| The Five Elders | |||||||||||||||||||
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The Five Elders are first seen in Chuck Versus the Predator when Fulcrum agent, Vincent, reports to a panel of four men and one woman hidden in shadows, later revealed to be the Ring Council Chamber of five leaders in Chuck Versus the Mask. They give him permission to investigate the Burbank Buy More to further his search for Orion.
The panel of five resurfaces in Chuck Versus the Mask when Ring operative Nicos Vassilis reports Daniel Shaw's involvement in the interception of a chemical weapon that the Ring was hiding. The council has Vassilis summarily executed when he presses them on how they wish to deal with Shaw. Shortly afterward, a large ring is seen to be illuminated behind the council. They were not only the Ring's senior leadership, but also the parent organization of Fulcrum.
The Ring Council is introduced to the team by General Beckman when she was contacted by Chuck in Chuck Versus the Ring: Part 2, at their mention, Chuck flashes on The Five Elders who are planning to take over the NSA and CIA at a Joint Security summit.
The Five Elders were successfully captured by Team Bartowski when Chuck manipulates Shaw into alerting the them to leave the convention, neatly having them identify themselves by the maneuver, since Chuck had no way of identifying them otherwise.
Motives[]
Much like Fulcrum, they did attempt to gain control of the Intersect until it was destroyed by Chuck Bartowski. They hired arms dealer Karl Stromberg to obtain and move an intelligence safe for them, and also attempted to assassinate Premier Alejandro Goya to prevent him from opening his country to democratic elections. Unlike Fulcrum, who saw themselves as patriots attempting to protect the dominance of the United States in the world, their assassination attempt against Goya indicates the Ring has a wider global interest.
Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler confirmed that the Ring has a continuing interest in obtaining the Intersect. They stole burned-out components of Intersect 2.0 from a government holding facility after Chuck had destroyed it in Chuck Versus the Ring, and hired computer expert Manoosh Depak, to attempt reverse engineer the device.
Chuck Versus the Other Guy revealed that the Ring had succeeded in producing their own prototype of the Cipher, the central component of the Intersect, although Shaw noted significant flaws in the device. Shaw later provided the Ring with detailed technical information so they could refine their prototype, however this was eventually intercepted by Casey, and it is unknown how much data they managed to recover.
The Elders escorted by operative Justin Sullivan under arrest in Chuck Versus the Ring: Part 2
After the apprehension of the Ring Director in Paris, the Ring briefly laid low. In Chuck Versus the Role Models, the organization resurfaced once again when one of their operatives, Justin Sullivan poisoned Devon in such a way as to mimic the symptoms of malaria in order to remove him and Ellie from Africa. Chuck Versus the Tooth begins to bring their plans for Ellie into sharper focus, when Ellie is manipulated into becoming an asset for the organization with the belief that her father, Stephen, is in danger. Chuck Versus the Living Dead reveals the Ring is after Stephen to capture a device he had developed called the Governor, which controls the electrical impulses the Intersect generates during a flash which can pose a threat to the brain of an Intersect host.
Although the exact and final goals of the Ring were never clearly defined, in Chuck Versus the Subway and Chuck Versus the Ring: Part 2, they attempted to seize control of the CIA and NSA in a coup initiated during a conference, first by discrediting Team Bartowski and General Beckman, then by using Shaw to arrange the replacement of multiple senior members of both organizations with the Elders. The plot was ultimately foiled by the Chuck, and Shaw and the Elders were apprehended by Team Bartowski.