a "wise man" who they believe can make sense of the classified documents Mulder has read. They discover the so-called "wise man" is none other than The Smoking Man (William B. Davis), who, still alive after all, is hiding out to survive the colonization—an event that will happen on December 22, 2012, the predicted end of the world. Outside, Reyes and Doggett arrive and prepare to fight Rohrer, who has been sent to kill Mulder and The Smoking Man. Rohrer is killed when the magnetite in the ruins affects his superhuman body. Switching cars with Mulder and Scully, Doggett and Reyes drive off. Black helicopters destroy the cliff dwellings—and The Smoking Man within—thinking that Mulder is still inside before flying away. Doggett and Reyes are last seen speeding away. In a motel room in Roswell, New Mexico, Mulder and Scully prepare for bed and talk. Mulder explains his belief "that the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us as part of something greater than us—greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen to what's speaking, it can give us the power to save ourselves." Despite their slim chance for success, Mulder declares, "Maybe there's hope", as they lay back, content in each other's arms, in a loving embrace. Production Writing The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter. He noted, "It's the end—you don't get another chance. So you'd better put everything you've ever wanted to put in into the episode. There were things to distract us from what was really going on. The band was breaking up." He expounded on the idea, and he decided "it was probably time to go [...] it was strange to be writing these things knowing it was the last time we'd see Scully doing certain things or hear Mulder saying certain things." Spotnitz explained that Carter made the announcement in January so that "we had time to wrap our minds around the end and plan for it and give all of the characters their due." Gish later said, "I have a great respect for the elegant way in which they're closing the curtain". Actor Bruce Harwood, who played John Fitzgerald Byers on the show, called the finale the "passing of a generation". Several of the episode's scenes feature elements that refer to the earlier installments.