Second Elder

Xfiles character


name=Second Elder
affiliation=Syndicate
first=The Red and the Black
last=One Son
portrayer=George Murdock

:"For the Second Elder of the Latter Day Saint church, see Assistant President of the Church."

The Second Elder is a character on "The X-Files" and is a member of the Syndicate, the shadowy organization that Cigarette Smoking Man and Well-Manicured Man also belong to.

The Second Elder's rank was unknown, but he was less of a leader than the First Elder or Conrad Strughold. He seemed to be a skeptic and wanted to collaborate with the Colonists since he did not believe in the rebels. Ironically, he was killed by one of the rebels, who then took his image as a disguise. This rebel was then killed by Alex Krycek.

The Second Elder appears in "The Red and the Black" (). The Well-Manicured Man showed photos of the Faceless Rebel to the Syndicate Elders at the hospital. The First Elder and Second Elder discussed what appeared to be self-mutilation, but deduced it was some sort of protection against the black oil. The rebel was the lone survivor of a crashed spacecraft at a military base in West Virginia. Already possessing the Russian vaccine obtained by Krycek, the Well-Manicured Man and the Elders realize that their ultimate goal of stopping the alien invasion (whilst maintaining the facade of assisting it), may be achieved by creating an alliance with alien resistance. To test the effectiveness of the vaccine, Marita Covarrubias is injected with it.

The Second Elder also appeared in "The End" (5X20), "The Beginning" (6X01), and the first "X-Files" film.

The Second Elder's final appearance was in "Two Fathers" (). The Cigarette Smoking Man called the Second Elder at his home to inform of the Rebel attack. He has called an emergency meeting of the Syndicate and encourages the Second Elder to attend. The Second Elder indicates that he will catch the next plane, then hangs up the phone. Shortly afterward, he is killed by a Rebel, which then infiltrates the Syndicate's meeting disguised as the Second Elder.

By expressing sympathy for the Rebels during this meeting (exactly the opposite of the real Second Elder's position), the Rebel raises the CSM's suspicions. The CSM decides to use the situation as a test of his son, Jeffrey Spender's, capabilities as an assassin. However, Spender fails in his assignment to kill the Rebel and is nearly killed himself. Krycek, ordered by the CSM to lurk in the shadows in case Spender fails, is forced to save Spender's life by assassinating the Rebel for him. Spender's clumsy failure in this task leads the CSM to realize that his son can never follow in his footsteps, and directly contributes to his decision to shoot him.