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The following is a list of organizations in the TV series, '' Alias''.


Alliance of Twelve

The Alliance of Twelve is a fictional
international organized crime Transnational organized crime (TOC) is organized crime coordinated transnational crime, across national borders, involving groups or markets of individuals working in more than one country to plan and execute illegal business ventures. To ach ...
group in the television series '' Alias''. It is involved in the trade of
intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
and
weapons A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...
as well as in
blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...
. SD-6 is one of its subsidiary
cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a d ...
. The organization was founded by Alain Christophe, once a CIA
counterintelligence Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's Intelligence agency, intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering informati ...
officer, as well as other former agents of various other intelligence agencies and wealthy individuals investing in the spy trade after the Cold War. The Alliance of Twelve is an enemy of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and a rival to the CIA.


Organizational structure

The Alliance is led by a board of directors, one of them being Arvin Sloane. Some members are from the private sector, but most are former intelligence officers. All of them are wealthy. The organization is divided into 12 sections, named SD-1 through SD-12. "SD" stands for ''Section Disparu'' – literally, ''the section which has disappeared'' in French (Sydney translates it as "the section that doesn't exist" in the episode ''Q&A''), this was coined by founder Alain Christophe. These organizational cells are spread over 12 major cities of the world. The Alliance takes in recruits and tricks them to believe they are working for the CIA when in reality they are not.


Objectives

The purview of the Alliance is the
black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...
trading of weapons, military secrets, industrial intelligence, medical technology, computer advances, and political agendas. Its clients include governments, corporations, wealthy citizens, and families. The Alliance aims to eventually reach world domination through its control over organized crime and the trade of intelligence. According to
Jack Bristow Jonathan "Jack" Donahue Bristow, played by Victor Garber, is a fictional character of the ABC television series '' Alias''. He is the father of the central character Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner. For playing the character, Garber ...
and
Arvin Sloane Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, '' Alias''. ''TV Guide'' included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; ( ...
, the Alliance once wished to change the world when it had achieved this, and rid the world of corruption, but had become bloated and corrupt over the years, diverging from their original vision and focusing instead on profit.


Actions

According to
Sydney Bristow Sydney Anne Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the television series '' Alias''. She is an American woman with a Russian-Canadian family background who thought she was working as a spy for the ...
in the episode "
Q and A Q&A ("question and answer") may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Q & A'' (film), a 1990 American crime drama film * "Q&A" (''The Batman''), a 2004 episode of the TV series * "Q&A" (''Homeland''), a 2012 episode of the ...
", the Alliance of Twelve was responsible for the carbon proxy disaster in 1992, in which an accidental
methyl isocyanate Methyl isocyanate (MIC) is an organic compound with the molecular formula CH3NCO. Synonyms are isocyanatomethane and methyl carbylamine. Methyl isocyanate is an intermediate chemical in the production of carbamate pesticides and Haffmann Bromam ...
leak at the manufacturer plant in Bhopal, Madhyapradesh, India killed three thousand people and injured another thousand, leaving them disabled. In 1996, near
Kyoto, Japan Kyoto ( or ; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most pop ...
, a bullet train accidentally switched tracks and derailed, killing a hundred and fifty people. The Alliance was also responsible for that disaster. In 2001, the Alliance caused a transport plane in Germany to suffer mechanical failures outside Munich, killing twelve people. The disasters were falsely believed to have been accidents. In truth, some were acts of revenge, others were personal favors to those who helped fund the Alliance. Some were distractions so that local resources were occupied so that SD-4 or SD-7 could infiltrate a building somewhere and retrieve sensitive data.


SD-6

SD-6, headed by
Arvin Sloane Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, '' Alias''. ''TV Guide'' included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; ( ...
and based in Los Angeles, is the focus of the first two seasons of ''Alias''. SD-6 pretends to be part of the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
and states its objective as "retrieval and study of intelligence both military and industrial throughout the world that is critical to the superiority and survival of the United States of America." Even its own members, initially including agent
Sydney Bristow Sydney Anne Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the television series '' Alias''. She is an American woman with a Russian-Canadian family background who thought she was working as a spy for the ...
, believe it is a
black ops A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...
division of the CIA; and only a handful of senior staff know the truth and are complicit in the deception. In the first episode of ''Alias'', Sydney learns from her father, Jack, about the organization's true character as a part of The Alliance of Twelve. During the course of the first season, other heads of the SD cells are eventually shown meeting. Among them was Edward Poole, head of SD-9 (played by
Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the ...
), who manages to convince Sloane to kill fellow SD head Jean Briault to influence an upcoming vote on whether to declare war on
Alexander Khasinau The following is a partial list of characters from the spy action thriller television series '' Alias''. Overview Main characters Recurring characters McKenas Cole McKenas Cole was portrayed by Quentin Tarantino. Formerly an operative for ...
, who has eliminated rival groups FTL and K-Directorate. Another SD leader is identified by the first name "Ramon," but his last name and his SD cell number are unrevealed.


Paranoia and ruthlessness


Of SD-6

SD-6 branch was headquartered in the Credit Dauphine building in Los Angeles, with entry through a special elevator to the sixth sub-level of the building. Every person who entered would be biometrically scanned and visually confirmed. As a security measure, all three areas of the foundations of the building itself were rigged with C-4 explosives that would go off if the inner vault had been breached during a security lockdown or for other contingencies. Fail-safe or lockdown procedures could be carried out only by Arvin Sloane, using his right index fingerprint; presumably, other SD cells had similar contingency plans (such as for deterring a CIA raid, which happens in Season 2) that would make it difficult to shut down. In addition, SD-6 employed an internal security group responsible for investigating and terminating individuals who even know of SD-6's existence, those believed to know about the true nature of SD-6, or those suspected to be
Double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
s or traitors to SD-6. Sydney's fiancée, Danny, was murdered by SD-6's internal security division in Season 1 after Sydney revealed to him that she works for SD-6, believing it to be a part of the CIA.


Of The Alliance

In addition to the cell-like nature of ''Section Disparu'', which presumably allows the termination of entire SD cells in the event that it is wholly compromised, the Alliance of Twelve is an utterly ruthless organization that constantly suspects and conduct surveillance of even its head members. When Arvin Sloane's wife, Emily, admits to knowing of the existence of SD-6, Arvin is told to have his wife killed as a test of loyalty. Arvin was able to win a temporary reprieve because of his wife's cancer which would kill her soon; when her cancer is found to be in remission, he is again told that in order to become a "full partner" in The Alliance, he would have to kill his wife. He then faked his wife's death by drugging her wine and putting her in suspended animation. Having proven his loyalty to the members of The Alliance, he is welcomed as a full partner and injected in the neck with a tracking device and mini-microphone to have his movements and conversations recorded 24/7. Although Sloane was clearly privy to matters that only a handful of men and women knew about, he was clearly not yet part of an 'inner circle' within The Alliance board, suggesting that there is some sense of competition and suspicion among the SD cells and their leaders.


The end of The Alliance

The Alliance came to an end in the middle of Season 2 (Episode 13, "Phase One") of ''Alias'' when Sydney stumbles upon information, with Sark's aid, that leads her and Vaughn to believe there is one master server, server 47 (in keeping with the Rambaldi sub-plot of the show, where 47 is a key number in Rambaldi's works), which could potentially have all the information the CIA would need to shut down all of the SD cells simultaneously, thus acting as a sort of '
silver bullet Silver Bullet(s) or The Silver Bullet may refer to: * Silver bullet, in folklore, a weapon against supernatural creatures; metaphorically, a simple, effective solution to a problem Film and television * The Silver Bullet (1935 film), ''The Silve ...
' to the cell-like nature of the Alliance. Although the server was located on a Boeing 747 plane that was constantly airborne as a security measure, Sydney was able to pose as an escort for the computer technicians on board during one of its landings and copy all the information from the server. When Jack attempted to go back to SD-6 headquarters to get confirmation that the information was genuine (as the CIA would only have one chance), he was apprehended by the acting head Geiger (Sloane had taken off and was declared MIA by the Alliance) who accused him of being a CIA spy. Knowing she could not go back herself, Sydney called her SD-6 partner Marcus Dixon to get the confirmation and tells Dixon the true nature of SD-6. With this information, the CIA was able to successfully raid all the offices of various SD cells around the world; Sydney was a part of the CIA team that infiltrated SD-6 headquarters in Los Angeles and rescued her father moments before he would be electrocuted by Geiger. It is then revealed that Sloane had planned the destruction of the Alliance, having a technician bypass the surveillance devices in his neck, and he and
Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...
had supplied Sydney with the information the CIA needed to remove The Alliance – after he had cleared out (apparently) all Rambaldi artifacts to his own location outside of SD-6. However, one artifact escaped Sloane's attention. This artifact, the Horizon, had been sought by
Prophet Five The following is a list of organizations in the TV series, '' Alias''. Alliance of Twelve The Alliance of Twelve is a fictional international organized crime group in the television series '' Alias''. It is involved in the trade of intelligen ...
for thirty years, and was eventually retrieved (after coercing Sydney) by Irina Derevko, who then betrayed Prophet Five, almost four years after the fall of the Alliance.


The Covenant

The Covenant is a large, powerful, and secretive intelligence/terrorist organization. The Covenant was a "loose affiliation of Russian nationalists" composed of retired
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
and former Central Committee members, all dedicated to the new world envisioned by
Milo Rambaldi The following is a partial list of characters from the spy action thriller television series '' Alias''. Overview Main characters Recurring characters McKenas Cole McKenas Cole was portrayed by Quentin Tarantino. Formerly an operative for ...
. It functioned much like an organized crime family. At one point, it had six cell leaders, until
Julian Sark Julian Sark is a recurring fictional character portrayed by David Anders on the ABC television series '' Alias''. The series follows Sydney Bristow, an operative working for an organization called SD-6 which she believes is a covert branch of the ...
and
Lauren Reed Lauren Reed is a fictional character played by Melissa George in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Alias (TV series), Alias''. She is Michael Vaughn (Alias), Michael Vaughn's wife during the Alias (season 3), third season o ...
(a double agent in the
United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and Foreign relations of the United States, foreign policy matter ...
who was Michael Vaughn's wife) assassinated them in a bid for power. The Covenant had secured Sark's release to gain access to his wealth as a
Romanov The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...
descendant. McKenas Cole had somehow managed to secure his own release and was now the second most powerful individual in the Covenant. During season 3, it was based in
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
. Two of its front companies were the Dryden Bank and Chantre Telecom. Following the end of season 2 and prior to the beginning of season 3, The Covenant kidnapped
Sydney Bristow Sydney Anne Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the television series '' Alias''. She is an American woman with a Russian-Canadian family background who thought she was working as a spy for the ...
and attempted to brainwash her into believing she was a Covenant agent. Sydney operated as a double agent for the CIA using the alias Julia Thorne for almost two years. Eventually, Sydney left the Covenant and had her memory of that time erased in an effort to prevent the Covenant from gaining a crucial Rambaldi artifact, later revealed to be the Sphere of Life.
FBI Assistant Director Kendall The following is a partial list of characters from the spy action thriller television series '' Alias''. Overview Main characters Recurring characters McKenas Cole McKenas Cole was portrayed by Quentin Tarantino. Formerly an operative for ...
later told Sydney about those missing years and how she was able to escape the Covenant with his help. At the end of season 3 Lauren Reed was killed and Sark was captured. In season 4 the Covenant has disappeared as a threat, and Sark later referred to the "implosion of the Covenant." However, the "implosion" was a ruse perpetrated by Elena Derevko, who was revealed to be the leader of the Covenant, and that
Irina Derevko Irina Derevko () is a fictional character on the television series '' Alias'', and a main character during the second season of the series. Irina, played by Lena Olin, is the mother of the central character, Sydney Bristow. Biography She is firs ...
had actually been trying to prevent Elena's endgame. Elena's new headquarters is in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
and was eventually raided; however, she managed to escape. Elena's endgame, based on her interpretation of one of Rambaldi's prophecies, was an apocalypse called ''Il Diluvio'', The Flood. Covenant operatives primed the world's water with Rambaldi substances and Elena activated an enormous Mueller device in Sovogda,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. The device broadcast a frequency which caused those who had consumed the tainted water to go into a mindless rage. Elena's intent was that, after the entire world's population had been affected, the Earth would be "cleansed" with very few survivors. With the help of Irina, the APO team managed to prevent The Flood, and Irina killed Elena. However, Nadia Santos had been captured and injected with the tainted water and sent out to fight her sister Sydney, as foreseen by Rambaldi. Sydney only managed to survive with the intervention of
Arvin Sloane Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, '' Alias''. ''TV Guide'' included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; ( ...
, who shot Nadia and put her in a coma.


Known Covenant members

* Elena Derevko (leader) *Roger Barris (leader) *Ned Bolger (aka "Arvin Clone;" believed himself to be Arvin Sloane and not associated with The Covenant) *Kazari Bomani *Sydney Bristow (alias Julia Thorne; double agent) *"Coke Bottle Glasses" (real name unknown; Elena's underling) *McKenas Cole (Elena's second in command and chief of operations) *"Irina Derevko" (real name unknown; volunteered to be doubled and killed by
Jack Bristow Jonathan "Jack" Donahue Bristow, played by Victor Garber, is a fictional character of the ABC television series '' Alias''. He is the father of the central character Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner. For playing the character, Garber ...
) *
Katya Derevko The following is a partial list of characters from the spy action thriller television series '' Alias''. Overview Main characters Recurring characters McKenas Cole McKenas Cole was portrayed by Quentin Tarantino. Formerly an operative for ...
(allied, possibly as a ruse to help bring down Elena; exact status unknown) * Allison Doren *Johannes Gathird (one of the cell leaders assassinated by Lauren Reed) *Gerhard Kronish (a cell leader assassinated by Sark or Reed) *Leonid Lisenker (defected in North Korea) *Oleg Madrczyk (tried to turn Sydney into Julia Thorne; later killed by Sydney) *Calvin McCullough (former head of
SD-6 The following is a list of organizations in the TV series, '' Alias''. Alliance of Twelve The Alliance of Twelve is a fictional international organized crime group in the television series '' Alias''. It is involved in the trade of intelligen ...
Psychological Warfare Division, responsible for creating "Arvin Clone") *Lucien Nisard (led a raid on the Department of Special Research to obtain Rambaldi artifacts) *
Lauren Reed Lauren Reed is a fictional character played by Melissa George in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Alias (TV series), Alias''. She is Michael Vaughn (Alias), Michael Vaughn's wife during the Alias (season 3), third season o ...
(co-leader of North American cell) *Olivia Reed *Uschek San'ko (Sark's main Covenant contact. Formed the Cadmus Revolutionary Front from former Covenant operatives. Assassinated by
Anna Espinosa The following is a partial list of characters from the spy action thriller television series '' Alias''. Overview Main characters Recurring characters McKenas Cole McKenas Cole was portrayed by Quentin Tarantino. Formerly an operative for ...
) *
Julian Sark Julian Sark is a recurring fictional character portrayed by David Anders on the ABC television series '' Alias''. The series follows Sydney Bristow, an operative working for an organization called SD-6 which she believes is a covert branch of the ...
(co-leader of North American cell, chief financier) *
Arvin Sloane Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, '' Alias''. ''TV Guide'' included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; ( ...
(first a double agent, then partnered with Elena) *Gordei Volkov (Russian hitman)


Authorized Personnel Only

Authorized Personnel Only (APO) is a fictional
black ops A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...
unit within the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
in the American TV series '' Alias''. It was formed at the beginning of
Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...
and is headquartered beneath the Los Angeles subway system.


History and background

Its first director was
Arvin Sloane Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, '' Alias''. ''TV Guide'' included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; ( ...
, who also gave the organization its name as an inside joke since the main entrance to APO's headquarters was behind a maintenance door in the Los Angeles subway system marked "Authorized Personnel Only". Concerned that increased public scrutiny of the CIA and resulting red tape has impeded their ability to do their job, the CIA asked Sloane to set up the covert unit as one that is still governed by
U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
laws, but unhampered by bureaucratic chain of command with no accountability except to themselves. Sloane was chosen because of his experience running
SD-6 The following is a list of organizations in the TV series, '' Alias''. Alliance of Twelve The Alliance of Twelve is a fictional international organized crime group in the television series '' Alias''. It is involved in the trade of intelligen ...
, which successfully posed as a CIA black ops division for several years. All of its initial members were hand-picked by Sloane, and in order to maintain APO's cover as a unit that officially doesn't exist, all members from previous seasons officially resign from the CIA under varying circumstances to work for APO. Although headed by Sloane, APO ultimately answered to CIA Director Hayden Chase, and at the end of
Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...
, Sloane was removed from his post and replaced by
Jack Bristow Jonathan "Jack" Donahue Bristow, played by Victor Garber, is a fictional character of the ABC television series '' Alias''. He is the father of the central character Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner. For playing the character, Garber ...
, who remained in charge of APO into Season 5. Sloane ultimately returned to APO as assistant director, although unknown to his colleagues he was now a
mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...
for
Prophet Five The following is a list of organizations in the TV series, '' Alias''. Alliance of Twelve The Alliance of Twelve is a fictional international organized crime group in the television series '' Alias''. It is involved in the trade of intelligen ...
, a criminal organization that also pretended to be the CIA in order to recruit. Sloane was allowed back into APO in order to use its resources to find a cure for Nadia Santos, his daughter, after the events of the season 4 finale.


Personnel

The first agents recruited and their new
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...
s are: *
Jack Bristow Jonathan "Jack" Donahue Bristow, played by Victor Garber, is a fictional character of the ABC television series '' Alias''. He is the father of the central character Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner. For playing the character, Garber ...
– Raptor *
Sydney Bristow Sydney Anne Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the television series '' Alias''. She is an American woman with a Russian-Canadian family background who thought she was working as a spy for the ...
– Phoenix * Michael Vaughn – Shotgun * Marcus Dixon – Outrigger Nadia Santos (Evergreen) later joined APO at her request.
Marshall Flinkman Marshall J. Flinkman is a fictional character on the television series, '' Alias''. Flinkman, portrayed by Kevin Weisman, is the tech geek at SD-6 and then later the CIA. When a field agent is sent on a mission, Marshall serves in a function simi ...
(Merlin) was recruited to serve as tech support.
Eric Weiss Eric Weiss is a fictional character, played by Greg Grunberg, from the television series '' Alias''. He is one of Sydney Bristow's CIA co-workers. Character biography Eric Weiss was a field agent at the CIA. He is a friend of most of the people a ...
also became a member after crossing paths with Sydney and Vaughn during an APO mission. In the fifth season, APO gained two new members following the apparent
death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
of Michael Vaughn,
Eric Weiss Eric Weiss is a fictional character, played by Greg Grunberg, from the television series '' Alias''. He is one of Sydney Bristow's CIA co-workers. Character biography Eric Weiss was a field agent at the CIA. He is a friend of most of the people a ...
's transfer to
Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
and Nadia's hospitalization for her illness. Thomas Grace (Sidewinder) was recruited from another division of the CIA, while Rachel Gibson (Oracle) was a former, unwitting agent of The Shed who thought she was working for the CIA while under Gordon Dean; Rachel essentially took over Sydney's former role as the double agent in the enemy organization while Sydney acted as Rachel's handler just as Vaughn was once hers, particularly since Sydney's current pregnancy limited her abilities as a field agent. As the series approached its finale, numerous changes occurred in APO.
Arvin Sloane Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, '' Alias''. ''TV Guide'' included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; ( ...
was removed as director and replaced by
Jack Bristow Jonathan "Jack" Donahue Bristow, played by Victor Garber, is a fictional character of the ABC television series '' Alias''. He is the father of the central character Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner. For playing the character, Garber ...
. As Sloane's endgame began to come to fruition, involving moles within the CIA itself, Bristow began to hide information from CIA oversight. In the series finale, APO headquarters was destroyed by a large bomb planted in the subway by
Julian Sark Julian Sark is a recurring fictional character portrayed by David Anders on the ABC television series '' Alias''. The series follows Sydney Bristow, an operative working for an organization called SD-6 which she believes is a covert branch of the ...
, who was working with Sloane. APO and the subway were evacuated, but agent Thomas Grace died in the blast. (The episode revealed that APO headquarters was within a few blocks of Los Angeles City Hall, meaning that APO must be in the Civic Center Station). The series ends with a "flash-forward" to several years into the future (roughly 2014). Marcus Dixon is referred to as "deputy director" but it is not indicated whether APO still exists in this future time.


Prophet Five

The Shed is a fictional criminal operation in the television series '' Alias''. The leader of the Shed was initially Gordon Dean, and later temporarily, Kelly Peyton, though her superiors warned her that any more betrayals would lead to severe consequences and they both ultimately answered to a larger group: Prophet Five. Prophet Five served as an
Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 ...
-like conspiracy group in the fifth season of ''Alias''. The headquarters of Prophet Five was in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Spain, with known Shed satellite offices in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
,
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
,
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
.


History and objectives

Prophet Five was started in the 1970s by Oskar Mueller as a project funded by a private foundation. Parts of the project were compartmentalized, but it is known that the "best and the brightest" mathematicians, linguists, scientists, and cryptologists, including James Lehman and the father of
André Michaux André Michaux (' → ahn- mee-; sometimes Anglicisation, anglicised as Andrew Michaud; 8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specime ...
, were recruited to decrypt a section of a 15th-century manuscript known as the ''Profeta Cinque'' (Fifth Prophet) which was written in apparently unbreakable code. They succeeded, and discovered that the manuscript referenced proteins, nucleotides and amino acids – advanced genetics apparently ahead of its time. Lehman and Michaux assumed they were being tested, and presented their findings to a committee. The project was shut down and they were sent back to their everyday lives. Meanwhile,
Renée Rienne Renée Rienne (real name Renée Goursaud, alias ''Le Corbeau'', "The Raven") is a fictional character in the spy-fi (neologism), spy-fi television series ''Alias (TV series), Alias''. Played by Élodie Bouchez, she was introduced as a new charact ...
's father, Luc Goursaud, was involved in another part of the project, as a test subject for clinical trials administered by Doctor Aldo Desantis. He was paid an impressive amount of money. It is unknown what he was tested for, but it is known that thirty years later, Desantis emerged from a cryogenic chamber looking identical to Renée's father. It is likely that Prophet Five experimented on Renée's father to develop experimental genetic doubling techniques, possibly based on Lehman and Michaux's findings from the manuscript. Renée's father somehow discovered something about the experiments that disturbed him, and he fled with his daughter across Europe, only to be taken away by Desantis. Renée witnessed this and swore revenge. A few weeks after Lehman and Michaux shut down the project, Michaux contacted Lehman. He had begun to notice that those who they were told had worked on the project were starting to die in mysterious accidents. He would then change his name and go into hiding (as Bill Vaughn) and urge Lehman to do the same. According to
Irina Derevko Irina Derevko () is a fictional character on the television series '' Alias'', and a main character during the second season of the series. Irina, played by Lena Olin, is the mother of the central character, Sydney Bristow. Biography She is firs ...
most assumed Prophet Five to be a myth and discounted its existence, but around the time of the events occurring in Sovogda rumors arose that Prophet Five was real and had gone active once again. The group pursued the Horizon. The key to finding this Rambaldi device lay with old
SD-6 The following is a list of organizations in the TV series, '' Alias''. Alliance of Twelve The Alliance of Twelve is a fictional international organized crime group in the television series '' Alias''. It is involved in the trade of intelligen ...
files. Prophet Five kidnapped and hypnotized
Sydney Bristow Sydney Anne Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the television series '' Alias''. She is an American woman with a Russian-Canadian family background who thought she was working as a spy for the ...
, believing she had the knowledge from SD-6 that would aid in recovering the device. Sydney gave them fake coordinates, but her mother Irina tricked her into taking them to the real location of the Horizon, a safety deposit box in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. Irina betrayed Prophet Five and disappeared with the Horizon. Prophet Five's endgame also revolved around 15th century prophet
Milo Rambaldi The following is a partial list of characters from the spy action thriller television series '' Alias''. Overview Main characters Recurring characters McKenas Cole McKenas Cole was portrayed by Quentin Tarantino. Formerly an operative for ...
, specifically his interest in Sydney, whom Rambaldi refers to as his "Chosen One." Ultimately, Prophet Five's endgame remains a mystery, as the Twelve were on Sloane's orders. Since Irina and Sloane were apparently after immortality, it may be assumed the Twelve were after the secret as well.


Structure and organization

Prophet Five was led by a group of twelve, remarkably similar to the Alliance. In addition, the Shed operated similarly to SD-6, with most agents believing they were part of a
black ops A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...
division of the CIA. Members have ties to British
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
, Russian SVR, French Intelligence, the
Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...
,
pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...
companies, and even the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
. Prophet Five also had some connection with the government of
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
, as Doctor Desantis was transported to a North Korean military facility after escaping Renée Rienne. Members of the Twelve controlled entire sectors of technology, finance, and defense. When Arvin Sloane is summoned to meet the twelve in Minsk, the twelve consist of 11 men and one woman.


Personnel


Known aliases of the Twelve

*Y. Olnocvhev *S. Danforth *M. Aidarov *D. Chivers *G. Borrell Jr. *E. Jacobs *R. C Chadra *PJ Pudeel *R. Archibold III *H. Coburn *M. Spratt *U. Hildaggo (These names are from a type-written list found among the material on Prophet Five assembled by Michael Vaughn's father. It is unknown whether these are the original Twelve, the current Twelve or some combination of past and current members.)


Known associates

*Doctor Burris *
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
Senior Officer Davenport *Gordon Dean *Doctor Aldo Desantis *
Anna Espinosa The following is a partial list of characters from the spy action thriller television series '' Alias''. Overview Main characters Recurring characters McKenas Cole McKenas Cole was portrayed by Quentin Tarantino. Formerly an operative for ...
*Kheel (first name unrevealed; confirmed as one of the Twelve) *McMullen (first name unrevealed; confirmed as one of the Twelve) * Kelly Peyton *
Julian Sark Julian Sark is a recurring fictional character portrayed by David Anders on the ABC television series '' Alias''. The series follows Sydney Bristow, an operative working for an organization called SD-6 which she believes is a covert branch of the ...
*
Arvin Sloane Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, '' Alias''. ''TV Guide'' included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; ( ...


Former associates

*
Irina Derevko Irina Derevko () is a fictional character on the television series '' Alias'', and a main character during the second season of the series. Irina, played by Lena Olin, is the mother of the central character, Sydney Bristow. Biography She is firs ...
(allied in some manner for a brief period of time) * Rachel Gibson *Luc Goursaud (
Renée Rienne Renée Rienne (real name Renée Goursaud, alias ''Le Corbeau'', "The Raven") is a fictional character in the spy-fi (neologism), spy-fi television series ''Alias (TV series), Alias''. Played by Élodie Bouchez, she was introduced as a new charact ...
's father) *James Lehman *Bill Vaughn ( Michael Vaughn's father)


References

{{alias Alias (TV series) Fictional organized crime groups Fictional intelligence agencies