal pin of Peggy Carter, with the symbol of S.H.I.E.L.D. on it.
In addition to collecting items, he also stated that he played the video game Call of Duty, in a conversation with Eric, but in more recent days not so much.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
* Robert Coulson † - Father
* Julie Coulson † - Mother
* Ex-Wife (Framework)
=== Allies ===
* S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation)
** Keller - Former Director
** Whitcher - Former Colleague
** Katherine Shane - Former Colleague and Partner
** Victoria Hand † - Former Colleague
** Eric Koenig † - Former Colleague
** Project T.A.H.I.T.I.
*** J. Streiten - Former Colleague
*** Goodman - Former Colleague
*** Hank Thompson
*** Janice Robbins †
*** Lewis Seaver †
** Mack - Former Colleague
** Tyler - Former Colleague
** Quan Chen † - Former Colleague
** Shaw - Former Colleague
** Jazuat - Former Colleague
** Barbour - Former Colleague
** Jacobson † - Former Colleague
** Jones - Former Colleague
** Baylin - Former Colleague
** Shade - Former Colleague
** Chaimson † - Former Colleague
** Martin - Former Colleague
* Nick Fury - Former Director, Mentor and Friend
* Los Angeles Police Department
* Vers
* Talos (disguised as Keller)
* Goose
* Maria Hill - Former Deputy Director and Friend
* Akela Amador - Former Subordinate and Protegé
* Richard Lumley - Former Colleague
* Audrey Nathan - Former Lover
* Andrew Garner/Lash † - Former Therapist, Friend and Temporary Enemy
* Stark Industries
** Pepper Potts - Friend
* Elliot Randolph
* Convenience Store Clerk
* Jane Foster
* Erik Selvig
* Avengers
** Steve Rogers/Captain America - Idol
** Tony Stark/Iron Man † - Friend
** Thor - Former Enemy and Friend
** Bruce Banner/Hulk
** Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow † - Former Colleague
** Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Former Colleague
** James Rhodes/War Machine
* Debonair Gentleman
* Sif
* Karine
* S.H.I.E.L.D. (Second Incarnation) - Former Subordinates
** Jeffrey Mace/Patriot † - Former Director and Friend
** Melinda May - Colleague, Friend and Love Interest
** Leo Fitz - Colleague and Friend
** Leo Fitz † - Colleague and Friend
** Jemma Simmons - Colleague and Friend
** Daisy Johnson/Quake - Colleague and Friend
** Alphonso Mackenzie - Colleague and Friend
** Yo-Yo Rodriguez - Colleague, Friend and Savior
** Antoine Triplett †
** Billy Koenig
** Sam Koenig
** Isabelle Hartley †
** Idaho †
** Robert Gonzales † - Temporary Enemy
** Anne Weaver - Temporary Enemy
** Oliver † - Temporary Enemy
** Mike Peterson/Deathlok - Temporary Enemy (while under HYDRA coercion)
** Lincoln Campbell †
** Noelle Walters †
** Anderson
** LT Koenig - Former Colleague
** Piper - Colleague and Temporary Enemy
** James Davis † - Colleague
** Prince † - Former Colleague
** Nathan B. Nathanson † - Former Colleague
** Cecilio - Former Colleague
** Burrows † - Former Colleague
** Flynn - Former Colleague
** Navarro - Former Colleague
** McCafferty † - Former Colleague
** Morales - Former Colleague
** Thomas † - Former Colleague
** Wahl † - Former Colleague
** Kim † - Former Colleague
* Lance Hunter - Former Subordinate and Friend
* Bobbi Morse - Former Subordinate and Friend
* Ace Peterson
* Archaeologist
* Innkeeper
* Wrigley Fire Department
** Tony Diaz †
** Baker
* Neils
* Roger
* Martha
* Hannah Hutchins
* Tobias Ford - Temporary Enemy
* Debonair Gentleman
* Christian Ward † - Situational Ally
* Carvalho
* Cardozo
* Calvin Zabo - Former Enemy and Situational Ally
* Joey Gutierrez - Former Subordinate
* Advanced Threat Containment Unit - Former Enemies
** Rosalind Price † - Former Love Interest
** Luther Banks †
* Matthew Ellis
* Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider - Former Enemy
* Gabe Reyes
* Thurston Koenig
* Alexander Pierce High School (Framework)
** Burnell † - Student
** Chris Adler † - Student
** Amy † - Student
* S.H.I.E.L.D. (Framework)
** Grant Ward †
** Antoine Triplett †
** Burrows †
* Spirit of Vengeance - Former Power Source
* Enoch †
* Lighthouse Residents
** Virgil †
** Jones † - Situational Ally
** Deke Shaw - Friend and Savior
** Tess
** Flint
** Robin Hinton †
** Fletcher
** Ava
* Enoch † - Savior
* Noah †
* Robin Hinton
* Polly Hinton
* Tony Caine
* Carl Creel/Absorbing Man † - Former Enemy and Savior	
=== Enemies ===
* Phil Coulson Skrull † - Impersonator
* SVR
* Eva Belyakov †
* Katya Belyakov †
* Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger †
* Ivan Vanko/Whiplash †
* Justin Hammer
* Destroyer †
* Thaddeus Ross
* Emil Blonsky/Abomination
* Georgi Luchkov
* Loki † - Killer
* Policia Militar del Perú - Former Allies
** Camilla Reyes - Former Lover
** Cusi †
** Nahui †
** Vilca
** Perez
** Lopez
* Todd Chesterfield
* Franklin Hall † - Victim
* Quinn Worldwide
* Chan Ho Yin/Scorch †
* Miles Lydon - Temporary Ally
* Norse Paganists
** Jakob Nystrom
** Petra Larsen
* Luca Russo † - Former Ally
* Cybertek
** Carlo Mancini †
** Ott
** Diaz
* Raina †
* Alpha †
* Beta †
* HYDRA
** Alexander Pierce † - Former Superior
** Grant Ward † - Former Subordinate, Attempted Killer and Victim
** Daniel Whitehall † - Victim
** Wolfgang von Strucker †
** Gideon Malick †
** Hale † - Temporary Ally
** Centipede Project
*** John Garrett † - Former Colleague, Attempted Killer and Victim
*** Edison Po †
*** Ian Quinn †
*** Kaminsky
*** Englishman †
*** Centipede Soldiers
**** Brian Hayward †
**** Centipede Soldier 2
**** Centipede Soldier 3
** Jasper Sitwell † - Former Colleague and Former Friend
** Sunil Bakshi †
** List †
** Giyera †
** Lucio †
** Turkish Old Man
** Ruby Hale †
** Anton Ivanov †
* Sebastian Derik - Former Colleague
* Marcus Daniels/Blackout † - Victim
* Kara Palamas/Agent 33 † - Former Colleague
* Donnie Gill
* Lorelei
* Nevada Highway Patrol - Situational Enemies
** Sheriff
* Dogs of Hell - Situational Enemies
** Rooster
* Thomas Nash †
* Slicing Talons
** Karla Faye Gideon
** Wendell Levi
** Francis Noche
** David Angar
* Honest Eddie
* Ultron †
* Afterlife Inhumans
** Jiaying †
** Gordon †
* Dwight Frye †
* Watchdogs
** Felix Blake - Former Colleague and Former Friend
** Briggs
** Tucker Shockley
** Yuri Zaikin
** Viktor Orlov
** Leo Babikov †
* Anton Petrov †
* Xiao Chen
* Ellen King
* Haruto Yakimura
* Nathi Zuma
* Hive † - Attempted Killer
* Alisha Whitley † - Former Ally
* JT James/Hellfire
* Kree Reapers †
* Primitives †
** O'Brien - Former Subordinate
* Chinatown Crew
** Chen †
* Lucy Bauer †
* Green - Attempted Killer
* Eli Morrow †
* Ellen Nadeer †
* Holden Radcliffe † - Former Ally
* Aida † - Victim
* Melinda May LMD † - Former Colleague
* Agnes Kitsworth †
* HYDRA (Framework)
** Sunil Bakshi †
* United States Air Force
** Whitley
* Vrellnexians
* Kree Watch
** Kasius †
** Sinara †
** Kree Captain †
** Kree Watch Commander †
** Vicar †
* Holt †
* Grill † - Former Employer
* Zev †
* Maston-Dar †
* True Believers - Former Allies
** Samuel Voss
** Roughneck
* Tye † - Attempted Killer
* Creation Di'Alla Recreations
** Mike Peterson † - Attempted Killer
** Lash † - Attempted Killer
** Hive † - Attempted Killer
* Confederacy
** Remorath
*** Qovas †
*** Qolpakc †
** Glenn Talbot † - Former Friend
**
== Appearances ==
CollapseAppearances for Phil Coulson
In chronological order:
In the alternate timeline:
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season Six
*** New Life (mentioned)
** Season Seven
*** The New Deal (mentioned)
*** Know Your Onions (mentioned)
*** Out of the Past (mentioned)
*** A Trout in the Milk (indirectly mentioned)
*** Adapt or Die (indirectly mentioned)
*** As I Have Always Been (indirectly mentioned)
*** Stolen (mentioned)
*** Brand New Day (indirectly mentioned)
*** The End is at Hand (mentioned)
In the original timeline:
* Captain Marvel
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season Four
*** The Man Behind the Shield (flashback)
* The Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season Two
*** Melinda (flashback)
*** The Writing on the Wall (flashback)
* Iron Man: Security Measures
* Iron Man: I Am Iron Man!
* Iron Man
* Iron Man: Fast Friends
* Iron Man 2: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
* Iron Man 2: Public Identity
* Iron Man 2
* Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer
* Thor
* The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week (parts 1-7) (Concurrent with Iron Man 2, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk)
* Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant
* The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes
* Iron Man 3 Prelude
* The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week (part 8-- one year later.)
* The Avengers
** Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 (mentioned)
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season One
*** The Magical Place (flashback)
*** The Well (flashback)
** Season Six
*** Inescapable (flashback)
** Season One
*** Pilot
*** 0-8-4
*** The Asset
*** Eye-Spy
*** Girl in the Flower Dress
*** FZZT
*** The Hub
*** The Well
*** Repairs
*** The Bridge
*** The Magical Place
*** Seeds
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Chase
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season One
*** T.R.A.C.K.S.
*** T.A.H.I.T.I.
*** Yes Men
*** End of the Beginning
*** Turn, Turn, Turn
*** Providence
*** The Only Light in the Darkness
*** Nothing Personal
*** Ragtag
*** Beginning of the End
** Season Two
*** Scars (flashback)
*** Shadows
*** Heavy is the Head
*** Making Friends and Influencing People
*** Face My Enemy
*** A Hen in the Wolf House
*** A Fractured House
*** The Writing on the Wall
*** The Things We Bury
*** ...Ye Who Enter Here
*** What They Become
*** Aftershocks
*** Who You Really Are
*** One of Us
*** Love in the Time of HYDRA
*** One Door Closes
*** Afterlife
*** Melinda
*** The Frenemy of My Enemy
*** The Dirty Half Dozen
* Avengers: Age of Ultron (indirectly mentioned)
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season Two
*** Scars
*** S.O.S. Part One
*** S.O.S. Part Two
** Season Three
*** Chaos Theory (flashback, voice only)
*** 4,722 Hours (on-screen and mentioned)
*** Laws of Nature
*** Purpose in the Machine
*** A Wanted (Inhu)man
*** Devils You Know
*** Among Us Hide...
*** Chaos Theory
*** Many Heads, One Tale
*** Closure
*** Maveth
*** Bouncing Back
*** The Inside Man
*** Parting Shot
*** Watchdogs
*** Spacetime
*** Paradise Lost
*** The Team
*** The Singularity
*** Failed Experiments
*** Emancipation
*** Absolution
*** Ascension
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot
** Season One
*** Vendetta
*** Justicia (mentioned in a flashback)
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season Four
*** The Ghost
*** Meet the New Boss
*** Uprising
*** Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire
*** Lockup
*** The Good Samaritan
*** Deals With Our Devils
*** The Laws of Inferno Dynamics
*** Broken Promises
*** The Patriot
*** Wake Up
*** Hot Potato Soup
*** BOOM
*** The Man Behind the Shield
*** Self Control
*** What If...
*** Identity and Change
*** No Regrets
*** All the Madame's Men
*** Farewell, Cruel World!
*** The Return
*** World's End
**** Rewind (concurrent events)
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season Five
*** Orientation Part One
*** Rise and Shine (mentioned in a flashback)
*** All the Comforts of Home
*** The Real Deal
*** Principia
*** The Devil Complex
*** Rise and Shine
*** Inside Voices
*** The Honeymoon
*** All Roads Lead...
*** Option Two
*** The One Who Will Save Us All
*** The Force of Gravity
*** The End
** Season Six
*** Inescapable (flashbacks)
*** The Other Thing (flashback)
*** Missing Pieces (hologram and duplicate)
*** Window of Opportunity (mentioned and duplicate)
*** Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson (duplicate)
*** Code Yellow (mentioned and duplicate)
*** The Other Thing (mentioned and duplicate)
*** Toldja (hologram and duplicate)
*** Collision Course Part One (mentioned and duplicate)
*** Collision Course Part Two (mentioned and duplicate)
*** Leap (flashback and duplicate)
*** From the Ashes (mentioned and duplicate)
*** The Sign (mentioned and duplicate)
*** New Life (mentioned and duplicate)
** Season Seven
*** What We're Fighting For (mentioned)
*** Brand New Day (mentioned in a flashback)
In the alternate timeline:
* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
** Season Five
*** Orientation Part One
*** Orientation Part Two
*** A Life Spent
*** A Life Earned
*** Fun & Games
*** Together or Not at All
*** The Last Day
*** Best Laid Plans
*** Past Life
== Trivia ==
* Due to the popularity of the character, Coulson was introduced into the main Marvel Comics universe.
** Clark Gregg also voices Phil Coulson in the TV series Ultimate Spider-Man, where Coulson is drawn in Clark Gregg's likeness.
** Coulson appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Adventures #1 comic book tie in to the TV series, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
* During a flashback to his time in Tahiti, Coulson used the question "Did I fall asleep?" to which his masseuse replied "For a little while." This was a programmed response used in Joss Whedon's TV show Dollhouse whenever one of the characters was being brainwashed.
* With appearances in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Consultant, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer, The Avengers, over a hundred episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., one episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot and Captain Marvel, Coulson is the most featured character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
* Coulson has killed four major Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. antagonists: John Garrett, Daniel Whitehall, Grant Ward, and Aida. Conversely, he never encountered two other major Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. antagonists who were active before his death: Jiaying and Kasius.
* Coulson was a fan of the Star Wars franchise and Call of Duty.
** Coulson has his hand cut off, as a reference to The Empire Strikes Back. Every movie and television show featured in Phase Two has this reference in some form.
* Coulson is one of only three humans to survive physical contact with Diviner metal, the others being Isabelle Hartley and Absorbing Man. Of these three, he is the only one who did not touch an actual Diviner but rather a contaminated Terrigen Crystal.
* When discussing with Melinda May about a contingency plan in case he went insane like Garrett he mentioned that he likes kangaroos.
== Behind the Scenes ==
* In the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Agent Coulson is generally depicted as a supporting character of the protagonists and used to represent S.H.I.E.L.D.'s presence in the plots of the films, to the point that Clark Gregg has described Coulson as '' the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent". However, in the "Marvel One-Shots", Coulson is given "a chance to stand in his own spotlight for once", when the character is put in a position where there is an imminent threat and no superheroes around. The decision to give more focus to Coulson was "a natural" for "Marvel One-Shot" co-producer Brad Winderbaum.
* Gregg has stated, "I think of Agent Coulson, after all these years, as a guy with a full life. I think every day he's somewhere doing something for S.H.I.E.L.D., and yet I don't always know what that is... There's always a different twist. In this one he gets to show more of his wisecracking wit, and in this one he's a little bit more of a badass."
* Despite Coulson being called "the most recognizable face in the Marvel Comics movie universe", he is depicted as an "Everyman" in a universe full of superheroes – "the glue that binds" the characters together. In Thor, Coulson complains that Tony Stark "never tells [him] anything." In an interview with WNBC, Gregg explained his portrayal of the character as 'just a guy grumbling about his job "He's the guy who's tasked - a very disciplined guy in my opinion who possesses secrets that would turn your hair white - but at the same time he's tasked with handling these kind of diva superheroes, you know? Oh, really, Asgard? Dude, just get in the car".
* There were considerations to bring back Agent Coulson in Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World or Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, Coulson wasn't slated to appear in any of these films. When asked about the matter, Joss Whedon asserted that "As far as the fiction of the movies, Coulson is dead", elaborating that "generally I [Whedon] feel like the S.H.I.E.L.D. audience and The Avengers audiences are not actually the same group, necessarily," and so the films would have to explain Coulson's resurrection again for the film-only audience if he were to be reintroduced.
** When asked if there were any plans for the Avengers to find out that Coulson had been resurrected in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jeph Loeb hinted that there were plans for it in the future.
** In the Loki series premiere Glorious Purpose, no mentions of Coulson's resurrection are made when Mobius M. Mobius shows Loki clips of his actions throughout his life. When asked if he toyed with revealing that Coulson was revived afterwards, Michael Waldron said: "No, look, that is one other tendril of the multiverse, perhaps. I think just seeing mention of Coulson again, the very fact that it raises those questions, is exciting".
* Andy Dylan, Vinny O'Brien, Dane Farwell, G. Grant Jewett, Casey Adams, Denney Pierce and Brian Avery were stunt doubles for Clark Gregg in the role of Phil Coulson.
* According to Clark Gregg, the 'J' in the 'Philip J. Coulson' stands for Jaekwon.
== References ==
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Phil Coulson.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of quotes related to Phil Coulson.
# ↑ Jump up to:1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Iron Man
# ↑ Jump up to:2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Captain Marvel
# ↑ Jump up to:3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Thor
# ↑ Jump up to:4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.02: 0-8-4
# ↑ Jump up to:5.0 5.1 5.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.17: Turn, Turn, Turn
# ↑ Jump up to:6.0 6.1 6.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.21: Ragtag
# ↑ Jump up to:7.0 7.1 7.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.04: Face My Enemy
# ↑ Jump up to:8.0 8.1 8.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.08: The Things We Bury
# ↑ Jump up to:9.0 9.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.02: Purpose in the Machine
# ↑ Jump up to:10.0 10.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.07: Chaos Theory
# ↑ Jump up to:11.0 11.1 11.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.08: Many Heads, One Tale
# ↑ Jump up to:12.0 12.1 12.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.09: Closure
# ↑ Jump up to:13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3:12: The Inside Man
# ↑ Jump up to:14.0 14.1 14.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.11: Wake Up
# ↑ Jump up to:15.0 15.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.18: No Regrets
# ↑ Jump up to:16.0 16.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.20: Farewell, Cruel World!
# ↑ Jump up to:17.0 17.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.22: World's End
# ↑ Jump up to:18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.01: Orientation Part One
# ↑ Jump up to:19.0 19.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.03: A Life Spent
# ↑ Jump up to:20.0 20.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.08: The Last Day
# ↑ Jump up to:21.0 21.1 21.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.15: Rise and Shine
# ↑ Jump up to:22.0 22.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.16: Inside Voices
# ↑ Jump up to:23.0 23.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.18: All Roads Lead...
# ↑ Jump up to:24.0 24.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.20: The One Who Will Save Us All
# ↑ Jump up to:25.0 25.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.22: The End
# ↑ Jump up to:26.0 26.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 6.01: Missing Pieces
# ↑ Jump up to:27.0 27.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 6.02: Window of Opportunity
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 6.07: Toldja
# ↑ Loki: 1.01: Glorious Purpose
# ↑ Phil Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. Badge
# ↑ Jump up to:31.0 31.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.13: One of Us
# ↑ Jump up to:32.0 32.1 32.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.06: A Fractured House
# ↑ Jump up to:33.0 33.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.17: The Team
# ↑ Jump up to:34.0 34.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.20: Emancipation
# ↑ Jump up to:35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 The Avengers
# ↑ Jump up to:36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.22: S.O.S. Part Two
# ↑ Jump up to:37.0 37.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.14: Love in the Time of HYDRA
# ↑ Jump up to:38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.11: The Magical Place
# ↑ Jump up to:39.0 39.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.18: Providence
# ↑ Jump up to:40.0 40.1 40.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.14: The Man Behind the Shield
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.01: The New Deal
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.03: Alien Commies from the Future!
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 7.04: Out of the Past
# ↑ Jump up to:44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 44.4 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.01: Pilot
# ↑ Jump up to:45.0 45.1 45.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.10: The Patriot
# ↑ Jump up to:46.0 46.1 46.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.10: The Bridge
# ↑ Jump up to:47.0 47.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.04: Eye-Spy
# ↑ Jump up to:48.0 48.1 48.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.17: Melinda
# ↑ Jump up to:49.0 49.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.09: Repairs
# ↑ The Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files
# ↑ Jump up to:51.0 51.1 51.2 51.3 51.4 Iron Man: Security Measures
# ↑ Iron Man: Fast Friends
# ↑ Iron Man 2: Phil Coulson: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
# ↑ Iron Man 2: Public Identity
# ↑ Jump up to:55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.20: Nothing Personal
# ↑ Jump up to:56.0 56.1 56.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.14: T.A.H.I.T.I.
# ↑ Jump up to:57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.07: The Writing on the Wall
# ↑ Jump up to:58.0 58.1 58.2 58.3 The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
# ↑ Iron Man 2
# ↑ Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer
# ↑ Iron Man 2 Post-Credits Scene
# ↑ Jump up to:62.0 62.1 62.2 62.3 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.08: The Well
# ↑ Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant
# ↑ The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes
# ↑ Thor: The Dark World Prelude
# ↑ Jump up to:66.0 66.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.06: FZZT
# ↑ The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 6.06: Inescabpable
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.03: The Asset
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.05: Girl in the Flower Dress
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.07: The Hub
# ↑ Jump up to:72.0 72.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.12: Seeds
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Chase
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.13: T.R.A.C.K.S.
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.15: Yes Men
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.16: End of the Beginning
# ↑ Captain America: The Winter Soldier
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.19: The Only Light in the Darkness
# ↑ Jump up to:79.0 79.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.22: Beginning of the End
# ↑ Jump up to:80.0 80.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.01: Shadows
# ↑ Jump up to:81.0 81.1 81.2 81.3 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.20: Scars
# ↑ Jump up to:82.0 82.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.05: A Hen in the Wolf House
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.02: Heavy is the Head
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.03: Making Friends and Influencing People
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.09: ...Ye Who Enter Here
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.10: What They Become
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.11: Aftershocks
# ↑ Jump up to:88.0 88.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.16: Afterlife
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.12: Who You Really Are
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.15: One Door Closes
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.18: The Frenemy of My Enemy
# ↑ Jump up to:92.0 92.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.19: The Dirty Half Dozen
# ↑ Avengers: Age of Ultron
# ↑ Jump up to:94.0 94.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.21: S.O.S. Part One
# ↑ Jump up to:95.0 95.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.01: Laws of Nature
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.03: A Wanted (Inhu)man
# ↑ Jump up to:97.0 97.1 97.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.04: Devils You Know
# ↑ Jump up to:98.0 98.1 98.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.06: Among Us Hide...
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.10: Maveth
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.11: Bouncing Back
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3.13: Parting Shot
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.14: Watchdogs
# ↑ Jump up to:103.0 103.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.15: Spacetime
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.16: Paradise Lost
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.18: The Singularity
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.19: Failed Experiments
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.21: Absolution
# ↑ Jump up to:108.0 108.1 108.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.22: Ascension
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.01: The Ghost
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.02: Meet the New Boss
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.03: Uprising
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.04: Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.05: Lockup
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.06: The Good Samaritan
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.07: Deals With Our Devils
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.08: The Laws of Inferno Dynamics
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.09: Broken Promises
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.12: Hot Potato Soup
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.13: BOOM
# ↑ Jump up to:120.0 120.1 120.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.19: All the Madame's Men
# ↑ Jump up to:121.0 121.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.21: The Return
# ↑ Jump up to:122.0 122.1 122.2 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.16: What If...
# ↑ Jump up to:123.0 123.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.17: Identity and Change
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: 5.02: Orientation Part Two
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.04: A Life Earned
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.06: Fun & Games
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.07: Together or Not at All
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.09: Best Laid Plans
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.10: Past Life
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.12: The Real Deal
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 6.05: The Other Thing
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 6.11: From the Ashes
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 6.10: Leap
# ↑ Jump up to:134.0 134.1 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 6.13: New Life
# ↑ Clark Gregg: Marvel Movies' Man of Mystery
# ↑ Clark Gregg on ‘The Avengers,’ ‘Marvel One-Shots,’ ‘Iron Man 3′ and More!
# ↑ Agent Coulson Will Not Appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron
# ↑ Q&A: Joss Whedon on Super Heroes, the Pop Culture Mainstream
# ↑ JOSS WHEDON DEFENDS ‘AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.’ COMMENTS, SAYS MARVEL TV GETS ‘LEFTOVERS’
# ↑ Agents of SHIELD: Inside the tie-in to Avengers: Age of Ultron
# ↑ Tom Hiddleston on Loki’s Biggest Betrayals and Most Heroic Moments
# ↑ Clark Gregg on Twitter
Preceded by:
Nick Fury	Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Phil Coulson 2014 - 2016	Succeeded by:
Jeffrey Mace
== External Links ==
* Phil Coulson on Marvel Database
* Phil Coulson on Wikipedia