In an attempt to talk to Sydney, Katya Derevko deliberately poisons herself and is temporally taken out from her cell. Once Nadia tells her sister about this, Sydney visits her aunt to tell her to stay away from Nadia. However, Katya unsettles Sydney by telling her that someone framed her mother as a means of getting her killed. Sydney sets off in search of the truth behind this story. Meanwhile, Vaughn becomes a rogue agent by getting involved with the people who might know his father's whereabouts. In the end, he and Sydney find out that the man behind these two plots is no other than A. Sloane. However, things are not exactly as they seem to be.

Sydney and Vaughn tell Jack about Sloane's alleged involvement in Vaughn's search for his father and Irina's contract on Sydney's life. After cornering Sloane, they both conclude that someone is framing him. The APO team set a trap to catch the fake A. Sloane, but they fail. Once they realize what "Arvin Clone" is after, Sloane suggests he should step down temporarily. However, Sydney reluctantly convinces him to stay on the case, since he may the only person able to anticipate "Arvin Clone's" next move. But Nadia fears that this pursuit may revive her father's past obsession – Rambaldi.

The team captures the Sloane Imposter and questions him to find a rare Rambaldi orchid. The real Sloane must relive a painful memory in order to get the Imposter to reveal the orchid location.