Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has just begun its seventh and final season, and star Chloe Bennet has promised that it will deliver on its finale and not end up like Game of Thrones.
The previous season ended with the team traveling back in time to the 1930s when S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded in an effort to stop the alien Chronicoms from destroying humanity and taking the planet for themselves, where they’re met with a moral quandary that goes against what they believe in but is necessary for the survival of the human race.
When interviewed prior to the season’s debut, Bennet was asked if she felt it was possible for viewers to be happy with the series finale, and had this to say:
“Yes, I do. This is not a Game of Thrones situation. I think fans will be very satisfied with the way that the show ends. There are a lot of endings. There are a lot of people on the show, and there are a lot of ways that it could go. This show has been kept alive by our fans. I think it’s safe to say that everyone was constantly thinking about how to make it more enjoyable, especially for the people who’ve been watching the show since season 1.”
As if you’ve forgotten, although Game of Thrones began as one of the most successful TV shows ever, its finale sits alongside the likes of How I Met Your Mother and Dexter as one of the worst endings ever fostered upon a TV show.
It hasn’t been plain sailing for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. over the years. A somewhat ropey first season put off many initial viewers who might otherwise have enjoyed things as they gradually improved. It was originally intended to exist concurrently with the MCU and featured cameo appearances from characters such as Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Lady Sif, but anything the creatives had planned went out the window when they were blindsided by the revelation in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that from its inception, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by H.Y.R.D.A., forcing them to radically alter the format. Although the series technically still exists in the same reality, it simply no longer references the movies except in the most oblique of manners.
It ended up being for the best though, as since becoming its own thing, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has become far more compelling from not being beholden to the events of big budget blockbusters, instead allowing its characters to have separate adventures in space and across time that don’t need to call back to the latest MCU installment.
While Bennet might be a little too optimistic that everyone will be satisfied by the ending of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., its recent seasons bode well for the maintenance of its quality, and if nothing else, it could hardly be much worse that the ultimate fate that befell Westeros. Right?