Ascension

"Ascension" is the sixty-sixth episode of the ABC/Marvel series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the third season finale. It premiered on May 12, 2015.

Plot
Following directly on from "Absolution", Daisy begs Hive to control her again, but Lash's powers have rendered her immune. She instead attacks Hive but is defeated and captured as James and Giyera arrive, and they escape in the Zephyr. However. May and Fitz stow away on board and rescue Daisy, and Fitz kills Giyera.

Most of the Primitives remain behind to fight the SHIELD agents, and Elena intercepts a bullet meant for Mack and is almost killed, but Simmons interferes with the creatures' poor eyesight by increasing the base's heating, and they are defeated. After taking Elena and Radcliffe to safety, Coulson, Simmons, Mack and Lincoln pursue the Zephyr in a quinjet, planning to steal the warhead containing the Primitive pathogen and send it into space aboard the quinjet, to disperse the pathogen harmlessly. Lincoln defeats James but is badly wounded, and Daisy, having found the crucifix in Fitz's jacket, decides to fulfil her vision of a SHIELD agent's death in space by flying the quinjet to make sure nothing goes wrong.

While Coulson, May, Fitz, Simmons and Mack fight the remaining Primitives, Hive pursues Daisy aboard the quinjet, but Lincoln (having stolen the crucifix) gets on board, fries the manual control system and ejects Daisy. He then flies the plane into space, professing his love for Daisy over the communications system, and the warhead detonates, killing him and Hive while dispersing the pathogen harmlessly. The human race is saved, but Daisy is left heartbroken.

A flashforward to six months later reveals that Daisy has left SHIELD and began operating as a vigilante, dubbed 'Quake' by the press. Coulson (no longer SHIELD's director) and Mack almost track her down as she arranges the relocation of Charles Hinton's wife Polly and daughter Robin, but she escapes after directing Polly to Cal's veterinary practice. In an end tag Radcliffe is revealed to have been working on a robotics project, the 'Life Model Decoy', as part of which he uploads his artificial intelligence AIDA into the prototype android.