The X-Files' Big William Reveal Was the Plan All Along (Apparently)

Season 11 of the Fox hit revealed a major twist about Mulder and Scully's son

By Chris Harnick Jan 04, 2018 2:14 PMTags
Watch: "X-Files" Cast Gives Scoop on Season 11

It wouldn't be The X-Files without a polarizing twist, right? The eleventh season, or second chapter of the revival event series, debuted on Wednesday, Jan. 3 and dropped a major revelation about Mulder (David Duchovny), Scully (Gillian Anderson), the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and William, the long hidden son of Mulder and Scully. Or is he Mulder and Scully's son? Your obvious spoiler warning is right now!

"My Struggle III" featured the Smoking Man telling Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) that he impregnated Scully with William back in season seven's "En Ami" and he was the father. So, William is Mulder's half-brother, not son? Sort of.

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In an interview with EW, series creator Chris Carter said this has been the plan for William all along. "Yes. But, of course, if The X-Files never came back, we would have never gotten to explore it," Carter said. The Smoking Man isn't the biological father per say. "He's the figurative father if he's not the actual father. He didn't rape Scully. He impregnated her with science," Carter said.

Davis wrote "En Ami" during the show's original run, but was not made aware of Carter's plan to have that be the moment Scully was impregnated. "There was a kind of ambiguity to the fact that she was asleep and woke up in different clothes," Davis told TVInsider. "But I certainly at the time never thought [it would go here]."

Take note: The episode's opening credits tag went from "I want to believe" to "I want to lie." Can the Smoking Man be trusted?

"He worked in a clandestine service," Carter told TVInsider. "They are all a bunch of liars and propagandists and altered the course of elections in plenty of places. So they were merchant of lies. While you have come to trust his evil intent, he still is a character who is either lying purposefully or telling the hard truths."

The X-Files airs Wednesdays, 8 p.m. on Fox.