Sentinel (Riddle of the Sphinx)

Sentinel' is the name of a secret government agency that featured in the 2008 SyFy movie Riddle of the Sphinx.

Overview

Sentinel origins were traced during the global conflicts that surrounded the Earth in World War II. At the time, Germany had become a militaristic power led by Adolf Hitler who had scoured the globe for mystical artifacts in order to secure his dominance. After learning of this threat and the dangers of such relics, it was American President Franklin D. Roosevelt who formed a secret government agency known as Sentinel to combat this threat. Being his brainchild, the agency was charged with uncovering these relics and preventing their abuse by the Nazi's. Its operation and control was given to the member of the Parr family with Thomas Parr's father being the head of the agency at the time. The existence of the organization was known only to Roosevelt and after his passing it became an unofficial branch of the United States government with it being a secret agency that no future administration in the White House was aware of at the time. It decided to keep this veil of secrecy during the administration of Harry S. Truman in order to see how this next President reacted to threats. When Truman authorized the use of the first atomic bomb, the heads of Sentinel decided not to reveal their existence to the United States government as they believed a President willing to use such a weapon meant that they would be too dangerous to learn of the powerful mystical relics in Sentinel's possession.

Since that time, the organization continued its work and uncovered many discoveries as well as marvels in the world ranging from super vaccines that could combat any known virus, plague or bacteria to gravity guns as well as force field technology with enough energy that lasted for centuries. Another reason for remaining secret was that the heads of Sentinel felt that their discoveries were so shocking and potentially horrifying that it would change the status quo in the world as well as challenge the basic foundations of society from religion to science. Eventually leadership of the agency fell to Thomas Parr who worked diligently in operating Sentinel as well as continuing its new mission objective; the search for truth and bringing enlightenment to the human race. They had many resources to available at their disposal from advanced technology to the United States own arsenals as well as personnel including a direct line to the President. Furthermore, they had access to the world resources in terms of scientists ranging from cryptologists to theologians and either scientific disciplines all of whom had the highest of clearances. Furthermore, they made active use of field agents to be deployed in order to recover artifacts and defend their research teams. Despite this being the case, the library of Sentinel contained old fashioned books as the elders of the Parr family felt that mankind was becoming too dependant on technology and thus desired old fashioned means of storing information.

At some point, Thomas Parr fathered a son called Robert Parr who also shared his fathers interest in history, archaeology and cryptology. Robert was eventually part of Sentinel and became a great asset to the agency but became estranged from his father as he desired to live a normal life. Marrying, Robert had a daughter called Karen Parr though his wife later died by unknown means. Following this, Robert decided to sever all ties with his father and instead live a civilian life; informing his daughter Karen that her grandfather had died in order to protect her from the truth about Sentinel. In the mean time, Thomas used his immense resources to keep a watchful eye on his granddaughter of who he was very proud of despite her not knowing of his existence. He also came to learn that he became afflicted with Parkinson's Disease though he kept this information to himself and his aide Jessica. Jessica's desire to protect her mentor meant that she lost her position as second in command to Ryder who became a growing authority in Sentinel. In the 21st century, Thomas Parr uncovered the legendary Cipher Key that would open the doorway to the Hall of Knowledge. Gathering a team of researchers, for days Thomas translated the writing and reunited the two pieces of the Key. However, unknown to him, his translation was wrong because someone had sabotaged his primer leading to the unleashing of the demonic Sphinx of Egyptian goddess Isis. Giving his life for Jessica to escape with the Key, Thomas gave his faithful aide instructions to find his son who was now the only hope of saving the Earth from the coming Plague of Isis unless the riddle surrounding the Hall of Knowledge was answered.