Monolith

"*It's Kree, dangerous, intended to destroy our people."
"But didn't they make us?"
"Then they decided we were a mistake.*"
—Jiaying and Raina[src]

The **Monolith** was a magical rock featured on Marvel's *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*. It first appears in the twentieth episode of the second season of *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*.

## History

### Origin

The Monolith was one of many products produced by the Kree during the creation of the Inhumans on prehistoric Earth. The ruling Kree hierarchy, deeming the creation of the Inhumans by a rogue Kree faction as being a mistake, conceived the Monolith as a means of wiping them out. Aside from destroying the Inhumans, the Monolith also had the ability to absorb and then transport individuals across space.

### HYDRA's Possession

An Inhuman of immense power was born and desired to rule the Earth. He was banished by others through the Monolith to Maveth. The Inhuman's followers later formed a secret society with the goal to bring their leader back to Earth and gained possession of the Monolith. Over the centuries the society became known as HYDRA. At some point, the leaders of HYDRA decided to extract five smaller stones from the Monolith. These were eventually divided evenly among HYDRA's most powerful leaders.

In 1839 the Monolith was kept in a castle in Gloucestershire, England. A group of noblemen, members of the HYDRA society, used the Monolith to send various people to the other side of the portal, but none of them ever came back.

### NASA's Possession

The Monolith was later found on an excavation site during the late 1800s or early 1900s. In 2001, the Monolith was in the possession of NASA which sent a four man expedition into its portal to survey the planet on the other side. Will Daniels went with three scientists; it was his job to protect them from danger until they could be retrieved. However, the whole expedition was secretly orchestrated by Gideon Malick's HYDRA branch as part of Project Distant Star Return with which Malick hoped to bring HYDRA's ancient Inhuman leader back to Earth. When the expedition didn't return, the Monolith was given to S.H.I.E.L.D. and was stored in the cargo hold of the aircraft carrier *Iliad*.

### S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Possession

#### Battle on the Iliad

Director Nick Fury ordered Bobbi Morse to destroy the *Iliad* to assure that the Monolith would not fall to HYDRA during the HYDRA Uprising. Morse ultimately defied her orders, saving the ship, and continuing the existence of the Stone.

#### War against the Inhumans

When Phil Coulson became Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he learned of the Monolith from the Toolbox. It revealed that HYDRA sought the item and that it was in Robert Gonzales' possession.

Raina had a precognitive dream about the Monolith, and this information was passed on to Afterlife leader Jiaying, who allowed Raina and Gordon to infiltrate the vessel to verify its location. When the two were discovered by Lance Hunter, Raina and Gordon escaped and the Monolith was given an armed regiment to defend it.

During the Inhuman War against S.H.I.E.L.D., the first place that the Inhumans attacked on the *Iliad* was the room that housed the Monolith. After taking control of the room, and later the ship, Gordon and Lincoln Campbell observed the Monolith; Gordon assured Campbell that it would not be used against them with the ship now conquered.

#### Research

After the *Iliad* was retaken by S.H.I.E.L.D., the Monolith was moved to the Playground. Jemma Simmons tried requesting permission from Alphonso Mackenzie, who had been put in charge of all extraterrestrial artifacts, to send a probe into the box to examine the Monolith but Mackenzie declared that they will never open the box.

While Leo Fitz awkwardly tried to ask Simmons out to dinner, he stumbled, causing the lock on the case to loosen. Simmons then found out that the case was unlocked; when trying to re-lock the case, the stone morphed into its liquid form, shooting out and swallowing her. It transported her to another world, then went back to its original form.

#### Dormant

The Monolith was deemed off-limits and locked away after the disappearance of Jemma Simmons was discovered. Lincoln Campbell was asked about its capabilities; all he knew was that it was dangerous.

Frustrated after months of research and having come up with no results other than the conclusion that Jemma Simmons had been killed, Leo Fitz took a shotgun and blasted the lock off the container of the Monolith. He then stepped inside the container and began punching and kicking it, begging it to "do something"; it remained solid and dormant.

#### Used One Last Time

Just as the other agents pulled Leo Fitz away from the Monolith and closed the door, it transformed to its liquid state. When it returned to solid, it had left sand on Fitz's face and the floor. Analyzing it, Fitz determined that the sand didn't originate from Earth and realized the Monolith's function as an interstellar portal. Recognizing the need for an alien in the hopes of understanding the portal, Coulson recruited the Asgardian Elliot Randolph. Randolph only agreed to come to the Playground to confirm the portal's existence and destroy it. Upon seeing the Monolith's random transformation, he guessed that it reacts to another planet. He agreed to help S.H.I.E.L.D. rescue Simmons in exchange for destroying the portal afterwards.

Alphonso Mackenzie later loaded the Monolith into the Zephyr One and delivered it to a castle in England. There the rock was placed in a containment unit that forced it to open a portal. While the portal was open, Fitz fired a flare to Maveth. Suddenly the machines fell apart and the stone returned to its solid state.

Later, Daisy Johnson used her vibrational powers to open the portal. Fitz entered, tied to a tether. The machinery of the tether began to collapse; Bobbi Morse and Mackenzie tried to sustain it while Johnson was straining to hold the portal open. The rock could no longer maintain its integrity and disintegrated; Fitz and Jemma Simmons were back on Earth.

Fragments of the Monolith were brought back to the Playground; Simmons saw the pieces as she took a tour of her laboratory. Sometime later, Simmons returned to the lab and inspected the fragments. Morse entered and assured Simmons that the pieces were now inert.

### Fragments

After the War on HYDRA, HYDRA's leader Gideon Malick started collecting the five fragments of the Monolith so he could finish Project Distant Star Return. The task was easy for him because most of HYDRA's heads were dead, and the remaining ones were being hunted by Grant Ward who was aiming to remake the organization in his own image. One of the fragments of the Monolith was kept in Wolfgang von Strucker's secret vault in Zepkow, Germany, which was procured by Malick six months after Strucker's death. While Malick visited the vault, Grant Ward entered; Malick showed Ward the contained fragment and asked him to watch as it transformed between its solid and liquid states, as he told Ward the story of It, his banishment to Maveth, and the true origin and purpose of HYDRA.

## Appearances

* *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*
	+ *Season Three*
		- *Purpose in the Machine* (flashbacks)
	+ *Season Two*
		- *One Door Closes* (mentioned)
		- *The Dirty Half Dozen* (mentioned)
		- *Scars*
		- *S.O.S. Part One*
		- *S.O.S. Part Two*
	+ *Season Three*
		- *4,722 Hours*
		- *Laws of Nature*
		- *Purpose in the Machine*
		- *A Wanted (Inhu)man* (remains)
		- *Devils You Know* (mentioned)
		- *Among Us Hide...* (mentioned)
		- *Many Heads, One Tale*
		- *Closure*
		- *Maveth*

## Trivia

### Behind the Scenes

* Prior to the release of Season Three, Executive Producer Jeffrey Bell refered to the Monolith as "the portal" in an interview.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.20: Scars*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.08: Many Heads, One Tale*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.09: Closure*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.02: Purpose in the Machine*
5. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.05: 4,722 Hours*
6. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.15: One Door Closes*
7. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.19: The Dirty Half Dozen*
8. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.21: S.O.S. Part One*
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.22: S.O.S. Part Two*
10. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.01: Laws of Nature*
11. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.03: A Wanted (Inhu)man*
12. ↑ *Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'*s Executive Producer Jeff Bell on What to Expect In Season Three and Beyond