Ep 3. The Awful Truth

Sydney Bristow is a badass CIA agent who works undercover for the organization called SD-6. In the fourth season of Alias, Sydney has been reunited with her long-lost mother, Irina Derevko, who was formerly a KGB agent and is now working with the CIA. In the third episode of season 4, called "The Awful Truth," Sydney is still reeling from the revelation that her mother is alive and working with the CIA. She starts to question whether or not Irina can really be trusted, and worries that she might be leading them all into a trap.

Meanwhile, Jack Bristow is dealing with his own set of issues. He's confronting the fact that his wife, Emily, is dying of cancer, and he doesn't know how much longer she has left. He's also struggling with the knowledge that Irina was responsible for Emily's illness, meaning that he could never forgive her for what she's done.

As the episode opens, Sydney and Irina are on a mission in Russia, trying to recover a crucial CIA file. But things quickly go awry when they're ambushed by a group of Russian agents. Sydney manages to fend them off with some impressive martial arts moves, but Irina is more vulnerable. Sydney feels responsible for protecting her mother, and starts to feel like she can't trust anyone else to help her.

Back in Los Angeles, Vaughn is trying to patch up his relationship with Sydney, but it's not going well. They're both holding back secrets from each other, and it's causing a rift between them. Vaughn is also dealing with the fallout from his relationship with his former fiancee, Lauren, who turned out to be a double agent working for the enemy. He knows that he's made some serious mistakes in the past, and he's trying to make up for them by being a better partner to Sydney.

The episode takes a dramatic turn when the CIA headquarters is attacked by an unknown entity. The attackers manage to breach the building's security, and start stealing classified information. Agents are killed, and chaos reigns. Sydney and her team try to track down the source of the attack, but they're stymied at every turn. It's clear that whoever is behind this is a formidable foe, and they won't be easily defeated.

As the episode comes to a close, Sydney finds herself in a tough spot. She's confronted by her mother, who tells her the awful truth about her past. Sydney is rocked by what she hears, and she starts to question everything she thought she knew about who she is and where she came from. She'll have to sort through all of the lies and secrets if she wants to come out of this alive.