Grant Ward (Framework)

"I would hate for you to think that I'm anything like the Grant Ward you knew over there."

- Grant Ward (Framework)

Grant Ward was a virtual recreation of the real-world person of the same name inside the Framework. A HYDRA agent tasked with finding and capturing Inhumans, he became a double agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. after discovering that his partner and girlfriend Skye was a latent Inhuman. When Skye had come into contact with a mysterious ally, Jemma Simmons, Ward revealed his allegiance to the Patriot. Ward continued his fight against HYDRA, finding Skye to be acting like a different person until it was revealed that she believed that Ward was living inside the Framework, an alternative reality. Ward remained loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the wake of Skye's confession and the death of the Patriot, helping his allies escape the Framework and causing a revolution against HYDRA.

Recruited by Victoria Hand
"Well, when I got that offer, I took it. I was serving time. Arson, first degree. Pretty sure my life was over. That's when someone came to me." "A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? What was his name?" "She'd laugh that you assumed it was a guy. Her name was Victoria Hand. She was the first person to tell me I could be a good man."

- Grant Ward and Phil Coulson

Grant Ward was arrested and found guilty of arson. Therefore, Ward was incarcerated and ended believing his life was over. However, he had the chance of meeting S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Victoria Hand, who convinced him that he had the potential of being a good person. Following this meeting, Ward agreed to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

Turning Double Agent
"Skye, there's no good way to tell you this, but I had the test results when you were screened; you're an Inhuman."

- Grant Ward to Daisy Johnson

Ward met Skye within S.H.I.E.L.D. and started dating her. Ward learned that his girlfriend was an Inhuman and therefore became a double agent within HYDRA in order to protect her since the fascist organization was hunting down Inhumans.

Skye's Confusion
"You've been pissed at me all the morning, your attitude at work here sucks, it's like I woke up to a totally different person!"

- Grant Ward to Daisy Johnson

When Daisy Johnson connected herself to the Framework, she took Skye's place and, upon discovering Ward in her bed, made a strange gesture at him. Ward, ignoring that the person in front of him was not exactly who he believed, mocked her, not knowing that she had tried to use her Inhuman powers. Johnson told him that they were summoned to work, so Ward got up and dressed before heading to the Triskelion. Upon arriving in HYDRA's headquarters, Ward noticed that Johnson seemed lost, going in the wrong direction and being disturbed by a statue representing HYDRA's symbol, but thought that it was because he refused to live with Skye after she asked her. Ward and Johnson then went to a briefing conducted by Melinda May, who ordered them to interrogate a suspect named Jason Rajan. Ward and Johnson went to the interrogation room and started questioning him about his activities. When Johnson figured out that someone within HYDRA provided Rajan with an official ID card and revealed that she knew his true name: Vijay Nadeer. While Nadeer violently answered to Johnson, Ward suddenly punched him and knocked him out. Afterwards, May joined them into the interrogation room and ordered Nadeer to be taken to The Doctor.

Deception Revealed
"Is she your source for the Resistance?" "No! Ward, I have nothing to do with the Resistance!" "Well, I do. Come on. We got to get out of here."

- Grant Ward and Daisy Johnson

Ward later caught Daisy Johnson while she was leaving the Triskelion (Framework) and confronted her about her attitude since he did not recognize his girlfriend. Johnson bluntly rebuked him, stating that she needed space because Ward was not ready no commit further in their relationship.

Knowing that something did not feel right, Ward followed his girlfriend and remained hidden while Johnson met with Jemma Simmons. While they were about to leave, Ward ambushed them and asked Johnson whether Simmons was his source within the Resistance. When Johnson claimed that she had nothing to do with the Resistance, Ward replied that he did and shot a HYDRA agent sent to capture Simmons.

The three of them then took Simmons' car and fled while being chased by other HYDRA operatives. On the way, Ward told Johnson that she was an Inhuman and was surprised to know that she was already aware of this fact. He also asked her how she knew Vijay Nadeer's real name, revealing that he was acting as an undercover agent within HYDRA. Afterwards, he drove Johnson and Simmons to safety while erasing their tracks. He also learned Johnson's true identity and stated that they needed to talk later.

Introducing S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Ward vouched for you, so I'm happy to provide you sanctuary"

- The Patriot to Jemma Simmons and Phil Coulson

Since Daisy Johnson's friends, Jemma Simmons and Phil Coulson, were in danger, Ward set up a meeting with the S.H.I.E.L.D. resistance in order to take them to safety, telling his leader Jeffrey Mace that they could be trusted and welcomed in the Playground.

Search for Holden Radcliffe
"All right, story time is over. You're coming with us." "I'm afraid that's not possible." "That wasn't a request."

- Grant Ward and Holden Radcliffe

Back to the Triskelion, Ward saw Daisy Johnson while she was gathering intel about Holden Radcliffe and advised her not to do such actions inside the HYDRA headquarters. Johnson ignored him and proceeded before the pair tried to leave the Triskelion. However, Melinda May summoned Johnson to a briefing, so she trusted Ward with Radcliffe's location and asked him to give it to Jemma Simmons. Ward returned to the Playground and informed the Patriot that Johnson (though Ward kept calling her Skye) could be in danger. Ward confronted Simmons about the fact that his girlfriend seemed to have changed after encountering Simmons and questioned his loyalty, but Simmons proved her allegiance by showing him her S.H.I.E.L.D. ID, so Ward reluctantly gave her Radcliffe's location. Ward then took S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjet and flied to Ogygia with Simmons and Phil Coulson in order to retrieve Radcliffe.

The three of them quickly found the former scientist. Simmons and Coulson began to confront him about his actions but Ward, who did not understand anything about their conversation about another world and feared that HYDRA agents could have spotted them, ordered Radcliffe to come with them, but they were interrupted by the arrival of the Zephyr One with Madame Hydra and The Doctor on board.

Ward, Simmons and Coulson hid in the woods nearby, keeping eyes on Radcliffe discussing with Madame Hydra. When The Doctor brought Agnes Kitsworth and threatened to kill her, Ward took his own rifle and aimed at him, but Simmons told him not to kill The Doctor, stating that she knew him, that he had been brainwashed and that they needed him. Ward disbelieved that but chose not to shoot The Doctor, who killed Kitsworth. While Simmons screamed in horror, the HYDRA agents starting firing at Ward and Coulson, who fought back and managed to get back on the Quinjet with Simmons.

After returning to the Playground, the Patriot and Ward confronted Simmons about what happened on Ogygia, but she broke down and left the room. He later saw Alphonso Mackenzie who told them that Johnson was in HYDRA's custody and offered to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

Losing The Patriot
"Agent May, he's the only thing keeping this building from falling down on all of us. You shoot him and we all die."

- Grant Ward to Melinda May

Ward took part in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s efforts to find Daisy Johnson, watching the numerous bodies found in a bus headed to the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center and relieved that her girlfriend was not among them. He then joined the Patriot when he summoned Jemma Simmons for questioning. Simmons finally told Ward and Mace about the fact that they were all living in a alternate reality which was purely virtual. Ward and Mace got offended because they thought Simmons was saying that what they did with the S.H.I.E.L.D. resistance did not matter and Ward told her that she had no way of proving that she was telling the truth. After she left, Ward and Mace discussed what Simmons had told her, with Mace thinking that there might have been some truth in it and ordering Ward to investigate further.

Later, Ward discussed with Simmons as she was smiling at Alphonso Mackenzie playing with his daughter Hope. Simmons told him about all the misdeeds his real-life counterpart had done, to which Ward apologized. While they further discussed about what was real or not, they intercepted a HYDRA transmission indicating that a S.H.I.E.L.D. team led by the Patriot and Phil Coulson to find agent Antoine Triplett was in danger. Ward and Simmons thus decided to go to the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center to help them.

Ward and Simmons successfully infiltrated the compound and entered a collapsing building who had been bombed by HYDRA. Ward watched the building crumble on the Patriot while he tried to rescue Chris Adler. When Melinda May arrived in the building and ordered them to stay still, Ward told her that they would all die should she kill the Patriot. Helpless, Ward had no choice but leaving the building, letting the Patriot sacrifice himself to ensure their escape. Once outside, he watched the building collapse, killing his leader and friend.

Searching for Skye
"If HYDRA finds her before I do, they'll march her into a public square and put a bullet in her head."

- Grant Ward to Alphonso Mackenzie

After watching news reporting the death of the Patriot and slandering his name, Ward and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents learned about the Escape from the Triskelion and figured out that Johnson could be involved in it, which was confirmed when Sunil Bakshi disclosed Johnson's alias Skye to the public. Angered and fearing that her girlfriend might be in danger, Ward decided to find her and gathered a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. When he suggested that Phil Coulson joined them, Coulson told him that waiting for Johnson to reach them was a wiser plan. The two then discussed the circumstances in which they had a chance to join S.H.I.E.L.D. with Ward telling his story about Victoria Hand. Despite Coulson advising otherwise, Ward went on the field to retrieve Johnson, but it was finally Coulson, Burrows and Alphonso Mackenzie who found her and brought her back to the Playground.

Saying Goodbye to Daisy
"After you're gone, do I get my Skye back?"

- Grant Ward to Daisy Johnson

Back to the Playground, Ward told Daisy Johnson about the fact that he knew about Jemma Simmons's theory about all of them being in an alternate reality and was shocked to discover that her girlfriend seemed to share these ideas. This made Ward fully understand and admit that his girlfriend was gone and replaced by someone else. Ward then joined the others and watched the footage of Melinda May's Body Cam showing the destruction of the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center which led to the Patriot's death. They decided that they should display these images to the public in order to trigger a rebellion against HYDRA. Therefore, Ward took a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and they stormed the studios where the show The Bakshi Report was recorded, taking Sunil Bakshi and his staff into hostages. Right before broadcasting a subversive broadcast featuring Phil Coulson, Ward offered to stay behind with Burrows and other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in order to make sure that the video feed would not be cut. He also had a final and emotional conversation with Johnson, asking her if he would get his girlfriend back after she left the Framework. Johnson replied that she did not know though she hoped so and told Ward that he had helped her understanding the real-life Grant Ward. The two then bid farewell.

After Johnson's departure, Ward launched the broadcasting. At some point, Burrows ran to warn him that people were gathering in front of the building. Ward took his gun, ready to hold the place, but Burrows told him that these people were seemingly supporting S.H.I.E.L.D., meaning that their mission of planting the seeds of rebellion had succeeded, which made Ward smile.

Deletion
Like everything else in the Framework, the alternate version of Grant Ward was deleted when Aida decided to wipe out the Framework and recreate its content in the real world.

Personality
The Framework version of Grant Ward shared many of the traits of his counterpart, however, in this reality Ward wasn't picked up by John Garrett and groomed to be a HYDRA agent, and was instead released by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Victoria Hand, who was the first person who said he could be a good man, and as time passed, it was the Framework version of Quake who made Ward believe it. As a result, this version of Ward has a clear disdain for what his counterpart did outside the Framework, saying to Daisy that he would hate to be seen as anything like the Grant Ward she knew as well as apologizing to Jemma Simmons for the all the hurt he caused. Daisy, on her part, said to this version of Ward that she hadn't previously understood the non-Framework version of him right up until she met this version of him within the Framework, and with Daisy now admitting that there had been some good in the non-Framework Ward after all.

Abilities

 * Expert Marksman: As a trained agent of HYDRA, Ward has a significant amount of training in various fields of combat, such as marksmanship. He has demonstrated this feat by killing a HYDRA agent with one shot.
 * Expert Combatant: Trained by both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA, Ward is an expert at hand-to-hand fighting, as well as various weapons. He often uses these skills on field missions.

Vehicles

 * Quinjet: Ward piloted a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet during the Mission to Ogygia to transport himself, Jemma Simmons, and Phil Coulson as passengers.

Weapons

 * : Ward was issued this handgun as his standard sidearm while working for HYDRA, using it to threaten Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons. After revealing his true allegiance to the Resistance, Ward continued to carry this sidearm on missions to Ogygia and The Bakshi Report studio.
 * : During the Assassination of Agnes Kitsworth within the Framework, Ward used this sniper rifle in an attempt to kill Madame Hydra and Leo Fitz. However, he missed his opportunity and was instead forced to fire at HYDRA operatives to defend his team.

Allies

 * Inhumans
 * Vijay Nadeer †
 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Victoria Hand † - Recruiter
 * Patriot † - Superior and Friend
 * Burrows † - Colleague
 * Cooke † - Colleague
 * Antoine Triplett † - Colleague
 * Daisy Johnson - Friend
 * Jemma Simmons
 * Phil Coulson
 * Alphonso Mackenzie
 * Melinda May - Enemy turned Ally
 * Skye † - HYDRA Colleague and Girlfriend
 * Holden Radcliffe †
 * Hope Mackenzie †
 * Burnell †
 * Chris Adler †

Enemies

 * HYDRA - Former Employers turned Enemy
 * Madame Hydra † - Former Director
 * The Doctor - Former Superior
 * Pinsky † - Former Colleague
 * Sunil Bakshi †

Appearances
In chronological order:
 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Season Four
 * Self Control
 * What If...
 * Identity and Change
 * No Regrets
 * All the Madame's Men
 * Farewell, Cruel World! (mentioned)