We Know This Much Is True...

Irina Derevko would never intentionally hurt her daughters. It has been general blog consensus that Irina is working in the best interest of Sydney and her baby. Aside from her question about whether or not the drugs would affect the baby, Irina has made it very clear (to Jack, with a slap in the face) that despite her underworld status as an international terrorist and CIA murderer, she cares deeply for her daughters and is only trying to protect them from dangerous enemies.

Sydney is lead to her mother through Alexander Kassinau, the man thought to be “The Man.” Irina aligns herself with Kassinau in order to get her hands on a Rambaldi manscript. She turns herself into the CIA in order to gain access to their resources. She manipulates her way into leading a CIA mission to trap Sloane and she unexpectedly betrays the CIA and Sydney by handing the Rambaldi Bible over to Sloane. She, Sloane and Sark then kidnap Neil Caplan, a mathematician, in order for him to piece together Rambaldi’s puzzle. The CIA is able to save Caplan, but Irina disappears, as does Sloane.

We later discover, via Irina on the CIA jet, that Irina was taken captive by her sister Elena. A double was then made of Irina and she was framed for hiring Tomasaki to assassinate Sydney. Jack learned of this and killed the doppelganger. However, when information on the Helix Protocol was found on the PDA of one of Elena’s foot soldiers, Sydney and Vaughn discover that Irina is, in fact, alive. Sydney and Nadia track their mother to Brazil and save her. Irina is the only one that can stop Elena and her endgame by dismantling the Mueller Device. The last we see of Irina, she disappears into the night, once the flood as destroyed Svogda. Her vast knowledge of Rambaldi and his endgame has saved Sydney, as well as APO on several occasions. Her agenda and true intensions have never been represented, but as the series finale looms, it is possible we will finally discover Irina’s own endgame.

Now she has returned as an associate of P5. Dr. Desantis has Sydney kidnapped and hypnotized in order to discover the location of Horizon. If we recall, when Sydney asked Ivan Curtis on the plane who he was working for, he answered, “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” If Irina is behind or in cahoots with P5 it would explain Bill Vaughn’s murder. Vaughn tells us in the season 5 opener that members of the group recruited to decipher the Rambaldi text were dying mysteriously. To protect himself and his young family, Bill Vaughn changed his name and moved. Perhaps Irina was able to locate him and kill him. Assuming Vaughn and Sydney are the same age, they would have both been 8 at the time of Bill Vaughn’s death. Thus, Irina had been “dead” for 2 years and Nadia would have been nearly 1 years old. Whether or not it is true that Bill Vaughn took Nadia and handed her over to Elena, it’s unclear. We only hear this from Elena, whose main objective was giving false information to manipulate.

Let’s say Bill Vaughn had nothing to do with Nadia. Simply, Irina killed him because he was a member of the group that deciphered the code, as she had killed the others. It would give reason to why she did not kill Sloane, who was also a member of the group. Assuming Sloane really is Nadia’s father, only he would be able to locate Nadia as the Passenger. So, it was necessary for Irina to keep Sloane alive, in order to find her daughter, that I assume Elena kidnapped.

I am sure Irina didn’t anticipate that Sydney would fall in love with the man whose father she killed. However, Irina was aware that Vaughn was investigating P5, per their discussion on the train tracks in the finale of season 4. She urged Vaughn to tell Sydney what he was working on. What I can’t piece together is why Irina would want Sydney investigating a top secret terrorist organization she is apart of? That is, unless she needed Sydney or her baby for some specific reason. By the looks of the make-shift nursery, I would say Baby Bristow-Vaughn will be entering into an Alice and Wonderland world, soaked in Rambaldi prophecy. If Irina is in the chain of command for P5, then how can we explain the hit of Vaughn? I can’t imagine Irina would tell Vaughn to reveal the truth about his investigation to Sydney only to have him killed. And if Vaughn was extracted by Irina, why would she not just ask Vaughn for the name on the SD-6 map, instead of kidnapping her pregnant daughter and pumping her full of drugs? (I still believe that Jack and Sydney faked Vaughn’s death).

Also, I am having a hard time understanding Irina’s motivation for leaving Nadia in a coma. That is, unless Irina knows that Nadia DOES pose a threat to Sydney and her baby. Irina does know that she can use Nadia to manipulate Sloane and perhaps keeping Nadia in a coma is for her own good.

As for the connection between P5 and SD-6, I see there are plenty. For one, the Alliance and SD-6 were both after the artifacts of Rambaldi. Sloane bringing down the Alliance, combined with Irina’s infiltration of the CIA while she was in custody, put one person in possession of all the Rambaldi artifacts. Elena. Now that Elena is gone, perhaps P5 was able to gain possession of the artifacts and Horizon is the key. Or perhaps Horizon is the only remaining artifact after the flood in Svogda destroyed the others.

Here are several definitions of horizon:
-The apparent intersection of the earth and sky as seen by an observer. Also called apparent horizon.

Astronomy:
The sensible horizon.
The celestial horizon.
The limit of the theoretically possible universe.
The range of one's knowledge, experience, or interest.

Geology:
A specific position in a stratigraphic column, such as the location of one or more fossils, that serves to identify the stratum with a particular period.
A specific layer of soil or subsoil in a vertical cross section of land.

Archaeology: A period during which the influence of a specified culture spread rapidly over a defined area: artifacts associated with the Olmec horizon in Mesoamerica.

Do any of these definitions spark an idea about what Horizon could possibly be? Remember, we are talking Rambaldi here; we are talking advanced technological knowledge, vast questions about human nature, human genealogy and using science as a way to know God.
Phhew! That was a long one, was it not?? Lots of information! Let the toss of theory and speculation begin!

PS. I do have to say, I agree with blogger Rudy. I do believe that Jack and Irina are working together to bring down P5 and that we haven’t been given enough information to explain some of their strategic moves (i.e Vaughn’s “death,” Sydney’s kidnapping etc.) Remember, Jack tasked Sydney to go and speak with Renee, leaving Sydney vulnerable to kidnapping. Then Jack asked Renee to kill Desantis. I suppose Sloane could be involved. If you’ve noticed, several members of the P5 Map have been killed (Dean by Sloane, Desantis and Curtis).