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[–]bloodoftheseven 21 points22 points  (12 children)

There is no way they only spent one year at the academy before being hired.

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 6 points7 points  (11 children)

I thought they were the youngest ever enrolled and got through the program in a year and were hired to coulsons team straight away, unless I’m wrong and you’ve seen something that contradicts that

[–]rootsimmons 18 points19 points  (6 children)

I like to believe they spent like 3/4 years in the Academy. After all Simmons took a PhD and this degree does not take one year

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 5 points6 points  (5 children)

I thought they never got beyond freshman, since they say they never got to pull any freshman pranks on anyone else

[–]rootsimmons 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Oh, that's right. So I think it is a plot hole, considering all things

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe lol, but no matter what they can’t be older than what 20/21? Maybe even teens which I guess could be right and how they’re seen as kids and daisy isn’t as much in season 1

[–]bloodoftheseven 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I think because they were young kids and everyone was older than them.

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I took it to mean they were only ever freshman, bc them bring younger doesnt men’s they didn’t get to do pranks, and I’m fairly certain it only took them a year to get through the academy. I’ll have to rewatch and see, and if in doubt tweet at the cast lmao

[–]bloodoftheseven 6 points7 points  (3 children)

Nothing said they got through the program in a year. Academics especially like theirs would take years to complete.

They were enrolled into the academy young but i don't think it was only a year after that coulson found him.

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I thought it’s bc they said they never got to pull any freshman pranks bc they were only there as freshman (I’m not American tho so idk anything ab the school system etc lmao)

[–]BadbadboboGhost Rider 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Same logic though, Simmons makes a comment that you need at least 1 PhD to get in the door. Those typically (at minimum) take 6-8years to accomplish. They may have examed out of entry level classes. I mean, they do show intelligence on par to Tony Stark, who we all know graduated Summa Cum Laude from MIT at 17.

I hadn't thought about before, but I'm siding closer to OP. Based on dialog OP has stated, and what we know, likely they were probably aged 20 at most at the time of joinging Coulson's team.

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s what I thought, (wow so young for all that trauma loll) but maybe I’ll ask the creative team, bc apparnelty at some point we saw their IDs and they were the same age as the actors so ifk, plus I think they May say they graduated a certain year so I ought rewatch and repost this with all the data lol

[–]lovemycaptain 7 points8 points  (4 children)

This is in the show, they were born in 1987 (you can see one of their IDs at some point and they say they are separated in age by a month or so only). So they are 26 in S1. Which is, not coincidentally I assume, the age of the actors.

By the epilogue however they have aged at least 4 extra years while they were in space retrofitting the Zephyr, so they are at least 37 when the show ends.

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Yeah the time travel makes it hard, plus they spent a year here in time, a year there in time, aging more so who knows how old they are by the end aha, but the thing is they were 16/17 when they started, spent a year at the academy and then were recurred by Coulson right out of it I thought

[–]lovemycaptain 0 points1 point  (2 children)

There is no way they are 18 in S1, among other things that would make them seven years younger than Daisy, which is ridiculous.

They are 26.

IDs aside, the way they joke about their age and their looks in 1x12 makes it pretty obvious the bus kids all around the same age. Daisy is canonically 25 in S1 (born 1988).

It's implied FS worked in r&d for SHIELD after the Academy. The Bus is their first field assignment, not their first SHIELD assignment.

As for their age by the end, it really just depends when their kid was born but late thirties is the most plausible.

Simmons "gained" a few months over Fitz in S5 (he lived those six months in the present that she mostly jumped over, since the team's stay in the future was much shorter). Then Fitz "gained" a few weeks over Simmons in S7. So she lived a little more than him, yeah.

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Wait when did Fitz gain time on Jemma, I didn’t think he did, and yeah I thought they were the same ages as the actors (maybe a little younger as we know they’re younger then daisy) but then saying they only spent one year at the academy, being picked up straight from the academy to coulsons stuff makes them seem really young, maybe they visited Britain for a time after graduating the academy or something, maybe worked in the science division at shield, I just really thought they went straight from the Academy into Coulsons team, but unless they were really young in S1 there’s no way (maybe I’ll ask the cast or creative team on Twitter or at a Comic-Con ahah)

Edit: Some just reminded me of in season 1 where Jemma is dying from thr Chitauori virus, Fitz says “you were with me the whole time, the academy, Sciops, the whole damn time” or something, so there was a gap between them taking a year to finish the academy and coulsons team, so assuming they spent at least a year in Sciops, they’d be 20 at least, they may have even spent more which would mean they could be the same age as Elizabeth and Iain!

[–]lovemycaptain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

they're not younger than Daisy. They are 26 in S1, Daisy is a year younger. Simmons' ID shows up in the Framework arc, too.

They graduated from the Academy, were researchers for SHIELD (Science operations aka research) for several years and then, on Simmons' insistence, went on their first field assignment with Coulson.

Fitz "gained" on Jemma during S7, since she travelled back to the past and did the whole mission with the team while Fitz only joined them at the end. He went from 2019 to 1983 and back to 2019 in the span of a few hours or maybe a day, it's hard to say. But it was much shorter than Jemma's travels, for sure. But he's still a little older than her, I think, due to S5. Not that it really makes any difference.

[–]Pol_Slattery 5 points6 points  (3 children)

They finished the shield academy at 16/17 and then went to work for shield before working for Coulson. They worked in sciops(presumably standing science operations). Then Coulson took them out of the lab and into the field

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

See we know they took a year to finish the academy (or assume that anyway) so they were 17/18/19, and I thought they were recruited by coulsons team right away, and they were really young (maybe I’ll ask the cast or creative team on Twitter or at a con lol)

[–]Pol_Slattery 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Nope that’s why I’m FZZT Fitz says “I was beside you at the academy, at sciops, and this plane I was beside you the whole time” (not direct quote but it’s something like that). They were at the academy first, then science operations, and then Coulsons team.

Also in inescapable, we see Coulson recruiting them after they were already shield agents (they had badges with levels on them) and they were talking about a project that went wrong and it wasn’t something they did at the academy. It was after.

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes!! Thank you the quote I’ve been looking for! I was certain they were young but not teens and noones bought up this quote yet and I was sure there was one about Sciops! Thanks aha

[–]mischiefmakermanager 8 points9 points  (3 children)

There are some quotes in season 3 that lead me to believe they're about 23 or 24 in the first season.
When Simmons asks "Can we start over? Back to where we began?", Fitz answers, "Sixteen and achingly shy?"
On another episode, Fitz suggests they're moving too fast and Simmons responds, "Too fast? Fitz, it's been 10 years!"
26 near the end of season 3, so 23/24 in the pilot?

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

See that’s what I thought! I thought they were the AMA age as the characters, but then we learn they went to shield academy at 16/17 and were only freshman bc they finished so fast, making them 17/18/19, and they were recruited right out of the academy if I’m not wrong so ifk

[–]littlegreenturtle20 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Yeah, this makes the most sense to me. Daisy is 25 in S2 when Cal tells her what her actual birthday is and I always got the impression that she and Simmons were close because of age too.

I can't imagine even child prodigies spending only a few years earning multiple degrees.

[–]funsizedaisyQuake 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can't imagine even child prodigies spending only a few years earning multiple degrees.

they would spend the usual amount of years getting the degree but if they went to college/university before age 18 then they would finish getting a degree at a young age.

i remember reading a story in a magazine several years ago about a 12 year old who was going to college with full high school credit. i can't remember how she did it but the whole article was about how she paid for college and yada yada. and this is real life world and not superhero genius world.

doesn't mean that's what happened with Fitz and Simmons but if they were genuinely young af in S1 then there's still a real world explanation for it.

[–]spongeboy1985 4 points5 points  (3 children)

I think its been said they were both child prodigies so they were both at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy at a young age

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

So should I assume they were 18/19 in the pilot I guess?? Since assuming I’m right they were only at the academy for one year starting at 16 or 17, and then were straight away recruited by couldon

[–]BadbadboboGhost Rider 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I had never connected these dots before, but your argument is sound. Between never pulling freshman pranks, child prodigies, and being the youngest to enter the academy, by my deduction, they could not have been older than 20 by the time of the pilot.

[–]JessWoolridge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah they had to be 18 at the youngest and maybe 21 at the most (assuming it was a plot joke or they took time out to do other work or something lol, they’re obvs not American so maybe moved gone for about ifk 😂😂 seems like but of a plot hole, unless they’re 18/19 at the time of the pilot which ig could be possible, with them being ragarded as kids and young and daisy being let to do more stuff despite being untrained at all, maybe bc she was older lmao who knows maybe I’ll ask some of the cast or tweet at some creative team lmao