Past decisions haunted everyone in “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Season 3, episode 16. Lincoln (Luke Mitchell) had to reveal what he did before he got his powers while Coulson (Clark Gregg) realized that killing Ward (Brett Dalton) may have been his worst decision yet. Regret wasn’t only felt by the good guys, though. Malick (Powers Boothe) had to face terrible consequences after Hive (Dalton) uncovered his mistakes.

Episode 16 shows Malick looking very afraid. He is surprised with a home visit from Hive, who has already warmed up to Malick’s daughter Stephanie (Bethany Joy Lenz). Hive says it’s time for him to reveal his true self and gathers the inner circle of Hydra.

Malick tells his daughter he had a vision of the future. He saw his own death and says he was “torn apart from the inside.” Malick knows it’s Hive who will kill him, but Stephanie tells her father that Hive couldn’t be planning a betrayal. If he is, the alien just has to be reminded how important Malick is.

This episode gives viewers flashbacks to Malick’s life as a teenager. Young Malick (Cameron Palatas) and his brother Nathaniel (Joel Dabney Courtney) don’t want to support Whitehall (Reed Diamond) after their father’s death, but they don’t have much choice.

The brothers visit Whitehall in jail. He tells them to follow him in his scientific vision for Hydra. Malick’s family used to sacrifice people to the monolith, and Whitehall claims their father didn’t really believe in the ritual. Everyone in the group draws a rock from a bag, and whoever gets the white stone is sent to Maveth. Whitehall tells the boys to take a look at their father’s copy of “Paradise Lost” for proof of his betrayal.

Malick talks to Hive and asks him if he remembers everything from the bodies that he has lived in before. The Inhuman doesn’t exactly answer one way or the other, but he mentions that he appreciates Stephanie’s loyalty. He says she’ll play a key role in everything.

Later, the inner circle of Hydra gathers at Malick’s house, and they’re introduced to Hive for the first time. The leaders don’t quite believe it. They see only Grant Ward. He shows them his true form, but viewers see only tentacles in the back of his head. The Hydra team looks stunned, though.

In another flashback, Nathaniel and Malick realize their father had a white stone with a notch in it. That’s what is in the copy of "Paradise Lost," and that’s how he avoided being the traveler. He’d switch out the white stone and feel around for the one with the notch, making sure he never grabbed it. Malick thinks they should be better than their father and go through with the ceremony in an honest way. He tosses the white stone into the pond and promises Nathaniel that they’ll do the ritual the right way.

In the present day, Stephanie later tells Malick that Hive gave her a copy of "Paradise Lost." Malick doesn’t tell her about the connection and claims he isn’t questioning Hive anymore. He looks at his own copy of "Paradise Lost," and the stone is missing. He didn’t actually throw it into the pond.

Hive confronts him with Stephanie and accuses him of betrayal. Nathaniel was sent to the planet, and just as Malick suspected, Hive has his memories. The alien speaks as Nathaniel and tells Malick he was selfish. Stephanie is upset her father wasn’t a true believer. “Do what you have to,” she tells Hive.

The alien kisses Stephanie, and then he kills her in front of Malick. “Now you understand sacrifice,” Hive says. Malick is obviously distraught, but Hive says they’re even now.

Elsewhere, Coulson has to figure out why Ward is on the security feed they saw last week. The team knows he is Hive, and they’re going to Transia to figure out what he and Hydra wanted from the company. However, Daisy (Chloe Bennet) and Lincoln (Luke Mitchell) aren’t going with them. They go to another Inhuman for information.

The non-Inhuman team members don’t find much. It seems a lot of information was destroyed. However, Coulson runs into Giyera (Mark Dacascos) and locks him in a room with Agent May (Ming-Na Wen). Nothing is in the room, forcing Giyera to use his fighting skills instead of telekinesis. He’s a highly trained fighter. Still, no one is better than May. He is taken out on a stretcher.

Meanwhile, Daisy and Lincoln go to James (Axle Whitehead), a man who never got his powers. He was banished from Afterlife, the Inhuman sanctuary, after he was caught looking through off limits files. He has since gone off the grid.

They get to South Dakota, and James doesn’t exactly throw them a welcome party. Daisy steps on a land mine before they even get to his front door. Lincoln says they aren’t here to fight, but James really thinks Lincoln is here for Jai-Ying (Dichen Lachman).

Daisy uses her powers to step away from the land mine and sets off all of the bombs before she gets any closer. James tries to shoot her, but Lincoln sends him back with a bolt of lightning. Still, James isn’t very willing to help, even after he hears that Jai-Ying is dead. Lincoln offers him a Terrigen crystal in exchange for information. James could finally have the powers that Jai-Ying denied him, and suddenly, he is very willing to open up.

He gives them a Kree object that was from one of the first Inhumans. He says it belonged to an Inhuman who was supposed to command the Inhuman army until he was banished to another planet. Lincoln grabs the artifact, but he doesn’t give James the Terrigen crystal. James is angry and tells Daisy that Lincoln nearly murdered his last girlfriend. James shouts that men like Lincoln are incapable of change.

They leave before James can say anything more, but Daisy doesn’t drop the topic. She needs the truth, so Lincoln tells her about his past. He has a drinking problem and a temper, which Daisy already knew. His old girlfriend wanted to help him get better, but eventually, they ended up in a car while he was drunk. He nearly killed her, but Gordon (Jamie Harris) saved her and brought him to Afterlife. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I don’t want any more secrets,” Lincoln says.

Daisy decides she has to tell him about her vision. “Someone on our team is gonna die,” she reveals.

Back on the main S.H.I.E.L.D. plane, things take a turn for the worst. Giyera escapes his cell and starts taking the aircraft down. When May calls Daisy for help, the Hydra agent cuts off the conversation.

Daisy panics. They’re the only agents not on that plane. However, Lincoln reminds her that they can bring in some back up. “You put together the Secret Warriors team for a reason,” Lincoln says. Viewers have to wait until next week to see the Inhuman team assemble.

Elsewhere in “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Season 3, episode 16:

  • Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) figures out that Hive is a parasite.
  • Coulson dents a pipe with his robotic hand and tells Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) that he shouldn’t have killed Ward. “It was payback. That’s not what we do here,” Coulson said.

“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Season 3 airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on ABC.

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