Isabelle Vaughn

Alias character|


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name = Isabelle Bristow Vaughn
gender = Female
affiliation = Daughter of CIA agents Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn
rank = Civilian
known relatives = Jack Bristow (maternal grandfather, deceased)
Irina Derevko (maternal grandmother, deceased)
William Vaughn (paternal grandfather, deceased)
Elena Derevko (great-aunt, deceased)
Katya Derevko (great-aunt)
Michael Vaughn (father)
Sydney Bristow (mother)
Jack Vaughn (brother)
Nadia Santos (aunt, deceased)
portrayed = Julia Di Angelo

Isabelle Bristow Vaughn is a fictional character from the ABC television series "Alias". She is the daughter of Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn. The events surrounding her birth are a focal point of the final season of the series. Julia Di Angelo portrays the character during the series finale.

The coming birth of Isabelle is first revealed early in season 5, soon after Sydney and Vaughn are involved in a devastating car crash near Santa Barbara, California and Vaughn is mysteriously abducted and apparently killed. In an earlier discussion, the couple had first debated then agreed on a name for their eventual child -- Sydney suggested Owen and Clementine and Vaughn rejected both, but when Sydney suggested the name Isabelle for a girl, Vaughn agreed, supplementing "Isabelle Bristow Vaughn".

The debate over Isabelle's name also became important later in the season when Sydney's nemesis Anna Espinosa, having recently undergone a doubling procedure, tried to trick Vaughn into believing she was Sydney. Vaughn laid two traps for her, the first when he mentioned that he had chosen the name Isabelle. Anna fell for it, not knowing it was Sydney who had first suggested the name.

Sydney's pregnancy with Isabelle became central to the season story arc upon Jennifer Garner's real-life pregnancy, in which she carried her first child with husband Ben Affleck. The pregnancy for Sydney created unique challenges in completion of her missions as a spy.

Isabelle's birth came with help from her maternal grandmother, Irina Derevko, who guided Sydney through delivery during a mission in Vancouver, British Columbia in the series' 99th episode, "Maternal Instinct".

Once safely home, Isabelle's well-being is ensured not only by her mother and grandfather Jack Bristow but also by specialists from within the CIA.

Several years after Sydney has worked successfully to end terrorism orchestrated by Irina and Arvin Sloane, Isabelle is shown happily playing at a beachfront home with her parents and younger brother, Jack, a namesake of their maternal grandfather. Unworried of the future (as Sydney is shown to be at the same age during flashbacks), she is excited by a visit from her "Uncle Dixon." While Dixon discusses business with Isabelle's parents, she hurries off at her father's urging to put away her toys.

Among the playthings is a block puzzle, the same one used as an indicator test by Isabelle's grandfather Jack to evaluate subjects for Project Christmas. Like her mother, Isabelle instinctively assembles the puzzle. But unlike her mother, Isabelle does not show the finished puzzle and instead knocks it down.

Behind the Scenes

It was hinted in the first several episodes of the fifth season that Prophet Five's endgame involved the unborn baby Isabelle. In DVD commentary, the writers state that this plotline was dropped as they considered it too cliché.