- "Looks like you have a problem."
"I knew this was coming." - ―Ellen Nadeer and Holden Radcliffe[src]
The Arrest of Holden Radcliffe was an attempt by S.H.I.E.L.D. to take Holden Radcliffe into custody after discovering his betrayal.
Background[]
- "I wanted to help you get through this obsession of yours, but if you continue to..."
"It's not an obsession! Jemma, it's an investigation." - ―Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz[src]
Holden Radcliffe's mind became corrupted after he read the Darkhold. Obsessed with the idea of reclaiming the Darkhold and access its infinite knowledge, he sent his android assistant Aida to attack the Playground while Radcliffe pretended that he had nothing to do with this and that the Darkhold might have corrupted Aida, who had read multiple pages of it. However, Aida failed in her mission.[3]
Aida's head, which had been severed by Alphonso Mackenzie, was kept by Leo Fitz, who investigated Aida's data to figure out why the android had rebelled against them.[4] Despite his girlfriend Jemma Simmons's disapproval, Fitz kept looking for answers and eventually discovered the truth: Radcliffe had betrayed them and had actually engineered Aida's attack. Therefore, S.H.I.E.L.D. decide to arrest Radcliffe.
However, feeling that his betrayal would soon be discovered, Radcliffe replaced himself with a LMD and forged an alliance with Senator Ellen Nadeer for his safety.[2]
Arrest[]
- "Did you think he wouldn't find out?"
- ―Jemma Simmons to Holden Radcliffe LMD[src]
Phil Coulson, Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz led a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to the Radcliffe Residence, where they found Melinda May, actually an android, arguing with Holden Radcliffe. May told them that she had also began to suspect Radcliffe's betrayal and had come to the Residence to confront him.
Leo Fitz shoots Holden Radcliffe's LMD
Despite Radcliffe's protest, S.H.I.E.L.D. arrested him and took him back to the Playground, where he was locked inside a Containment Module. Later, Fitz came to the Containment Chamber. He confronted Radcliffe about his betrayal and eventually figured out that he was not talking to the actual Radcliffe, but to a Life-Model Decoy. Fitz borrowed a gun to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent guarding Radcliffe and shot the android in the head, revealing his true nature.[2]
Aftermath[]
Leo Fitz interrogates Holden Radcliffe's LMD
- "You'll have to meet the Superior."
"Fine. Whatever it takes." - ―Ellen Nadeer and Holden Radcliffe[src]
Holden Radcliffe watched the whole arrest and the subsequent damaging of his LMD by Leo Fitz through the camera installed in the LMD's eyes while he was in Senator Ellen Nadeer's office. Radcliffe required the help of the Senator to escape from S.H.I.E.L.D., to which Nadeer replied that Radcliffe would have to meet the Watchdogs' Superior.[2] Radcliffe's LMD was kept and reactivated by Fitz in order to know where the real Radcliffe was. After interrogation, Fitz and Jemma Simmons would figure out that Radcliffe had replaced Melinda May with a LMD as well. Following the revelation, Radcliffe's LMD was destroyed along with Aida's severed head.[5]