Editorial: AGENTS OF T.A.H.I.T.I.?

Editorial: AGENTS OF T.A.H.I.T.I.?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has mentioned Tahiti several times in the last two episodes. What is the significance? Hit the jump for theories!

Editorial Opinion
By CapsShield - Oct 03, 2013 07:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Spoiler alert! Coulson was shanked by Loki in the Avengers! *gasssssssssssp!*



Now in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson has been revealed to be alive still. The origin surrounding his death is a mystery since Maria Hill specifically said in the pilot that Coulson "could never know the truth" about what really happened. Everyone that has been watching knows that whenever someone mentions Tahiti around Coulson he responds with, "It's a magical place."



What the heck does that even mean?! It was awesome R&R? It really is magical? Judging by the ratio of women to men in the picture above it certainly DOES look magical!

First off, the most obvious speculation is that Coulson is really just a L.M.D. (Life Model Decoy). They were mentioned in The Avengers and seems like a plausible reason for Coulson being alive. I also read an article somewhere and in the comments someone thought that in Episode 2 when Coulson was with Reyes and The Dwarfs (the flying scanner robots named after the Snow White dwarves), they saw "Coulson vision" which looks like an android's vision. If that is true, then Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may have already given the candy away.

With that said, I decided to go a little "Googling" to see if I could find anything else related to Tahiti and Marvel. I ended up coming across a list of Marvel comics that had Tahiti featured in them. Most were just about the Beachcomber Hotel located there. I went through each one and the last one was an Iron Man comic (Iron Man, Vol 3, Issue 22).

In this Iron Man comic, he teams up with Thor and they are trying to stop some mystic gems from being converted and releasing these deities who want to wage war. Very near Tahiti, there is a temple called the Temple of Valtorr on the ocean floor.



Based on these facts:

1) There is a magical temple near Tahiti
2) Dr. Strange has been rumored for Phase 3
3) Scarlet Witch is in Age of Ultron
4) The Writers and/or Producers of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have stated that all powers will have some sort of science explained reason...
5) Every episode has made reference to the heroes of The Avengers

I'm beginning to think that Coulson may possibly have been magically brought back. Since the temple is on the ocean floor, perhaps this is Marvel's way of introducing audiences to Namor through the show. Perhaps these gems in the temple were used to heal Coulson enough that they could transfer some form of consciousness to an android body. This might explain the rumored robot vision and the fact that Coulson has a pre-programmed "It's a magical place" response every time Tahiti is mentioned.

This may also be Marvel's way of getting people used to the fact that magic will be a part of Thor, Age of Ultron, and upcoming Dr. Strange project(s). Who knows.

What are everyone's thoughts? Sound off below!

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TheOneAboveAll
TheOneAboveAll - 10/3/2013, 8:06 PM
well... he bleeds
Interestein
Interestein - 10/3/2013, 8:42 PM
My guess is Dr. Strange.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 10/3/2013, 8:45 PM
magical evil twin robot clone.
Lhornbk
Lhornbk - 10/3/2013, 8:46 PM
Okay, the so-called "Coulson-vision" was actually the little robot's camera's vision, not Coulson's. Second, I still think that Tony Stark telling Coulson that he had reached the "life-model decoy" of Tony Stark was just a joke, not any kind of reference to technology that existed at that point in the MCU. My guess is that they somehow used magic, or just some advanced tech to bring him back moments after his heart stopped, especially with Hill talking to another agent in the pilot about how they basically pulled one over on the Avengers. Why mention that if it's not the real Coulson? The Avengers will be upset about being lied to about his death, they're probably not gonna be that mad about Shield creating an android or LMD.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 10/3/2013, 9:14 PM
Spoiler: there will be LMDs in The Winter Soldier.
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 10/3/2013, 11:37 PM
Nice. I do agree somewhat with Lhbnork but this is a solid theory.
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 10/3/2013, 11:49 PM
Are they allowed to use Namor? His rights are at Universal.
Orphix
Orphix - 10/4/2013, 1:58 AM
I do think that a lot of these references are red herrings getting us fans to jump to conclusions.

I did think for a while that magic was going to be the reason for his survival but now it seems too obvious.

Fitz in episode one does brag that his tech he builds is 'magical' and then notices Coulson and nervously exclaims that it is "definitely science!" as if he has worryingly brought up something Coulson shouldn't be thinking about.
6of13
6of13 - 10/4/2013, 5:25 AM
@NovaCorpsFan: Remember along with the Wakanda reference there was a Cap and Namor reference in Iron Man 2 in the screen behind Tony when he was being debriefed by Nick Fury? Namor would have to be with Marvel for them to reference a spot on the map that shows a location in the Atlantic Ocean.

NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 10/4/2013, 5:48 AM
But Kevin Feige said Namor was with Universal. So that cameo either means they did a wee collaboration or it's something else.
GinjaNinja
GinjaNinja - 10/4/2013, 6:13 AM
@Novacorpsfan Well TIH was made at universal. So maybe Universal is just willing to work in their universe? But who knows.
ruadh
ruadh - 10/4/2013, 7:57 AM
I also agree with Lhornbk. The lmd reference from Tony was a joke, and a nice little bone thrown to fans.

Coulson mentioning several times that it's "magical", along with the producers saying that Coulson's method of resurrection ties directly in with who killed him, makes me think "Tahiti" was actually Valhalla. SHIELD may have even made some kind of deal with the Asgardians to get him back.
Wallymelon
Wallymelon - 10/4/2013, 8:12 AM
LOVE this theory!
FirstAvenger
FirstAvenger - 10/4/2013, 8:40 AM
Do LMD's bleed?
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 10/4/2013, 9:05 AM
dougie

Seems that way. Universal are kinda out of the loop as far as blockbusters go lately.

No way would it be Valhalla. That's for Norse dead, ONLY.
GinjaNinja
GinjaNinja - 10/4/2013, 9:26 AM
@Nova exactly. Plus its kinda obvious they will make more cash putting him in the MCU. As long as they don't split profits with Marvel.
HulkbusterNYC
HulkbusterNYC - 10/4/2013, 11:59 AM
I doubt he is an LMD.. He was eating that chocolate that the Peruvian woman gave him so while they might be able to "bleed" (which i doubt), there is no way an LMD could eat food.. Where the hell would it go?
HulkbusterNYC
HulkbusterNYC - 10/4/2013, 12:01 PM
I'm leaning on the magical aspect or maybe Shield did some reverse engineering with the Alien tech and figured out a way to heal him.. Who knows for sure but I am intrigued to see where they go with it.. Maybe Scarlet Witch had a part in bringin him back?
BrowniesExplode
BrowniesExplode - 10/4/2013, 2:54 PM
Im more interested about what Shield is going to tell the Avengers well Cap and Tony that you group was formed based on lie. Im also starting to wonder if Steve sees Coulson in The winter solider.
CapsShield
CapsShield - 10/4/2013, 3:36 PM
Thanks all for reading and the comments so far from everyone! Looks like a good little bit of discussion going on here as well as some interesting ideas from others.

@ruadh - Where did you see the resurrection for Coulson was linked to Loki? That's the first time I've heard that so I'm curious when the Producers said it and if there's a link I could read?

@Lhornbk - Thanks for clarifying the "Coulson vision" thing. I only personally remember the view from the Dwarfs so I wasn't sure if someone was mistaken or if they saw something else that I missed which is why I included it.

I definitely think it has something to do with magic. Yes, the "It's a magical place" is very in your face, but it's also seen by the GENERAL audience as someone who is enamored with their recuperation. Think about how good you feel when you come back from a tropical vacation and that's how the general audience sees it. I think the reference is in plain sight, but tongue-in-cheek enough to confuse general audiences and not us super fans of the source material.

I also wonder if someone was done to his mind to make him forget what it is, hence the pre-programmed response. It was mentioned that every time he tells the story of his death that the time he was out gets longer. Is this because the more he thinks about it the more the barriers of the mind altering is broken down?
CapsShield
CapsShield - 10/4/2013, 3:46 PM
As for asking if a LMD can bleed? Well, I don't know, but if I was going to create a robotic version of someone to try and pull the wool over other's eyes, then I would make sure it gushed something that looked like blood.

Also, Vision can cry, so why couldn't an LMD bleed?

NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 10/4/2013, 4:21 PM
CapsShiel

It took alot for Vision to cry. That was pretty symbolic for the character.

Coulson wouldn't be an LMD. If he was, why should the Avengers take some sort of disgression with SHIELD if Coulson was just an LMD. It's alot more personal if he's actually been revived unbenownst to the Avengers.
CapsShield
CapsShield - 10/4/2013, 4:57 PM
@NovaCorpsFan - Oh, I completely agree with you about how symbolic it was for the character.

All I'm saying is that if a synthezoid, which is really a terribly microscopic difference from an android (mostly semantic), can produce tears, then having a LMD that sheds some form of synthetic blood isn't a stretch.

I actually worked for a pharmaceutical research company for 11 years and one of our studies was testing a synthetic blood plasma for blood transfusions in hospitals. So if we have that tech in real life, I don't see how it's not plausible to have something extremely similar in a fantasy/comic world.
ruadh
ruadh - 10/4/2013, 6:28 PM
@CapsShield

I'm really not sure when or who said it, whether it was Whedon or one of the others (I'm almost positive it wasn't Jed, as I don't think I've read any interviews with him).

I'm almost be willing to be money I read it on this site though, since I rarely look at this kinda stuff elsewhere. Probably a couple months ago, and just one of those nuggets I latched onto.
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