The season 2 premiere of NBC’s Manifest reveals that Vance (Daryl Edwards) is still alive. Robert “Bobby” Vance was the director of the NSA, and a key ally of Ben (Josh Dallas) in season 1. He was supposedly killed in an explosion at the Unified Dynamic Systems’ secret facility in Manifest’s midseason 1 finale.
At the beginning of Manifest’s first season, Vance was presented as a secretive government official who got himself involved in the mystery surrounding the passengers of Flight 828. At first, it appeared that he was an obstacle to the main characters, who were trying to get to the bottom of the mystery, but as the season wore on, it became apparent that Vance was just as much in the dark as everyone else. He even became a friend to Ben and helped him oppose UDS and their experiments on the passengers. In the midseason finale, their conflict with UDS came to a head and Vance was thought to be a casualty, even though his body was never shown. The characters were told that Vance died of the wounds he sustained during the explosion.
Throughout the Manifest season 2 premiere, Ben noticed that he was being followed by a suspicious white van. After approaching it in the final scene of the episode, he was kidnapped and taken into a room where he came face to face with Vance, who remarks, “You’re not the only one who can come back from the dead!” The episode ends before Vance can explain further, but the implication is clear. As many fans have suspected since the midseason finale, Vance faked his death. Vance’s actions against UDS likely marked him as an enemy, so he must have felt that his “death” needed to happen so that he could work against them in secret.
It’s expected that Vance will shed more light on what happened and what his plan is in next week’s episode when he has a chance to explain everything to Ben. As for why he kidnapped Ben, it makes sense that he thought it was necessary in order to avoid exposing himself to UDS. For this reason, he couldn’t approach Ben directly.
Whatever his explanation is, Vance’s survival is a big win for the main characters. As a former NSA director, Vance is sure to have access to intel and resources that Ben and Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) sorely lack. Vance can be a powerful ally to be sure, and that’s something they’ll need in the trials ahead, especially since the Major (Elizabeth Marvel) is now using one of their own, Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) against them. Hopefully, Vance still being alive is a secret they’ll be able to keep from the Major, as he could serve as a trump card in the future.
More: What To Expect From Manifest Season 2
