SPOILERS ahead for the Agents of SHIELD season 6 finale
In the Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD season 6 finale, the team time travels to the past for season 7, specifically to Prohibition Era New York City in the 1930s. Over the course of past seasons, Agents of SHIELD has explored all manner of sci-fi premises, from killer robots to a tech-fuelled alternate universe. Their adventures have also taken them to a variety of locations, both in space and time. In season 5, the team time traveled to the future, and season 6 saw half the group travel to space in search of Fitz.
While in space, Fitz and Simmons were captured by Chronicoms, whose home planet was destroyed by the two main villains of the season, Sarge and Izel. The Chronicoms wanted Fitz and Simmons to develop a reliable means of time travel so they could go back and prevent their planet’s destruction. Instead, though, the two escape with the help of Enoch and eventually return to Earth, where they’re reunited with their friends and join the fight against Izel. However, while the rest of the team is facing off against Izel in an Inca temple in the season 6 finale, Fitz, Simmons and the Lighthouse are attacked by Chronicom Hunters. They’re saved by Enoch; Simmons reappears at the end of the episode with an upgraded Zephyr-One and the bad news about the Chronicoms.
At the end of the Agents of SHIELD season 6 finale, Simmons collects the remaining agents from the Inca temple after they defeat Sarge and Izel. However, they must flee the Chronicom Hunters and, using a jump drive incorporated into the Zephyr-One, they travel back in time. Though they aren’t sure exactly what time period they’ve traveled to at first, Daisy looks out the windows to see an under-construction Empire State Building, and makes a joke about Prohibition. Since construction began on the Empire State Building in 1930 and concluded in 1931, that’s the exact window in time to which they jumped.
It’s unclear how long Agents of SHIELD season 7 will spend in the 1930s, but if the jump drive still requires time to recharge before being used again, they may be stuck there for at least a little while. It’s also unclear why they jumped to this specific point in time. It’s before SHIELD was even created, which happened in the aftermath of World War II in the 40s. As Simmons explains, the Chronicom Hunters are attempting to eliminate SHIELD so they can settle Earth as their new home planet. Since SHIELD doesn’t exist in the 30s, it’s a good place to hide from the Chronicoms.
What’s not yet clear is whether the Chronicom Hunters have access to time travel tech as well, which will impact what fans can expect from Agents of SHIELD season 7. If they do, then SHIELD will need to travel through time preventing the Chronicoms from eliminating their organization. If the Chronicoms can’t time travel, then SHIELD can regroup in the 1930s and return to the present to battle the Hunters.
It all depends on what the creative team of Agents of SHIELD has in mind for season 7. It’s not the first instance of time travel on the series, but with a time travel capable Zephyr-One, Agents of SHIELD could potentially visit a number of points in the timeline of the MCU. Still, what exactly they plan to do in the 1930s and how long they stay there before jumping to another point in time remains to be seen until Agents of SHIELD season 7 premieres.
Next: Agents of SHIELD Characters Who Need To Return For Final Season
Agents of SHIELD returns for season 7 in 2020 on ABC.
