Who Is The Disciple? Who Is Tessa Lebrun? And Does Voit Die?

After another gripping season spent trying to unmask the serial killers on Sicarius’ deadly network, Criminal Minds: Evolution‘s Season 18 finale finally identified The Disciple and put the puzzle pieces together — but not before several jaw-dropping twists that will have viewers on the edge of their seats.

For those who need a refresher, Season 18’s penultimate episode ended on a major cliffhanger, with Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) and Dr. Ochoa (Aimee Garcia) held at gunpoint in the hospital.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 finale spoilers ahead.

“The Disciple” picked up after a mass shooting at the hospital, with Voit and Dr. Ochoa nowhere to be found. As the BAU raced to investigate and track down the network’s new ringleader before it was too late, a series of flashbacks helped viewers and characters alike understand the present — including who The Disciple is, why they know so much about Voit’s life, why they posed as his Uncle Cyrus Lebrun (Silas Weir Mitchell), and why they took control of the network to carry on his work.

Looking for a detailed Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 finale recap? Or need Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18’s ending explained? Decider’s got you covered.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18, Episode 10 Recap: Who Is The Disciple? And Who Is Tessa Lebrun?

First things first: Who the heck is The Disciple? And how are they so connected to Voit?!

Earlier in the season, when investigating Cyrus as a person of interest in the Silvio Herrera case, the BAU learned that Cyrus was never interviewed, because someone named Tessa Lebrun, who claimed to be his daughter, told police he was out of the country. Voit confirmed the name meant nothing to him, nor did Cyrus have a daughter to his knowledge. But heading into the finale, that was the BAU’s best lead.

The episode kicked off with a flashback to 2002: Voit was packing his suitcase about to leave his uncle’s house, when he found creepy photos of girls tucked away in a drawer. As seen in prior flashbacks, Voit confronted Uncle Cyrus, told him he was out, and nearly strangled him before letting go and leaving his abusive serial killer uncle behind. In a flashback first, however, we saw what Cyrus did next. He headed to a bar to drown his sorrows in booze, where a young woman (Jordana Spiro) sat near him and told the bartender, “I’ll have what he’s having.” After she shut down any chance of Cyrus’ romantic advances (“You’d have better luck with the lottery”) he told her she was his son’s age and he was simply trying to make conversation. He lied and said he just buried his wife and his son looked him dead in the eye and told him he never wanted to see him again. And once her guard was down, the woman shared that she was drinking because her thesis advisor tried to sleep with her.

“You know what they say, hell is other people,” Cyrus replied. So the woman felt seen, introduced herself as Constance, and said she prefers to be called Tessa. BINGO. So how did a stranger named Tessa become Cyrus’ daughter Tessa?

When the two got to talking, Tessa revealed she was working on her PHD in mechanical engineering and her professor asked for help with a research project. When the two went to scout out a power plant site, he made a move on her, so she kicked him, stole his car, and drove straight to the bar. After several beers, Tessa headed out with the intention of driving back to retrieve her stranded professor, but before she reached the car, Cyrus kidnapped her and locked her in his basement.

Hungry, terrified, and traumatized, Tessa spent days downstairs awaiting her fate with little to comfort her (dhe did read Rossi’s book, Deviance, however). Finally, Cyrus pulled her upstairs, chained her to the floor, and had her complete housework while serving as his companion in place of Voit. To crush any hopes she had of escaping, Cyrus stressed, “You’re mine now, forever. There’s no going back. Besides, you got no one left to go back to anyhow — looks like your folks just died in an accidental house fire.” He showed Tessa a photo of her parents burnt house, which he clearly torched. And as time passed, he emotionally broke her. One day in 2004, when police came knocking hoping to speak with Cyrus about a nearby homicide case, Tessa lied and said he was out of the country, despite him hiding out in the living room. When Voit returned to kill Cyrus, Tessa was down in the basement listening in. She heard Cyrus accuse Voit of being the Sicarius Killer, so once her captor was dead and she was free, she saw herself as Voit’s disciple, set out to punish older men, and sought to reunite with him.

What Happened To Voit And Dr. Ochoa?

In present-day, Voit woke up tied to a chair with his mouth taped. When the man who we know as his male nurse, John, pulled the tape off, Voit asked to speak with The Disciple and Tessa walked into the room. “You mean everything to me, Elias,” she said, before catching him up on her history with Cyrus and claiming he was Voit’s real father. She tried to convince him that Cyrus was trying to make them both strong survivors, but Voit — with his new post-coma brain alterations — argued that all the innocent people they killed only caused pain and suffering.

When Voit asked about Dr. Ochoa, Tessa revealed her grand plan. Dr. Ochoa was tied to a chair with her mouth propped open and deadly spiders ready to swallow. Tessa believed that by forcing Voit to watch someone he cared about die, Sicarius would “be set free.” Voit begged Tessa to take her pain out on him instead, but she ignored his pleas and instructed John to place the spiders in Dr. O’s mouth. Before he followed through, Voit beat him to death, looked down at his bloody knuckles, and processed the kill. Though Tessa’s setup didn’t go according to plan, she still got Voit to experience the sensation of taking a life, which made him feel “like a fucking god.” So was the old Voit back for good?!

Tessa and Voit left Dr. Ochoa and started planning ways to bait and outsmart the BAU. Tessa revealed she was in contact with Voit’s old lawyer, Vincent Orlov, who tried to have him killed, but once she had what she needed from him to oversee the network, she made him pay for his betrayal. She also revealed her personal connection to the Yase-Otoko mask and how it helped her realize she needed the community Voit created. After convincing Tessa they needed to disappear and each send a message to the network telling members to lay low until they reached out again, Voit sent his message, took Tessa’s gun, and shot Dr. Ochoa. NOOOO!!!!

Did The BAU Catch Tessa And Voit? Does Elias Voit Die On Criminal Minds: Evolution?

While all this chaos was unfolding, the BAU put crucial pieces of Tessa’s backstory together and realized Cyrus used her as a replacement for Voit. They figured out her location, knew Dr. Ochoa was meant to be an innocent sacrifice, and decrypted the messages sent on the network, only to discover Voit intentionally tipped them off and exposed the location of every person using his network. (!!!)

When the BAU arrived on-site, Garcia neutralized the IEDs and JJ and Tyler found Voit holding Tessa at gunpoint. “You fucked up,” Voit told her. “You shouldn’t have trusted me. This is where it ends.” Tessa aimed a gun back at Voit, then fled, leaving him pointing his gun at JJ. Voit begged JJ to shoot him, but she refused, put her gun away, and walked right up to him, confident he wouldn’t pull the trigger. And he didn’t! The BAU cuffed Voit, and Rossi found Dr. Ochoa UNHARMED! She explained that Voit pretended to shoot her and told her to play dead to save her. It seemed Voit was a changed man after all! After an emotional face off between Prentiss and Tessa, the BAU took her into custody. And at long last, the Sicarius case was closed!

Before the BAU said goodbye to Voit, Dr. Ochoa visited him, thanked him for saving her life, and commended him on choosing good over evil. Then Rossi came in and told Voit his profile had changed. “What’s important now is justice for your victims and for you,” Rossi explained. After realizing the only way the prosecutor could push for the death penalty was if he confessed, Voit admitted to “all of it.” And when Rossi asked if he trusted himself, Voit replied, “I can’t.” Next stop? Transfer to a federal supermax prison in Virginia.

Thanks to Voit, field offices were able to round up every last unsub. And JJ summed up everyone’s feelings perfectly: “I can’t believe after all the shit he put us through, that now I’m actually feeling sorry for the guy.” Before the finale ended, the team told Tyler that the BAU was his permanent assignment and everyone took Evan for much-needed apology drinks.

The season closed with a final look at Voit, handcuffed in the back of a prison transport bus. After an inmate turned and recognized him, Voit initially denied being Sicarius. But after the guys egged him on, Voit strangled his accuser as the men cheered. In a last-second twist, Criminal Minds revealed the prison bus murder was all in Voit’s head. In reality, he was still keeping the peace, trying to lay low and be a better man. But clearly the urges haven’t left him entirely…

Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 is now streaming on Paramount+.