Michael Vaughn

:For the similarly spelt English Cricket player, see Michael Vaughan.

Bio

Michael Vaughn was originally no more than Sydney Bristow's handler while she was working as a double agent for the CIA within SD-6. But gradually, the two agents developed romantic feelings for each other as they worked closely together to bring down this corrupt espionage organization. This did little to endear him to Sydney's father Jack Bristow, another double agent within SD-6. Vaughn and Sydney's relationship became openly intimate after SD-6 was destroyed during the show's second season. When Sydney was apparently killed in a fire a few months later, a heartbroken Vaughn left the CIA and found work as a French teacher. He also became involved with NSC liaison Lauren Reed and married her some time during Sydney's two-year disappearance. Once he discovered that Sydney was still alive, Vaughn returned to the CIA and quickly saw his feelings for her reignite, a fact that caused a great deal of tension in his marriage to Lauren. Eventually, it was revealed that Lauren was a double-agent for The Covenant; Vaughn became obsessed with her capture and was encouraged by Jack Bristow to kill her, which he did at the end of the third season. This act continued to haunt him into the fourth season even though he shot Lauren in order to prevent her from killing Sydney. (The kill was left ambiguous until a fourth season episode established that Lauren's body was returned to the US and placed in a secret government crypt.)

Related Topics:
Double agent - CIA - SD-6 - Jack Bristow - NSC - Lauren Reed - The Covenant

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Following Lauren's demise (and between the third and fourth seasons), Vaughn appeared to go into an emotional tailspin that culminated with him setting fire to his own house. He went through a month of psych evaluations before informing his best friend and fellow agent Eric Weiss of his resignation from the CIA. In reality, Vaughn had been recruited into a black ops division of the CIA called Authorized Personnel Only (APO), along with Sydney, Jack, and Marcus Dixon (Weiss and Marshall Flinkman would soon follow). One of his new duties was to keep an eye on Arvin Sloane, who had been appointed director of APO despite his long history of criminal activities as the head of SD-6. Vaughn successfully resumed his romantic relationship with Sydney during their first mission for APO.

Related Topics:
Eric Weiss - Black ops - Marcus Dixon - Marshall Flinkman - Arvin Sloane

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The first season established that Michael Vaughn's father was one of several CIA agents killed in the line of duty by Irina Derevko, Sydney's mother. The fact that Bill Vaughn is dead was questioned in season four of Alias after Vaughn found entries in his father's journal dated three years after his death in 1979. Vaughn's subsequent investigation led to him conduct a secret mission in collaboration with Sydney; he turned rogue by the end of the episode "Nightingale". However, he returned to APO after discovering his father really was dead and that the journal entries had been part of a ruse devised by Elena Derevko. At the end of the fourth season Vaughn proposed to Sydney and the two took their long-delayed vacation to Santa Barbara. During this car ride he confessed that his real name was not Michael Vaughn and implied that his first allegiance was not to the CIA. The season, however, ended in a car crash that cut his explanation short. In the premiere of season 5, Vaughn is taken by an armed group from the crash site. He is thought to be a traitor when he is recovered, and reveals his real name as Andre Michaux. At the end of the episode, he is shot dead by a rogue agent disguised as a CIA executive. Soon before this, he learned that Sydney was pregnant with his child.

Related Topics:
Irina Derevko - Alias - Elena Derevko - Santa Barbara

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Trivia

• Michael Vaughn speaks English, Spanish, Italian and French fluently (the latter because actor Michael Vartan was born in France).
• Michael Vaughn, like Jack Bristow (played by Victor Garber), is left-handed. He also shares actor Michael Vartan's real-life passion for ice hockey.

See also

• List of characters from Alias.