Sterling M. Archer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
codename_duchess) wrote2013-08-20 10:38 am
codename_duchess) wrote2013-08-20 10:38 am
A Brief History of Archer
Note: This is a condensed history and for the purposes of brevity (lol) the events of several episodes have been excluded. Important people in Archer’s life are marked in bold.
Sterling Archer was born on a bar in Casablanca during the second World War, the only child of American spy and single mother Malory Archer. Due to the dangerous nature of her career, Sterling spent the first five years of his life raised by their valet Woodhouse. When Malory came home she began to use “negative reinforcement” as a parenting tool, constantly berating Sterling in order to motivate him. Despite all odds this appears to have worked, and Sterling is quite accomplished and has bulletproof self-confidence. Malory was never very present as a parent, and often completely ignored Sterling at crucial moments, neglected him in favor of her dog Duchess, and even once left for a date after he‘d seriously injured himself. This led Sterling to act out in order to get attention, which in turn only got him sent to boarding school (fourteen years) each term and camp each summer.
There, his brash habits and need for attention pushed away potential friends. Although he excelled at certain activities (lacrosse being among his favorites), his discomfort in these institutions and desire to leave them meant he relied on Malory and her influence more and more. Still, things didn’t change. She was present enough to get him out of the army, for instance (“He’s gay”), but not enough to go to his university graduation, which only Woodhouse attended. In fact, at one point she laments being unable to find a single photo of them together. Perhaps out of guilt for her absence in his early years, perhaps just out of a desire to monitor her son’s life, Malory inducted Sterling into the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and trained him as a field agent.
He showed remarkable promise, but unfortunately does not play well with others. Sterling began a relationship with Lana Kane, a fellow ISIS field agent. They appeared to be deeply in love until his issues eventually drove them apart, unfortunately forcing them into a working environment where they were both forced to see each other every day. This didn’t go over particularly well for Lana’s new boyfriend, ISIS comptroller Cyril Figgis. Or really, anyone. Every day at ISIS Headquarters became a constant arguing match, which nearly every member of the staff has noted is a hostile work environment. However, since Malory Archer is the CEO of ISIS and Sterling is firmly placed high on the ladder due to a mixture of talent and nepotism, no changes have been made.
Which is not to say changes haven’t been made on other fronts. During his time at ISIS Sterling’s gone through major upheavals; German assassins under Russian hire implanting a microchip into his brain is the least of them. That only resulted in temporary insanity, easily cured by Malory’s magnificent grouping when he attacked her. (In the eyes of most ISIS personnel, there is little that can’t be fixed by shooting someone.) The incident was the direct responsibility of Malory’s longtime lover, KGB head Nikolai Jakov, who was infuriated that she’d never told him he might be Sterling’s father. In fact Jakov is one of several candidates, including Buddy Rich, Len Trexler (former head of rival spy agency ODIN), and an unnamed Italian anti-fascism protester. The insecurity of his paternity was a new discovery for Sterling and is a major source of stress for him.
A life-altering (for a little while at least) change occurred when Malory was tested for breast cancer. Sterling, panicking both for his mother and for himself, insisted on being examined for breast cancer as well. Malory’s result came back negative, but the doctor discovered a tumor on Sterling. As a result, he began “trying to keep positive, both mentally and spiritually” and began attempting to make amends to the coworkers he’d hurt. Naturally this didn’t entirely alter him -- he was still a jackass, just a slightly more considerate one who’d say what he really felt. He even was about to tell Lana how he felt about her before he was interrupted. Later, he ended up going on a medical marijuana and chemotherapy-induced rampage targeting the Irish mob, but eventually made a full recovery. This was fantastic news, but unfortunately meant he was back to his old oblivious self.
There were better days ahead, though. While attempting to infiltrate the KGB in order to talk to Nikolai Jakov and determine paternity, Sterling was captured and tortured in the Lubyanka. Malory sent Barry Dylan, a spy from rival agency ODIN, to track him down and rescue him. The attempt didn’t go well -- for Barry, who Sterling let fall off a building. He broke two legs and was hospitalized in Russia, stewing in desire for revenge. Sterling was nearly recaptured but was rescued by rogue KGB agent Katya Kazanova. The two fell in love and returned to the U.S., where Sterling attempted to get ISIS to accept Katya and ended up marrying her, despite Malory’s disapproval.
Meanwhile, back at the Kremlin, KGB higher-ups had been using Barry Dylan as part of an experiment to create a cyborg. They were successful at fusing robotic parts to his biological body, giving him the ability to walk again (and outrun cars, and lift cars). He used this ability to attempt to kill Sterling during his wedding, but Katya sacrificed herself by jumping from the balcony and pulling Barry with her. He survived, she wasn’t doing so well.
Overcome with grief, Sterling ran away from home and adopted a different name, settling down at a resort in Polynesia to bartend and seduce women on their honeymoons. Malory hired Rip Riley, a former ISIS agent, to find him. Rip managed to get him aboard his seaplane to fly them back, but in order to avoid facing his mother’s fury Sterling tried to sabotage their course and accidentally crashed the plane into the ocean. They were picked up by pirates, and Archer killed the leader in an escape attempt. According to an English-speaking slave in the crew, this made Sterling the new pirate king. This was a role he dove into with vigor and abandon, despite being absolutely terrible at it due to his careless attitude. Eventually Rip’s efforts to contact ISIS were successful, and (against Sterling’s wishes) Lana and fellow agent Ray Gillette succeeded at rescuing him. It was at this time he grudgingly admitted that Lana is his friend, and his only friend.
When Jakov deflected from the KGB and escaped to an ISIS safe house, Sterling bonded with his possible father before leaving his post as guard to have sex, once again never learning from his mistakes. His neglect gave Barry, now the head of the KGB, the opportunity to access the safe house and kill Jakov via gas explosion. This is one work accident that deeply disturbed Archer, both out of guilt for being absent as well as losing the closure of knowing his father’s identity.
Due to his obsession with revenge and his quickly-escalating insanity, Barry is more or less Sterling’s arch-nemesis. Not only has he taken Archer’s possible father and wife away, he actually stole her a second time when ISIS scientist Dr. Krieger resurrected Katya as a cyborg and the two “unholy fusions of metal and flesh” fell in love. He’s even obsessed enough to follow ISIS to the International Space Station, where Archer’s uncharacteristic selflessness in refusing to fight him got Barry stranded there.
Perhaps “uncharacteristic” is not quite the word. While he is usually so eager to play hero that he makes things worse (such as suggesting an emergency tracheotomy instead of an Epipen when his coworker Pam Poovey was suffering anaphylactic shock), he has shown genuine compassion and self-sacrifice in dire times. ISIS business once led Lana, Ray, Cyril, and Sterling to a research lab at the bottom of the ocean. When the structure began to flood and only three sets of scuba gear were available, the only option was for the weakest swimmer to “temporarily drown” and be carried during the two and a half-minute swim to their submersible, which was equipped with a defibrillator for resuscitation. Lana was the weakest swimmer but revealed she was pregnant (father unnamed, so very likely not Archer), and after congratulating her with genuine happiness, Sterling volunteered to drown.
Of course, he wouldn’t do it for everyone. His last words before inhaling water were “Lana, I love you.”
Sterling Archer was born on a bar in Casablanca during the second World War, the only child of American spy and single mother Malory Archer. Due to the dangerous nature of her career, Sterling spent the first five years of his life raised by their valet Woodhouse. When Malory came home she began to use “negative reinforcement” as a parenting tool, constantly berating Sterling in order to motivate him. Despite all odds this appears to have worked, and Sterling is quite accomplished and has bulletproof self-confidence. Malory was never very present as a parent, and often completely ignored Sterling at crucial moments, neglected him in favor of her dog Duchess, and even once left for a date after he‘d seriously injured himself. This led Sterling to act out in order to get attention, which in turn only got him sent to boarding school (fourteen years) each term and camp each summer.
There, his brash habits and need for attention pushed away potential friends. Although he excelled at certain activities (lacrosse being among his favorites), his discomfort in these institutions and desire to leave them meant he relied on Malory and her influence more and more. Still, things didn’t change. She was present enough to get him out of the army, for instance (“He’s gay”), but not enough to go to his university graduation, which only Woodhouse attended. In fact, at one point she laments being unable to find a single photo of them together. Perhaps out of guilt for her absence in his early years, perhaps just out of a desire to monitor her son’s life, Malory inducted Sterling into the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and trained him as a field agent.
He showed remarkable promise, but unfortunately does not play well with others. Sterling began a relationship with Lana Kane, a fellow ISIS field agent. They appeared to be deeply in love until his issues eventually drove them apart, unfortunately forcing them into a working environment where they were both forced to see each other every day. This didn’t go over particularly well for Lana’s new boyfriend, ISIS comptroller Cyril Figgis. Or really, anyone. Every day at ISIS Headquarters became a constant arguing match, which nearly every member of the staff has noted is a hostile work environment. However, since Malory Archer is the CEO of ISIS and Sterling is firmly placed high on the ladder due to a mixture of talent and nepotism, no changes have been made.
Which is not to say changes haven’t been made on other fronts. During his time at ISIS Sterling’s gone through major upheavals; German assassins under Russian hire implanting a microchip into his brain is the least of them. That only resulted in temporary insanity, easily cured by Malory’s magnificent grouping when he attacked her. (In the eyes of most ISIS personnel, there is little that can’t be fixed by shooting someone.) The incident was the direct responsibility of Malory’s longtime lover, KGB head Nikolai Jakov, who was infuriated that she’d never told him he might be Sterling’s father. In fact Jakov is one of several candidates, including Buddy Rich, Len Trexler (former head of rival spy agency ODIN), and an unnamed Italian anti-fascism protester. The insecurity of his paternity was a new discovery for Sterling and is a major source of stress for him.
A life-altering (for a little while at least) change occurred when Malory was tested for breast cancer. Sterling, panicking both for his mother and for himself, insisted on being examined for breast cancer as well. Malory’s result came back negative, but the doctor discovered a tumor on Sterling. As a result, he began “trying to keep positive, both mentally and spiritually” and began attempting to make amends to the coworkers he’d hurt. Naturally this didn’t entirely alter him -- he was still a jackass, just a slightly more considerate one who’d say what he really felt. He even was about to tell Lana how he felt about her before he was interrupted. Later, he ended up going on a medical marijuana and chemotherapy-induced rampage targeting the Irish mob, but eventually made a full recovery. This was fantastic news, but unfortunately meant he was back to his old oblivious self.
There were better days ahead, though. While attempting to infiltrate the KGB in order to talk to Nikolai Jakov and determine paternity, Sterling was captured and tortured in the Lubyanka. Malory sent Barry Dylan, a spy from rival agency ODIN, to track him down and rescue him. The attempt didn’t go well -- for Barry, who Sterling let fall off a building. He broke two legs and was hospitalized in Russia, stewing in desire for revenge. Sterling was nearly recaptured but was rescued by rogue KGB agent Katya Kazanova. The two fell in love and returned to the U.S., where Sterling attempted to get ISIS to accept Katya and ended up marrying her, despite Malory’s disapproval.
Meanwhile, back at the Kremlin, KGB higher-ups had been using Barry Dylan as part of an experiment to create a cyborg. They were successful at fusing robotic parts to his biological body, giving him the ability to walk again (and outrun cars, and lift cars). He used this ability to attempt to kill Sterling during his wedding, but Katya sacrificed herself by jumping from the balcony and pulling Barry with her. He survived, she wasn’t doing so well.
Overcome with grief, Sterling ran away from home and adopted a different name, settling down at a resort in Polynesia to bartend and seduce women on their honeymoons. Malory hired Rip Riley, a former ISIS agent, to find him. Rip managed to get him aboard his seaplane to fly them back, but in order to avoid facing his mother’s fury Sterling tried to sabotage their course and accidentally crashed the plane into the ocean. They were picked up by pirates, and Archer killed the leader in an escape attempt. According to an English-speaking slave in the crew, this made Sterling the new pirate king. This was a role he dove into with vigor and abandon, despite being absolutely terrible at it due to his careless attitude. Eventually Rip’s efforts to contact ISIS were successful, and (against Sterling’s wishes) Lana and fellow agent Ray Gillette succeeded at rescuing him. It was at this time he grudgingly admitted that Lana is his friend, and his only friend.
When Jakov deflected from the KGB and escaped to an ISIS safe house, Sterling bonded with his possible father before leaving his post as guard to have sex, once again never learning from his mistakes. His neglect gave Barry, now the head of the KGB, the opportunity to access the safe house and kill Jakov via gas explosion. This is one work accident that deeply disturbed Archer, both out of guilt for being absent as well as losing the closure of knowing his father’s identity.
Due to his obsession with revenge and his quickly-escalating insanity, Barry is more or less Sterling’s arch-nemesis. Not only has he taken Archer’s possible father and wife away, he actually stole her a second time when ISIS scientist Dr. Krieger resurrected Katya as a cyborg and the two “unholy fusions of metal and flesh” fell in love. He’s even obsessed enough to follow ISIS to the International Space Station, where Archer’s uncharacteristic selflessness in refusing to fight him got Barry stranded there.
Perhaps “uncharacteristic” is not quite the word. While he is usually so eager to play hero that he makes things worse (such as suggesting an emergency tracheotomy instead of an Epipen when his coworker Pam Poovey was suffering anaphylactic shock), he has shown genuine compassion and self-sacrifice in dire times. ISIS business once led Lana, Ray, Cyril, and Sterling to a research lab at the bottom of the ocean. When the structure began to flood and only three sets of scuba gear were available, the only option was for the weakest swimmer to “temporarily drown” and be carried during the two and a half-minute swim to their submersible, which was equipped with a defibrillator for resuscitation. Lana was the weakest swimmer but revealed she was pregnant (father unnamed, so very likely not Archer), and after congratulating her with genuine happiness, Sterling volunteered to drown.
Of course, he wouldn’t do it for everyone. His last words before inhaling water were “Lana, I love you.”