Phil Coulson

> *We are not agents of nothing! We are agents of SHIELD, and that still carries weight. It has to carry weight!*
> - ***Phil Coulson***
>
>

## Phil Coulson

### Nicknames

Phil
 AC (by Skye Johnson)
 Son of Coul (by Sif and Thor)

### Titles

Agent
 Director

## People

### Relatives

Estelle Hotchner (wife)
 Zoey Coulson (daughter)
Sofie Coulson (daughter)
Julie Coulson (mother)
Robert Coulson (father)

## Work

### Affiliation

SHIELD
 Coulson's Team
 Strike Team: Delta

### Occupation

SHIELD agent
 SHIELD director

## General Info

### Languages

English
 Spanish

### Origin

MCU (Franchise)
Agents of Shield (TV Series)

# Early Life

## Childhood

Philip Jesse Coulson was born to Robert and Julie Coulson on July 8, 1344 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. 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 12, in 1356, and his mother passed away later on, in 1372

## University

While in college studying history and learning how SHIELD had shaped the times, Coulson was recruited to SHIELD by Nick Fury. He attended the SHIELD Academy of Communications, where he became an expert in SHIELD history. There, he garnered an appreciation for SHIELD's legends and historical figures, especially Daniel Sousa, the first fallen SHIELD agent. After graduating from the academy, Coulson became a special agent and was mentored by Fury alongside John Garrett.

# Mid Life

## Career

### First Mission

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 L.O.L.A., making her vow to never tell anybody about it. During the 1370s, Coulson was also partnered with Katherine Shane for a few operations.

### Skrull Invasion

In 1375, Coulson accompanied Nick Fury and a SHIELD team led by R. Keller to investigate a call about a mysterious woman crash landing in a Blockbuster Video store in Los Angeles. Coulson met with the mall security guard who had made the call. The security guard 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.

Coulson then regrouped with SHIELD, where he saw 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 R. 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.

Fury then told Coulson that, with Vers preoccupied on the other side of the universe, he felt the need for an initiative to protect the Earth from intergalactic threats. Coulson assumed SHIELD needed to find more weapons, but Fury clarified they needed heroes.

### The Russian 0-8-4

Coulson was tasked by SHIELD 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.

#### SHIELD Burkov

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. 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 1382, Coulson was sent to Cusco, Peru. During the mission, he met and befriended Camilla Reyes, an officer of the Policia Militar del Peru.

Coulson also recruited Akela Amador into SHIELD 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 1386, Amador led a raid into one of the gulags run by T. 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.

### Meeting Audrey Nathan

Coulson went on a mission to stop a mentally unstable man named Marcus Daniels. Daniels had light bending powers developed from Darkforce and was attracted to a woman named Audrey Nathan. Coulson was able to put Daniels in jail and eventually fell in love with Audrey. Audrey was a cellist and Coulson saw many of her performances. They went on a trip to Oahu one time and Coulson spilled poi on his necktie. Whenever Coulson found the time to see her play, he brought her to dinner at the Richmond.

### Rescue in Bahrain

In 1388, Coulson and May joined a SHIELD 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. 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 SHIELD 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 Belyakov and the gangsters dead, the SHIELD 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 SHIELD

### Avengers Initiative

Tony Stark was captured by the Ten Rings. Months later, he returned home and held a press conference. Coulson went to the press conference and came across Pepper Potts, who explained that he was sent by SHIELD to interview Stark about his experience with the Ten Rings. Pepper promised to pencil him in for a meeting later in the month.

Upon meeting Stark at the Third Annual Firefighters' Fund gala, Coulson informed Stark of his allegiance with SHIELD Stark claimed he was too busy to talk with Coulson, but he agreed to a meeting at another time.

Coulson went to Stark Industries Headquarters, where he encountered Pepper. She informed Coulson that Obadiah 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 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.

The following day, Coulson met with Stark and Pepper. As Stark got patched up, Coulson gave him a story to say to the press. Obadiah Stane was supposedly on his yacht when it was destroyed, killing him. Stark agreed to stick to the script. At the conference, Pepper thanked Coulson for his help. Suddenly, Stark went off script, stating that he was in fact IronMan, angering Coulson.

Fury assigned Coulson to recruit Mr. Hendricks to SHIELD He took Hendricks through a practice mission in which Coulson pretended to die, and afterward, offered Hendricks his evaluation on his performance. Later, after Stark rejected the offer to join the Avengers Initiative, SHIELD started to keep tabs on him.

### Project T.A.H.I.T.I.

In coordination with the Avengers Initiative, 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 shut down 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 few months later, Coulson and 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 SHIELD 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 Stark

At his birthday party, Stark got drunk and had a battle with James Rhodes. So 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. Stark took the shield and used it to balance the Particle Accelerator he was building.

### Thor’s Hammer

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.

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 SHIELD 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 SHIELD 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 Selvig'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.

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 SHIELD agents found a gigantic automaton of unknown origin. As the automaton slowly approached, Sitwell asked Coulson if the automaton was one of 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 Barton supervised the transport of the automaton to a secret SHIELD facility.

### Finding Captain America

A year after the Battle of Puente Antiguo, Coulson was called by 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.

### Chitauri Invasion

Coulson was at the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility when the Tesseract began behaving strangely. Fury and Maria Hill were called in and, upon arrival, were met by Coulson.

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 SHIELD observatory in Tromsø, Norway, which she accepted.

### Activating the Avengers Initiative

With the Tesseract in the hands of a hostile demigod, Fury decided to activate the Avengers Initiative and call to action a group of extraordinary people who could protect the planet better than SHIELD

#### Bruce Banner

The first candidate was Bruce Banner, but Fury needed Romanoff to convince Banner.

#### Romanoff

Coulson called Romanoff on the phone, interrupting her interrogation. When Coulson told her that Barton had gone rogue, Romanoff easily defeated Georgi Luchkov and his subordinates.

#### Stark

While Coulson went to recruit Stark, Romanoff traveled to Kolkata, India where she found Banner and convinced him to join SHIELD

Coulson attempted to contact 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 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.

#### Steve Rogers

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.

After the Avengers' first mission, Coulson said to Fury that the team was not prepared to face their common enemy and that they needed to be motivated in some way.

#### Thor

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.

### First 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

Days after Coulson died, Fury had his body taken to the Guest House, where SHIELD 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.

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. J. 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. SHIELD had informed Audrey Nathan that Coulson had passed, therefore he couldn't be with her anymore.

#### Rejoining SHIELD

Coulson eventually rejoined SHIELD and wrote a report for Fury detailing Chitauri weapons on the black market and recalled the events surrounding Benjamin Pollack and Claire Weiss' bank robberies using a Chitauri Gun, which SHIELD labeled "Item 47."

### Coulson’s 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 SHIELD 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.

#### Recruiting Grant Ward

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.

#### Recruiting Melinda May

Coulson asked Melinda May 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."

#### Meeting Skye

During the new team's first mission, they encountered the Rising Tide "hacktivist" known as Skye. She had posted a video of Mike Peterson, a man SHIELD was searching for, so they wanted her for questioning. Coulson and Ward tracked Skye to her van, where they found her making a video about SHIELD not being able to stop the Rising Tide. Coulson arrested her and brought her to The Bus.

Coulson and Ward interrogated Skye. Coulson asked Skye where Peterson was and she claimed she didn't know anything. Then Coulson discovered 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 SHIELD's activities. In return, Skye told Ward what little she knew about the Centipede project.

#### Chase of Mike Peterson

Peterson kidnapped Skye and assaulted May. Skye managed to hack into The Bus's computers and alert the team to her and Peterson's location. Coulson and Ward arrived at Union Station and Coulson tried to convince Peterson to surrender. Peterson tried to escape with Skye and his son, Ace Peterson into the building.

Coulson tried to calm Peterson down before he exploded and killed Skye and other civilians. Coulson was able to find Ace, who had been separated from his father.

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. 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 Ward about an 0-8-4, Coulson and Skye flew back to The Bus in L.O.L.A..

Back on The Bus, Coulson was confronted by Ward. Ward complained that Skye was not a trained SHIELD 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.

#### Finding an 0-8-4

Ward informed Coulson that they have been called to Peru to investigate an 0-8-4, an unidentified object, at an archaeological site called Llactapata.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.

When everyone had boarded The Bus, Coulson gave orders to set a course for a nearby SHIELD base to carry out a contingency protocol to contain and neutralize the artifact.

Reyes and her men hijack the plane. 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 had loosened his bonds, when he saw one of Fitz's drones flying through the cabin. He 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.

#### Meeting with Fury

The Bus arrived at the Slingshot facility in the desert, where the 0-8-4 was to be launched into the sun.

Following his mission in Peru, Coulson went and met with Fury, who was angry at Coulson because of the damage done to the

### Infiltration into Ian Quinn's Mansion

The team received a call that a SHIELD 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 and 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 SHIELD or Quinn. Coulson learned Hall's plan was to sink the complex so he shot the glass beneath them, causing Hall to fall into the Gravitonium, which appeared to absorb him.

#### Searching for Akela Amador

Coulson, 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 Ward retraced her steps and tried to locate her, arriving in Zloda, Belarus. While they were continuing their investigation, Amador drove into the van with Fitz, Simmons, and Skye inside, 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. Watching the video feed from her eye, they learned that Amador was being controlled by an unknown person through her prosthetic eye. Coulson remained adamant that the team needed to help her on their own without reporting to HQ.

Coulson found out that May was attempting to bring Amador to HQ. 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.

#### Skye's Secret

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 SHIELD.

Coulson 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 SHIELD Coulson decided to let her stay, but in return she would have to wear a Tracking Bracelet that let SHIELD 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".

The team investigated mysterious electrostatic anomalies and a body. As Simmons went closer to examine the corpse, static discharged from his body before it fell to the ground. Simmons showed Coulson the brain of the victim which had been struck by 2,000 megajoules of electricity.

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 City. 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. 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. 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. Simmons, with Fitz’ help, developed a cure.

#### Berserker Staff

Coulson and his team were assigned as part of the SHIELD clean-up crew after Thor's battle with Malekith and the Dark Elves.

Violence had broken 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 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.

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. Coulson found Randolph's heart and managed to save him by stopping the bleeding.

#### The Truth Revealed

Coulson was tempted to touch the staff to figure out the details of resurrection, but Randolph convinced him against it.

#### 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.

Coulson's Team discovered that the soldiers had been subjected to the same eye procedure that Amador had undergone. Coulson and Ward went on a mission to investigate Brian Hayward, one of the Centipede Soldiers who was identified on the CCTV footage.

#### Kidnapped by Centipede Project

Peterson tried to contact his son, Ace Peterson, and learned that he had 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 to 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. 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. 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 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 SHIELD Academy Sci-Tech, Coulson and May traveled to Mexico City, Mexico, where they tracked down former SHIELD 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 SHIELD 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. He placed his team on the train on which Cybertek security chief, Carlo Mancini, was traveling to make the delivery to Quinn. Coulson, and Agents Ward and May, were separated from the train, leaving only Agents Fitz, Simmons and Skye to track the delivery.

Coulson was 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 SHIELD Trauma Zentrum in Switzerland.

#### The Guest House

Coulson tried to contact 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. 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 explained to Garrett 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 insisted that they had to do everything possible, even if it meant giving the Clairvoyant what he wanted and the team prepared to enter the Guest House, which was not a SHIELD base, figuring that there might be hostiles. Agents Triplett and May were left aboard The Bus in case their skills were needed there. Communications went down in the base, but they continued in spite of it.

Coulson found the operating room where he was resurrected, and experienced flashbacks of the horrific procedure. Coulson entered an area marked for radiation and refused to put on a suit despite Fitz's warning, because there was no time.

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. 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, arrived 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 SHIELD 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. Coulson, pretending to be under Lorelei's power as well, learned of Simmons' location and freed her. 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.

Coulson approached Skye and confessed 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.

When Skye discovered that SHIELD psychological files had the same information the Clairvoyant knew, Coulson realized that the Clairvoyant was a SHIELD 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 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 SHIELD, HYDRA agents sent out a secret message to other agents that it was time to reveal themselves. Coulson and his team, along with Agent 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 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 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 SHIELD 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 SHIELD agents. Coulson rejected Garrett's offer to join HYDRA. As Garrett prepared to execute all of them, the group was rescued when Skye and 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 SHIELD agents took all HYDRA agents into custody.

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 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 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

Marcus Daniels, a man Coulson had put away after he began stalking Coulson's former lover, Audrey Nathan, got loose. Coulson took Fitz, Simmons and Triplett to search for Daniels. 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. When the team returned to Providence, however, they found the base empty. May, Eric Koenig, Skye, and Ward were gone.

### The Shield That Protects

Coulson repeatedly watched Providence's security footage in hopes of learning what happened to his missing team members. When Simmons found Koenig's body and Fitz found a message from Skye saying, "Ward is HYDRA," they knew Skye was in trouble and needed their help.

Deathlok and Ward attacked and Coulson rescued Skye using L.O.L.A.

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 Fury not to use it.

### Hunt for Garrett

The next morning, Coulson met with his team to make plans to stop Garrett and retrieve The Bus. Coulson decided that he and May should go undercover as unemployed SHIELD scientists seeking work at Cybertek in order to obtain information on Deathlok, in the hopes it would lead them to Garrett. Coulson learned that 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 Garrett using a tracker Fitz and Simmons had planted on The Bus.

Coulson confronted Garrett and Deathlok. After being thrown around by Garrett in a fight, Coulson was joined by Director 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 Ward into custody by the US Armed Forces. However, Garrett survived and tried to use the Cybertek machines to heal himself. Coulson destroyed Garrett using the Peruvian 0-8-4.

Mercenaries, Lance Hunter, Idaho Bailey, and Isabelle Hartley join Coulson’s Team.

Idaho and Hartly are killed during an attack by Creel and Hunter is captured by General Talbot. Hunter arrived back at the base, having seemingly escaped from General Talbot. At his debriefing, Coulson asked Hunter what Talbot had offered him to get him sell out SHIELD. 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 Hartly, 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. 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 recruits Lance Hunter

Coulson gave Hartley a proper burial service, receiving Hunter's gratitude. Coulson then convinced Hunter to join SHIELD 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 gave in to writing

### =Negotiating with Talbot

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 Coulson’s Team breathing room. Talbot openly refused, but before he could order his men to capture Coulson, the team arrived with the now cloaked The Bus. They warned Talbot not to get any ideas.

Coulson placed Simmons undercover with HYDRA without telling the rest of his team. After the mission in Morocco, Coulson confronted Fitz about torturing Ward.

#### Search for Skye's Father

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. Skye beat the team to the location and found it empty, except for two dead men who had been killed by her father.

Coulson watched Senator Christian Ward, brother of Grant Ward, have a televised debate with Julien Beckers. Senator Ward denounced SHIELD and proposed the eradication of the organization. Understanding the long term implications this would have on agents around the world, Coulson went and talked to Senator Ward personally to ask him to recant his position. He agreed to do so if Grant Ward was relinquished to him. Coulson then allowed Skye to learn all Ward knew about her mother and father before having him turned over. Senator Ward then kept his word. He publicly stated that SHIELD and HYDRA were separate organizations, one dedicated to law enforcement, the other bent on world domination.

#### =Coulson hands Grant Ward over to the FBI

Coulson and a team of agents delivered Ward to the FBI. Ward escaped shortly thereafter.

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.

During a mission, Coulson discovered a model train city which resembled his writing, when viewed from above, looked just like the mysterious symbols. 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 meets Calvin Zabo

Coulson took Skye, Triplett, and Fitz to a satellite relay station in Laura Creek, Australia. 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.

#### 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.

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 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 to 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. The city crumbled with Skye and Triplett inside. Skye somehow survived and was placed in quarantine.

During a stand-off with Vin-Tak on base, the building started shaking. Coulson asked Skye what was causing that, and she said it was her.

May then took Skye to Vault D where Coulson arrived just in time to see Skye shooting herself with an I.C.E.R.

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. Andre Garner, a psychologist who specialized in working with gifted individuals from the Index.

#### Coulson explores the Brynmore Psychiatric Facility

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. 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. 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 SHIELD for their "barbaric" inhibitions of gifted individuals before it could do the same thing to his daughter.

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.

In his office, Coulson talked with May about what to do with Skye. Though May agreed with Andre Garner's suggestion that Skye should be removed from active SHIELD duty, Coulson hesitated.

#### Coulson at the Retreat

He eventually decided to take Skye to 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.

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 SHIELD and HYDRA: Grant Ward.

Coulson, Hunter, and Deathlok took the Quinjet to retrieve Fitz, then flew to find 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 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.

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 Strucker, resulting in a standoff on the Quinjet. 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 engages in a firefight with HYDRA who are tracking Skye, who is teleported away before either side can get her. They found the HYDRA Arctic Research Base. 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 Bakshi's help.

As Coulson prepared for the mission he was approached by Simmons who insisted on joining them on the mission. 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.

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 Bakshi and prepared for the mission. Skye, Ward, Simmons and Bakshi were sent to rescue Peterson and the other enhanced individuals. Coulson, May and 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 Strucker and the Scepter. The team regrouped with Skye and Simmons, who had rescued Peterson and Lincoln Campbell. Ward and List escaped and Bakshi died during the mission. The team evacuated just before Gonzales' men destroyed the base.
Calling in the Avengers

Coulson revealed the location of the Scepter to Maria 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 Baron Strucker.
War Against the Inhumans

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.

After Gonzales' people located the Inhuman 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 to resolve the matter peacefully.

Coulson met with Skye to see if she knew anything about the Monolith.

Coulson refused to begin a war with the Inhumans. He sent Weaver back to The Iliad to take command, before speaking to May and Simmons about Skye's seeming betrayal. When Zabo arrived on the base, Coulson demanded to know why he was there. Zabo insisted he was a gift from his family.

Coulson told him that Jiaying had assassinated Robert Gonzales with the intention of starting a war between SHIELD and the Inhumans. The Inhumans attack the SHIELD base. Coulson and Fitz found Mack 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 on board 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, Mack 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 SHIELD agents into new positions which best supported their views. He brought Andre Garner back to assess his team and judge their readiness to continue working in the field. They discussed having Mack back on the team and in charge of all alien dealings.

#### Dr. Winslow

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 asked for Skye’s 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 SHIELD's past mistakes.

As new Inhumans started to emerge, Coulson and SHIELD 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. They were concerned about how the ATCU was finding the newly powered Inhumans before SHIELD and causing them to disappear.

In the Washington, DC subway, Coulson and Hunter confronted Rosalind Price, thinking they had tracked her, but Price had set a trap. ATCU soldiers soon surrounded the SHIELD agents. After a few minutes of talking, each leader realized that neither organization was killing newly transformed Inhumans.

Coulson had Mack put a tracker on Lincoln Campbell. When Skye 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 Skye called Campbell asking him to accept help from SHIELD. 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 Mack to get the phone number of 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.

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.

#### Working with the ATCU

Coulson called Price and the Advanced Threat Containment Unit to support his SHIELD agents as they pursued Lash. When the two groups ran into each other from opposite directions, Coulson was with the ATCU. Skye asked Coulson why he was with them and he reminded her that they agreed to work together and share information. Skye was angry, but Coulson had other concerns.

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 justify 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 sent his agents on Operation Spotlight,a mission to infiltrate the Advanced Threat Containment Unit base and to uncover its secrets.

Coulson and Price had dinner together at her apartment. 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 Mack arrived and extracted him.

#### Coulson kidnaps Thomas Ward

On the Quinjet, Coulson told Hunter and Morse that their target was Ward's younger brother Thomas. As they flew, Coulson received a call from Mack informing him that HYDRA had kidnapped Fitz and Simmons. 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.

HYDRA opened the portal and Ward was one of the people entering it. Coulson leapt from the Quinjet, falling straight through the open portal and landing on the alien planet.

#### Battle of Maveth

Coulson found Ward and two guards. Killing the two guards, Coulson wounded Ward and handcuffed him

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. As Coulson fought, Fitz warned him that the portal was closing. Still thinking of all the people Ward had murdered, including 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.

#### Coulson meets President Ellis

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 Price's home and brought May. When Ellis arrived, the two started to talk about the Inhumans issue. Ellis thanked Coulson for his actions to solve that problem.

Talbot would not return Coulson'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.

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. Coulson attempted to convince the group that they were only seeking peace. 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.

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. Malick refused to honor his deal with Talbot and locked him in a cell with Coulson, handcuffing them together. Creel, Talbot’s bodyguard, burst into the room and defeated the guards, saying that he and Hunter had found Talbot's son.

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 disavows Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter

Coulson had to try to rescue them from prison, knowing that if Russia knew 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. 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 SHIELD 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 left the room, negotiating their release in return for them never being agents again.

### Battle at the Transia Building

In Coulson's office, he, Fitz, Simmons and Campbell watched the hacked Transia Corporation's CCTV feed. As they spotted R. Giyera on the feed, they discussed Campbell's "higher purpose" theories of Inhumans' powers. They stopped suddenly when the video seemed to show Ward in the building. Fitz theorized that it was Hive using Ward's body.

They hurried to the building to help Skye and look for Ward. Coulson saved Skye by shooting through a two-way mirror at a HYDRA guard.

#### Coulson interrogates Gideon Malick

With Malick in SHIELD's custody, Coulson interrogated him, seeking answers about Hive's true nature. Malick revealed that Hive was like a god to Inhumans. He also told Coulson that Hive could sway Inhumans and gain total control over them. Before Coulson’s Team 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. It was soon revealed that Skye 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 Skye

After Skye's escape, Coulson learned from Fitz and Simmons about Holden Radcliffe, a scientist who could potentially help them find a cure for Hive's infection.

Coulson kept searching for Skye 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 Mack to rescue Skye and kill Hive. The team managed to escape Union City, but they failed to rescue Skye, who had injured Mack, and they also failed to kill Hive.

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 Skye. Though Lash was killed by Hellfire, Skye returned to The Playground, freed from Hive's influence.

#### Fighting Aida

While Coulson and the others were trying to locate Aida, a sentient AI, the android made contact with SHIELD and demanded the Darkhold. When Coulson refused, Aida shut down The Playground's systems. Coulson gave orders to his team and went with 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 Holden 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 Mack. Coulson reclaimed the Darkhold with the intent of quickly disposing of it.

#### Another Mole

Coulson and Skye suspected the presence of a mole within SHIELD. Fitz disclosed what he had discovered by studying Aida's severed head: Radcliffe was responsible for Aida's rebellion. Coulson led a SHIELD squad to the Radcliffe Residence to arrest the scientist. After returning to The Playground, Coulson had a drink with May, still unaware that he was talking to a Life-Model Decoy engineered by Radcliffe.

#### A Fake Melinda May

Sam Koenig alerted SHIELD that Billy Koenig had been abducted by the Watchdogs, prompting Phil Coulson to arrange his rescue. Coulson quickly deduced that Radcliffe, who had let one of his Life-Model Decoys get arrested in his place, was behind Billy Koenig 's abduction,

Sam Koenig 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 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 could not bring himself to order the destruction of May's LMD.

Coulson learned that the real May was still alive.

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.

#### Coulson confronts the Superior

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 Mack 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

Radcliffe had altered the Framework so that would take away a person's greatest regret. When Coulson was scanned in, it turned out his main regret was joining SHIELD, robbing him of a normal life. 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.

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.

One day Simmons entered his classroom and claimed that the world he lived in was a digital prison and that he was in reality a high-ranking agent of SHIELD Coulson was unconvinced.

Later, Skye broke into his car, calling him by name and begging him to remember her. Coulson insisted that he did not know her, but when Skye 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, Skye helped him cope with the news that he was trapped inside the Framework. Coulson joins the SHIELD resistance.

Coulson joined a team led by Ward to assault the HYDRA Broadcasting Center. After taking Bakshi and his team hostage, they recorded and broadcast a subversive message featuring Coulson himself calling for open revolt.

#### Leaving the Framework

Once Simmons returned, the team flew to the coordinates given them byRadcliffe 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. Mack, 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 Skye 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.

#### Back to the Real World

Coulson and 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 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. 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, Talbot and his men stormed The Playground to arrest Coulson and the remaining SHIELD agents for the actions committed by their LMDs in the Siege of The Playground. Coulson explained the full story to Talbot and he and Skye persuaded the General to let them leave on Zephyr One before Aida could kill them all.

#### Destruction of Aida

After Talbot was shot by a Skye's Life-Model Decoy, Coulson led his team to save the General and reclaim the Darkhold. Skye and Reyes dispatched the Life-Model Decoys and made Aida flee once more. They 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 Yo-Yo's and Mack'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 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 her 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. Yo-Yo and Mack, having finally exited the Framework, warned that the authorities were on their way to arrest them. When Fitz offered to take the blame for the team, Coulson joined the others in telling him that they all needed to remain together.

Coulson managed to strike a deal with Talbot to keep his team from being arrested by willing to share a couple closely guarded SHIELD secrets.

## Friends

### Co-Workers

#### Strike Team: Delta

* Maria Hill
* Natasha Romanoff
* Clint Barton

#### Coulson’s Team

* Melinda May
* Grant Ward
* Leo Fitz
* Jemma Simmons
* Skye Johnson
* Antoine Triplett
* Bobbi Morse
* Lance Hunter
* Alphonso Mackenzie
* Elena Rodriguez

## Family

* Estelle Hotchner - wife
* Sofie Coulson - daughter
* Zoey Coulson - daughter

* Julie Coulson - mother
* Robert Coulson - father

* Aaron Hotchner - brother-in-law
* Hayley Brook - sister-in-law
* Jace Hotchner - nephew

* Dominique Cruz - son-in-law

* Adric Randell - son-in-law
* Sara Randell - granddaughter
* Natalie Randell - granddaughter

### Marriage

While on a mission involving a former CIA agent who had become an Inhuman, Coulson met CIA Officer Estelle Hotchner. Despite the initially friction that came with jurisdiction argument, Estelle and Coulson slowly began a relationship, both being able to understand the importance of secrets. The two got married on September 4, 1397 with both Coulson’s Team and Estelle’s CIA CM Team present at the small ceremony.

### Parenthood

Coulson received quite a surprise one day when Estelle told him she was pregnant. The couple had believed they were too old to conceive and had not even considered the possibility of parenthood. On top of all that, they were going to have twins.

Estelle gave birth to Zoey and Sofie on August 15, 1399. The twins were as identical as could be and not even their parents could tell them apart. Coulson often wondered if his daughters would switch names sometimes just to mess with him.

Coulson and Estelle doted on their miracle girls, but also stressed the importance of self-defense, given the two parents' professions.

# Later life

## Death

In 1437, despite his crazy and adventurous life, Phil Coulson died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 93, surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and two granddaughters.

### Legacy

In 1421, the SHIELD Academy of Communications was rechristened in his honor as the Coulson Academy.