WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Out of the Past," the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Like Captain America, Agent Carter's Daniel Sousa is officially a man out of time.
In "Out of the Past," the latest Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode, Director Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie decided to recruit Sousa to the team. To do this, they staged his death, so that history remained intact. Now, he is traveling through time with the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team.
"Out of the Past" continued to expand on Sousa's awareness that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated with sleeper agents. Worse, his superior officer was Wilfred "Freddy" Malick, one of Hydra's top leaders. After Sousa reported his findings to Malick, Malick ordered a hit on the Agent Carter character -- and this is how he was destined to die, according to the history books.
After S.H.I.E.L.D. rescued Sousa from being whacked in a train car, Mack and Coulson had a frank discussion about Sousa's fate. "I don't want it to happen either," Coulson admitted. "But we kept Malick on course, despite the temptation to do otherwise. Look, I'm not taking a side. I'm just saying."
"Well, it's easier to let a bad man live than to let a good man die," Mack replied with a heavy sigh.
"That's catchy, and I wish I'd said it," Coulson said. "But Agent Sousa's sacrifice was an inspiration to others in S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Like yours was for the Avengers," Mack pointed out.
"Well, let's not oversell it," Coulson chuckled.
"It's a fact," Mack shot back. "And it's also a fact that you got a chance to fight another day."
"I did, but if Sousa lives, we don't know what impact that will have on history," Coulson mused.
The more they interacted with him, the more Mack realized they needed to save Sousa. "We're going to save him," Mack finally announced to Coulson and Daisy. "We won't let him get near that place. We'll figure out a way to make the drop for him and figure out the rest after."
"Cool. Writing some new history," Daisy replied, trying to hide a smile. "Copy that."
And so that's exactly what they did. Sousa was able to make his important drop at the Hotel Roosevelt, but S.H.I.E.L.D. iced him before he was killed. Coulson took Sousa's hat and jacket and picked up Sousa's route, so that the Hydra agent shot Coulson in the back instead of Sousa. Couslon then fell into pool and floated, appearing to all the world like a dead body. This was enough to convince the Hydra agent, who was unaware that Coulson was actually a Life Model Decoy who can survive such things.
Later, Sousa woke up on the Zephyr, but only after they had jumped to a new time period. He was understandably a little discombobulated, so Coulson stepped in to break the bad news. "We weren't sure how to handle your situation," Coulson explained. "You're dead." When Sousa insisted he felt pretty alive, Coulson continued, "Well, history says you are. You were shot after delivering that gadget. I can show you the files. You're a hero. So congrats, and condolences."
"We didn't change history. We just took you out of it," Coulson elaborated. "Faked your death. You're alive literally, but to anyone not on this plane, you were killed at that hotel. I'm sorry. Welcome to life after death. I'll tell you all about it."
For all that Sousa was a man of his era, he didn't appear to be particularly surprised. This makes sense, seeing as his Agent Carter adventures involved some pretty bizarre circumstances. For instance, he was almost sucked into the Dark Dimension after Whitney Frost opened a rift there. So, while his situation wasn't exactly par for the course, he was able to quickly adapt to the fact he was on a time traveling plane, with a new mission to fight face-stealing robots from the future.
Per Sousa's final scene, it appears he has jumped forward in time to the 1970s. When Simmons tuned into the local radio station, they immediately heard "No More Mister Nice Guy" by Alice Cooper, which released in 1973. However, he didn't seem terribly impressed by modern music.
In Agent Carter, Sousa was the second love of Peggy Carter's life. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, though, it is unclear what became of Sousa. After all, the film saw Captain America travel back in time and reunite with Peggy, giving him his happy ending. However, the scene complicated the timeline presented by Agent Carter, which suggested she found happiness with Sousa. Now that Sousa has become a member of the team, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may explore the fallout of their relationship more in depth. Interestingly, this also makes him the second man in Peggy's life who found himself thrust into the future through circumstances beyond his control.
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.