- "I am an intelligence officer first and foremost. My duty is to my country."
- — Vance in Duty Free
NSA Director Robert Vance is a character on Manifest. He debuts in the first episode of the first season and is portrayed by starring cast member Daryl Edwards. Originally investigating the Flight 828 passengers in something of an antagonistic role, Vance quickly becomes one of their closest and most trusted allies and friends.
Biography[]
Before Flight 828[]
Vance was born in 1961 and his father fought and died in Vietnam, leaving Vance to be raised by his devoted mother. ("Crosswinds")
Vance served in the military for five tours, fighting in two different wars. ("Wingman")
By April 7, 2013, he had reached the position of Deputy Director of the NSA. ("Final Boarding")
After Flight 828[]
Vance goes to the airport where Flight 828 lands, and explains to the passengers that they have been missing for five and a half years.
Later, he interrogates Bill Daly, Amuta Clarke, Bethany Collins, Saanvi Bahl, Radd Campbell, Kelly Taylor, Harvey Stein, Michaela Stone, Ben Stone, and Cal Stone.
The lead Investigator tells him that everyone on the plane was interrogated, but they don't have any information on what happened, and that there isn't any substance dating from between the time the plane took off, and when it returned, and that it looks like they never landed. Vance then replies that it is impossible, and the Lead Investigator says that no one on the plane aged a day. ("Pilot")
Ben visits the NSA to confront Vance about 11 passengers who are being experimented upon by the Singularity Project at a farm upstate, showing Vance a picture of Lena Rasmussen, suspecting that Vance is behind it. Vance is unphased by Ben's accusations and threats to go to the press and kicks him out, but becomes suspicious due to the lack of answers that he's been getting. Vance's investigation causes the passengers to be moved, stopping the experiments for the time being and saving Cal. Despite DHS claiming that all of the passengers have been accounted for, Vance visits the abandoned farm and finds a dropped bandage with fresh blood on it, proving that someone had been there. ("Off Radar")
Vance becomes curious when Ben gets a low-level accounting job at JP Williamson and starts to suspect that Ben might be onto something, specifically that an off the books covert unit is behind the missing passengers. Vance realizes that Ben is trying to find out who it is through his new job and he might be onto something despite Powell's belief that Ben is just being paranoid and they should trust their fellow agencies. Monitoring Ben's cell phone, Vance sees that he has stolen a flash drive full of data on the Singularity Project which Vance forces Ben to hand over to him. Cal later tells his father that Vance isn't a bad guy anymore while Vance lies to Powell that he didn't get anything off of Ben. ("S.N.A.F.U.")
Vance later orchestrates a fire alarm to evacuate Ben's place of work and smashes Ben's phone. Vance tells Ben about his visit to the farm and admits that he thinks that he's on the right track. However, the raw data on the flash drive is too complex for Vance to decipher and he needs Ben's help with deciphering it. Vance defends his previous hostile actions towards the passengers as him doing his job of protecting the country. Vance insists that they're not that different and he understands and respects Ben putting himself at risk to protect his loved ones. Ben agrees to consider Vance's proposal and Vance provides him with an encrypted burner phone and an air-gapped computer with the flash drive's data on it.
Ben later informs Vance that while the flash drive gave him zero location data, he has obtained a list of every property acquired by U.D.S. in the previous two months, but there's over 700 properties. Vance reluctantly agrees to have Fiona Clarke plant a bug in the Singularity Project offices and has Ben spook Laurence Belson by doing a network-wide search on experiments related to Flight 828, causing him to call the Major and reveal that the 11 passengers have been moved to Brooklyn. Vance runs a triangulation on every cell phone that has been at the farm, offices, and Brooklyn in the past 48 hours despite the risk of using NSA resources in the investigation. This narrows the location down to somewhere within the radius of a cell phone tower in Red Hook, but Vance can't pinpoint the exact location due to a high-level masking protocol used by the phones. Ben realizes that the location isn't on his list of properties because U.D.S. is slow in updating its records. Despite Vance's reservations, Ben breaks into the U.D.S. records room and locates the property: a chemical warehouse in Red Hook. ("Point of No Return")
Ben later decides to tell Vance about the Callings. Vance personally leads a raid on the Singularity Project by a tactical team, Jared Vasquez, Ben, Michaela, and Fiona Clarke, rescuing the passengers and capturing Laurence Belson.
However, the flames detonate some oxygen tanks while Jared, Vance, Belson and some of the tactical team are trying to find their way out. Belson is killed in the explosion and Jared is seriously injured. Vance is taken away in an ambulance, but Captain Riojas, who knew Vance, tells Michaela that Vance didn't survive his injuries. Michaela and Ben mourn the death of Vance, sharing a chuckle over his nickname of "Bobby" which they don't think suits him at all. ("Point of No Return", "Dead Reckoning")
Ben later attends Vance's memorial service. Upon seeing Ben, Tim Powell accuses him of getting Vance killed and orders Ben to leave. The story given to the public is that Vance died uncovering a domestic terrorist cell's bomb making operation. ("Crosswinds")
In reality, Vance survived thanks to Emmett Fischer pulling him out in time and decided to fake his own death because people inside of the government were willing to kill him. Vance decides that by letting them succeed, he has the best chance of taking them down. ("Grounded")
Months later Ben spots a van following him which he believes to be the Xers. When he confronts the men inside, they abduct Ben and bring him before a very much alive Vance who quips that "you're not the only one who can come back from the dead." Vance explains to Ben and Michaela how he had faked his own death, telling them that only the two of them, Vance's wife and his men know that he's still alive. By following the money, Vance has found a black ops financial pipeline that is funding a shadow 828 investigation, the funding of which has recently doubled. ("Fasten Your Seatbelts", "Grounded")
Ben and Vance realize that the change in the Major's operation is in response to Saanvi's discovery of a genetic change in the 828ers. The two decide to use the Major's mole in Saanvi's operation to feed the Major false information in order to draw her out. Vance is furious when Ben informs Saanvi of the truth instead, thus blowing Vance's cover and risking their whole operation. Instead, Saanvi sets up a trap and identifies her psychiatrist as the leak. Using Vance's access to government databases, Saanvi identifies the psychiatrist as US Army Major General Kathryn Fitz, a psychological warfare specialist with 30 years in black ops. Ben, Vance and Saanvi realize that Fitz is actually the Major herself. ("False Horizon")
After the Major gets her fired, shuts down her research and suspends her medical license, Saanvi tries to reach out to Vance for help, but he's not at the travel agency Vance operates out of which is now abandoned. Saanvi eventually gets a message through to Vance through his wife and Vance explains that he had some other business out of the country to take care of. Vance reveals that the Major is cutting loose ends: the Major found a breakthrough in Saanvi's research and the Major needs to make sure that it stays in her hands only. Saanvi guesses that the Major must've found a way to get rid of the DNA anomaly permanently and she refuses Vance' offer to make her disappear as Saanvi is going to go after the Major. ("Call Sign")
After accidentally killing the Major, a devastated Saanvi calls Vance for help. ("Icing Conditions")
After Vance is captured in Cuba helping to recover the 828 Tailfin, Ben reveals his survival to Powell who admits that he had suspected that his friend and mentor was still alive. Powell is able to get both Vance and the tailfin back, but at the expense of Vance's survival being exposed to the government. ("Tailfin", "Deadhead")
Upon returning to the United States, Vance undergoes days of rigorous questioning about his activities, offering glib answers to their questions. Vance finally snaps at the people watching the interrogation about his 33 years of service to America and how they had assigned him to find out the truth about 828 which Vance had never wavered in despite being shot at and shot down. Finally, Director Zimmer and Powell inform Vance that they aren't pursuing charges against him and welcome him back to the NSA. However, Vance is not interested in working for the government again after what happened with the Major. Zimmer reveals that the Major was found dead in New Orleans months ago and her operation was shut down. When Vance is still reluctant to rejoin the organization, Powell offers to show him something that will change his mind and takes him to Eureka. ("Wingman")
After the shutdown of Eureka, Vance leaves the NSA and goes rogue again, establishing the Bird's Nest with Saanvi and his remaining men to protect the passengers. A year after the kidnapping of Eden and the murder of Grace, when Vance can do nothing more to help him, Ben cuts off all contact. Eagan Tehrani's attack on his family leaves his son left with nightmares for months and his wife blames Vance for what happened, causing her to leave him. ("Go-Around")
Two years after the kidnapping of Eden and the murder of Grace, Ben contacts Vance to make a deal with Eagan in exchange for Eden's location. Despite his own reservations due to Eagan being locked up for attacking his family, Vance agrees and uses up all of his remaining political capital to make it happen. Vance reveals that his son was left with nightmares for months because of the attack and his wife blamed Vance for what happened, causing her to leave him. Ben, who has been completely consumed by his search for Eden, had no idea that Vance's family was destroyed. Vance makes a scathing remark about Ben only caring about his own family. Ben apologizes for his actions, but sends Vance to a false location rather than risking his friend's safety any more than he already has. ("Go-Around")
Vance alerts Ben's family who were unaware that he had found Eden. Cal later has a Calling that leads him, Vance and Emmett to Adrian Shannon's compound which has already been found by Michaela, Zeke and Jared. During the raid, Vance and Emmett remain outside to cover the others with a sniper rifle and take care of the passengers as they emerge. Although the compound is destroyed, Ben and Eden are both safely rescued. That night, Erika Burness tries to kill Michaela. His out of control empathy powers perceiving Erika's rage, Zeke grabs Jared's gun and he shoots her dead. Vance orders everyone to leave while he and Emmett stay behind to clean the mess up. ("Squawk")
When the 828 Detention Center is locked down, trapping all of the surviving passengers inside, Vance helps Olive sneak in at her request and he gives Ben some key cards to locked down areas in order to help the passengers survive, saying an emotional goodbye to the other man. When Cal unexpectedly gets a Calling, Vance partners with him to solve it as everyone else is either in the detention center or in hiding. Together, the two identify Xer Tom Boone as the danger and track him down just in time to save Michaela from his attack. In the back of the Xer's van is Sarin gas that he was intending to use to kill everyone in the detention center had Cal and Vance not stopped him. Vance then calls in Emmett to dispose of Tom and the gas. ("Furball")
Over the next 8 months, Vance works with Cal and Michaela to solve various Callings as the passengers' Death Date approaches. With Vance's help, they trace one Calling to a building where Drea Mikami has been digging an escape tunnel for the detention center. Vance joins most of the passengers in staying at the detention center to continue solving Callings. ("Threshold")
On May 31, 2024, two days before the Death Date, Vance helps Ben with his Calling which leads them to a government black site run by Dr. Gupta. Ben, Cal and Vance sneak into the facility and rescue Saanvi who was being held there and had set off an EMP that coincided with their arrival, knocking out the facility's security systems. ("Lift/Drag")
Vance later joins the passengers at Storm King Mountain on the night before the Death Date, but Ben ultimately sends Vance home to be with his family. ("Formation", "Final Boarding")
A New Timeline[]
After the passengers beat the Death Date, they are given a second chance by being sent back in time to April 7, 2013, which was when 828 was originally supposed to arrive, thereby creating a new timeline. Vance, having no memory of the past 5 1/2 years from the original timeline, once again is sent in to investigate, this time why 11 passengers mysteriously disappeared off of Flight 828. Watching Vance walk by, Ben Stone smiles fondly as he listens to his old friend declare how impossible the situation is. ("Final Boarding")
Trivia[]
- Daryl Edwards was credited as "Co-Starring" in "Pilot".
- His close friends call him "Bobby" which Ben learns after Vance's "death." Both Ben and Michaela think that it doesn't suit him. Upon seeing Vance again, Ben refers to him as Bobby.
- Unlike other characters who have died and come back to life, Vance simply faked his own death rather than being resurrected.
- Originally only a recurring character, Vance becomes a main character in Season 4.
Appearances[]
| Manifest: Season One | |||||||
| "Pilot" | "Reentry" | "Turbulence" | "Unclaimed Baggage" | "Connecting Flights" | "Off Radar" | "S.N.A.F.U." | "Point of No Return" |
|
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
| "Dead Reckoning" | "Crosswinds" | "Contrails" | "Vanishing Point" | "Cleared for Approach" | "Upgrade" | "Hard Landing" | "Estimated Time of Departure" |
|
Appears |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
| Manifest: Season Two | |||||||
| "Fasten Your Seatbelts" | "Grounded" | "False Horizon" | "Black Box" | "Coordinated Flight" | "Return Trip" | "Emergency Exit" | |
|
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent | |
| "Carry On" | "Airplane Bottles" | "Course Deviation" | "Unaccompanied Minors" | "Call Sign" | "Icing Conditions" | ||
|
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Appears |
Appears | ||
| Manifest: Season Three | |||||||
| "Tailfin" | "Deadhead" | "Wingman" | "Tailspin" | "Water Landing" | "Graveyard Spiral" | "Precious Cargo" | |
|
Appears |
Mentioned |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Absent |
Appears | |
| "Destination Unknown" | "Bogey" | "Compass Calibration" | "Duty Free" | "Mayday (Part 1)" | "Mayday (Part 2)" | ||
|
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears |
Appears | ||
| Manifest: Season Four | |||||||
| "Touch-and-Go" | "All Call" | "High Flight" | "Go-Around" | "Squawk" | "Relative Bearing" | "Romeo" | |
|
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent | |
| "Full Upright & Locked Position" | "Rendezvous" | "Inversion Illusion" | "Final Descent" | "Bug Out" | "Ghost Plane" | "Fata Morgana" | |
|
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent | |
| "Throttle" | "Furball" | "Threshold" | "Lift/Drag" | "Formation" | "Final Boarding" | ||
|
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent |
Absent | ||