Agents of SHIELD Synopsis, Photos Tease Aida's Search for the Darkhold

CBR

By Meagan Damore

Published Dec 28, 2016

The Darkhold gave Aida the power to tap into mystic energy - and, according to the synopsis for the mid-season premiere, now she wants more.

In the first half of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Season 4, Aida got a little taste of magic. In an attempt to save Coulson and Fitz from the void between dimensions, Holden Radcliffe tasked Aida with reading the Darkhold, which was too dangerous for any human mind to take in. The Darkhold gave Aida the power to tap into interdimensional energy -- and, according to the synopsis for the mid-season premiere, now she wants more.

"Broken Promises" will shift the show's focus from Ghost Rider to Life Model Decoys, or LMDs. However, that doesn't mean the events of the first half of the season will be forgotten. According to the synopsis, Aida is on the hunt for the Darkhold, but it's unclear what exactly she wants with it -- but it can't be for anything good, considering she has replaced Agent May with an LMD lookalike.

According to the official episode description for "Broken Promises,"

Though Coulson and May are growing closer, Coulson remains unaware of the dark secret May is hiding beneath the surface. Meanwhile, Aida is unrelenting in her search for the Darkhold.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Henry Simmons as Agent Alphonso “Mack” MacKenzie and John Hannah as Holden Radcliffe.

Guest starring are Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez, Jason O’Mara as Director Jeffrey Mace, Mallory Jansen as Aida, Parminder Nagra as Senator Nadeer, John Pyper-Ferguson as Terrence Shockley, Manish Dayal as Vijay Nadeer, Patrick Cavanaugh as Burrows, Blaise Miller as Agent Nathanson, Shari Vasseghi as Sunjna Nadeer and Bryan Keith as Zack Bynum.

"Broken Promises” was written by Brent Fletcher and directed by Garry A. Brown.

Of course, as we at CBR have speculated, AIDA’s intentions may be good, even though her methods are not. After all, Holden Radcliffe made it clear in the season premiere that he’s developed LMD technology to help save lives. That is to say, LMDs would take the place of actual human S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the field; as such, human causalities would be lowered, because the androids have a lower chance of getting injured or destroyed — something that wouldn’t matter to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the long run, as LMDs wouldn’t be considered people despite their artificial intelligence. As such, AIDA’s primary objective is to save lives, which is exactly what she has done up until the mid-season finale, where she snapped an agent’s neck in order to keep her secret about May. However, we won't know for sure until "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." returns next month.

Returning Tuesday, January 10 at 10 pm ET/PT on ABC, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Chloe Bennet as Daisy “Quake” Johnson, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons, Henry Simmons as Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie and more.