'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' season 4 episode 9 spoilers: New chapter begins in 2017 as Aida turns into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s next foe

Now that the midseason finale has concluded the "Ghost Rider" arc, a brand new threat emerges when "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." returns next year. Will the second half of season 4 also see the return of Robbie, aka, the Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna)?

Subtitled "LMD," an acronym that stands for "Life Model Decoy," the next chapter of ABC's sci-fi superhero series, features a more knowledgeable, and thus more powerful LMD, Aida (Mallory Jansen), turning against S.H.I.E.L.D. in a similar quest for dominance that drove Eli (José Zúñiga) to the brink of madness, all because they opened and read the Darkhold.

What makes Aida a more formidable adversary than the power-hungry Eli is that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have absolutely no idea that she has now become an enemy.

Before the midseason finale ended, it left the viewers quite a shocking revelation that brought on questions about the fate of Agent May (Ming-Na Wen). It turned out that the Agent May that sat with Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and shared the infamous bottle of Haig, was an LMD created by Aida, who in turn had been holding the real Agent May prisoner for who knew how long?

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Jed Whedon shared that viewers will know the exact moment of the switch between the real and the LMD Agent May in the first episode of 2017. He also added that Aida would be different from Ultron in "many ways," and that unlike Ultron, who came out fully fleshed and fully aware of what he wanted, Aida would gradually be discovering her purpose and the meaning of her existence.

"She started with the base of trying to be human," Whedon said.

When asked about Robbie's fate, which has been left unclear, Maurissa Tancharoen assured fans of the show that even though the Ghost Rider may not appear so much, or not at all, during the remaining two chapters planned for this season, this would not mean that he is gone. Whedon further teased that wherever the Ghost Rider was, or whatever kind of existence he has in it, would be considered a "wait and see."

The mysteries behind Aida, Agent May, and the currently missing-in-action Robbie will be unraveled when "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." returns next year on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.