The End

"The End" is the twentieth, final episode of the fifth season of the TV series "The X-Files". The episode develops the so-called "mythology" of the series," set in the pilot series.

There are two chess players on stage: one of them is a Russian grandmaster, and the other is a twelve-year-old boy named Gibson Price. They are passionate about the game, and the audience is watching the match with bated breath. High above the crowd, on steel structures above the stage, a sniper aims a rifle sight at the back of the child's head. The shooter slowly presses his finger on the trigger, and at this time the boy, proclaiming "checkmate", leans back in his chair. A shot sounds, and the Russian chess player falls to the floor dead.

Meanwhile, two armed men in masks are approaching the house where the Smoker is hiding. Sensors give an alarm signal, and the Smoker manages to kill one of the uninvited guests and hide in the forest. The second person sets off in the footsteps of the Smoker and, removing the mask, turns out to be Alex Krajicek.

Skinner tells Mulder about the murder of a Russian chess player. It turns out that the sniper was once a member of the National Security Agency. Agent Spender was assigned to handle the case, who emphasized that Mulder should not take part in the investigation. Despite this, Mulder and Skinner come to a briefing held by Spender. Looking through the tape recording of the murder, Mulder comes to the conclusion that the shooter's target was Gibson, not the Russian chess player: the boy moved completely unpredictably out of the line of fire a moment before the shot was fired. Spender disagrees with Mulder's theory. Agent Diana Foley, an attractive woman in her thirties, suggests that Mulder is right. Spender rewinds the tape and comes to the same conclusion.

The Smoker meets with the Seniors of the Syndicate. Declaring Gibson dangerous, they ask the Smoker to organize the elimination of the boy.

Mulder, Scully and Diana Foley come to Gibson's psychiatric clinic. The boy responds with a categorical refusal to Mulder's offer to play a game with a cheap chess computer... leading the agent to think that the child, not very good at playing chess himself, is just reading the opponent's thoughts. The tests carried out confirm the extraordinary capabilities of Gibson's brain. Later, Mulder comes to the sniper's cell and offers him immunity in exchange for cooperation.

Scully can't help but notice Mulder and Foley's mutual attraction. She goes to the Lonely Shooters, who did not expect such a visit at all in the middle of the night, and gives them the results of tests conducted with Gibson's participation, and asks them to analyze them. Scully also asks the Shooters to tell her about Diana Foley. The trio confirms that Diana and Mulder were close several years ago, when Mulder graduated from the FBI Academy and first learned about the existence of Classified Materials. Scully returns to the psychiatric clinic to show Mulder the collected information. But when she approaches the ward, she sees Mulder and Diana in the room... Diana holds Mulder's hand. Scully, full of conflicting feelings, leaves the clinic.

Mulder goes down to the clinic's underground garage to get his car and sees Spender talking to a Smoker. Mulder pushes Spender hard in the chest, demanding an explanation from the agent. Spender claims that he does not know the person who approached him, and says that the shooter wants to talk to Mulder.

Scully meets with Skinner and Mulder to tell them about the results of Gibson's psychiatric evaluation. It turns out that the child has an unusual activity in the area of the brain called by neuropsychiatrists "The Area of God". Mulder believes that the child's life is in danger because of the abilities he possesses, because he can become the key to solving those unexplained phenomena that have become Classified Materials. Skinner notes that the very existence of Classified Materials will be jeopardized if he asks the Attorney General for immunity for the killer on such grounds. Later, Mulder comes to the shooter and asks him to share information in order to have grounds to claim immunity for him. The shooter says that Gibson is the missing link - the genetic proof of the human connection with the alien race.

The smoker puts his plan into action. A sniper is found dead in his cell. Shortly after, a bullet catches up with Diana Foley, who is guarding Gibson. A smoker brings a child to a Person with Well-Groomed Nails and a Kraychek. Meeting Spender at the Bureau, Mulder presses him and accuses him that the agent, along with the Smoker, organized the kidnapping of Gibson. The other agents pull Mulder away from Spender. Spender responds by saying that Mulder's days are numbered. Later, Scully tells her partner that there is talk of closing Classified Materials.

That night, a Smoker breaks into Mulder's office and takes the Samantha Mulder case file. After that, he meets with Spender and informs him that he is his father. Suddenly, a fire siren sounds, agents run out into the corridor. The smoker disappears into the crowd.

Later, Mulder comes to his office and sees a real debacle. Folders with Classified Materials burned out completely. Scully hugs her partner, offering him her support.

The episode shows a 12-year-old boy who is able to read people's thoughts. He hears the thoughts of the people around him, "as if it were a radio," and is able to "tune in" to a certain person.

Studies of the boy's brain show unusual brain activity in the so-called "God's domain"; presumably, this feature is the reason for his psychic abilities.

According to one of the characters in the episode, the boy is the "missing link", and his genes are able to prove the alien origin of life on Earth.