Alias (season 5)

Sydney and Vaughn survive the car crash that concluded the fourth season; however, Vaughn is taken away in a helicopter by an unknown group posing as an emergency medical team while Sydney runs away. Upon returning to Los Angeles, Sydney learns that Vaughn is under suspicion of being a double agent, and the car crash was a possible "extraction".

In Mexico City, Vaughn is interrogated by a mysterious man who refers to Vaughn as "Mr. Michaux". The man wants Vaughn to decipher a piece of paper that is encoded, and threatens to hurt Sydney if Vaughn doesn't tell him what is on the piece of paper. However, Vaughn breaks free of his captors, calls Sydney, and requests that she bring his father's watch to him. After arriving, Vaughn tells her that his real name is André Michaux.

Vaughn then takes Sydney with him to meet a man who is in Prophet Five, a project that Vaughn's father was also in. While in Cape Town, South Africa to retrieve the book, Sydney receives a phone call from her doctor saying she is pregnant. Later, while meeting with the man in Italy, Vaughn hands over the book, but he, along with the man, are shot multiple times. Vaughn is rushed to a hospital where Sydney and he pick a name for their baby: Isabelle. Vaughn then dies after his heart fails.

Meanwhile, Arvin Sloane is in jail, pleading with Jack to get him out so he can help Nadia Santos, who is still in a coma.

Four months later, Sydney goes to London and finds Renée Rienne, or "The Raven", a known criminal and assassin with whom Vaughn had been working to uncover the secrets of Prophet Five.

International titles

• French: Prophète 5 (Prophet 5)
• German: Prophet 5 (Prophet 5)

Ivan Curtis, the man who assisted in killing Vaughn is tracked and captured by Sydney, Dixon, and Weiss in Amsterdam. Curtis has stolen a tube of nuridium, which Marshall believes will be used to create a bomb that could have an effect like "Hiroshima times 50." It is apparent that to locate the bomb, they would have to release Curtis and track him to it so that they can capture the bomb for APO. This is accomplished by lacing a bottle of water with a liquid tracker that Curtis drinks just prior to antagonizing Sydney to the point of kicking Curtis out of the window into a body of a water; Curtis survives, and is later tracked to a large passenger plane, where Sydney, Dixon, and Weiss intercept and secretly board. On board, Sydney finds the "bomb", but is surprised to find out that it isn't a bomb at all, and is actually a case holding a person inside of it. Later, during a confrontation between Curtis and Sydney, Curtis opens a hatch in the plane and gets sucked out to avoid being taken in and in fear of what his employers may do. Back at APO headquarters, Marshall reveals that the nuridium was being used to freeze a human cryogenically. Before identifying the person, the test site is hit and the cryogenic freezer stolen.

During the mission, Weiss informs Sydney that he was offered a promotion in Washington, D.C. working for the DSR (Department of Special Research), but is unsure if he wants to leave given the timing. Concurrently, Jack searches for a replacement for Vaughn and finds a man by the name of Thomas Grace.

International titles

• French: Sans scrupules (Without scruples)
• German: ...1...

Marshall picks up the trail of a hacker that he believes was involved with a hack on the NSA that blew Vaughn's cover. Tracking the hacker to Prague, Sydney is forced to partner in the field with APO's new agent, Thomas Grace. With Marshall, the three find and capture Rachel Gibson, a supposed black ops agent of the CIA working in Prague under the supervision of Gordon Dean. Similar to Sydney's life at SD-6, Gibson was lied to and was working for the very enemy she thought she was fighting.

Allying herself with Sydney, Rachel returns to The Shed, the black ops unit, so she can open up a port and allow Marshall to hack in and download their files. Rachel, however, is detected by Kelly Peyton, Dean's confidant, who subsequently blows up the entire office leaving Rachel as the only survivor of the blast.

Note

• This is the first appearance of Amy Acker as Kelly Peyton in Season 5.

International titles

• French: Dans l'ombre (In the shadow)
• German: Substanz 33 (Substance 33)

In Monte Carlo Sydney, Tom, and Dixon infiltrate a Casino to secure "the artifact", an electronic dossier. After doing so, Sydney is intercepted while in a car by being picked up by a crane outfitted with an electromagnet. Gordon Dean subsequently calls her on her cell phone demanding the return of "Mockingbird" otherwise Sydney will be dropped hundreds of feet to her death.

72 hours before, Rachel tells Sydney that her call sign while working at "The Shed" was Mockingbird. With Rachel's help APO cracks Gordon Dean's Cayman Islands accounts. Momentarily after Dean is notified that his assets were stolen and concludes that Rachel is alive and working for the CIA. During the mission to secure the artifact, Rachel is brought along in the trunk of the car; the same car that, in the end, Dean is threatening to destroy unless Rachel (Mockingbird) is handed over to him. Sydney and Rachel are able to escape the car and cling to the electromagnet prior to Dean figuring out Rachel was also in the car and then, destroying it.

Sloane is held on trial for breaking the agreement in his pardon by aiding Elena Derevko, although he was supposedly undercover. Ultimately Sloane is pardoned after accepting the aid of a mysterious stranger with a powerful and influential employer.

International titles

• French: En péril (In danger)
• German: Mockingbird

Having been exonerated once again for previous crimes against the United States, Sloane asks Jack to aid him in returning to APO. Jack had already put forth a request for his return, but for limited access. APO would use Sloane's extensive knowledge and contacts in return for any aid they can give in finding a cure for Sloane's daughter, Nadia. Sloane, however, is held up from returning by a Senator, which he later threatens at the behest of his new handler: Gordon Dean.

After recognizing Renée Rienne on a surveillance camera during the theft of the "man in the box", Sydney and Thomas are sent to investigate. Rienne resuscitates the man in the box, who appears to be her father. After Sydney and Tom meet her and the man, their location comes under fire from a group of mercenaries. Meanwhile electroencephalogram records studied by APO prove that the man is not actually Renée's father, despite a perfect resemblance to him. After Sydney, Thomas, and Renée realize that the man is not Renée's father, the mercenaries succeed in extracting him. He is then brought to meet with Gordon Dean in North Korea, where he is identified as Dr. Desantis.

Note

• Patrick Bauchau guest stars as Dr. Desantis.

International titles

• French: A l'air libre (Out in the open)
• German: Wiederbelebung (Revival)

Rachel's family is placed in the Witness Protection Program after growing concerns that her former boss Gordon Dean may attempt to kidnap them. Afterwards, based on information from Sloane, who in turn was tipped by Gordon Dean, APO infiltrates a party in search for an electronic dossier that will give them the location of a weapons designer who has created a weapon using software referred to as the "Lasso software" that can redirect a missile mid-flight. During this mission, Rachel is confronted by a guard, however, rather than fighting she runs and is eventually saved by agent Grace.

Using the recovered dossier, APO learns that the weapon designer is holed up on an oil rig. They later come to the conclusion that the only way to infiltrate the rig is to send a female agent that can pose as the designer's weekend "companion." Rachel is selected to go solo due to Sydney's pregnancy. Amid concerns that Rachel may not be able to pull off the job on her own, Rachel is sent anyway with Sydney as a guide using voice communications. While on the rig, Rachel steals the Lasso software, however, she is confronted by Kelly Peyton, her former colleague and friend while at "The Shed". The two fight for the software, but eventually Peyton escapes as Gibson is extracted with the software.

Concurrently with these events, Sloane is secretly in contact with Dean. The information previously given by Dean to Sloane was supposed to be used so that APO could track down the designer and steal the software so that Sloane could later steal it from APO and deliver it to Dean; however, Sloane refused to turn over the software "as payment" due to Dean's right-hand assassin, Kelly Peyton, showing up and endangering one of his team. Peyton was sent to the rig to retrieve the software after Dean was hesitant about trusting Sloane to make good on this transfer.

A comatose Nadia (played by Mía Maestro), whose life may now be in more danger due to Sloane's decision, makes a cameo appearance at the episode's conclusion.

International titles

• French: En solo (Solo)
• German: Solo (Solo)

Sloane decides to betray Dean when he learns that Nadia's condition will probably not improve. They meet at a race track to exchange a network access card. The APO interrogates Dean in custody for information on Prophet 5. Yet another mysterious stranger asks Sloane to eliminate Dean. Nadia comes out of her coma for a short time after a nameless nurse leaves her room.

Sloane kills Dean during a routine reboot of the APO's surveillance network. APO misses its chance to hack the network but learns it is linked to intelligence agencies around the world. Control of Dean's cell is given to Kelly Peyton.

International titles

• French: Fait accompli
• German: Vollendete Tatsachen (Fait accompli)

A rogue element in MI-6 is testing an MPB (Micro Pulse Bomb) which incinerates people but leaves equipment intact. Through old contacts Jack learns the identity of the designer. Rachel goes to a conference in São Paulo, Brazil (should be Rio de Janeiro, because the conference is at a Beach Hotel, and there's no beach in São Paulo) to bug the designer's laptop. Under the cover name "Bob Brown", Julian Sark is there to do the same thing. Both do so successfully, and after a few drinks go back to his room for sex.

In Brazil, Jack witnesses an arms transaction of a much larger MPB; one that ends in an ambush. The team realizes that Sark was the leak. Rachel and Sydney hire him. Jack and his companion are taken prisoner and moved to Tunisia. Sark arranges to buy the prisoners but gets double-crossed and is handcuffed to the bomb. Rachel manages to disarm it at last.

Includes the sentence "What's a little treason between old friends?"

International titles

• French: Amour mortel (Lethal love)
• German: Bob

Sydney is abducted in Madrid. Her interrogators use memories of Vaughn to probe her mind for the secret of The Horizon — an element of an SD-6 organizational chart she saw only once. Jack traces a contact to a nursery set up in an otherwise empty building. Sydney flees her interrogation chamber to find that she is on a freighter out at sea.

Irina, currently alone and resting in the Philippines, is revealed to be the person behind Sydney's abduction and interrogation.

International titles

• French: L'horizon (The horizon)
• German: Unter Hypnose (Under hypnosis)

After fleeing from interrogation and learning she was on a freighter at sea, Sydney goes to the communications room and sends a message to APO routed through the CIA to her whereabouts. Unbeknownst to her at the time, the message was intercepted by a mole at the CIA working for Prophet Five, although APO was able to obtain a piece of the transmission. Wanting to retrieve Sydney, APO attempts to break into a secured server room located at Langley with the goal of obtaining the remaining part of the transmission. Problems arise, however, when APO is forced to take the hard drive, which triggers an alarm. They manage to escape the situation thanks to Weiss who aids them in sneaking past the guards.

Although the transmission on the hard drive is corrupted, APO is able to learn who corrupted it. Jack sets a meeting up with the division heads of the CIA and is quickly able to identify that the mole was Davenport, who confesses to Jack Sydney's whereabouts. APO then mounts a rescue to retrieve Sydney from the freighter; however, while they are in transit, Sydney is forced to go into surgery. When APO arrives, Sydney is alone on the freighter. After analyzing Sydney, doctors conclude that Prophet Five was not trying to hurt the baby, but actually save it.

International titles

• French: Portée disparue (Reported missing)
• German: S.O.S.

Because of the possibility of moles within APO, CIA Director Devlin shuts it down. Jack remains determined to continue investigating Prophet Five and Sydney reveals to Jack "Leo-47 Norte" as the code that Prophet Five wanted to know of when they captured her. It turns out to be an old SD-6 mission that took place in France.

Irina meets with Sydney and reveals her own knowledge of Prophet Five; the group captured Sydney thinking she knew something about "The Horizon". After Jack has Marshall hack into CIA archives for more information, Dixon and Renée Rienne force Jean Bertrand to reveal more about "The Horizon", which is stored in a safety deposit box in a Vancouver bank.

Jack, Irina, and Sydney infiltrate the bank and retrieve "The Horizon". However, Irina has leaked the information to Peyton, who arrives in the building with her men and kills the guards. Irina attacks Jack, who has "The Horizon" and Sydney realizes Irina arranged her kidnapping. When Irina insists that Peyton will kill her too, Jack responds by saying he will kill Irina first.

After Jack incapacitates Peyton, Sydney goes into labor. Jack and Irina help Sydney give birth to a girl, after which Irina escapes with "The Horizon." Meanwhile, in Bhutan, a monk receives a message from a horseman and shares the news of Sydney's infant daughter with Michael Vaughn.

International titles

• French: Instinct maternel (Maternal instinct)
• German: Mutterinstinkt (Maternal instinct)

One month after the baby is born, Sydney is taking time off from work. Meanwhile, Kelly Peyton arranges for Anna Espinosa, Sydney's old enemy, to be released from prison and kidnap Will Tippin, who is still in the Witness Protection Program. The kidnapping is a ruse to draw Sydney away from her sabbatical. During the rescue, Anna and Sydney fight and Anna draws a small amount of blood from Sydney during the melee and escapes. APO discovers that Prophet Five implanted a miniature bomb at the base of Will's skull, which is set to explode if Sydney does not deliver Page 47, a Rambaldi artifact, to Anna aboard a train in Portugal. Accompanied by Will, Sydney attempts to defuse the bomb and stop Anna from getting away with Page 47. During the subsequent battle, Anna locks Sydney in a baggage car where is she sprayed by an unknown chemical agent. She is rescued by Will, but in order to prevent the bomb in his head from exploding, Anna has to be allowed to escape.

Sloane is introduced to the leaders of Prophet Five who require him to undertake one last mission before they give him the cure for Nadia. As the episode concludes, Anna undergoes a version of the Project Helix protocol, emerging as a genetic duplicate of Sydney Bristow.

Note

• Gina Torres guest stars as Anna Espinosa.

• Bradley Cooper guest stars as Will Tippin.

International titles

• French: L'élue (The chosen one)
• German: Bombe im Kopf (Bomb in the head)

His obligations to Prophet 5 complete, the organization gives Sloane a hypodermic needle containing a Rambaldi-designed drug that will cure Nadia's comatose condition. But there is a price; in order for the drug to work, Nadia must be rendered clinically dead for 30 seconds. Elsewhere, the hunt for Anna Espinosa continues, with APO unaware that she is now a duplicate of Sydney. Sydney and Renée attempt to track Anna's movements during a ruse at a call centre in Jaipur; after Renée uses a clever deception to allow Sydney to complete the mission, Sydney offers her a job at APO. Renée refuses. Later, Sloane smothers Nadia to death in her hospital bed; Jack arrives and, thinking Sloane is committing euthanasia, nearly prevents him from administering Rambaldi's drug in time, but Nadia is successfully revived with no apparent ill effects from her year-long coma. When Sloane says he got the cure through contacts in Barcelona - location of the headquarters of Prophet Five - Jack gets suspicious.

Later, Nadia is reunited with Sydney, but still harboring continued anger towards her father for his past actions, particularly at the end of Season 4, chooses to live with Sydney and the baby instead of Sloane. In France, Renée seduces and later interrogates an old contact who has been given Rambaldi's Page 47 to decipher, but learns the artifact is a fake. Back in Los Angeles, Jack is about to follow Sloane to a possible Prophet Five rendezvous when Nadia appears and asks to go along. The rendezvous instead appears to involve Sloane recovering a suitcase full of Nadia's old clothes from a storage locker. Jack admits he may have misjudged Sloane.

In Ghana, where Renée's contact is to meet with Anna, the APO team waits in ambush, but the vehicle apparently containing Anna speeds off at the last second. When Sydney kills the driver it's discovered that Anna has again escaped. Nearby, Renée has been waiting with a sniper rifle to shoot a tranquilizer dart into Anna; called off the mission, she is about to leave her hiding place when she encounters Anna, who looking like Sydney, pulls a knife and slashes Renée's throat.

Back in L.A., Sloane opens the suitcase he retrieved and under a pile of clothing is the original Page 47. As he examines it, Nadia arrives, intending to make amends with her father. But when she discovers that he has Page 47, years of resentment over his obsession with Rambaldi's prophecies boil over and she attempts to destroy the document in the fireplace. The paper, however, does not burn; instead the Rambaldi symbol <o> begins to glow on the page. In a desperate move to rescue the page from the flames, Sloane pushes Nadia away. She falls through a glass table with a shard slitting her throat and killing her. Sloane, realizing this must be part of his destiny, joins Prophet Five to await Rambaldi's endgame as Jack discovers Nadia's dead body.

International titles

• French: 30 secondes (30 seconds)
• German: 30 Sekunden (30 seconds)

An autopsy of Renée Rienne reveals that she has a chip implanted in her body. The chip is engraved with Michael Vaughn's real name, Andre Micheaux, and contains what appears to be corrupted code. Sydney makes plans to travel to Nepal to meet with Vaughn.

At the Nepal airfield, Anna-as-Sydney intercepts Sydney's contact and learns from him that Vaughn is still alive. A substitute contact intercepts Sydney and diverts her, almost killing her in a car crash.

Anna meets with Vaughn and shows him the chip. Vaughn figures out that the other half of the chip is implanted in him and he and Anna remove it. The two halves of the chip snap together and reveal the location of a hidden bunker in Germany. Anna and Vaughn travel to Germany. Sydney, having escaped from the phony contact, follows.

Anna and Vaughn locate the bunker and break in through the basement of an adjoining jewelry store. There they discover all of the intel gathered on Prophet Five by Vaughn and Rienne's fathers. Vaughn reveals that he knows Anna is not Sydney and they fight. Anna gains the upper hand but Sydney shoots her in the head, killing her. Vaughn is finally able to return home.

Sloane is working to decode the recently revealed message on Page 47. As he works, an apparition of Nadia appears, taunting him. Sloane states to Peyton that he needs a certain book to complete his work and dispatches her with a message to the bookseller. The apparition of Nadia reveals that Sloane has already completed the decoding; indeed, the note to the bookseller is actually a protocol to contact Julian Sark.

International titles

• French: Sixième sens (Sixth sense)
• German: Ich sehe tote Menschen (I see dead people)

Sydney meets with Sloane, who thinks she is Anna, in order to find out what he knows about where the last Rambaldi clue is located. She tells him that she killed Sydney by shooting her in the back and that there was nothing special about how she died. On the way to Rome, Sloane talks to Peyton, telling her that he wants to kill Anna (Sydney) once she has finished helping him recover the final clue.

In a sports betting bar in Rome, Sark, who also thinks she is Anna, meets with Sydney. After calling the police himself, Sark acts out a dramatic robbery in the bar in order to get both of them arrested; this is how they will get into the prison where the final Rambaldi clue is located. It is where Rambaldi himself spent his final days. In separate cells inside the prison, Sark fakes a seizure so he will be taken out of his cell and able to unlock the prison doors for Sydney. When Sydney gets to the prison basement she meets an old man, who gives her a necklace complete with a red pendant, the final Rambaldi clue. The old man does not say who he is, but says that he is not part of the battle which is about to take place. Sydney goes back up to her cell intent on taking the clue for herself, but Sloane appears and surprising her with a stun gun takes the necklace. He then tries to kill her - as he still thinks she is Anna - by choking her, but Vaughn shows up just in time and Sloane flees.

Back in Los Angeles, Vaughn and Sydney are looking over Isabelle and talking about her when the phone rings. Sydney answers; Sloane is on the other end. He says he knew it was she who killed Anna and not the other way around. He then says he has all the artifacts and can now go through with his endgame.

Notes

• The song playing in the background while Vaughn and Sydney are looking over Isabelle is "Catch The Wind" by Donovan.
• The picture of Sydney(Anna Espinosa) and Vaughn displayed on the screens in the briefing room is actually a scene still of them in Rome from the first episode of Season 5, "Prophet 5".

International titles

• French: Sans rancune (No hard feelings)
• German: Nichts für ungut (No hard feelings)

With the collected Prophet Five documentation at hand, APO spreads out across the globe to take photos of the different Prophet Five members. Once they gather the photos and information at the office, they decide to make the arrests simultaneously to avoid tipping the rest of the members off, including Sloane. Jack tasks Marshall to track all their activities so they can coordinate an arrest.

Sloane talks to Sark and Peyton and proposes that they solidify their position in Prophet Five so they would be less expendable. In spite of Peyton's initial hesitation, she agrees.

Tom visits Rachel in her apartment. She consoles him in his sadness and he leans in to kiss her. When Rachel goes in the kitchen, Tom leaves. Rachel is abducted by Sark. Around the same time Marshall is abducted from his home and is brought to Sloane's hideout. With Peyton, Sloane asks Marshall to hack into the government system and locate an underground cavern by accessing the federal ground-penetrating satellite. When Marshall refuses, Peyton tortures him; elsewhere, Sark tortures Rachel.

Sydney and Jack visit Carrie, Marshall's wife, who called them for support in finding Marshall. When Sydney reveals to her that Marshall is still working for the CIA, Carrie volunteers to help and provide technical support in Marshall's absence. As soon as Carrie arrives in the APO office, she cracks the password for Marshall's program to track Prophet Five members (which is Moonglum of Elwher).

Sloane confronts Sydney in the parking lot as she is carrying Isabelle. Sloane tells her to talk to Marshall, who is determined to not give in. Sydney then tells Marshall to do what Sloane says and asks what he wants to tell Carrie. He asks Sydney to tell Carrie to finish reading the book "The Littlest Fish" to their son.

Marshall tells Rachel that he needs her help in doing Sloane's bidding. To ease Rachel's confusion, Marshall tells her that he had spoken to Sydney. Marshall suggests that they leapfrog across the network so they would not get caught in their hacks. With an understanding that Marshall actually wants to get caught, they begin to work on their laptop. Later, Rachel locates the cave that Sloane wanted in central Italy.

Vaughn relays Marshall's message to Carrie, where Carrie figures out that the lead character in "The Littlest Fish" is named Noah. She concludes that Marshall must be referring to NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - something that Marshall must be hacking currently. Carrie sets up trip wires to monitor government hacks and pinpoint Marshal's location. She finds Marshall deliberately triggering network security protocols. She narrows his location down to Ixtapa and Jack sends a rescue team.

In the basement, Rachel picks her handcuffs with an underwire and with Marshall, they escape the guard who was sent to kill them. Followed by other guards, they run through a corridor in time to be rescued by APO.

At the APO office, Carrie reports to Jack that based on Marshall's tracker, The Twelve seem to be gathering in Zurich. Jack assumes that Sloane must be presenting the information that Marshall and Rachel uncovered and assembles strike team. Retrieving information at Sloane's safehouse, Rachel mentions that Sloane is going to Umbria. Sydney realizes that he must be going to Mount Subasio.

Sydney and Vaughn travel to Mount Subasio and Sydney rappels into an icy underground cavern, where she finds Sloane with the Rambaldi amulet. When Sydney holds him at gunpoint, Sloane says that a shot will trigger a cave in. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Sark sets a timer for a planted bomb.

At the APO office, Tom reports that based on the files in Sloane's hideout, bombs are being planted around the APO office through the subway system. Jack tells them to clear the office while Tom and Dixon sweep the tunnels for the bomb. Marshall and Rachel are tasked to evacuate civilians. Later, Tom finds the bomb and reports that it can't be dismantled because of the fail-safe components. He suggests freezing the timer with liquid nitrogen to extend the countdown.

Peyton goes to Zurich and meets with The Twelve. Standing in the middle of the room and expected to present the amulet, Peyton opens the briefcase and pulls out two semi-automatic weapons. She kills all the members of The Twelve and their bodyguards.

With the last of the civilians cleared out of the tunnel, Jack tells Tom to get out of the train and run to safety. Instead, Tom asks to be patched to Rachel. He tells Rachel that if they had more time, he would have asked her out. Rachel tearfully replies that she would have said yes. The bomb detonates, destroying APO headquarters and killing Grace.

Sloane holds the amulet against the light. He tells Sydney she is not allowed to see it and he shoots the icy ground she is standing on. Syd falls through and is rendered unconscious.

International titles

• Czech: Odveta (Reprisal)
• French: Le dernier élément (The last element)
• German: Vergeltung (Retribution)

Vaughn finds an unconscious Sydney and administers CPR. In a flashback, Sydney recalls the time when Jack told her that her mother had died, asking her to be strong. Sydney wakes up.

Peyton tells Sloane that she was able to make contact with their ally in Hong Kong, and that they have a deal as she reveals the Horizon. Sark asks if they want to go through with this global genocide. Sloane confirms as they look on nuclear missiles.

In the safety of a hotel in Siena, Sydney flashes back to her childhood when she assembled building blocks, not realizing that this was part of Project Christmas - meant to test people's aptitude for being operatives.

Later Sydney reads a report of two stolen missiles and assumes Sloane's involvement. Sydney concludes that if Sloane had killed all Prophet Five members, he must have all their assets, and would have bought these missiles from someone. Marshall then hacks into the Russian bank network and looks into the phone records. Via satellite, they are able to locate Peyton.

Vaughn, Dixon and Sydney interrogate Peyton, and she tells them that she does not know where the missiles are stored now but she knows that Sloane is targeting two cities with high civilian concentrations. Jack remarks that Sloane is not interested in devastation -he wants to profit from the reconstruction. Sydney discovers that Sloane is in Mongolia.

As Sydney prepares to fly to Mongolia, Rachel reports that she and Marshall are trying to hack into optical satellites to locate the missiles. They realize that Sloane has hacked into the network with information uploaded from a contact in Hong Kong. Peyton reveals the contact under interrogation by Dixon.

Sloane and Sark go inside the cave in Mongolia. Later, Sloane says that the next step is for him alone to do. Sloane journeys down to a chamber that turns out to be Rambaldi's burial place. He places the Horizon on top of Rambaldi's tomb. A red sphere (similar to but probably not like those generated by a Mueller device) appears and a red fluid drains from that sphere into the Horizon.

Vaughn, Sydney and Jack infiltrate the camp set up outside of Rambaldi's tomb. Sydney sneaks into the underground chamber and holds Sloane at gunpoint. Meanwhile, Vaughn and Jack are surrounded by Sark and his men. Sydney is about to destroy the Horizon when Sark arrives holding Vaughn and Jack hostage.

Holding Sydney at gunpoint, Sloane urges her to give the artifact back. He then shoots Jack. Sydney drops the Horizon and rushes to her father as Vaughn fights with his captors. Sydney shoots Sloane several times and Sloane falls into a pool of the red liquid. He dies and Sark picks up the Horizon.

Sydney flashes back to a memory of telling her father she'd started working for Credit Dauphine and Jack telling her to quit immediately.

Sydney and Vaughn carry a severely wounded Jack out of the chamber where they attempt to perform first aid. Vaughn says Sloane is dead and that Sark must be taking the Horizon to their contact in Hong Kong--Irina Derevko.

Jack urges them to go to Hong Kong. When Sydney wants to stay, Jack says that she is the only one who can stop her mother. He adds that he never wanted this life for Sydney, but Sydney is far too driven and strong to let anyone stop her. Sydney tells her father that she loves him and leaves reluctantly.

In Hong Kong, Sark delivers the Horizon to Irina and reports that the missiles are ready. Irina tells him to target London and Washington D.C. Sark goes to a control room and initiates the countdown.

Sydney arrives and confronts Irina, who tells her that power is the only currency and that through Rambaldi, they can live forever. Sydney and Irina fight furiously, while Vaughn breaks into the control room and shoots Sark. With Marshall's help, the launch is aborted.

Meanwhile, in Mongolia, Sloane's bullet wounds heal and he is restored to life. As he sees Nadia's ghost, he starts to walk out of the chamber when a wounded Jack stops him. Sloane says he can heal Jack; Jack refuses, saying Sloane has caused Sydney so much pain he won't let him do it again. Sloane tells Jack that he is now immortal, but Jack points out that he can keep him in that underground cave with him. Jack sets off explosives, causing a cave in.

Sydney and Irina continue their struggle on a roof deck, where Irina falls to her death as she tries to grab the Horizon.

Irina about to grasp the Horizon.

In Mongolia, Sloane is half-buried alive, with no one to hear his calls for help. Nadia's ghost appears to tell him that she can do nothing for him and that as he had said, he has all the time in the world. "At least I'll have you to keep me company," he remarks. She says no as she turns her back to her father and disappears.

Flash forward to a scene of 7-yr old Isabelle playing by the ocean. Dixon arrives, and Vaughn and Sydney greet him, with Sydney carrying a toddler son named Jack. Dixon asks Sydney for some help in an assignment, but Vaughn suggests discussing this after dinner. Meanwhile, Isabelle finds wooden building blocks -- the same ones that were used in the Project Christmas tests. Isabelle assembles the blocks effortlessly and successfully, but then knocks them down nonchalantly and runs out with Sydney, Vaughn and Dixon for a walk by the beach.

Notes

• Merrin Dungey guest stars as Francie Calfo.

• Lena Olin guest stars as Irina Derevko

International titles

• French: Un sentiment d'éternité (A feeling of eternity)
• German: Alle Zeit der Welt (All the time of the world)
• Finnish: Kaikki maailman aika (All the time of the world)
• Italian: Tutto il Tempo del Mondo (All the time of the world)