Spoilers ahead for Episode 18 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5, called "All Roads Lead..."
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has spent most of Season 5 dealing with the destruction of the world. The good guys were stuck with the aftermath during their time in the future, and they've been doing everything within their power to stop it from happening since they got back to the present. Unfortunately, given the events of "All Roads Lead...", it seems that S.H.I.E.L.D. is setting up the destruction of the planet, and some of the problems that have already arisen may not actually be fixable anymore. Read on for three big ways Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just set up the end of the world!
Ruby's Death
On the one hand, few characters (and probably not the vast majority of viewers) are going to be wrecked at the reality that Ruby was killed by Yo-Yo in the latest episode. She was a killer who aspired to become the "Destroyer of Worlds" and sliced off Yo-Yo's arms, and she was altogether too much of a wild card to roam free in S.H.I.E.L.D. Yo-Yo got her revenge by slitting Ruby's throat with Ruby's own circular scythe-like weapon, but it wasn't until after Ruby exposed herself to a whole bunch of gravitonium and manifested superpowers. While her powers didn't prevent her from dying, her death did seem to unleash a wave of gravitonium energy on all the people and land around her.
Yo-Yo said she killed the wannabe Destroyer of Worlds to try and save the world; by unleashing the gravitonium wave, Yo-Yo may have inadvertently damaged the planet in a way that it can be easily quaked or cracked or broken apart. Earth could be at its weakest point yet. By trying to prevent the terrible future, Yo-Yo may have helped guarantee that it happens.
Hale's Visit To Qovas
Understandably distraught at Ruby dying from a slit throat in her arms, General Hale took off from S.H.I.E.L.D. despite working with them earlier in the episode. Unfortunately, Hale didn't just go off to lick her wounds and mourn. No, Hale went to the mysterious room where she'd taken Coulson to meet the leader of the Confederacy, a.k.a. Qovas. Furious at S.H.I.E.L.D. for causing Ruby's death, Hale told Qovas that S.H.I.E.L.D. has his gravitonium and she knows where they're hiding it.
Qovas asked if she'd have him kill the S.H.I.E.L.D. crew, and she simply responded that she has no reason to stop him. Now, given that her hands were literally still smeared with her daughter's blood, I would normally be inclined to cut Hale a little slack, but going to Qovas in this situation could backfire spectacularly on the whole planet. He undoubtedly doesn't have humanity's best interests at heart, and his priority is evidently the gravitonium. If the world is indeed destroyed, we can bet that Qovas had something to do with it. The wave of gravitonium courtesy of Ruby's death certainly won't help. This is why we don't have nice things, General.
Robin Says The End Is Soon
Young Robin has been a combination of helpful and unhelpful throughout Season 5. Her ability to see the future has given the agents an edge more than once, but her inability to tell specifics about when, where, and who will be involved hasn't done them any favors. Talbot, who went after Robin due to his Hydra brainwashing and very nearly killed Polly, tried to interrogate Robin about the picture she'd drawn of the Earth being destroyed with a person standing on top. She was unable to give much information. Nevertheless, when he asked when this event would take place, she had one word for an answer: "Soon."
Robin hasn't really been wrong yet, so the odds are the the cataclysmic event that destroys the Earth is happening sooner rather than later. That's not to say we should give up all hope of the agents coming out on top and stopping the end of the world. Still, things aren't looking good. We can only wait and see what happens.
New episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. air on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. Don't forget to check out our rundown of superhero TV dates and summer TV premiere schedule. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fate is still up in the air, but you can find other shows' futures in our breakdown of network TV renewals and cancellations.
