Aliens? Colonists? The Cigarette Smoking Man? Krycek? The Syndicate? Black Oil? Roswell? The Project? Abductions? Mulder’s Sister? Bees? Clones? Alien-Human Hybrids? Purity Control? Deep Throat? Mr. X? Marita Covarrubias? The Merchandise? Alien Bounty Hunters? Faceless Rebels? William? Super Soldiers? Magnetite? 2012? The Spartan Virus? Perihelion?
The X-Files famously has one of the densest and most confusing mythologies of almost any show ever written. Mostly because it just kind of kept on going and didn’t ever really try to keep track of continuity. Or so I’m told. I watched the entire series to find out if and how The X-Files’ mytharc makes sense.
Part recap, part review, part explainer, part retrospective, part video essay, here’s a complete(ish) guide to the mysteries and lore of The X-Files.
00:00:00 Some Investigation
00:02:01 Intro
00:09:30 What is This Show? / Pilot Recap
00:18:28 Season 1
00:29:00 Season 2
00:43:32 Season 3
00:55:21 Season 4
01:05:36 Season 5
01:13:47 Fight the Future
01:18:53 Season 6
01:24:58 Season 7
01:28:02 Millennium
01:33:11 Season 7 continued
01:39:37 Season 8
01:49:59 Season 9
01:54:41 The Lone Gunmen
01:58:39 The Original Ending
02:06:06 I Want to Believe
02:09:07 The Revival (Seasons 10 + 11)
02:27:42 Books
02:33:45 Comics
02:38:15 The Mytharc Basics
02:45:43 The Beginnings of Colonization
02:52:01 Creation of The Syndicate
02:56:34 The Project / Every Different Type of Hybrid
03:10:46 Syndicate Members
03:17:57 The Syndicate’s Collapse
03:21:13 The Revival Series Ruins Everything
03:35:57 Samantha
03:40:34 Scully and William
03:50:23 The Cigarette Smoking Man
04:07:57 Mystery Box Review
04:26:51 Final Thoughts
The X-Files is a science fiction/supernatural police procedural that premiered in 1993, created by Chris Carter, starring David Duchovny as Fox Mulder, Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner, and William B. Davis as the Cigarette Smoking Man.
#xfiles #thexfiles #mulderandscully #mytharc #mysteryboxstory #mysteryboxshow #explained
Interviewees:
Brendan Beiser:
Molly Hottle:
Lauren Krattiger:
Kimon (Eat the Corn):
Jim Thornton (X-Files Preservation Collection):
@XFilesMuseum
Rick Worley’s Video:
Additional Resources:
Fight the Future Soundtrack Secret Bonus Track:
Audible Audio Dramas:
Fan Wiki:
What is a Mystery Box Show?
My Mystery Box Show Playlist:
My Other Channel: @ThreeActStructureExplained
My Video on All the President’s Men:
Twitter: @BackpackBigBlue
Bluesky:
Instagram:
TikTok:
Tumblr:
Patreon:
Become a channel member and see videos early:
Ko-fi:
Intro by Cooper Thomas
@PancakeVideoEssays
Music by Sam LaGrego:
@samlagregomusic
Art by JubaOwO
Royalty Free Music by Bensound
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Leave it to a pdf lefty to not be able to find something that can be found with a few clicks on the internet
Yes you can say rape and suicide on YouTube the idea that you can't is a lie and takes away the severity of these topics when you have to use cutsey language to talk about them. Grow a fucking spine
The show makes complete sense if you pay attention and you're not a moron with zero media literacy. 😂
Oh my goodness, I watched the show too and those questions had me as flummoxed as the people who got asked in the video. The show really was lucky it was about a lot of tangled webs cause that much of convoluted stuff and mystery for the sake of mystery is exceedingly hard to get away with. I mean… the show was crazy well written and well acted and entertaining so it got away with it but I don’t think they planned much outside a vague framework.
There is currently a new reboot of X-files coming. But Chris Carter is not involved, which gives me some hope. The new series is developed by Ryan Coogler (The Sinners) Also, Mulder and Scully won't be in it and it will focus on completely new pair of agents who start working again on the X-files. I just wish that the main mythology won't be about aliens. X-files as a concept (two agents with opposing views working on paranormal cases) is something that doesn't really need aliens in order to work. Some main storyline is probably necessary but it could be about anything. Instead of aliens, it could be about some evil AI trying take over.
I think it would've made a lot sense to end the original series at season 7. That was the logical end; Scully started to believe and Mulder found out what happened to Samantha. And after that final season there should've been a movie which concluded everything about the aliens.
now this was a pretty decent use of my timey, love your style. always heard of and wanted to know about x files, but dont got the kind of time needed. keep up the good work!
When The X-Files aired on German TV, I was still a child. But I loved it. I watched as many episodes as I could. I remember it airing mondays at 8:15pm (which is called the prime time slot). I think I even watched the movie in cinemas with my parents. I have a DVD box with all episodes.
I still couldn't answer the questions from the beginning of this video. Smoking Man, aliens, the alien bounty hunter, the sister being cloned. Sure. But nothing more than that.
"But this means – we're at the end"
Well that was a fun video, time to scroll around to find something else to watch
2 hours remaining
…whut?
Turns out the real Aliens were all the Humans we met along the way
This is crazy!! Well done! I loved the X Files back when it began but only watched it occasionally. Then my kids and I watched the mythology episodes (they were a little young for the monsters). It captured two periods in time for me that I will always cherish. Thank you.
Heres something to ponder! Wonder why the XFiles spin off The Lone Gunman show didnt last, they TOLD US WHAT WAS HAPPENING ON 09/11!
Episode 1 says about the Government using an airplane to commit an attack!
The show filmed in March 2001!
I like all the episodes where they reinvent the vampire- Squeeze, the brain eating guy, etc. It’s pretty derivative- come up with an organ they eat, give them some powers and immortality, etc etc. I still like them.
I always hated almost every mythos episode, Monster of the Week all the way. The government or a faction of it working for alien colonists is a great premise, they never did anything with it. Not saying it should have become V, but we should have gotten something, some progression towards that point. Historical events, changes.
So this was a documentary? Lol
Rewatched the entire series/movies/etc. a year or two ago and I sincerely appreciated the later seasons much more upon visiting them a second time as to where I wasn't the biggest fan when they first aired. Agent Reyes and Agent Dogget were pretty damn good. Wish they'd have brought Dogget back. He had a really heartbreaking storyline. Robert Patrick is the f'n man.
Should watch the video “The X-Files Mythology All Makes Perfect Sense, Actually” by Rick Worley. It’s even longer than this video.
Nearly 4 and a half hours on the X Files?!
Well of course I’m watching the entire thing.
6 or 10 times.
Per year.
For the rest of my life.
👽
My favorite part of the series is Scully being a religious person but absolutely hating all the paranormal alien stuff lol but God is real 😂 love her man
X-files taught me not to invest myself in big mystery shows. To hell with Lost.
Fun Fact; Watergate was a CIA op to destroy Nixon and it worked. All those people in the hotel were CIA, Bob Woodward
was CIA.
What a great video, thanks for all the work you put into it!
16:55 Those people who complain about the long videos are just the kind of people who can only consume short form content. They expect like a 30 second short giving them the answer so they can move onto the next random short. If you want to and enjoy making long form content then go for it man. There's always going to be somebody who will find a reason to get mad but that's their problem. Consuming long form content is good for your attention span and retention ability anyways.
I used to feel like I was losing my mind because nobody around me noticed how artificial and scripted modern life feels. Stumbling across World's Forbidden Truth by Cyrus Rothson was the first time everything clicked into place. Just knowing you aren't crazy and seeing the actual architecture of the cage changes how you move through life.
stumbled across World's Forbidden Truth by Cyrus Rothson at 1am while going down a mystery rabbit hole and i still have chills. the chapters on sleep paralysis, frequencies, and unseen entities completely shattered my worldview
Wild how the mainstream media never touches any of this.
It is unsettling how quiet the internet gets whenever somebody brings up Cyrus Rothson. Everybody talks about surface level politics, but the moment someone exposes the people who own the system, it gets buried.
When I finished chapter fifty of World's Forbidden Truth by Cyrus Rothson, I just sat in my car in silence for half an hour. Seeing both the dark side of how they built the mental and financial prison, and the final chapters on how to actually unplug your mind and family from their system, legitimately changed my life.
The biggest lie they ever sold humanity was convincing us that we are powerless specs of dust who just have to obey authorities, pay taxes, and die.
Ten years ago people would have called you crazy for saying this. Today it is literally undeniable.
It is honestly wild how fast things are accelerating right now. Anyone paying attention can feel it in their gut.
Crazy how they expect us to just keep working fifty hours a week and never question any of this.
I was skeptical when I first heard about World's Forbidden Truth by Cyrus Rothson. I figured it was just another exaggerated story, until I checked the historical dates he cited in chapter one. Everything checked out.
7:08 – HOW IS STAR TREK A NICHE?! Mfer, it had MILLIONS OF VIEWERS! WENT ON FOR SEVEN SEASONS! DISTRUBUTED WORLDWIDE! HAD SUCCESSFULL SERIES OF THEATRICAL MOVIES EVEN! HOW. IS. THAT. A. NICHE?!?!?!?!? Ffs…
It's not that there was no explanation for some or parts of the show, but that a lot of those explanations don't make a lot of sense within the universe of the story. When Carter wanted to change directions, he just does it, dropping the path the plotlines were on. And it's really frustrating to just say "oh well, the aliens changed their mind." And after retcons and reretcons, it's like WTF? I don't think Carter was ever interested in finishing the story (hence all the cliffhangers); he just did whatever he needed to to keep the show going, including dropping the major story arc after seven seasons.
I have it on in the background all the time lol
I was waiting for a video like this! Without knowing it!
Wait wait, Mulder is his sons brother?
2:48:04–season 62? or what am I misreading?
This was a massive shit-ton of work, for someone who wasn't even around for the first run. I'm impressed. I couldn't keep up in real time, and I was there to watch the whole thing. On the TV box, when they were big massive things that didn't hang on the wall and the remotes were the kids (get up and change the channel, Johnny). We talked about the show in parts, as in "I liked it when it was still about the monsters. I lost the thread when they got into this confusing conspiracy stuff…"
Do "Evolution" next!
😆
Fair play for doing the whole mytharc in one sitting. I think it holds together better as a mood than as a puzzle, and the episodes that stay with me are the small ones like Bad Blood and Home where nobody says a word about aliens. The Syndicate stuff is easier to follow once you stop expecting every thread to be paid off.
I watched Xfiles a lot as a kid/teen, had sorta forgotten most of it, it all just blurred together into a mess of monsters and romantic tension…
Watching this has made me realize I am lucky. Seems like it either blurred together into a mess like it did for me… or TOTALLY fucking melted people brains? Like… you can't actually look at 2026 and say we arn't neck deep in people that think xfiles is real? Holy shit, how do these conspiracy theories gain ANY mainstream credibility when they are just ALL FUCKING XFILES PLOTLINES.
FUCK
X-Files would have been better if the episodes and storylines were designed to be MORE self-contained.
The Monster of the Week episodes were always better than the drawn out convoluted plots anyway.
I was a fan from the first episode, but after the second/third season I knew the main overarching alien plot line was going to be a let down. I got tired of the cliffhangers, misdirects, vague teasers and overly tortured plot. That Samantha episode was the last straw. After that I stopped watching the show for the alien stuff and just tuned in for the monster of the week/one off episodes. It was obvious to me Chris Carter and the writers didn't have a plan, were just making it up as they went, and I was tired of being suckered.
I had a vague idea of what the alien plot was about, but thanks to your video I do now. Thank you for your sacrifice.
The convoluted mythology reflects my experience trying to understand real UFO conspiracies. You couldn't write a coherent UFO conspiracy plotline. It would be corny. It wouldn't make sense. You could disprove it. The theories are the fun part. Any solution would be unsatisfying. Avoiding a solution is the point. Or maybe that's what they want you to think.