"The worst thing you can do right now is to underestimate HYDRA. They hide in plain sight. They earn our trust, our sympathy. They make us like them. And when you hesitate, they strike. If we're to survive, we must learn to strike first."
Agent Victoria Louise Hand was a high-ranking Level 8S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. She was well-known within the organization and had a reputation for brusqueness and strictness. Hand worked alongside Phil Coulson to hunt down the Clairvoyant; however, she soon became suspicious that Coulson may be working against them. During the HYDRA Uprising, Hand was betrayed and killed by Grant Ward while attempting to lock away John Garrett who had been discovered to be the true Clairvoyant.
Victoria Hand joined S.H.I.E.L.D., rising swiftly through its ranks to eventually become one of the highest-ranked and respected agents in the organization, and was assigned to the Hub. Sometime before that, Hand and John Garrett were stationed together in Lisbon, Portugal.[3] She also developed a friendship with Isabelle Hartley and trusted her more than almost any other agent of S.H.I.E.L.D..[4]
Operation Overkill[]
"Agent Fitz is unproven in the field, and knowing would have caused him to lose focus or courage." "That should have been my call." "I wasn't sure you'd comply."
Hand oversaw an operation from the Hub to destroy the Overkill Device and neutralize the South Ossetian rebels that built it. To this end, she assigned Grant Ward and Leo Fitz with the task of neutralizing the weapon before launching the attack. What she did not inform the team of, however, was that they would not have an extraction plan once the mission was complete, much like Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff.
Phil Coulson soon discovered that his team would not have an extraction plan and confronted Hand. When it became clear that Hand had no intention of arranging a rescue for Ward and Fitz, Coulson took matters into his own hands and, together with Melinda May, he went to their rescue. Meanwhile, Ward and Fitz were successful in their mission, and the attack commenced once Coulson had extracted them. Hand spoke to Jasper Sitwell and explained that she was confident that Coulson would secure his team's safe return.[5]
Hand coordinated an effort to find abducted Phil Coulson and to take down the Centipede Project. She led a S.H.I.E.L.D. team to take custody of T. Vanchat who had had dealings with Centipede in the past, during a transaction to sell Chitauri metal to Emily Deville. Leading many teams across the globe from the Bus, Hand got rid of Skye, apparently with the approval of Melinda May, while one of her agents was trying to interrogate Vanchat.
When Grant Ward successfully obtained information about Vanchat's transactions, Hand led many strike teams running raids on every known buyer of Chitauri metals around the globe, some of them being Centipede safe houses, but not before questioning Ward's attitude after Skye's disappearance from the plane and Ward's very own interrogation methods. She also noted that both Nick Fury and Maria Hill wanted constant updates on the situation of the rescue mission.
When the helicopter used in Coulson's kidnapping appeared in a laboratory near the Mojave Desert, Hand personally led a strike team to investigate the activities at the lab. Coulson was rescued by his own team; Hand informed Coulson that Director Fury was very relieved after hearing of Coulson's successful rescue mission and updated him on the success of the takedown of multiple Centipede operations. She then returned to the Hub, commenting that the Bus was not her style.[6]
"Agent Sitwell, I just received word from the Triskelion. You have orders to report to the Lemurian Star immediately." "So I assume you'll take his place?" "In your hunt for Santa Claus? No. I'm taking a transport jet back to the Hub where I can quarterback the field teams via satellite. Someone's gonna have to pull your asses out of the fire when things go south."
When Felix Blake was critically injured by Deathlok during the mission, and the team returned to the Hub, Hand again expressed her disapproval to Coulson, telling him that their plan was flawed right from the start. Garrett attempted to defend the plan's effectiveness, but she shot him down and ordered him not to call her "Vic" as it was condescending. Coulson told her that the plan had given them a suspect in Thomas Nash. She ordered Jemma Simmons and Triplett to work within the Hub as consultants on Deathlok's capabilities.
Due to a tracking round that Blake had shot at Deathlok during his attack, S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to track Deathlok to an abandoned race track in Pensacola. Hand watched as Coulson, Garrett and their teams battled with Deathlok until they located the seeming Clairvoyant. Hand watched closely during Coulson's confrontation with Nash who was completely paralyzed and spoke through a computer. When Nash seemingly began taunting the team and threatening to murder Skye, Grant Ward shot him through the heart, killing him instantly. Hand simply said that she doubted the Clairvoyant saw that coming.[1]
Later, Hand rerouted the Bus to the Hub and informed her agents that once the Bus landed she wanted everyone except Phil Coulson killed.[1] Hand also ordered two UAVs to take out John Garrett's plane. This order ultimately failed; however, after Coulson aided Garrett on the Bus by taking out the UAVs, Hand was under the impression that Garrett, Coulson, and his team were members of HYDRA.[3]
"You and I may be the highest ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who aren't HYDRA or dead... Not that that means anything now. All we have is each other. So stay in touch, Agent Coulson." "I guess you can... call me Phil."
Hand made a personal stand-off with Jemma Simmons and Antoine Triplett in the Hub and posed as a HYDRA agent herself; she ordered them to pledge full loyalty to HYDRA or face a fate similar to Nick Fury. The pair passed Hand's "test", however, when Triplett swore to take Chaimson with them if Hand's men opened fire. Hand argued that Coulson was indeed a member of HYDRA, justifying her suspicions with the belief that Coulson hid vital information from S.H.I.E.L.D. and disobeyed multiple direct orders.
When the "fugitives" had successfully infiltrated the Hub, Coulson, Garrett, Melinda May and Leo Fitz were soon surrounded by Hand's agents. Unbeknownst to Hand, two of the guards were HYDRA agents who then took out their former colleagues with the order of John Garrett: a HYDRA agent and the Clairvoyant. This revelation was soon known by Hand, thanks to a bug, who then personally led a second team to arrest Garrett. Hand now believed that Coulson and his team were not agents of HYDRA.[3] Hand contacted Isabelle Hartley and informed her that the threat in the Hub was neutralized.[4]
With the Clairvoyant and HYDRA threat on the Hub neutralized, Hand confirmed to Coulson that Captain America had successfully ended the Helicarrierthreat at the Triskelion. Hand also noted that the pair may be the only Level 8 agents who are not loyal to HYDRA or dead. Upon giving Coulson a secure communication device to ensure the pair could keep in contact, Hand left the Hub to transport Garrett to the Fridge, along with Grant Ward, who requested to join them to lock him away.[3]
Shortly after the Battle at the Hub, Hand led the Jump Jet taking the captured John Garrett to the Fridge with the help of Grant Ward, Jacobson and Chaimson. Although the Fridge would ensure Garrett could not be let loose again to the outside world, Hand believed that he deserved to die after for all the crimes he committed, including betraying and murdering loyal Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
She turned to Ward and offered Ward the chance to kill the "real" Clairvoyant after he had shot and killed Thomas Nash, mistaking him for the Clairvoyant. This ultimately became Hand’s demise as Ward, being another HYDRA mole, calmly shot both the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents guarding Garrett and Victoria Hand; he shot her once in the stomach and twice again in the back to ensure she had died before freeing Garrett and assisting in HYDRA's reign of chaos.[3]
Legacy[]
Standing Orders[]
"I guess you boys have never seen Hand angry, huh?"
Eventually, Grant Ward and John Garrett arrived at the Fridge in order to raid it for its hidden weaponry. Hand gave specific orders to its guardians that no one was to enter the facility without her being there; Ward did not know this in advance and tried to talk the guards into allowing him and Garrett entry. Ultimately, the guards defied her orders when Kaminsky fired upon them from his S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicopter.[7]
"It's unprecedented, this kind of response for a Level 8operative. The sheer manpower involved. I've been on the phone all day – Director Fury, Commander Hill – everyone wants an update. Frankly, I don't understand it. No single agent is that important."
Victoria Hand had a no-nonsense attitude and rigid, uncompromising respect for rules and protocol. She disliked nicknames because she felt that it was condescending. She was a minimalist in terms of personnel; she desired as few as possible to do as much as possible on a mission. Hand felt that fellow agents were disposable as long as the mission was completed. Hand also possessed extremely loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. and its foundations and beliefs, and nursed a deep hatred for HYDRA and any of their infiltrators that are trying to corrupt the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization from within. She also had an ounce of sympathy, as evident when she fell for Grant Ward's play of sadness and heartbreak when he found out his mentor John Garrett was a HYDRA Agent called The Clairvoyant, so much so that she allowed Ward to accompany her to the Fridge in order to lock up Garrett. Unfortunately, her trust in Grant Ward lead to her downfall as Ward, another HYDRA double agent, was able to gain her trust and assassinate her when she lowered her guard.
Hand's high regard for rule following served her well; unfortunately for her, the one time she chose to break protocol and follow her personal desire, the death of the Clairvoyant, Ward was able to use that as an opening to kill her.
Abilities[]
"You yourself have designed dozens of operations like this. You know how this works." "Usually with an extraction plan." "Barton, Romanoff; they never have an extraction plan."
Hand led multiple teams of agents in simultaneous assaults against Centipede Project's bases around the world. Phil Coulson also asked her advice and opinion during his hunt for the identity of the Clairvoyant. During the HYDRA Uprising, she tested the loyalties of her agents by pretending to be a HYDRA operative and evaluating the response.
In the comics, Victoria Hand was originally a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent vocal in her opposition to Nick Fury's policies; she acted as a liaison to Norman Osborn, Captain America, and the Avengers. She was killed in the line of duty and there is a statue honoring her on the lawn of Avengers Mansion.
Behind the Scenes[]
Writers of the show intended to address Victoria Hand's romantic relationship with Isabelle Hartley from the comics. However, they decided that they would not delve into that story element because of Hartley's purpose on the specific episode in which she appeared but also because of both her and Hand's eventual fate on the show, out of fear of backlash from the LGBTQA community for introducing the first of such characters into the MCU, only to immediately have them killed.[10]
In a flashback in One Door Closes was a vague reference to her relationship with Hartley, where Hartley referred to Hand as "Vic," indicating that not only they knew each other but that they were also close.[4]
