WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D," the latest episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Chronicom leader Sibyl and Nathanial Malick are now a match made in hell.
In "The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D," Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s latest episode, Sibyl set a plan in motion to recover the Time Stream from the Lighthouse. Using some makeshift Hunters, she distracted S.H.I.E.L.D. long enough for a smaller robot to locate the device and slip out unnoticed amidst the chaos. It worked, and the robot delivered the Time Stream right to Nathanial.
"It's smaller than I imagined," Nathanial mused, turning the glowing blue device over in his hands.
"You now have the one tool necessary to control your world's future," Sibyl replied coolly.
"Well, lucky me," he announced with a smirk. "Aren't you just full of neat tricks, digital lady."
"I'm confident we'll make a perfect pair," she returned, serene.
Both Sibyl and Nathanial have suffered devastating blows from the time-traveling S.H.I.E.L.D. team. For one, Coulson sacrificed his body to blow up the Chroniom Hunter ship, leaving Sibyl just a voice trapped on a hard drive. In Nathanial's last appearance, he stole Daisy's powers, but suffered extreme consequences; he quaked his own bones and shattered them, then pulled the ceiling down on himself when he couldn't control his new abilities. Now, the pair is working to take down their mutual enemy.
Notably, this isn't the first time the Chronicoms have worked with a Malick and, thus, Hydra. They also aligned themselves with Wilfred Malick, Nathanial's father. This resulted in the near-launch of Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Project Insight, nearly 40 years ahead of schedule. The Chronicoms also persevered Wilfred and Nathanial's lives, even though they were both supposed to die in 1970. Wilfred was later killed by Deke in 1976.
Because Nathanial managed to survive his accident, he is an aberration in the timeline -- and thus totally unpredictable. He was never supposed to exist during this time period, so every move he makes creates ripples in the Time Stream. Additionally, because he is a member of Hydra, he brings the show full circle again. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. started out fighting Hydra, and now what may be the organization's final battle pits them against Hydra once more.
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.