WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,"Stolen," which aired Wednesday on ABC.
Since the Chronicoms changed the timeline of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nathaniel Malick has been growing into the biggest threat of the Marvel series' final season. At first, he just seemed like a young member of Hydra fascinated with the Inhumans, but he soon became so much more. After performing experiments on Daisy, he was able to replicate her powers, giving himself her ability to quake. Then, Nathaniel joined forces with the Chronicoms' leader, the artificial intelligence Sibyl.
With the knowledge of the time-traveling alien synthetic beings, Nathaniel was able to further disrupt the timeline, attacking Jiaying and the Inhuman safe haven Afterlife. Now, in "Stolen," Nathaniel shows that he is able to transfer the power of any Inhuman into someone else, something which helps him build an army of super-powered individuals. But before he can continue with his plan, there is something he must do to secure his victory -- and it borrows a lot from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Doctor Strange.
The latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reveals Nathaniel recruited a young John Garrett to his cause because he needed him to pilot the Zephyr. Thanks to Garrett's new teleporting abilities, the two super-powered villains kidnap Simmons and invade the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' flying base of operations/time-machine. Malick's plan, as Simmons deduces, is to find Fitz who, as far as we know, is somewhere hidden far away from the team, guiding them in their mission across the timeline.
Nathaniel is in possession of the Chronicoms' secret weapon, the Time Stream, a portable technological device housing knowledge of the timeline itself. This device has been seen in previous episodes, and it's essentially what allows Sibyl the see the future. With this Time Stream, she is able to use data from the past and present to predict countless potential outcomes in the future. And, as Nathaniel explains, the Chronicoms have run plenty of projections of the future and whenever they and Nathaniel lose, it's because of Fitz. Their aim is to take him out, thus securing a future where they will emerge victorious.
This tactic is actually very similar to what Doctor Strange does in Avengers: Infinity War. In the MCU film, the Sorcerer Supreme used the powers of the Time Stone to go forward in time and examine over 14 million possible futures. His goal was to find a future where the Avengers win. Out of all of them, there was only one scenario where Thanos was defeated and Doctor Strange made sure that this sequence of events would be the plan to take form.
Doctor Strange's visions of the future were powered by magic, while Nathaniel is using a means that is more technological. But despite this difference, the two characters are still using the future to their advantage, by looking forward at possible outcomes to determine how to win. While Doctor Strange was acting for the greater good, Malick has much darker intentions, and if his winning scenario comes true, it will be disastrous.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s final season airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on ABC. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.