Jack Bristow - Jack and Sloane Relationship (A Discussion)
Yep, it's still me, and this time here's...
THE FRIENDSHIP OF JACK AND SLOANE: A DISCUSSION
Introduction
The friendship of Jack Bristow and Arvin Sloane is one of Alias' most significant and complex. When it comes to discussions, however, it may actually be the most understated.
Next to Sydney and Jack, Sloane is the most important character in the spy drama. Vaughn's cute and all, but face it -- without Sloane there would have been no SD-6 nor an APO. Without Sloane, the CIA would have had no link to the Covenant. It is Jack's friendship with Sloane, their work for the CIA, that brings both Jack and Sydney into all of this. Without Sloane, there would be no story to start with, and it is his friendship with Jack that opens the door to spy world.
Beginnings
Long before the Alliance and the Covenant even came to existence, and long before Sydney Bristow came to the world, there were four friends -- Jack Bristow and his wife Laura, and Arvin Sloane and his wife Emily. Jack and Arvin, in particular, were the best of friends. They had similar ideals, they both loved their wives more than anything, and of course, they both worked for the government as dedicated agents of the CIA.
After some time, Jack and Laura had Sydney. At one point, Jack, seeing how his work for the CIA kept him apart from his daughter and wife, considered leaving his job. But before he could do so, Jack discovered that "Laura’s" true identity was that of Irina Derevko, a KGB spy and assassin who’d been tasked to investigate and steal secrets from him for the Russian government. Disillusioned, Jack became even more immersed in his work and gathered all the information he could get regarding Irina, who was eventually compelled to stage her drowning in a river so that everyone, including Jack and Sydney, would believe she was dead.
A commission was formed to assess the damage Irina had done to US intelligence; Sloane served as part of this team. After careful investigation, the commission discovered that Irina was alive. Perhaps thinking that this information would cause further damage to Jack's psyche (or perhaps for his own diabolical reasons, who knows?), Sloane withheld the information from him, only revealing the truth twenty years later. But even after the incident, Jack and Sloane worked in intelligence while remaining friends.
At one point, Sloane apparently got weary of the system that he decided to leave the agency and invited Jack to come with him. Sloane moved on to become head of SD-6, one of twelve cells of an emerging organization known as the Alliance, and Jack became his second-in-command and chief of operations. However, unknown to Sloane, he continued his work at the CIA even as he and Sloane remained friends (Source: Official Site).
(Disclaimer: Much of the information that follows is speculation based on details presented in the course of the show.)
In the course of his work for SD-6, Sloane’s ideals began to change radically. Sloane, the devoted and idealistic patriot, transformed into the self-serving leader of a criminal organization that dealt with espionage, extortion, and weapon sales while masquerading as a branch of the CIA. Moreover, he became obsessed with the work of Milo Rambaldi, a 16th century prophet who predicted events far beyond his time with disturbing accuracy, and thus changed radically. The change in Sloane disturbed Jack, and their friendship eventually fell apart completely when Sloane recruited Sydney despite knowing Jack was strongly opposed to this. Sydney, however, having been estranged from her father for so many years, became quite close to Sloane, and in some ways regarded him as the father she never had. Though it is shown later that Sloane's concern for Sydney was (and still is) apparently genuine in its own twisted way, Jack's friendship with Sloane changed forever after this.
Season One
Despite the radical change in his beliefs, Sloane continued to regard Jack as his trusted friend and confidante. Sloane’s trust in Jack became especially significant in the course of Jack’s work for the CIA, for not only did it provide Jack with top-level access to classified documents and intelligence, it allowed Jack to carry out his work without drawing much suspicion.
When Sydney, upon finding out that SD-6 was a mere front, decided to turn double agent like her father, utilizing Sloane’s trust and belief in Jack’s loyalty became even more important. Because of this, Jack was able to help Sydney maintain her cover and, in some episodes such as the pilot, escape death. Also, when Sloane wished to have Sydney's friend Will Tippin and her boyfriend Danny Hecht killed, it was Jack who intervened in hopes of preventing this (though he was unable to keep the latter from happening).
Sloane also trusted Jack with the most sensitive data and missions -- he had Jack torture the man posing as German biochemist Jeroen Schiller for information and assassinate the arms dealer Ineni Hassan after Hassan double-crossed SD-6, among others.
Season Two
Following his and Sydney's disappearance and raid on Khasinau's facility, Jack returned to Sloane to tell him of the damage done to Khasinau's organization and easily convinced Sloane of his loyalty to SD-6.
The second season proved to be the greatest test to Jack and Sloane's friendship. When Sark offered the antidote needed to save Vaughn in exchange for Sloane's life, Jack served as an accomplice in the trade. When Jack was hunted by the Alliance in connection with Emily, Sloane hardly hesitated in reporting Jack's location to Alliance security, when in truth he had staged the murder himself; of course, he eventually set Ariana Kane up, as he apparently did not want his friend to take the fall.
But Sloane's trust in Jack became especially evident in the episode "Phase One," when it finally dawned on Sloane that Jack was indeed working for the CIA behind his back. As Anthony Geiger tortured Jack upon discovering he was a double agent, Geiger told him "there were so many red flags [in their files] that I thought I was looking at a Russian airport." In other words, there had been so many indicators of Jack and Sydney's betrayal in their SD-6 files, but Sloane, given his trust for the Bristows, remained blind to all of these. And while he used his discovery of Jack and Sydney's CIA connections to shut down the Alliance (which was part of Sloane's plan), had it been anybody else, Sloane would have been hunting for their blood.
Many episodes after the disintegration of SD-6, Sloane approached Jack once more. Under the guard of snipers ready to shoot Jack at any time, Sloane offered him a chance to join him again in his pursuit of Rambaldi. Jack declined his offer, telling Sloane they would never work together again. But Sloane's closing words to Jack were "We'll see each other again, Jack. Trust me on that."
Season Three
Released after a year of imprisonment for contacting Irina Derevko, Jack paid a visit to Sloane who, after having surrendered all Rambaldi artifacts in his possession, had apparently turned from megalomaniac to humanitarian leader of the health organization Omnifam. Jack demanded that Sloane confess his part in Sydney’s disappearance, but Sloane claimed he had nothing to do with it and gave Jack documents of his own investigation instead. When the NSC took Sydney into custody, Sloane, risking the validity of his pardon agreement, assisted Jack and Vaughn in rescuing Sydney and framing the Covenant, and was seriously injured when he took a bullet for Jack during the rescue. Moreover, Sloane advised that Sydney see Dr. Lazlo Drake, who specialized in dream therapy, in hopes of drawing back her memories.
At this point, Sloane's apparent desire to help made Jack to the point of risking his freedom caused Jack to reassess his views on Sloane.
When Sydney and Vaughn were compromised while in North Korea on a CIA mission, Jack again contacted Irina for help. Irina directed him to her sister Katya, who agreed to help rescue Sydney and Vaughn only if he killed Sloane. Just as Jack was about to see Sloane, however, Katya warned Sloane then instructed Jack to abort the assassination. Jack came over to apologize a couple of days after, but Sloane told him cryptically that he could not blame Jack for wanting to save his daughter's life.
Sloane was arrested and charged with aiding Sark escape from CIA custody. He was eventually cleared, but his problems were not over; going through the deceased Senator Reed's files, the CIA discovered Sloane had handed over certain Rambaldi artifacts not to the DSR but to the Senator and an organization called the Trust, and in doing so he had violated his pardon agreement and was thus to be executed. In light of this, Sloane requested to see Jack, asking him to prove the existence of the Trust. Jack met with a contact and secured documents supporting this, but just as he was about to hand them over to the CIA, Dixon informed Jack he'd just discovered Sloane had an affair with Irina while she and Jack were still married.
At about the same time, the Covenant was found to be searching for the Passenger, later discovered to be Sydney's sister. Jack deduced that the Passenger was the product of Sloane and Irina's affair. Sydney visited Sloane in prison, and he finally revealed why he was being cryptic -- he had been trying to find the Passenger -- believed to be a direct conduit to Rambaldi -- whom he wanted to protect from the Covenant. Knowing Sloane represented her only chance to find her sister, Sydney turned to Jack to convince him to put the past aside and hand in the evidence that would exonerate Sloane.
Just as Jack was about to do so, however, he came across Marlon Bell of the Justice Department, whome he realized was a member of the Trust. Jack hastily put aside the evidence and approached Sloane to share a bottle of Chambertin Clos de Beze, the same champagne Sloane had used to toast Sydney's birth, telling him he wished to return the honor given the discovery of Sloane's daughter. Later, it was revealed that he'd laced the wine with a tetrodotoxin compound that later enabled him to revive Sloane after he'd been supposedly put to death by lethal injection.
After a collaboration of efforts, Jack, Sloane, and Sydney eventually located and extracted the Passenger, who turned out to be an Argentine intelligence agent named Nadia Santos. However, after spending a few hours at the safe house, Covenant agents appeared out of nowhere and Sloane, in another show of betrayal, escaped with Nadia hoping to use her to connect with Rambaldi, but eventually protected her against Lauren and Sark. Considering this an act of fatherly concern on Sloane's part, Nadia was driven to escape CIA custody and join Sloane by the end of the third season.
Season Four
In the first episode of the fourth season, Sloane was revealed to have gone with Nadia on a journey to retrieve Rambaldi artifacts which they handed over to the CIA. Sloane was then designated to head the new black-ops APO, an operation to which their members of their old taskforce were also assigned (primarily to keep an eye on Sloane given their intimate knowledge of him). By the fifth episode, Jack’s examination of messages inscribed in Irina’s old literature books revealed that Elena Derevko was alive, leading Jack and Sloane to make a pact to protect both Sydney and Nadia against the cruelest of the Derevko sisters.
Following the comeback of former K-Directorate Agent Anna Espinosa, Sloane stepped down as director of APO in accordance with his pardon agreement and was temporarily replaced by Jack. Sydney and Nadia were sent to survey a meet to find out the plans of an emerging terrorist organization called the CRF. Nadia obtained their plans but was subsequently injured and brought back to APO unconscious. Viewing footage of the meet, Jack realized Nadia knew of the CRF's plans and prematurely revived Nadia against medical advice. Angered, Sloane reminded Jack of their pact.
Later in the season, Jack was found to be suffering from radiation sickness and hallucinations following a mission in Siberia. Realizing that Atticus Lidel, a doctor specializing in the treatment of genetic mutations whom Jack helped go into hiding years ago, was the only one who could help Jack, Sloane helped Sydney recreate their home in 1981, revealing his intimate knowledge of Jack and Irina at that time; Jack eventually revealed he'd hidden Dr. Lidel in Finland, allowing Sydney to approach the doctor for help.
At about the same time, however, Sydney and Vaughn discovered that Sloane was behind many criminal acts including framing Irina for the hit on Sydney, prompting Jack to hold a gun to Sloane's head until Sloane convinced Jack he had been set up. Not long after, "Arvin Clone" was discovered to have stolen a rare orchid with dangerous chemical properties from a monastery in Umbria, driving Jack warned Sloane he'd approach Langley (and implicate both of them) should they fail to recover the orchid within seventy-two hours.
Eventually, the Clone was caught and placed in CIA custody, and was discovered to have the same brain waves as Sloane. Through the Clone it was revealed that, through Omnifam, Sloane had introduced a mixture that was an application of one of Rambaldi's formulas into the water supply in hopes of breeding aggression out of humans, but that he'd lacked the orchid's nectar at that time. Furthermore, it was revealed that Jack knew about this but decided not to report this since he believed Sloane had changed and that Sloane had good intentions in mind when he'd contaminated the water.
Hoping to make the Clone reveal the location of the orchid, Marshall proposed to use hypnosis to shock the information out of the Clone. He retrieved the memory of losing Sloane's unborn child, Jacquelyn, from him and uploaded it to the Clone, who revealed the location of the orchid. Sloane vowed to a still doubtful Jack that he would rectify his mistakes. Jack's suspicions seemed to be confirmed when Sloane double-crossed Sydney while on a mission to interrogate Lazlo Drake and left to join Elena Derevko, who was already working towards achieving her endgame -- the activation of a giant Mueller device in Sovogda.
During a mission in Elena's facility in Prague, Dixon discovered that Irina was still alive. APO rescued Irina, who revealed Elena wished to carry out Rambaldi's desire for cleansing through an apocalypse, and that she and Sloane had already begun with their plans in the Russian city of Sovogda. In hopes of stopping Elena, an APO team consisting of Jack, Irina, Sydney, and Vaughn entered Sovogda. There they came across Sloane, who revealed he'd allied himself with Elena to prevent her from enacting her endgame, but Jack knocked him out, telling him he was no longer in charge. With Sloane's help, however, they got to Elena and were able to dismantle the device. Once back at the CIA, Sydney visited Sloane in prison to say she believed he was actually doing the right thing.
Season Five
Following the Sovogda incident, Jack visited Sloane in prison regularly to update him on Nadia’s condition. Sloane’s chances to attain pardon seemed slim even as Jack collected statements from APO members in hopes of appealingSloane's case. When Jack and Sloane resigned to the fact that any appeal seemed hopeless, Sloane asked Jack to do all he can to save Nadia, giving Jack the power of attorney over his daughter. Just before his trial, however, Sloane was approached by a man affiliated with Gordon Dean and Prophet Five, an organization that was APO's latest target, who told Sloane mysterious benefactors were willing to provide Sloane freedom in exchange for his "help." Jack watched suspiciously as the court clear and release Sloane, but put in a request for Sloane's limited reinstatement knowing Sloane merely wished to use APO resources to find Nadia's cure. To ensure approval, Sloane threatened the child of a senator opposed to the request.
With Nadia's survival hanging in the balance, Sloane was forced to report happenings in APO to Dean and Prophet Five. Upon discovering that Nadia had no hope for recovery, however, Sloane approached Jack and Sydney to tell the truth and helped APO bait and capture Dean. When a contact called Ehrmann instructed Sloane to kill Dean, he refused. But then Nadia woke up unexpectedly, and violent reactions forced the doctors to induce another coma. Thus, unknown to rest of the team, Sloane forced Dean to swallow a cyanide pill just as he was about to give up the access codes to Prophet Five's communications network.
Not long after, Sydney was kidnapped by Prophet Five. Sloane denied having any other contact with Prophet Five but secretly phones his contact for help in Sydney's rescue, but the contact refuses to help, telling Sloane that Nadia was the only person he could save.
Jack and Sloane's Friendship
Twisted -- there's no better word for Jack and Sloane's friendship. Throughout the history of their knowing each other, there has been much betrayal and anger, suspicion and doubt. All these attributes are, of course, not unheard of in the SpyDrama, but the friendship of Jack and Sloane is pretty much as dysfunctional as, say, the Bristows are dysfunctional as a family.
Throughout the series, despite his malevolence with which Sloane treated everyone else (save Emily and Sydney -- although even the latter has had her targeted by Sloane in occasions such as the Pilot and when her CIA communique is intercepted in the first season), he has always had great trust and respect for Jack. In the days of SD-6, he apparently chooses to ignore even the most suspicious of Jack's activities and allows enough leeway for Jack to escape death when Sloane reveals him to be a double agent (although Jack is seriously weakened while being tortured by Anthony Geiger), and even invites Jack to join him after SD-6 is shut down. Even Jack, however, is not completely exempted and falls victim to a few of Sloane's malignant deeds -- he is seriously weakened when Anthony Geiger tortures him, he finds himself on the run when accused of Emily Sloane's murder (though Sloane eventually set someone else up so Jack wouldn't take the fall), and he escapes with Nadia and betrays Jack's trust in the process in the third season.
Of course, Jack is definitely not without fault towards Sloane -- he hardly hesitates in taking attempts at Sloane's life to save those of others and constantly doubts Sloane even after he's apparently undergone a significant transformation in terms of values, but of course, this doubt is certainly not unfounded given Sloane's history and given Jack's protectiveness towards his daughter. Realizing Sloane does indeed love his daughter, however, radically changes Jack's perspective (precisely because of Sydney); hence, he enters a pact with Sloane to protect their daughters when Elena Derevko is found to be a threat to both of them. By the fifth and final season (so far, at least), Jack becomes Sloane's most regular visitor in prison and in fact works to secure Sloane's pardon. Apparently (based on his own fierce love for Sydney), Jack's sympathy towards and understanding of Sloane in matters concerning Nadia has enabled him to see Sloane in a renewed light and regard him as his friend again.
Jack and Sloane's friendship is one of long-term secrets and deceit. But all incidents of betrayal notwithstanding, it is still, above all, a relationship that is dependent on trust (no matter how misplaced). It is a friendship based on watching each other's back...though not, of course, without holding guns aimed at each other's chests.
Jack and Sloane Quotes
Sloane: When I didn't hear from you I thought maybe Hassan had gotten a lead...maybe he knew you were coming.
Jack: I was unsure of that myself. But it all worked out.
Sloane: Not for Hassan.
Jack: No, not for him. (He opens the door for Sloane.)
Sloane: Thank you.
Jack: It's my job.
-- From 1x11 "The Confession"
Jack: Tippin didn't turn out to be a problem, did he?
Sloane: Sydney wasn't intimate with Tippin. She is with Hicks.
Jack: I'm not sure that's my business, and I know it isn't yours.
-- From 1x19 "Snowman"
Sloane: Congratulations, Sydney. You have so many things to celebrate today. I, myself, am still coping with the pain and disappointment of learning that you and Jack were double agents. The two people I trusted most in the world.
-- 2x15 "A Free Agent"
Sloane: It's good to see you, Jack.
Jack: I assume that since you're sitting across from me with so little regard for your life, I'm in the cross hairs of a sniper rifle.
Sloane: Two of them. I've missed your poker face. So. There's something I want you to know. I forgive you.
Jack: Excuse me?
Sloane: Your betrayal of SD-6. I'm curious, Jack. When did our friendship end?
Jack: The moment you recruited Sydney over my objections.
-- 2x21 "Second Double"
Jack: Personally, I would have found it anticlimactic that after expecting to assemble a weapon of ultimate power, you ended up with a revelation you could have acquired from a fortune cookie.
Sloane: (amused) Always the atheist, Jack. I've missed you.
-- From 3x02 "Succession"
Jack: I've been trying to think of a single reason why you saved my life. The only conclusion I've come to is that it would incur some feeling of debt on my part.
Sloane: As usual, Jack, you're in danger of outsmarting yourself.
-- From 3x08 "Breaking Point"
Sloane: You and Sydney still believe I'm pursuing some hidden agenda. Now, whatever you may perceive that agenda to be, clearly it would be easier to obtain if you were both dead, given that you're my most vocal detractors, my most capable antagonists.
Jack: Or you need us for something. Something you believe only we can provide.
-- From 3x08 "Breaking Point"
Sloane: I remember years ago, I was working at SD-6. I was on my way to a meeting in Berlin. It was a typical day, except K-Directorate made an attempt on my life. As I opened my car door, a sniper shot came out of nowhere. The bullet grazed my neck. Actually left a burn mark. You never forget what that feels like -- to barely escape with your life.
Jack: I have a plane waiting.
-- From 3x12 "Crossings"
Jack: About last week: it was a matter of circumstance, Arvin. Whether I would have gone through with it...
Sloane: Oh, you would've. I would've.
Jack: Perhaps.
Sloane: And now you feel guilty. Well don't bother, Jack. Sydney's life was at stake. How can I blame a man for doing whatever he can to save his daughter's life?
-- From 3x13 "After Six"
Sloane: ...Now that your schoolboy crush on the woman who destroyed your life is preventing you from saving mine, I will have to revise that assessment.
Jack: Irina Derevko affected your life every bit as much as she affected mine. I knew the possibility existed that Sydney would be drawn into our world, but I often wondered why you were the one who sought her out, why you showed such paternal affection toward her. Now I know. You did it because you were angry and jealous and wanted to take away the one thing that was important to both Irina and me, the symbol of what we had and you didn't -- Sydney. You're right. I'm not going to help you. Since this is the last conversation we will ever have, I want to make this perfectly clear. What you have done to my daughter is nothing compared to what I will do when I find yours. Salut.
-- From 3x19 "The Hourglass"
Sloane: As a professional courtesy I would like for you to justify your decision.
Jack: Your words. "Do whatever it takes to stop Anna." We stopped Anna.
Sloane: I would have appreciated -- as a father -- to be apprised of your decision to put my daughter's life at risk.
Jack: As you do mine every day.
Sloane: When I accepted this position, I made two agreements: one with Langley, and one with you. A pact.
Jack: That's still in effect.
Sloane: But only because my daughter is unhurt. I wonder, Jack...what assurance do I have that you will continue to honor it?
-- From 4x09 "A Man of His Word"
Jack: You can't imagine what it felt like. Looking into the face of the woman I once shared a life with, and with a single bullet...ending that life. And then it occurred to me. Why you would go to such lengths -- it was for Sydney. Y ou imagined you could drive a wedge between me and my daughter.
Sloane: I didn't. I had nothing to do with Irina's death.
Jack: (puts a gun to Sloane's head) One good reason...why I shouldn't do to you what I did to my wife.
Sloane: Think about it. Even if I did succeed in undermining your relationship with Sydney, which given our agreement runs counter to my self-interest. Even then, with all of the people in Sydney's life -- Vaughn, Nadia, anyone -- do you really believe that she would turn to me? Jack, I didn't do this.
-- From 4x16 "Another Mister Sloane"
Jack: Seventy-two hours. If we haven't recovered the orchid in that time, I'm going to Langley with this. It will mean the end of you, Arvin.
Sloane: You too, Jack.
Jack: I know. Seventy-two hours.
-- 4x19 "In Dreams"
Clone: Jack. Of course. I should have known.
Jack: You know me.
Clone: What kind of question is that? Of course I know you.
Sloane: And me?
Clone: What about you?
Sloane: Do you know me?
Clone: No.
Sloane: I'm Arvin Sloane.
Clone: I see. This is your idea, Jack. Play with my sense of reality.
Jack: I don't know what you're talking about. I've never met you.
-- 4x19 "In Dreams"
Sloane: I am going to rectify this, Jack. I will clean up this mess that I've made.
Jack: I'd like to believe that, Arvin.
Sloane: But you can't.
Jack: I've heard it before.
-- 4x19 "In Dreams"
Sloane: These are Elena's men. Sent here to kill you.
Jack: I suppose you're expecting a thank you.
Sloane: There's no time for sarcasm, Jack.
-- 4x22 "Before the Flood"
Sloane: I want to give you power of attorney over Nadia.
Jack: Of course.
Sloane: Promise me you'll do everything you can to save her, Jack...as if she were your own daughter.
Jack: You have my word.
-- 5x04 "Mockingbird"
Sloane: I was hoping to offer you more than prison food.
Jack: I must confess I'd grown rather fond of the shepherd's pie...I'm assuming you didn't bring me here simply for the cuisine.
Sloane: I know this puts you in an awkward position. I...
Jack: I've already put in a request for your limited reinstatement.
-- 5x05 "Out of the Box"
Jack: Nadia hasn't made any improvements. Why admit this to us now? What's changed?
Sloane: Nadia won't be getting better, Jack...If I have to face a life without my daughter, I still have to live with myself. It sounds hollow, I know, in light of what I just told you...I consider you both to be my family.
-- 5x07 "Fait Accompli"
THE FRIENDSHIP OF JACK AND SLOANE: A DISCUSSION
Introduction
The friendship of Jack Bristow and Arvin Sloane is one of Alias' most significant and complex. When it comes to discussions, however, it may actually be the most understated.
Next to Sydney and Jack, Sloane is the most important character in the spy drama. Vaughn's cute and all, but face it -- without Sloane there would have been no SD-6 nor an APO. Without Sloane, the CIA would have had no link to the Covenant. It is Jack's friendship with Sloane, their work for the CIA, that brings both Jack and Sydney into all of this. Without Sloane, there would be no story to start with, and it is his friendship with Jack that opens the door to spy world.
Beginnings
Long before the Alliance and the Covenant even came to existence, and long before Sydney Bristow came to the world, there were four friends -- Jack Bristow and his wife Laura, and Arvin Sloane and his wife Emily. Jack and Arvin, in particular, were the best of friends. They had similar ideals, they both loved their wives more than anything, and of course, they both worked for the government as dedicated agents of the CIA.
After some time, Jack and Laura had Sydney. At one point, Jack, seeing how his work for the CIA kept him apart from his daughter and wife, considered leaving his job. But before he could do so, Jack discovered that "Laura’s" true identity was that of Irina Derevko, a KGB spy and assassin who’d been tasked to investigate and steal secrets from him for the Russian government. Disillusioned, Jack became even more immersed in his work and gathered all the information he could get regarding Irina, who was eventually compelled to stage her drowning in a river so that everyone, including Jack and Sydney, would believe she was dead.
A commission was formed to assess the damage Irina had done to US intelligence; Sloane served as part of this team. After careful investigation, the commission discovered that Irina was alive. Perhaps thinking that this information would cause further damage to Jack's psyche (or perhaps for his own diabolical reasons, who knows?), Sloane withheld the information from him, only revealing the truth twenty years later. But even after the incident, Jack and Sloane worked in intelligence while remaining friends.
At one point, Sloane apparently got weary of the system that he decided to leave the agency and invited Jack to come with him. Sloane moved on to become head of SD-6, one of twelve cells of an emerging organization known as the Alliance, and Jack became his second-in-command and chief of operations. However, unknown to Sloane, he continued his work at the CIA even as he and Sloane remained friends (Source: Official Site).
(Disclaimer: Much of the information that follows is speculation based on details presented in the course of the show.)
In the course of his work for SD-6, Sloane’s ideals began to change radically. Sloane, the devoted and idealistic patriot, transformed into the self-serving leader of a criminal organization that dealt with espionage, extortion, and weapon sales while masquerading as a branch of the CIA. Moreover, he became obsessed with the work of Milo Rambaldi, a 16th century prophet who predicted events far beyond his time with disturbing accuracy, and thus changed radically. The change in Sloane disturbed Jack, and their friendship eventually fell apart completely when Sloane recruited Sydney despite knowing Jack was strongly opposed to this. Sydney, however, having been estranged from her father for so many years, became quite close to Sloane, and in some ways regarded him as the father she never had. Though it is shown later that Sloane's concern for Sydney was (and still is) apparently genuine in its own twisted way, Jack's friendship with Sloane changed forever after this.
Season One
Despite the radical change in his beliefs, Sloane continued to regard Jack as his trusted friend and confidante. Sloane’s trust in Jack became especially significant in the course of Jack’s work for the CIA, for not only did it provide Jack with top-level access to classified documents and intelligence, it allowed Jack to carry out his work without drawing much suspicion.
When Sydney, upon finding out that SD-6 was a mere front, decided to turn double agent like her father, utilizing Sloane’s trust and belief in Jack’s loyalty became even more important. Because of this, Jack was able to help Sydney maintain her cover and, in some episodes such as the pilot, escape death. Also, when Sloane wished to have Sydney's friend Will Tippin and her boyfriend Danny Hecht killed, it was Jack who intervened in hopes of preventing this (though he was unable to keep the latter from happening).
Sloane also trusted Jack with the most sensitive data and missions -- he had Jack torture the man posing as German biochemist Jeroen Schiller for information and assassinate the arms dealer Ineni Hassan after Hassan double-crossed SD-6, among others.
Season Two
Following his and Sydney's disappearance and raid on Khasinau's facility, Jack returned to Sloane to tell him of the damage done to Khasinau's organization and easily convinced Sloane of his loyalty to SD-6.
The second season proved to be the greatest test to Jack and Sloane's friendship. When Sark offered the antidote needed to save Vaughn in exchange for Sloane's life, Jack served as an accomplice in the trade. When Jack was hunted by the Alliance in connection with Emily, Sloane hardly hesitated in reporting Jack's location to Alliance security, when in truth he had staged the murder himself; of course, he eventually set Ariana Kane up, as he apparently did not want his friend to take the fall.
But Sloane's trust in Jack became especially evident in the episode "Phase One," when it finally dawned on Sloane that Jack was indeed working for the CIA behind his back. As Anthony Geiger tortured Jack upon discovering he was a double agent, Geiger told him "there were so many red flags [in their files] that I thought I was looking at a Russian airport." In other words, there had been so many indicators of Jack and Sydney's betrayal in their SD-6 files, but Sloane, given his trust for the Bristows, remained blind to all of these. And while he used his discovery of Jack and Sydney's CIA connections to shut down the Alliance (which was part of Sloane's plan), had it been anybody else, Sloane would have been hunting for their blood.
Many episodes after the disintegration of SD-6, Sloane approached Jack once more. Under the guard of snipers ready to shoot Jack at any time, Sloane offered him a chance to join him again in his pursuit of Rambaldi. Jack declined his offer, telling Sloane they would never work together again. But Sloane's closing words to Jack were "We'll see each other again, Jack. Trust me on that."
Season Three
Released after a year of imprisonment for contacting Irina Derevko, Jack paid a visit to Sloane who, after having surrendered all Rambaldi artifacts in his possession, had apparently turned from megalomaniac to humanitarian leader of the health organization Omnifam. Jack demanded that Sloane confess his part in Sydney’s disappearance, but Sloane claimed he had nothing to do with it and gave Jack documents of his own investigation instead. When the NSC took Sydney into custody, Sloane, risking the validity of his pardon agreement, assisted Jack and Vaughn in rescuing Sydney and framing the Covenant, and was seriously injured when he took a bullet for Jack during the rescue. Moreover, Sloane advised that Sydney see Dr. Lazlo Drake, who specialized in dream therapy, in hopes of drawing back her memories.
At this point, Sloane's apparent desire to help made Jack to the point of risking his freedom caused Jack to reassess his views on Sloane.
When Sydney and Vaughn were compromised while in North Korea on a CIA mission, Jack again contacted Irina for help. Irina directed him to her sister Katya, who agreed to help rescue Sydney and Vaughn only if he killed Sloane. Just as Jack was about to see Sloane, however, Katya warned Sloane then instructed Jack to abort the assassination. Jack came over to apologize a couple of days after, but Sloane told him cryptically that he could not blame Jack for wanting to save his daughter's life.
Sloane was arrested and charged with aiding Sark escape from CIA custody. He was eventually cleared, but his problems were not over; going through the deceased Senator Reed's files, the CIA discovered Sloane had handed over certain Rambaldi artifacts not to the DSR but to the Senator and an organization called the Trust, and in doing so he had violated his pardon agreement and was thus to be executed. In light of this, Sloane requested to see Jack, asking him to prove the existence of the Trust. Jack met with a contact and secured documents supporting this, but just as he was about to hand them over to the CIA, Dixon informed Jack he'd just discovered Sloane had an affair with Irina while she and Jack were still married.
At about the same time, the Covenant was found to be searching for the Passenger, later discovered to be Sydney's sister. Jack deduced that the Passenger was the product of Sloane and Irina's affair. Sydney visited Sloane in prison, and he finally revealed why he was being cryptic -- he had been trying to find the Passenger -- believed to be a direct conduit to Rambaldi -- whom he wanted to protect from the Covenant. Knowing Sloane represented her only chance to find her sister, Sydney turned to Jack to convince him to put the past aside and hand in the evidence that would exonerate Sloane.
Just as Jack was about to do so, however, he came across Marlon Bell of the Justice Department, whome he realized was a member of the Trust. Jack hastily put aside the evidence and approached Sloane to share a bottle of Chambertin Clos de Beze, the same champagne Sloane had used to toast Sydney's birth, telling him he wished to return the honor given the discovery of Sloane's daughter. Later, it was revealed that he'd laced the wine with a tetrodotoxin compound that later enabled him to revive Sloane after he'd been supposedly put to death by lethal injection.
After a collaboration of efforts, Jack, Sloane, and Sydney eventually located and extracted the Passenger, who turned out to be an Argentine intelligence agent named Nadia Santos. However, after spending a few hours at the safe house, Covenant agents appeared out of nowhere and Sloane, in another show of betrayal, escaped with Nadia hoping to use her to connect with Rambaldi, but eventually protected her against Lauren and Sark. Considering this an act of fatherly concern on Sloane's part, Nadia was driven to escape CIA custody and join Sloane by the end of the third season.
Season Four
In the first episode of the fourth season, Sloane was revealed to have gone with Nadia on a journey to retrieve Rambaldi artifacts which they handed over to the CIA. Sloane was then designated to head the new black-ops APO, an operation to which their members of their old taskforce were also assigned (primarily to keep an eye on Sloane given their intimate knowledge of him). By the fifth episode, Jack’s examination of messages inscribed in Irina’s old literature books revealed that Elena Derevko was alive, leading Jack and Sloane to make a pact to protect both Sydney and Nadia against the cruelest of the Derevko sisters.
Following the comeback of former K-Directorate Agent Anna Espinosa, Sloane stepped down as director of APO in accordance with his pardon agreement and was temporarily replaced by Jack. Sydney and Nadia were sent to survey a meet to find out the plans of an emerging terrorist organization called the CRF. Nadia obtained their plans but was subsequently injured and brought back to APO unconscious. Viewing footage of the meet, Jack realized Nadia knew of the CRF's plans and prematurely revived Nadia against medical advice. Angered, Sloane reminded Jack of their pact.
Later in the season, Jack was found to be suffering from radiation sickness and hallucinations following a mission in Siberia. Realizing that Atticus Lidel, a doctor specializing in the treatment of genetic mutations whom Jack helped go into hiding years ago, was the only one who could help Jack, Sloane helped Sydney recreate their home in 1981, revealing his intimate knowledge of Jack and Irina at that time; Jack eventually revealed he'd hidden Dr. Lidel in Finland, allowing Sydney to approach the doctor for help.
At about the same time, however, Sydney and Vaughn discovered that Sloane was behind many criminal acts including framing Irina for the hit on Sydney, prompting Jack to hold a gun to Sloane's head until Sloane convinced Jack he had been set up. Not long after, "Arvin Clone" was discovered to have stolen a rare orchid with dangerous chemical properties from a monastery in Umbria, driving Jack warned Sloane he'd approach Langley (and implicate both of them) should they fail to recover the orchid within seventy-two hours.
Eventually, the Clone was caught and placed in CIA custody, and was discovered to have the same brain waves as Sloane. Through the Clone it was revealed that, through Omnifam, Sloane had introduced a mixture that was an application of one of Rambaldi's formulas into the water supply in hopes of breeding aggression out of humans, but that he'd lacked the orchid's nectar at that time. Furthermore, it was revealed that Jack knew about this but decided not to report this since he believed Sloane had changed and that Sloane had good intentions in mind when he'd contaminated the water.
Hoping to make the Clone reveal the location of the orchid, Marshall proposed to use hypnosis to shock the information out of the Clone. He retrieved the memory of losing Sloane's unborn child, Jacquelyn, from him and uploaded it to the Clone, who revealed the location of the orchid. Sloane vowed to a still doubtful Jack that he would rectify his mistakes. Jack's suspicions seemed to be confirmed when Sloane double-crossed Sydney while on a mission to interrogate Lazlo Drake and left to join Elena Derevko, who was already working towards achieving her endgame -- the activation of a giant Mueller device in Sovogda.
During a mission in Elena's facility in Prague, Dixon discovered that Irina was still alive. APO rescued Irina, who revealed Elena wished to carry out Rambaldi's desire for cleansing through an apocalypse, and that she and Sloane had already begun with their plans in the Russian city of Sovogda. In hopes of stopping Elena, an APO team consisting of Jack, Irina, Sydney, and Vaughn entered Sovogda. There they came across Sloane, who revealed he'd allied himself with Elena to prevent her from enacting her endgame, but Jack knocked him out, telling him he was no longer in charge. With Sloane's help, however, they got to Elena and were able to dismantle the device. Once back at the CIA, Sydney visited Sloane in prison to say she believed he was actually doing the right thing.
Season Five
Following the Sovogda incident, Jack visited Sloane in prison regularly to update him on Nadia’s condition. Sloane’s chances to attain pardon seemed slim even as Jack collected statements from APO members in hopes of appealingSloane's case. When Jack and Sloane resigned to the fact that any appeal seemed hopeless, Sloane asked Jack to do all he can to save Nadia, giving Jack the power of attorney over his daughter. Just before his trial, however, Sloane was approached by a man affiliated with Gordon Dean and Prophet Five, an organization that was APO's latest target, who told Sloane mysterious benefactors were willing to provide Sloane freedom in exchange for his "help." Jack watched suspiciously as the court clear and release Sloane, but put in a request for Sloane's limited reinstatement knowing Sloane merely wished to use APO resources to find Nadia's cure. To ensure approval, Sloane threatened the child of a senator opposed to the request.
With Nadia's survival hanging in the balance, Sloane was forced to report happenings in APO to Dean and Prophet Five. Upon discovering that Nadia had no hope for recovery, however, Sloane approached Jack and Sydney to tell the truth and helped APO bait and capture Dean. When a contact called Ehrmann instructed Sloane to kill Dean, he refused. But then Nadia woke up unexpectedly, and violent reactions forced the doctors to induce another coma. Thus, unknown to rest of the team, Sloane forced Dean to swallow a cyanide pill just as he was about to give up the access codes to Prophet Five's communications network.
Not long after, Sydney was kidnapped by Prophet Five. Sloane denied having any other contact with Prophet Five but secretly phones his contact for help in Sydney's rescue, but the contact refuses to help, telling Sloane that Nadia was the only person he could save.
Jack and Sloane's Friendship
Twisted -- there's no better word for Jack and Sloane's friendship. Throughout the history of their knowing each other, there has been much betrayal and anger, suspicion and doubt. All these attributes are, of course, not unheard of in the SpyDrama, but the friendship of Jack and Sloane is pretty much as dysfunctional as, say, the Bristows are dysfunctional as a family.
Throughout the series, despite his malevolence with which Sloane treated everyone else (save Emily and Sydney -- although even the latter has had her targeted by Sloane in occasions such as the Pilot and when her CIA communique is intercepted in the first season), he has always had great trust and respect for Jack. In the days of SD-6, he apparently chooses to ignore even the most suspicious of Jack's activities and allows enough leeway for Jack to escape death when Sloane reveals him to be a double agent (although Jack is seriously weakened while being tortured by Anthony Geiger), and even invites Jack to join him after SD-6 is shut down. Even Jack, however, is not completely exempted and falls victim to a few of Sloane's malignant deeds -- he is seriously weakened when Anthony Geiger tortures him, he finds himself on the run when accused of Emily Sloane's murder (though Sloane eventually set someone else up so Jack wouldn't take the fall), and he escapes with Nadia and betrays Jack's trust in the process in the third season.
Of course, Jack is definitely not without fault towards Sloane -- he hardly hesitates in taking attempts at Sloane's life to save those of others and constantly doubts Sloane even after he's apparently undergone a significant transformation in terms of values, but of course, this doubt is certainly not unfounded given Sloane's history and given Jack's protectiveness towards his daughter. Realizing Sloane does indeed love his daughter, however, radically changes Jack's perspective (precisely because of Sydney); hence, he enters a pact with Sloane to protect their daughters when Elena Derevko is found to be a threat to both of them. By the fifth and final season (so far, at least), Jack becomes Sloane's most regular visitor in prison and in fact works to secure Sloane's pardon. Apparently (based on his own fierce love for Sydney), Jack's sympathy towards and understanding of Sloane in matters concerning Nadia has enabled him to see Sloane in a renewed light and regard him as his friend again.
Jack and Sloane's friendship is one of long-term secrets and deceit. But all incidents of betrayal notwithstanding, it is still, above all, a relationship that is dependent on trust (no matter how misplaced). It is a friendship based on watching each other's back...though not, of course, without holding guns aimed at each other's chests.
Jack and Sloane Quotes
Sloane: When I didn't hear from you I thought maybe Hassan had gotten a lead...maybe he knew you were coming.
Jack: I was unsure of that myself. But it all worked out.
Sloane: Not for Hassan.
Jack: No, not for him. (He opens the door for Sloane.)
Sloane: Thank you.
Jack: It's my job.
-- From 1x11 "The Confession"
Jack: Tippin didn't turn out to be a problem, did he?
Sloane: Sydney wasn't intimate with Tippin. She is with Hicks.
Jack: I'm not sure that's my business, and I know it isn't yours.
-- From 1x19 "Snowman"
Sloane: Congratulations, Sydney. You have so many things to celebrate today. I, myself, am still coping with the pain and disappointment of learning that you and Jack were double agents. The two people I trusted most in the world.
-- 2x15 "A Free Agent"
Sloane: It's good to see you, Jack.
Jack: I assume that since you're sitting across from me with so little regard for your life, I'm in the cross hairs of a sniper rifle.
Sloane: Two of them. I've missed your poker face. So. There's something I want you to know. I forgive you.
Jack: Excuse me?
Sloane: Your betrayal of SD-6. I'm curious, Jack. When did our friendship end?
Jack: The moment you recruited Sydney over my objections.
-- 2x21 "Second Double"
Jack: Personally, I would have found it anticlimactic that after expecting to assemble a weapon of ultimate power, you ended up with a revelation you could have acquired from a fortune cookie.
Sloane: (amused) Always the atheist, Jack. I've missed you.
-- From 3x02 "Succession"
Jack: I've been trying to think of a single reason why you saved my life. The only conclusion I've come to is that it would incur some feeling of debt on my part.
Sloane: As usual, Jack, you're in danger of outsmarting yourself.
-- From 3x08 "Breaking Point"
Sloane: You and Sydney still believe I'm pursuing some hidden agenda. Now, whatever you may perceive that agenda to be, clearly it would be easier to obtain if you were both dead, given that you're my most vocal detractors, my most capable antagonists.
Jack: Or you need us for something. Something you believe only we can provide.
-- From 3x08 "Breaking Point"
Sloane: I remember years ago, I was working at SD-6. I was on my way to a meeting in Berlin. It was a typical day, except K-Directorate made an attempt on my life. As I opened my car door, a sniper shot came out of nowhere. The bullet grazed my neck. Actually left a burn mark. You never forget what that feels like -- to barely escape with your life.
Jack: I have a plane waiting.
-- From 3x12 "Crossings"
Jack: About last week: it was a matter of circumstance, Arvin. Whether I would have gone through with it...
Sloane: Oh, you would've. I would've.
Jack: Perhaps.
Sloane: And now you feel guilty. Well don't bother, Jack. Sydney's life was at stake. How can I blame a man for doing whatever he can to save his daughter's life?
-- From 3x13 "After Six"
Sloane: ...Now that your schoolboy crush on the woman who destroyed your life is preventing you from saving mine, I will have to revise that assessment.
Jack: Irina Derevko affected your life every bit as much as she affected mine. I knew the possibility existed that Sydney would be drawn into our world, but I often wondered why you were the one who sought her out, why you showed such paternal affection toward her. Now I know. You did it because you were angry and jealous and wanted to take away the one thing that was important to both Irina and me, the symbol of what we had and you didn't -- Sydney. You're right. I'm not going to help you. Since this is the last conversation we will ever have, I want to make this perfectly clear. What you have done to my daughter is nothing compared to what I will do when I find yours. Salut.
-- From 3x19 "The Hourglass"
Sloane: As a professional courtesy I would like for you to justify your decision.
Jack: Your words. "Do whatever it takes to stop Anna." We stopped Anna.
Sloane: I would have appreciated -- as a father -- to be apprised of your decision to put my daughter's life at risk.
Jack: As you do mine every day.
Sloane: When I accepted this position, I made two agreements: one with Langley, and one with you. A pact.
Jack: That's still in effect.
Sloane: But only because my daughter is unhurt. I wonder, Jack...what assurance do I have that you will continue to honor it?
-- From 4x09 "A Man of His Word"
Jack: You can't imagine what it felt like. Looking into the face of the woman I once shared a life with, and with a single bullet...ending that life. And then it occurred to me. Why you would go to such lengths -- it was for Sydney. Y ou imagined you could drive a wedge between me and my daughter.
Sloane: I didn't. I had nothing to do with Irina's death.
Jack: (puts a gun to Sloane's head) One good reason...why I shouldn't do to you what I did to my wife.
Sloane: Think about it. Even if I did succeed in undermining your relationship with Sydney, which given our agreement runs counter to my self-interest. Even then, with all of the people in Sydney's life -- Vaughn, Nadia, anyone -- do you really believe that she would turn to me? Jack, I didn't do this.
-- From 4x16 "Another Mister Sloane"
Jack: Seventy-two hours. If we haven't recovered the orchid in that time, I'm going to Langley with this. It will mean the end of you, Arvin.
Sloane: You too, Jack.
Jack: I know. Seventy-two hours.
-- 4x19 "In Dreams"
Clone: Jack. Of course. I should have known.
Jack: You know me.
Clone: What kind of question is that? Of course I know you.
Sloane: And me?
Clone: What about you?
Sloane: Do you know me?
Clone: No.
Sloane: I'm Arvin Sloane.
Clone: I see. This is your idea, Jack. Play with my sense of reality.
Jack: I don't know what you're talking about. I've never met you.
-- 4x19 "In Dreams"
Sloane: I am going to rectify this, Jack. I will clean up this mess that I've made.
Jack: I'd like to believe that, Arvin.
Sloane: But you can't.
Jack: I've heard it before.
-- 4x19 "In Dreams"
Sloane: These are Elena's men. Sent here to kill you.
Jack: I suppose you're expecting a thank you.
Sloane: There's no time for sarcasm, Jack.
-- 4x22 "Before the Flood"
Sloane: I want to give you power of attorney over Nadia.
Jack: Of course.
Sloane: Promise me you'll do everything you can to save her, Jack...as if she were your own daughter.
Jack: You have my word.
-- 5x04 "Mockingbird"
Sloane: I was hoping to offer you more than prison food.
Jack: I must confess I'd grown rather fond of the shepherd's pie...I'm assuming you didn't bring me here simply for the cuisine.
Sloane: I know this puts you in an awkward position. I...
Jack: I've already put in a request for your limited reinstatement.
-- 5x05 "Out of the Box"
Jack: Nadia hasn't made any improvements. Why admit this to us now? What's changed?
Sloane: Nadia won't be getting better, Jack...If I have to face a life without my daughter, I still have to live with myself. It sounds hollow, I know, in light of what I just told you...I consider you both to be my family.
-- 5x07 "Fait Accompli"