SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses the most recent episode of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ entitled “Many Heads, One Tale” so if you’re behind, proceed with caution.

In both the comics and in the Cinematic Universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra are two powerful opposing forces. Hydra is a terrorist army bent on world domination, while S.H.I.E.L.D. is the International military force dedicated to stopping them.  ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ depicted what viewers thought was the formation of Hydra, when the Red Skull broke his super scientific branch off from the Nazi party to pursue his own goals.  Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. was seemingly created by Howard Stark in alliance with the U.S. government with Peggy Carter acting as their first operative, as depicted in the ‘Agent Carter’ one-shot and the resulting TV series.  But this week’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ revealed that both organizations had roots that run much further back.

The organizations originated as the ancient Illuminati-like factions known as the Brotherhood of the Spear and the Brotherhood of the Shield.  The Brotherhood of the Spear (Hydra) wove itself into various aspects of society including politics, science and mysticism, with their ultimate motivation being revealed to be to serve an unnamed, supremely powerful Inhuman.

Somehow this entity was banished to another dimension and since then, Hydra has been attempting to figure out a way to draw it back to Earth.  The Brotherhood of the Shield has been involved with the Kree aliens and the technology used to separate (and traverse) these two dimensions is Kree based, which is how the two opposing organizations are connected.

The Brotherhood of the Shield has a similar storied background and included such luminaries as Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton and Galileo as members.

It wasn’t explicitly stated, but it wouldn’t be too big a shock to discover that it was this primitive version of S.H.I.E.L.D. was responsible for opposing this powerful Inhuman and vanquishing him.

Previously, World War II was basically the foundation for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, serving as what we thought was the origin of both super heroes and S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra.  But with ‘Doctor Strange’ and ‘Iron Fist’ both on their way, look for some storylines to stretch back well before that, to ancient times.

This development could potentially creep its way into all manner of stories, since in the comic book Marvel Universe, tales run back centuries.

What doors do you think this revelation will open?

Source: Cinema Blend