Sydney must decide whether her mother's goodwill gesture was sincere or an attempt to kill her. Will witnesses Francie discussing her restaurant plans with a man whose affiliations are questionable, and Sloane is made a full partner in the malevolent Alliance of Twelve.

Sydney discovers a terrifying secret when she's sent on a case to track down a new generation of weapons. Meanwhile, Vaughn suspects Jack of setting up Sydney's mother to take a fall. Sloane tells Jack the truth about Emily's death.

Sydney's trust in her father begins to fade. Meanwhile, Sydney and Vaughn may have been exposed to a deadly virus while in Taipei; Sloane haunted by Emily's death begins to unravel. Vaughn enlists Will to help research a case.

While Alliance counterintelligence head Ariana Kane tracks Sydney in order to catch her fugitive father, Jack elicits Irina's help in finding Sloane's blackmailer. Meanwhile, Sydney and Vaughn risk exposing their covers to SD-6 when they share a romantic dinner together while on a case in France.

Sydney faces off with her mother, while Emily must decide whether to side with her husband or betray him.

Jack takes drastic measures to ensure that the NSC never finds out the truth about Sydney's murder of a Russian diplomat. But his actions place a heavy strain on Vaughn's marriage, as Lauren gets closer and closer to the truth about Sydney. Meanwhile, Sydney agrees to go on a mission with Sloane in order to thwart plans to obtain the operating system to a deadly weapon -- and she discovers an unlikely ally in the hunt for her missing two years.

Sydney attempts to rescue Dixon's kids after they are kidnapped by Sark, Lauren's status as a double agent is put to the test when she learns that she has to work with her father, and Sloane is framed as a CIA mole.