As season 5 arrives, heres our primer to remind you of what happened in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
But before viewers can meet Mace, a dramatic season premiere unfolds.
Quake and Ghost Rider throw down, with Daisy failing to apprehend the flame-skulled killer.
Meanwhile, Ming-Na Wens Melinda May leads a strike force in the general direction of Daisys mission.
May locates a group of Chinese gangsters, who have received a mysterious box from the aforementioned Brotherhood.
The box opens, and its mystical contents drives the group of crooks insane.
The gang discovers that Lucy used to work at Momentum Energy.
base, a paranoid May begins attacking other agents, until the super-strong director Mace defeats her.
Daisy confronts Ghost Rider again, and loses again.
Ghost Rider intervenes and destroys one of the ghosts.
Daisy decides to stop fighting Robbie, and instead to work with him.
It works, and May doesnt see ghost anymore.
Senator Nadeer attempted to pin her evil blackout scheme on the Inhumans.
Coulson visits Eli Morrow (Jose Zuniga) in prison.
Eli worked at Momentum, and he is Robbie Reyes uncle.
Eli was imprisoned for causing an explosion at Momentum.
The gang learns that the scientists at Momentum were studying an ancient book called the Darkhold.
The ghostly Lucy confronts her husband another Momentum scientist in episode 5.
They discuss the location of the Darkhold, which Coulson overhears.
Everyone converges on the prison again, and Lucy succeeds in kidnapping Eli.
Robbie agreed to take up the Ghost Rider mantle and to seek fiery vengeance.
Robbies Ghost Rider overpowers Mace, who then agrees to use Robbie in the fight against Lucy.
The showdown takes place in an old Roxxon power plant, where Robbie succeeds in stopping Lucy.
However, then we get a twist!
Eli deliberately pushed the limits with his experimentation on the Darkhold.
His lack of regard for safety caused the blast, killed some people, and created the ghosts.
Eli reveals his evil intentions, using the power plant to recreate his work at Momentum.
May, desperate to save Coulson, gives Radcliffe the Darkhold.
May and Coulson learn that AIDA is a robot.
AIDA succeeds in building a portal to save the trapped agents, who return to the normal world.
While all that was going on, the Ghost Rider spirit transferred itself to Mack.
AIDA begins some secret experiments, building a holographic brain thingy.
The Ghost Rider portion of the series wrapped up in episode 8, the pre-Christmas finale.
Mace publically clears Daisys name, after shes spotted by the local media.
Shes reinstated as an agent.
AIDAs success means that Radcliffe is allowed to continue his work on Life Model Decoys.
And just before the Christmas break, its revealed that Radcliffe has replaced May with one such LMD.
After the Christmas break, the focus fully shifts from Ghost Rider to LMDs.
But before AIDA can escape, Mack (Henry Simmons) beheads her with his shotgun axe.
We learn that Radcliffe intended for AIDA to go sentient and steal him the Darkhold.
Now, disappointed that his plan didnt work, Radcliffe activates a new AIDA.
Rather, hes been taking regular doses of a super-soldier serum to beef himself up to superhero levels.
This allows Coulson to turn the tables on Mace: he takes control of S.H.I.E.L.D.
again, with Mace only serving as the public face of the organisation.
She notices her robotic innards, and works out that something is up.
She begins studying the original AIDAs decapitated head.
Its revealed at this point that the original May is trapped in a simulation of her past tragedies.
Then comes episode 12, where Patton Oswalt plays numerous Agent Koenigs.
This episode explains that the Koenigs arent LMDs; theyre just a big family.
Coulson had intrusted them with the Darkhold after AIDAs attempt to steal it.
Ivanov is aligned with Nadeer, the Watchdogs, and Radcliffe.
This plan backfires: Tucker transforms into an Inhuman with the power to explode and reconstitute himself.
He accidently blows up Nadeer, and becomes episode 13s freak of the week villain.
The gang succeeds in stopping Shockley, but Ivanov uses the fight as a distraction.
He kidnaps Director Mace.
Agnes and Radcliffe meet up, but the former soon dies, succumbing to her illness.
Radcliffe puts her mind in the Framework computer simulation, where the original May is still trapped.
In the present day, Ivanov leads S.H.I.E.L.D.
on a wild goose chase, as Coulson and co search for Mace.
Eventually, the S.H.I.E.L.D.
team locates the current evil base, and they have something of a showdown with Ivanov.
Daisy cripples the Russian baddie, and the gang escapes with a badly injured Mace.
Upon returning to S.H.I.E.L.D.
HQ, an LMD alarm goes off.
Fitz and Simmons find out that four agents were replaced with LMDs during the showdown at the villainous base.
The LMD storyline comes to a head in spectacular fashion in episode 15 of the season.
After a lot of Who can trust who?
They have been programmed to act out Ivanovs ultimate wish: to destroy all Inhumans.
This leaves Daisy and Simmons to find a solution.
Meanwhile, AIDA kills Radcliffes human body, and uploads his mind to the Framework.
Daisy and Simmons fight their way out of the LMD-infested S.H.I.E.L.D.
base, with help from the May LMD.
Upon transferring her consciousness into the Framework, Simmons wakes up in an unmarked grave.
Daisy, meanwhile, wakes up in bed with Ward, the big bad of last year.
Simmons tries to talk sense into Coulson, but he has no recollection of the real world.
Coulson, loyal to his HYDRA overlords, alerts them to Simmons presence in his school.
Daisy sees the alert and rushes to the school, only to be followed by Ward.
Upon speaking to Daisy, Coulson begins to remember things.
The rest of the gang take a Quinjet to Radcliffes hideout, finding him with Agnes.
Fitz and AIDA arrive, and Radcliffe tries to convince Fitz to join the good guys.
Too far gone into the simulation, Fitz shoots Agnes dead, and imprisons Radcliffe and Daisy.
Shock horror the lovely Scottish scientist is now a chilling villain!
In the next episode, B.J.
Britt returns as Agent Triplett, whos long been dead in the real world.
Hes alive in the Framework, though, and the gang saves him from a HYDRA Enlightenment Camp.
But HYDRA launches a missile strike, which ultimately kills Mace.
He dies a heroic death, helping Coulson and some kids escape.
Maces body dies in the real world, too, proving that there are real stakes inside the Framework.
She changes allegiances, and gets a Terrigen crystal to Daisy.
This allows Daisy to get her Quake powers inside the simulation.
Also, while imprisoned with Radcliffe, Daisy learns about a secret exit from the Framework.
May and Daisy bust out of the HYDRA base.
Daisy injures AIDA, rendering her bed bound for a bit.
AIDA urges Fitz to carry on with their shady new venture, Project Looking Glass.
Simmons goes to visit Fitzs dad, but after a scuffle, she accidently kills him.
gang locate the backdoor exit that Radcliffe mentioned before.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Daisy and Simmons normal bodies are on Zephyr One.
Daisy, Coulson and May go through Radcliffes portal and return to the real world.
Fitz arrives in time to confront Simmons, intending to kill her in revenge for his fathers death.
Radcliffe intervenes (flip-flopping back to the goodies side), pushing Fitz through the portal.
Mack, however, doesnt want to return to the real world.
In the real world, his daughter is still dead.
He stays in the Framework.
Coulson, May and Fitz wake up in their original bodies, on board Ivanovs submarine.
AIDA, who know has superpowers, confronts them, before teleporting away with Fitz.
Fitz and AIDA have an emotionally charged chat.
AIDA now has human emotions, and she doesnt take kindly to Fitz rejecting her.
AIDA heads to the bombed remains of the S.H.I.E.L.D.
base, which the May LMD blew up a few days ago.
AIDA kills a load of S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents, as well as some soldiers under the command of General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar).
Daisy and Simmons head to the submarine.
They help Coulson and May fight off the android copies of Ivanov, and they manage to escape.
At the end of this episode, Ghost Rider returns through a portal and looks utterly bad-ass.
A fight ensues, and S.H.I.E.L.D.
manages to get their hands on the Darkhold thanks to an assist from Ghost Rider.
Meanwhile, Yo-Yo has gone into the Framework.
She tries to talk sense into Mack, who still doesnt want to leave.
His hand is forced, though, because AIDA is shutting down the Framework.
Macks daughter is erased from existence, and he leaves a broken man with Yo-Yo.
Radcliffe is deleted, too, because he never got a replacement human body.
AIDA heads to the S.H.I.E.L.D.
base, intending to regain the Darkhold, which all her evil plans revolve around.
She confronts Coulson, who surprises her by transforming into ruddy Ghost Rider!
The plans works, and Coulson successfully disintegrates her.
A bald man uses a little green gadget to freeze everyone.
Then he says to his men, The window closes in less than two minutes.
Out that window is deep space.
Alright Phil, he says to himself.
Get back to work.
And so endsAgents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.season 4.
