"Absolution"Season 3 Number 21 
Episode information
Written by
Drew Z. GreenbergDirected by
Previous Next "Emancipation" "Ascension"
Plot[]
After being set free from Hive's control,Daisy remains incarcerated and suffers withdrawal symptoms from Hive's control. Full of self-loathing, she dismissesCoulson andMack's attempts to get her to forgive herself.
Hive commandeers a missile silo in order to launch the warhead containing the Primitive pathogen, butMay, Mack,Lincoln andElena infiltrate the facility to stop him, having been provided with his location by Daisy. MeanwhileTalbot andFitz manipulate the US military into giving nuclear override codes to Coulson, enabling the team to prevent the warhead's launch. They also rescueRadcliffe and useGarrett's mind probe to attack Hive, bringing the memories ofWard, Will and Nathaniel Malick to the forefront of his mind. A disoriented Hive is then captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. using A.T.C.U. cryogenic suspension, but James and Giyera escape with the warhead.
Despite his insistence that the pathogen's effects cannot be reversed, Radcliffe agrees to work with Fitz andSimmons to find a way to cure the Primitives, while the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. focuses on locating Hive's acolytes and the warhead. While Fitz (having just found Mack's mislaid crucifix) ensures Hive is secure, Giyera remotely detonates a gas bomb smuggled into the Playground, which releases the pathogen into the hangar, transforming five agents into Primitives. Fitz escapes but the Primitives free Hive, who seizes the Zephyr, intending to use it to bring the pathogen into the upper atmosphere. At the mercy of her craving, Daisy escapes her cell, reaches the hangar, and begs Hive to control her again.
