Profeta Cinque

Here is what we know about Alias’ new super-secret antagonist…

In 1972, Bill Vaughn (aka Mr. Michaux) is recruited as a mathematician by a private foundation to decode a page of a 15th century book called the Profeta Cinque, or the Fifth Prophet. The foundation was founded by Mueller, an architect who also drew up schematics for the Circumference (the big red ball), which was inspired by Rambaldi. James Lehman is also recruited into this group as a cryptologist specializing in spatial relations and patterns. After years of work, the code is finally deciphered as a sequence of genetic code, proteins and amino acids. Once the group turns in their report on the page, Bill Vaughn contacts James Lehman with a warning. Other members of the research team are dying; heart attacks, car crashes. Bill Vaughn advises Lehman to follow his lead, to change his name and disappear.

Bill Vaughn then joins the CIA. He “rescues” a little girl from Russia, Nadia, who he leaves in the care of Elena Derevko. In 1979, Bill Vaughn is killed by Irina Derevko, Nadia’s mother.

Michael Vaughn is approached by a known fugitive, Renee Rienne, with a story about Prophet Five (P5) and her father’s involvement. Renee tells Michael that Mueller had developed the group and that she is investigating the disappearance of her father. Michael finds that his father was a part of this group. A year later (season 1), Sydney enters the CIA with her story about SD-6 and a device developed by Mueller. This is a clue and Michael becomes her handler.

In season 3, Michael is told by Brill, a retired CIA Ops Officer, that his father was a Rambaldi follower.

In season 4, Michael Vaughn is approached by a man named Roberts with intel that his father may still be alive. Michael is duped into providing Robert’s group with a transistor core used in a Russian project called Nightingale. Michael is then persuaded to help the group secure a Rambaldi book. It is later revealed that Vaughn’s father is indeed dead, and that the Sloane Clone was behind the hoax.

Vaughn decides to tell Sydney about his work with Renee. As he reveals his secret, their car is hit on a dusty road and they crash. Vaughn is taken by Ivan Curtis, a man who wants information about P5. Vaughn is able to escape and contact Sydney. Together they visit Lehman who gives them the location of P5 intel, a villa in Cape Town, South Africa. Sydney and Vaughn retrieve the information and schedule a meet with Lehman. The meeting is ambushed by Gordon Dean, who is posing as a CIA officer and Ivan Curtis. Dean kills Lehman and retrieves the book and Vaughn is shot by Ivan Curtis.

APO discovers that Ivan Curtis is ordering mass amounts of Iridium. The Iridium is being used to sustain a cryogenic freezer with a man inside. Sydney questions Curtis about P5 and its leaders. Curtis informs Sydney that she “doesn’t want to know” and “that even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” Curtis, fearing the wrath of P5, then jumps from the plane. The cryo-chamber is handed over to the DSR (Department of Special Research), but in transit, it is taken. It is revealed that Renee Rienne is in possession of the chamber.


Wow, that’s a lot of information! Much of which doesn’t lead us any closer to understanding, let alone finding out what it has to do with Rambaldi, Irina Derevko and Michael Vaughn. Who is the man in the box? Is he good? Bad? Are there any bits I missed? What are your ideas, conclusions, speculations?