Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1298029-20150408222454

What's the hierarchy of the top leadership of Hydra? In the old days, Hydra was led by Red Skull, who was the authoritarian single leader. In modern times, however, Hydra leadership has been a little fuzzy: We've seen Pierce, who was the top man above Shield, but was he also the top man in Hydra? He was essentially an infiltrator; just because the position he infiltrated was top of the heap in Shield doesn't mean he must've necessarily been the #1 man in Hydra as well. In fact, it seems a little unlikely that the top leader would risk his neck in a dangerous undercover gig.

Next, there's the "Heads of Hydra" roundtable (seen in Agents of Shield), whereof Daniel Whitehall (ibid) was a member. We've seen the blokes on there, SPOILER: all but one were done in by Coulson et al. Finally, there's the good (not really) Baron von Strucker. Where's he fit in? Dialogue among the Heads of Hydra suggests that he may have been a member (he once sent another guy in his place to the Heads' meeting).

What are the relationships between these three top-level leaders -- Heads council, Strucker, and Pierce? Were the Heads the supreme authority, with Strucker one of them? Was Strucker above the Heads? Where does Pierce fit in (or did before his demise)? Is there (currently) anyone else above all these dudes? Is there even any official information available from which one may tell? 