Syndicate (The X-Files)

InThe X-Filestelevision show andfeature film,the Syndicateis ashadow governmentgroup. They were also known asThe Elders,The Consortium,andThe Group.Because of their cover-up of extraterrestrial life, they were the primary antagonistic force opposingDana Scully,Fox Mulder,John Doggett,andMonica Reyesduring the series.

Goals and methods

An embodiment of the concept of theshadow governmentinconspiracy theorylore, the Syndicate is composed of covertly allied influential government officials and businessmen. The Syndicate, operating at the highest levels of power, concealed from the world a program by an unidentified extraterrestrial species to colonize and repopulate the planet, as well as their own plans and stake in that future, which they held to be inevitable.

To carry out murder, cover-ups, sabotage and otherwetworksprojects, the Syndicate used an unknown number ofhenchmencommonly referred to as theMen in Black.The Men in Black were merciless protectors of the conspiracy whose true names, like the members of the Syndicate, were rarely, if ever, known. Many worked ostensibly for theU.S. Defense Department,Central Intelligence Agency,National Security Agency,along with various other government agencies. Prominent Men in Black agents includedX,Alex Krycek,theCrew Cut Man,andQuiet Willy.

The leader of the Syndicate was a former German industrialist named Conrad Strughold, who had fled his home country and relocated toTunisia.However, most of the Syndicate's meetings were held at a nondescript building located on West 46th Street (with parallels to theCentury AssociationandIvy Leaguealumni clubs) inNew York City,and did not involve Strughold, due to the fact that his entry into theUnited Stateswould potentially draw too much attention because of his ties toNazi Germany.Meetings with Strughold were instead held inLondon.A possible front for the group, evidenced in the episode "Redux II",was abiotechnologyfirm called Roush. Reportedly, series creatorChris Carternamed the company afterUSA TodayTV critic Matt Roush, who was an influential early champion ofThe X-Files.Roush's facilities were used in some experiments involving the virus, shown in thesixth seasonpremiere "The Beginning".Also, according toAlvin Kurtzweil,when the alien takeover was set to commence in December 2012, the Syndicate would have seized control of the United States via theFederal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA), which had the power to suspend constitutional government upon declaration of a national emergency.

History

Early years

The Syndicate was formed at the end ofWorld War II,after theRoswell incident1947, when German scientists werebrought to the United Statesto work on developing analien-human hybrid.Alvin Kurtzweilrecounted that when he andBill Mulderwere young men in the military, they were recruited for a project that they were told was concerned withbiological warfare.Deep Throatclaimed that it began after Roswell, when an ultrasecret conference of power brokers in theUnited States,theSoviet Union,United Kingdom,China,France,West Germany,andEast Germany,signed a treaty that if analien spacecraftcrashed onEarthand theextraterrestrialssurvived, the country that held them would be responsible for their immediate extermination.

The group that would become the Syndicate existed as early as 1952 as a secret group within theDepartment of State.Their activities included experimenting withxenotransplantation,relocating ex-Nazi scientists to the United States after World War II,and covering up theblack oildiscovered in thePiper Maruin 1953.

Thecolonistsin 1973 when they forged their alliance with the Syndicate

The members of the Syndicate within the State Department officially broke off ties with theUnited States governmentin 1973. However, some of the members continued to work within the State Department. On October 13, the Syndicate formally forged their alliance with thealien colonistsat El Rico Air Force Base. TheCigarette Smoking Manpersonally presented a foldedAmerican flagto the aliens, symbolizing their surrender to a superior intergalactic force. The Syndicate was also commencing their work on the Project, which would see an immense effort in creating an alien/humanhybridto serve the aliens as a slave race aftercolonization.To allow the Syndicate to develop the hybrid, they were provided analien fetusfrom which to extractDNAand begin research. However, the aliens demanded in exchange samples of human DNA. Members of the Syndicate turned over their loved ones to the aliens as part of the exchange. The Cigarette Smoking Man handed over his wife,Cassandra Spender,andWilliam Mulderreluctantly surrendered his daughter,Samantha.

By March 22, 1993, the Syndicate had use of a vast warehouse inThe Pentagonwhere artifacts constituting evidence of alien existence were stored. The Cigarette Smoking Man added animplant,recovered by Mulder and Scully on their first case together, to the items kept in this storage facility. As Mulder and Scully learned, other efforts to erase their findings were apparently made, including the disappearance of paperwork, such as a case file onBilly Miles,that the agents had filed with theDistrict Attorney's office in Raymon County, Oregon.

Destruction

In 1998, the Syndicate learned of arebel factionamong the aliens that was fighting against their brethren and thecolonization of Earth.The first incident of rebel violence on Earth occurred inKazakhstan,where dozens of impendingabducteeswere found incinerated.Marita Covarrubiasinvestigated the incident and quickly had it covered up. Shortly thereafter, many more abductees were summoned to Skyland Mountain via their metallic tags. Again, the group was attacked and incinerated by the alien rebels. It was at this time that the rebels were more clearly identified as beingfaceless—with their facial orifices sewn shut to prevent black oil infection—a telltale characteristic that set them apart as the rebel force.The following year, the rebels made their most daring—and most destructive—move. Outside ofWashington, D.C.,they attacked a train car, wherein a group of Syndicatedoctorsled by Eugene Openshaw were experimenting onCassandra Spender—the first successfulalien-humanhybrid.The rebels incinerated the doctors, but left Cassandra alive so that the Project would be revealed and subsequently destroyed. Indeed, one of the rebels killed theSecond Elderand assumed his position at meetings of the Syndicate; however,The Smoking Manrealized this and had the group cease meeting together.

The Smoking Man contacted his son,Jeffrey Spender,and charged him with killing the rebel posing as theSecond Elder.However, Spender fails, andAlex Kryceksuccessfully completes the assassination. Spender then realizes the scope of the conspiracy being carried out by his father, and he pledges his support toFox Mulder.Having their hand forced by the rebels, the Syndicate retrieved Cassandra Spender and prepared to present her to the aliens so thatcolonizationcould begin. However, the rebels instead appear and incinerate the entire group of high-ranking Syndicate members, meaning the destruction of the Syndicate.

Legacy

Later in 1999, Scully asked Mulder what more he could possibly hope to do or to find, after having done and uncovered so much, such as exposing the secrets of a conspiracy of men who had been doing human experiments but were all now dead. Mulder's reply was that he still hoped to find his sister.Later on, Mulder dreamt of the Syndicate, in which an illusory version of theCigarette Smoking Manclaimed that his group had "made entire cultures disappear".

In reality, the Cigarette Smoking Man continued working on the Project with a group of men who held a conference to discuss colonization in 1999.The Cigarette Smoking Man also continued working with his doctors, who were aware of the Syndicate's work to create ahuman-alien hybridand attempted to continue this work.The Cigarette Smoking Man is also seen, in "Biogenesis",meeting with a group of men, some in military uniforms, who are speaking about some sort of disaster and" containment "of it.Presumably they are speaking about colonization, and this assembly of men may be part of the Cigarette Smoking Man's intentions, revealed in "Requiem",to try to rebuild the conspiracy.

Inseason eight,DoctorLizzy Gilladmitted to Mulder,Assistant DirectorWalter SkinnerandSpecial agentJohn Doggettthat, for the past ten years, she and her colleagues had been working to create ahuman-alien hybrid.According to her, the work had originally been financed by a group of government men but had continued after their deaths. Gill's colleagues, by this time, included Doctors Parenti, Lev and Duffy Haskell, but they all had been killed recently bysuper soldierBilly Miles.

With the Syndicate eliminated, thepower vacuumwas eventually filled inseason nineby a new government-like organization. This organization included members such as theToothpick Man,Gene Crane, andKnowle Rohrer,among others. All known members revealed to viewers in the series weresuper soldiers,men with superhuman abilities - with the exception ofAlex Krycek,who was killed in "Existence".During theseason finale,"The Truth"this unnamed organization shuts downthe X-Files officeat theFederal Bureau of Investigation.Mulder was left on the rununtil all his criminal charges were lifted in 2008 (The X-Files: I Want to Believe).In theeleventh seasonpremiere "My Struggle III",Mulder encountered Mr. Y and his accomplice Erika Price, who claimed to be former members of the Syndicate with their own agenda involving the colonization of space and simulated reality.

Men in Black

Main article:Men in Black (The X-Files)

TheMen in Blackis the unofficial name of a group of enforcers employed by the Syndicate to take care of the dirty work of the conspiracy. Most of them were ex-military, highly trained and loyal hitmen, who worked as a front in government agencies such as theFederal Bureau of Investigation,Department of Defense,and theNational Security Agency.

The Men in Black are analogous to theAlien Bounty Huntersemployed by theColonists.The Men in Black were, however, not as reliable as the bounty hunters and though sometimes they were used initially it took the more capable Alien Bounty Hunters to complete difficult tasks. The Syndicate would use the bounty hunters only when absolutely necessary because of an increased risk of exposure.