(SPOILERS THROUGHOUT)
If you're an MCU fan, you're no doubt familiar with the hilarious Marvel One-Shot All Hail The King, which centers around Trevor Slattery and the Ten Rings. If you want to refresh your memory, you can (illegally) check it out by clicking here.
In the short, Trevor is kidnapped by a Ten Rings member to be taken to the real Mandarin, who is super pissed about having his identity mocked through the media in Iron Man 3. Since then, fans have been polarized by articles from PredatorRising about the possibilities of the Mandarin reappearing in Iron Man 4. Well, as I've ranted about before, I would instead like him to show up in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as I believe he'd be the perfect main villain for the show's current season.
Jackson Norriss tells us that the Mandarin is not only the leader of the Ten Rings but "was a warrior king, [he] inspired generations of men through the Middle Ages, perhaps even further back in time." We don't know if there are plans for him in the movies again, but this one-shot definitely left the door wide open with specific details about what we could see in a future iteration of the Mandarin.
Fast forward a year and a half later, and we get word that a certain Gideon Malick will appear in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season three, potrayed by Powers Boothe. While it was reported on this site that Boothe would not be playing the same character as he did in The Avengers, Entertainment Weekly confirmed that he would. In The Avengers, he was a member of the World Security Council, him specifically the one wanting to nuke Manhattan during the Chitauri invasion.
We know from Captain America: The Winter Soldier that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. across the seven decades that Steve Rogers was in the ice, and even had a member in the World Secruity Council in the form of Alexander Pierce. We also know from Ant-Man that there is an association between Hydra and the Ten Rings, as one Hydra member has a tattoo saying "Ten Rings of the Mandarin" on his neck.
In the film, Hydra is trying to get their hands on shrinking technology from Darren Cross, and agent Mitchell Carson is able to escape with one vial of Cross Particles. What's confusing about this is that we know from the S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2 finale that Grant Ward is running Hydra, and from what we've seen so far, he has not the financial resources to pull off such a heist, nor does he have any shrinking tech. We've all heard about the rumored dispute between the studio and television divisions of Marvel, but this would seem like a pretty big error, wouldn't it?
This is where the dots connect. The name Gideon Malick came across as very specific to me, so I did some research. Gideon is a male name meaning "great destroyer," while the name Malick is a derivative of the Arabic word Malik which means "king," or leader. Sound familiar? Right! The Ten Rings member described the real Mandarin as an ancient "warrior king."
What does this have to do with Director Ward? Well, the Whedon's love their parallels. And I mean LOVE, as any master of television should. The parallels between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra have been a common theme throughout the show, with the episode "Making Friends And Influencing People" centering around that entirely. I believe just as season two saw S.H.I.E.L.D. 2.0 attacking Coulson over his leadership decisions, so will season three see Hydra 2.0 (along with the Ten Rings, who we know to be working with Hydra) attack Ward over his leadership decisions. As Ward himself said that he wasn't a "true believer" in Hydra's cause, they will definitely take issue with him, as he is only using Hydra to take down S.H.I.E.L.D!
This would make perfect sense for this season. Not only is the Mandarin a long-held plot thread left dangling, but season 3 needs a new antagonist to keep things fresh. Season 2 dealt with Hydra and the Inhumans as the main themes, and while Simmons' alien planet arc is a nice start, so far season 3 has dealt with more of the same. The Mandarin's grand addition would shake up everything, as he is above every threat perceived so far.
So what do you think, CBM? Let me hear your praises, doubts, and other opinions in the comment section below!