title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The position of King of Norway has been in continuous existence since the unification of Norway in 872. Although Norway has officially been a hereditary kingdom throughout that time, there have been several instances of elective succession: most recently, the people of Norway electorally confirmed the accession of Haakon VII to the position of king through a 1905 plebiscite. In recent years members of the Socialist Left party have proposed the abolition of the monarchy during each new session of parliament, though without any likelihood of success. This gives the Norwegian monarchy the unique status of being a popularly elected royal family and receiving regular formal confirmations of support from the Storting.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Prior to and in the early phase of the Viking Age Norway was divided into several smaller kingdoms. These are thought to have followed the same tradition as other Germanic monarchies of the time: the king was usually elected by the high-ranking farmers of the area and served mainly as a judge at popular assemblies, as a priest on the occasion of sacrifices, and as a military leader in time of war.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Harald Fairhair was the first king of Norway. The date of the first formation of a unified Norwegian kingdom is set as 872 when he defeated the last petty kings who resisted him at the Battle of Hafrsfjord; however, the consolidation of his power took many years. The boundaries of Fairhair's kingdom were not identical to those of present-day Norway, and upon his death, the kingship was shared among his sons. Some historians emphasise the actual monarchial control over the country and assert that Olaf II, alias "Saint Olaf", who reigned from 1015 to 1028, was the first king to control the entire country. Olaf is generally held to have been the driving force behind Norway's final conversion to Christianity. Furthermore, he was in 1031 revered as "Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae" ("Eternal King of Norway"), and subsequently, the 1163 Succession Law stated that all kings after Olaf II's son, Magnus I, were not independent monarchs, but vassals holding Norway as a fief from Saint Olaf.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In the 12th and 13th centuries the Norwegian kingdom was at its geographical and cultural peak. The kingdom included Norway (including the now Swedish provinces of Jemtland, Herjedalen, Særna, Idre and Båhuslen), Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Shetland, Orkney and other smaller areas in the British Isles. The king had diplomatic relations with most of the European kingdoms and formed alliances with Scotland and Castile, among others. Large castles such as Haakon's Hall and cathedrals, the foremost being Nidaros Cathedral, were built.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In the tradition of Germanic monarchy the king had to be elected by a representative assembly of noblemen. Men eligible for election had to be of royal blood; but the eldest son of the previous king was not automatically chosen. During the civil war era the unclear succession laws and the practice of power-sharing between several kings simultaneously gave personal conflicts the potential to become full-blown wars. Over the centuries kings consolidated their power, and eventually a strict succession law made Norway a principally hereditary kingdom. In practice the king was elected by the Riksråd in a similar way to Denmark. He adhered to a håndfæstning and governed in the council of Norwegian noblemen according to existing laws.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: After the death of Haakon VI of Norway in 1380, his son Olav IV of Norway succeeded to the thrones of both Norway and Denmark and was also elected King of Sweden. After his death at the age of 17 his mother Margrethe united the three Scandinavian kingdoms in personal union under one crown, in the Kalmar Union. Olav's death extinguished the Norwegian male royal line; he was also the last Norwegian king to be born on Norwegian soil for the next 567 years.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Black Death of 1349–51 contributed to the decline of the Norwegian monarchy, as the noble families and the population in general were gravely affected. However, the most devastating factor for the nobility and the monarchy in Norway was the steep decline in income from their holdings. Many farms were deserted and rents and taxes suffered. This left the Norwegian monarchy weakened in manpower, noble support, defensibility and economic power.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Kalmar Union was not only possible due to the complex history of the royal dynasties of Scandinavia but was also, among other things, a direct reaction to the expansive and aggressive policies of the Hanseatic League.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: On 6 June 1523 Sweden left the union permanently, leaving Norway in an unequal union with a Danish king already embarked on centralising the government of the union.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In the following centuries the Norwegian monarchs mostly resided abroad. This weakened the monarchical governing structures of Norway: the Riksråd, for example, was gradually undermined as the Norwegian nobles did not have the King's confidence to the same extent as their Danish counterparts. The King was also less able to govern according to Norwegian needs, as the distance meant he and his advisors had less knowledge of conditions in Norway.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Norway was one of few countries where the archdiocese was coterminous with the national territory. The church was an important factor in trying to maintain the separate Norwegian monarchy. In the 16th century the power struggle between the Norwegian nobles and the king culminated at the same time as the Protestant Reformation. This prompted a set of events in which the struggle against Danish dominance in Norway was coupled with the struggle against the Reformation. When both failed the effects were harsh. The Norwegian Catholic bishops were replaced with Danes and the Norwegian church was subdued and made wholly Danish. The Norwegian Riksråd was abolished in 1536, and more and more foreigners were appointed to important positions in Norway.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Danish nobles pushed the king to reduce Norway to a Danish province in order for them to gain more control in the election of future kings. However, the hereditary nature of the Norwegian monarchy meant that the King had to maintain the basic principle of Norway being a separate and extant kingdom. If the Danish nobles were to elect as king someone other than the next in line to the throne the Union would be dissolved. This gave the king the upper hand in the negotiations for the "håndfesting". Potential heirs to Norway were present in both the royal dynasties of Sweden and Schleswig-Holstein, so if the King of Denmark did not assert his position as King of Norway they would.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: During this time the Danish kings were more preoccupied with securing the traditionally Danish fringe territories, and therefore paid little attention to and made few attempts at maintaining Norwegian interests. As a result, Jemtland, Herjedalen, Båhuslen, Shetland and Orkney were lost to Sweden and Scotland. In addition all contact with Greenland ceased.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In 1661 Frederick III introduced absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway and introduced new laws in both countries to that effect. Until then the law of Magnus the law-mender given in 1274 and 1276 had been the law of Norway. Christian IV's Norwegian law was in effect a translation into Danish of that older law. 1661 also marks the point when the last remnants of representational local government were removed and had to be rebuilt. However, that process started almost immediately when local men of means started putting pressure on local governors in order to gain or regain influence on local matters.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: During the Napoleonic Wars the King aligned Denmark–Norway with France. When Napoleon lost the war, the king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden under the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. It was initially proposed that the Norwegian dependencies of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes would remain with Norway, but that point was dropped during the negotiations, so they became Danish.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: On hearing news of the treaty, the Prince of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway, Christian Frederick, the resident viceroy in Norway, participated in founding a Norwegian independence movement. The independence movement was successful, partly due to clandestine support from the Danish Crown, but also because of the strong desire for independence in Norway. On 10 April, a national assembly met at Eidsvoll to decide on a constitution. Norway declared independence on 17 May 1814, electing Christian Frederick as King. A short war with Sweden later that year ended with the Convention of Moss. This led to the ousting of Christian Frederick, and the Norwegian Storting electing Charles XIII of Sweden as King of Norway, creating the union between Sweden and Norway. In turn the king recognised the Norwegian constitution, which was only changed to facilitate the union.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The end result was that the Norwegian monarchy became a constitutional monarchy. In this new union the King was much more a King of Norway than under the previous Danish system. The only area of policy not in the hands of the Norwegians was foreign policy.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Norway had been brought along into the new developments of the world as they arrived in Denmark. However, with the break the Norwegians were able to forge a more progressive political development than was the case in Denmark. Denmark introduced a constitutional monarchy 35 years after Norway. Parliamentarism was introduced in Norway 17 years before Denmark and 33 years before Sweden. The union with Denmark also had its adverse effects on the monarchy: among other things it resulted in the Crown of Norway losing territory which today amounts to 2 322 755 km (although most of this was uninhabited areas of Greenland). Very little royal activity had been relocated to Norway; the country thus lacks the monumental palaces of the period which can be seen in Copenhagen and other parts of Denmark.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Treaty of Kiel stipulated that Norway was to be ceded by the king of Denmark–Norway to the king of Sweden. This was however rejected in Norway, where calls for self-determination were already mounting. A Norwegian constituent assembly was called, and a liberal constitution was adopted on 17 May 1814. A short war ensued, ending in a new agreement between the Norwegian parliament and the Swedish king.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Convention of Moss was from a Norwegian point of view a significant improvement over the terms dictated to Denmark-Norway at the treaty of Kiel. Notably, Norway was no longer to be treated as a Swedish conquest but rather as an equal party in a personal union of two independent states. Both the principle and substance of the Norwegian Constitution were preserved, with only such amendments as were required to allow for the union with Sweden. Norway retained its own parliament and separate institutions, except for the common king and foreign service.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Norwegian Storting would propose Norwegian laws without interference from Sweden, to be approved by the common King in his capacity as King of Norway. The King would occasionally enact laws unfavourable to Sweden. As the Norwegian movement towards full independence gained momentum, the King approved the building of forts and naval vessels intended to defend Norway against a Swedish invasion.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The union was nevertheless marked by the Norwegians' constant and growing discontent with being in a union of any kind. The Storting would propose laws to reduce the king's power or to assert Norwegian independence. These would most often be vetoed by the king, but as he only had the power to veto the same law twice, it would eventually be passed. The constitution of 1814 already specified that Norway would have a separate flag, and the present design was introduced in 1821. The flags of both kingdoms were defaced with the union mark in 1844 to denote their equal status within the union. Despite royal objections, this was removed from the Norwegian flag in 1898. In 1837 local self-government in certain areas of policy was introduced in rural areas as well as towns. A Parliamentary system was introduced in 1884.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Royal House of Bernadotte tried hard to be a Norwegian royal house as well as a Swedish one. The Royal Palace in Oslo was built during this period. There were separate coronations in Trondheim, as stipulated in the Constitution. The royal princes even had a hunting lodge built in Norway so that they could spend more private time there. King Oscar II spoke and wrote Norwegian fluently.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In 1905 a series of disputes between parliament and the King culminated with the matter of separate Norwegian consuls to foreign countries. Norway had grown into one of the world's leading shipping nations, but Sweden retained control of both the diplomatic and consulate corps. Although businessmen needed assistance abroad, the Swedes had little insight into Norwegian shipping, and consulates were not even established in several important shipping cities. The demand for separate Norwegian consuls was seen as very important by the Norwegian parliament and society. The Storting proposed a law establishing a separate Norwegian consulate corps. King Oscar II refused to ratify the law and subsequently the Norwegian cabinet resigned. The king was unable to form any other government that had the support of parliament, and so it was deemed on 7 June that he had failed to function as King of Norway.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In a plebiscite of the Norwegian people on 13 August, there were an overwhelming 368,208 votes (99.95%) in favor of dissolution of the Union, against 184 (0.05%) opposed, with 85% of Norwegian men voting. No women voted, as universal suffrage was not granted until 1913; however Norwegian feminists collected more than 200,000 signatures in favor of dissolution.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: During the summer a Norwegian delegation had already approached the 33-year-old Prince Carl of Denmark, the second son of the Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark. The Norwegian parliament had considered other candidates but ultimately chose Prince Carl, partly because he already had a son to continue the line of succession, but more significantly because Carl was married to Maud of Wales, the daughter of King Edward VII. By bringing in a king with British royal ties, it was hoped that Norway could court Britain's support.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Prince Carl impressed the delegation in many ways, not least because of his sensitivity to the liberal and democratic movements that had led to Norway's independence. Though the Norwegian constitution stipulated that the Storting could choose a new king if the throne were vacant, Carl was aware that many Norwegians – including leading politicians and high-ranking military officers – favored a republican form of government. Attempts to persuade the prince to accept the throne on the basis of Parliament's choice failed; Carl insisted that he would accept the crown only if the Norwegian people expressed their will for monarchy by referendum and if the parliament then elected him king.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: On 12 and 13 November, in the second constitutional plebiscite in three months, Norwegian voters decided by a nearly 79% majority (259,563 to 69,264) to keep the monarchy rather than establish a republic. The parliament, by an overwhelming majority, then offered Carl a clear mandate to the Norwegian throne on 18 November. The prince accepted the same evening, choosing the name Haakon, a traditional name used by Norwegian kings. The last king with that name had been Haakon VI, who died in the year 1380.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Thus the new king became Haakon VII, King of Norway. His two-year-old son Alexander, the heir apparent, was renamed Olav and became Crown Prince Olav. The new royal family arrived in the capital Kristiania (later Oslo) on 25 November. Haakon VII was sworn in as king of Norway on 27 November.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The early years of the new Norwegian monarchy were marked by a shortage of funds. The Norwegian state was poor and funds were needed elsewhere than in the upkeep of a large court. In that sense it was a stroke of good fortune that Prince Carl had set as a condition for accepting the throne that he would not be forced to keep a large court. However, the royal travels and the upkeep of the royal residences, after the initial refurbishment in 1905, were to some extent neglected. One example of the negative financial situation is that Prince Carl had been promised a Royal Yacht when he accepted the throne, but this was not fulfilled until 1947.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: One important incident in the early years of the new monarchy was in 1928 when the King appointed the first Labour government. The Norwegian Labour Party was at that time quite radical, and even had the abolition of monarchy as part of their programme. It was the custom for the King to rely on the advice of the previous Prime Minister in deciding whom to give the assignment as new Prime Minister. In this case, the previous conservative Prime Minister was opposed to giving power to the radicals, and advised the appointment of someone else. However, the King adhered to the established practice of parliamentarism and decided to appoint Christopher Hornsrud as the first Labour Prime Minister. The Labour Party later dropped the abolition of monarchy from their programme.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: During the German occupation of World War II, the King was an important symbol of national unity and resistance. His steadfast opposition to the German demands of surrender was important for the fighting spirit of the Norwegian population. The constitutional powers granted to the King in the Norwegian monarchial system made his position very important and enabled the government in exile to continue its work with the utmost legitimacy.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: After the war, the Norwegian royal house succeeded in maintaining a balance between regality and approachability. King Olav V was deemed the people's king and the spontaneous show of mourning from the population upon his death in 1991 demonstrated the high standing he had among the Norwegian people. Even republicans were among the masses lighting candles in front of the Palace.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In later years the marriages of the then Crown Prince Harald in 1968 and of Crown Prince Haakon in 2001 sparked considerable controversy, but the lasting effect on the popularity of the monarchy has been minimal. Although decreased from its level of above 90 percent after the war, support for the monarchy seems to remain stable around and mostly above the 70 percent mark. In an opinion poll in 2012 93% of the people agreed the current Monarch does a good job for the country.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Although the 1814 constitution grants important executive powers to the King, these are almost always exercised by the Council of State in the name of the King.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Contemporary Norwegian constitutional practice has replaced the meaning of the word "king" in most articles from the meaning the King-in-person; apart from those dealing with the monarchy specifically, as opposed to those dealing with the apparatus of government and affairs of state at large; to the cabinet of the Prime Minister (also known as the King-in-Council when chaired by the King), which is accountable to the Storting, and thus ultimately to the electorate.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 5 stated: "The King's person is sacred; he cannot be censured or accused. The responsibility rests with his Council."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: This article applies to the king personally. The king has legal sovereign immunity, though his status as sacred was dissolved on 8 May 2018.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 37 states: "The Royal Princes and Princesses shall not personally be answerable to anyone other than the King, or whomever he decrees to sit in judgment on them."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: This means that the Princes and Princesses also have immunity on the discretion of the king. He could decide to let them be judged by the regular courts or he could decide to judge them himself. This has never been tested in practice.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Council of State consists of the King, Prime Minister and other members, all of whom are appointed by the King on the advice of Prime Minister. The Council of State is the Government of Norway and is chaired by the King. It meets under the King's chairmanship at least once a week usually on Fridays. The King also orders the holding of extraordinary sessions of the council of state in situations that require urgent actions that cannot wait for the next scheduled meeting. Parliamentarism has been in place since 1884 and entails that the cabinet must not have the parliament against it, and that the appointment by the King is a formality. In practice, the monarch will ask the leader of a parliamentary block that has a majority in the Storting to form a government. The King relies on the advice of the previous prime minister and the President of the Storting in this question. The last time the King appointed a new prime minister contrary to the advice of the previous was in 1928 when he appointed the first Labour government.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: "The King apportions the business among the Members of the Council of State, as he deems appropriate."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 30 states: [...] "Everyone who has a seat in the Council of State has the duty frankly to express his opinion, to which the King is bound to listen. But it rests with the King to make a decision according to his own judgment." [...]


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The King has to sign all laws in order for them to become valid. He can veto any law. However, if two separate Stortings approve the law, it becomes valid even without the King's consent. The Crown has not vetoed any law since the dissolution of the union with Sweden.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 78 states: "If the King assents to the Bill, he appends his signature, whereby it becomes law."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: "If he does not assent to it, he returns it to the Odelsting with a statement that he does not for the time being find it expedient to sanction it. In that case the Bill must not again be submitted to the King by the Storting then assembled." [...]


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Until 2012 the constitutional head of the Church of Norway, also known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway, was the King. The Church of Norway professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Since 2012 the Church has been self-governing, although it remains the established state church, which 86% of Norwegians are members of. In accordance with the constitution, the Norwegian King as head of state must be a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 20 states: "The King shall have the right in the Council of State to pardon criminals after sentence has been passed."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. It may be given if new information on the crime or criminal has come to light after sentencing has begun. A pardon may entail a complete or partial withdrawal of punishment.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The practical execution of this right has been delegated to the Ministry of Justice which may dismiss an application for a pardon. The formal approval of a pardon has to be done by the King in Council. In 2004 a total of 51 applications for pardon were approved and 274 were denied.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 21 states: "The King shall choose and appoint, after consultation with his Council of State, all senior civil, and military officials."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The appointment is made by the Monarch after having been advised by the council of state and having received its consent.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 22 states: "The Prime Minister and the other Members of the Council of State, together with the State Secretaries, may be dismissed by the King without any prior court judgment, after he has heard the opinion of the Council of State on the subject."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 23 states: "The King may bestow orders upon whomever he pleases, as a reward for distinguished services"[...]


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Norway has two chivalric orders: the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit. In addition the King awards several other distinguished medals for a wide range of accomplishments.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The King is also Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian Air Force: but it is not explicitly mentioned because there was no Air Force in 1814.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Article 26 states: "The King has the right to call up troops, to engage in hostilities in defence of the Realm and to make peace, to conclude and denounce conventions, to send and to receive diplomatic envoys."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The King is treated by the armed forces as their highest commander, but there is, beyond legal fiction, no doubt that the complete control of the armed forces is actually held by the elected government of the day. The Kings of Norway have traditionally received an extensive military training and to some extent pursued a career within the armed forces before acceding to the throne. During World War II the King took a more active role in the decision-making and while the government still had the last word the King's advice was given much weight. On one occasion during the invasion the King was given an ultimatum by the Germans demanding Norway's surrender. King Haakon VII told the government he would abdicate if they decided to accept. In 1944 Crown Prince Olav was appointed Chief of Defence based on his military leadership abilities.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: From before recorded Norwegian history the monarch would be installed by acclamation, a ceremony held on the ting where the king swore to uphold the laws of the land and the assembled chieftains swore allegiance to him. The first coronation in Norway and in all Scandinavia took place in Bergen in 1163 or 1164. For a long time both ceremonies were used in Norway. That way the king was invested with powers both from the noblemen and from the church. The coronations also symbolised that the king would hold the kingdom in fief to St. Olav the eternal king of Norway. The last acclamation took place on Akershus Castle in 1648. The last medieval coronation in Norway took place 29 July 1514. During the age of absolute monarchy (1660–1814), Norway's kings were crowned in Copenhagen, using the Throne Chair. Today the king still goes through a ceremony similar to the acclamation when he takes the oath of allegiance to the Constitution in the Storting. The Norwegian Constitution of 1814 determined that any Norwegian coronations from that time onward were to take place in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. This re-established the relationship to the sacred king's burial church. The constitutional article about the coronation was annulled in 1908. When king Olav V ascended the throne in 1957 he still wanted to receive the blessing of the church for his reign and the Benediction of the king was introduced. The benediction is a much simpler ceremony, but it still takes place in Nidaros Cathedral and with the Royal Regalia at the high altar. The regalia is currently located in the old Archbishop's Palace in Trondheim. King Harald V and Queen Sonja also received the benediction in 1991.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Constitution requires the new King to immediately take an oath before the Storting (or, if the Storting is not in session, before the Council of State and again before the Storting once it is in session). The oath is as follows: "I promise and swear that I will govern the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with its Constitution and Laws; so help me God, the Almighty and Omniscient."


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The order of succession to the Norwegian throne has followed absolute primogeniture since 1990, as is described in article 6 in the Constitution of Norway. Only people descended from the reigning monarch are entitled to succeed to the throne. If the line of succession comes to an end then the Storting may elect a new king or queen.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The King, Queen, Crown Prince and Crown Princess are exempt from paying any taxes and their personal finances are not revealed to the public. Other members of the royal family have lost that privilege upon marriage. It is believed that only the King has a personal fortune of a notable size.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In the Norwegian state budget of 2010 the sum of 142.5 million Norwegian kroner was allocated to the Royal Household. 16.5 million was also given to the monarchs as appanage. 20.9 million was in addition allocated to rehabilitation of royal property. In 2010, the Royal Household of Norway claimed that King Harald V's fortune was close to a 100 million Norwegian kroner. 500 million Norwegian kroner was in the late 1990s allocated to the extensive refurbishments of the royal residences that have been taking place and are still under way. The restoration of the Royal Palace in Oslo went far beyond budget because the structural state of the palace was much worse than expected. However, the large expense was criticised in the media.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The royal family and the monarch have several residences at their disposal throughout the country. All of the official residences are partially open to the public.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Royal Palace in Oslo functions as the main official residence of the monarch. Built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of Norwegian and Swedish king Charles III (Carl Johan, Charles XIV of Sweden, reigned 1818-1844), it serves as the official residence of the present Norwegian Monarch.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Gamlehaugen is a mansion and estate which functions as the monarch's residences in Bergen. Originally the home of Prime Minister Christian Michelsen, the estate became the royal family's residence in 1927.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Stiftsgården in Trondheim is a large wooden townhouse which has been used by the royal family since the early 1800s. The building has been the setting for the main festivities during coronations, benedictions and weddings which traditionally have taken place in the Nidaros Cathedral.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Ledaal is a large manor house in Stavanger. The manor originally belonged to the influential Kielland family but has been the property of Stavanger Museum since 1936 and a became royal residence in 1949.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Bygdøy Royal Estate, the official summer residence, is situated in Oslo. Bygdøy has been under extensive restoration and has therefore not been used regularly since the accession of King Harald V in 1991. The restoration was finalized in 2007 and has been frequently used by the royal family ever since. The Royal Lodge or "Kongsseteren" is located in Holmenkollen, and used by the Royal Family as a residence for Christmas and Holmenkollen Ski Festival each year. Oscarshall palace, a "maison de plaisance," also situated in Oslo, but seldom used.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The crown princely couple resides at Skaugum Manor in Asker municipality outside of Oslo, while the three princesses of Norway live on estates in Oslo, Fredrikstad and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both Skaugum and Bygdøy Royal Estate are working farms producing grain, milk and meat; the profits are re-invested in the farms themselves. In 2004 the King transferred management of the farming activities on Bygdøy to the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The King owns a royal yacht bearing the name HNoMY Norge. Manned and maintained by the Royal Norwegian Navy, it is used both for official and private travels in Norway and abroad. The Norwegian State Railways maintains a set of royal train carriages.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Coat of arms of Norway is one of the oldest in Europe and serves both as the coat of arms of the nation and of the Royal House. This is in keeping with its origin as the coat of arms of the kings of Norway during the Middle Ages.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: Håkon the Old (1217–1263) used a shield with a lion. The earliest preserved reference to the colour of the arms is the King's Saga written down in 1220.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: In 1280 King Eirik Magnusson added the crown and silver axe to the lion. The axe is the martyr axe of St. Olav, the weapon used to kill him in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The specific rendering of the Norwegian arms has changed through the years, following changing heraldic fashions. In the late Middle Ages, the axe handle gradually grew longer and came to resemble a halberd. The handle was usually curved in order to fit the shape of shield preferred at the time, and also to match the shape of coins. The halberd was officially discarded and the shorter axe reintroduced by royal decree in 1844, when an authorized rendering was instituted for the first time. In 1905 the official design for royal and government arms was again changed, this time reverting to the medieval pattern, with a triangular shield and a more upright lion.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The coat of arms of the royal house as well as the Royal Standard uses the lion design from 1905. The earliest preserved depiction of the Royal Standard is on the seal of Duchess Ingebjørg from 1318. The rendering used as the official coat of arms of Norway is slightly different and was last approved by the king 20 May 1992.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: When used as the Royal coat of arms the shield features the insignias of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav around it and is framed by a royal ermine robe, surmounted by the crown of Norway.


title: Monarchy of Norway

text: The Royal coat of arms is not used frequently. Instead, the king's monogram is extensively used, for instance in military insignia and on coins.


title: K'naan

text: Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) (, "Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama"), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali-Canadian musician. He rose to prominence with the success of his single "Wavin' Flag", which was chosen as Coca-Cola's promotional anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Besides hip hop, K'naan's sound is influenced by elements of Somali music and world music. He is also involved in various philanthropic initiatives.


title: K'naan

text: K'naan was born 1 February 1978 in Mogadishu, situated in the southeastern Banaadir province of Somalia. K'naan's family was from an artistic background. His grandfather was a famous poet, and his aunt Magool was a renowned singer. His name, "Keynaan" (), means "traveller" in the Somali language.


title: K'naan

text: K'naan spent his childhood in Mogadishu. His father, Abdi, left earlier when he was still a boy to work as a taxi driver in New York City. K'naan's early years were idyllic and enveloped in poetry and song, with his aunt Magool often singing to him. This changed following the start of the civil war, when at the age of 12, three of his friends were shot by an older adolescent gunman. K'naan also narrowly escaped death one day at his school, when he mistook a grenade that he found in the dirt for a potato and threw it away just before it detonated. These incidents and the general escalation in violence prompted his mother to seek a visa so that the family could join his father in New York. When he was 13, K'naan and his mother and two siblings, older brother Liban and younger sister Sagal, moved to the United States. They stayed in New York for half a year, before relocating to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, his family still resides there.


title: K'naan

text: In his new environment, K'naan began learning English, partly by listening to hip hop albums by artists like Nas and Rakim. Despite the fact that he could not yet speak the language, he taught himself hip-hop and rap diction, copying the lyrics and style phonetically. He then also began rapping. While growing up in Toronto's Rexdale neighbourhood, K'naan lost many friends to murder, suicide, prison, and deportation.


title: K'naan

text: In 2006, K'naan moved back to New York City, where his father still resided. K'naan was married to Deqa, a pharmacy technician, with whom he has two sons, born in 2005 and 2007. The couple divorced before K'naan started touring for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Coca-Cola.


title: K'naan

text: K'naan became a friend and associate of Canadian promoter Sol Guy, who helped him secure a speaking engagement before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1999, where K'naan performed a spoken word piece criticizing the UN for its failed peacekeeping missions to Somalia. One of the audience members, Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, was so impressed by the young MC's performance and courage that he invited him to contribute to his 2001 album "Building Bridges", a project through which K'naan was able to tour the world.


title: K'naan

text: This project led to his work at other UN events, as well as the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Halifax Pop Explosion. It also helped him meet Canadian producer Brian West and Jarvis Church and his Track & Field team in 2002, who produced his debut album "The Dusty Foot Philosopher", which was released in 2005 to critical acclaim. In 2006, it won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year, and was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. It also won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in the newcomer category for 2007. "The Dusty Foot Philosopher" was re-released and repackaged as a "Deluxe Edition" featuring new mixes and a bonus DVD in the United States (and various international territories) by the emerging media company and record label iM (Interdependent Media, Inc.) in 2008.


title: K'naan

text: K'naan toured and collaborated with artists like Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, will.i.am, The Roots, Dead Prez, and Pharoahe Monch on tours such as Live 8 and Breedlove Odyssey. He also collaborated with Damian Marley on the "Welcome to Jamrock" touring session.


title: K'naan

text: K'naan released "The Dusty Foot on the Road", a collection of recordings made during his world tour on Wrasse Records.


title: K'naan

text: K'naan rose to mainstream popularity by participating in the 2008 BET Awards Cypher. This was his first appearance on American television. His second studio album, "Troubadour", was released on 24 February 2009, on A&M/Octone Records, and distributed through Universal Music Group worldwide. The album's first single, "ABC's", was released in late 2008. K'naan's music has featured in several video games such as Madden NFL 09 (with his song "ABC's") and FIFA 06 (with his song "Soobax"). The song "If Rap Gets Jealous", a re-recording of a track of the same name – with different verses – from "The Dusty Foot Philosopher", features Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. K'naan was also the first featured artist on X3, a collaborative project between CBC Radio 3, "Exclaim!" magazine and aux.tv to promote new Canadian music. In July 2010, he performed a cover of U2's "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" for iHeartRadio. On 24 January 2012, K'naan released a 5-song EP under the title "More Beautiful Than Silence" including songs such as "Nothing to Lose", "Better", "Is Anybody Out There?". The songs also include collaborations with Nas and Nelly Furtado.


title: K'naan

text: K'naan's 2012 album, "Country, God or the Girl", was met with little of the critical acclaim and success that "Troubadour" received. Unlike "Troubadour", which was produced almost entirely by production team Track and Field, "Country, God or the Girl" featured a wide range of different producers, many of whom work on more mainstream projects. After the release of the album, K'naan published an article in the New York Times explaining and apologizing for the change in his sound. "My lyrics should change, my label's executives said; radio programmers avoid subjects too far from fun and self-absorption," recounts K'naan. "So I began to say yes. Yes to trying out songs with A-list producers. Yes to moving production from Kingston to Los Angeles." In the end, K'naan states "I had not made my Marley or my Dylan, or even my K'naan; I had made an album in which a few genuine songs are all but drowned out by the loud siren of ambition. Fatima had become Mary, and Mohamed, Adam."


title: K'naan

text: K'Naan has remained committed to his Somali roots and continues to be outspoken in the geopolitics of his home country. He is often regarded as a spokesperson for the Toronto Somali community. In 2007, he was invited by Canadian Broadcast Corporation to reflect on changes in the Somali courts, including the removal of the Islamic Courts Union. K'Naan renounced this act by Somalia and indicated his support for the Islamic Courts Union, pushing back on the Western critiques of Muslim governing systems. Furthermore, he has spoken out against the clan system used in Somalia and particularly its use in immigrant communities in Canada.


title: K'naan

text: K'Naan's engagement with his Somali roots dates back to his first hit "Soobax," which in his native Somali language means "come out." The song critiques the warlords that held power in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. The song gained popularity in Somalia, Canada and the United States. Additionally, K'Naan goes beyond reflecting on his Somali roots in his lyrics as he often raps in both English and Somali rather than one language. His choice to blend both languages has made him a standout among hip hop artists.


title: K'naan

text: K'Naan's involvement in rap and hip hop in North America has expanded the discussion on both Somali and the Black Diaspora in the West. Both his music and appearances on television and radio shows have grown the conversation on what it means to be Black in Canada. In addition to Black communities that have been residing in the country for over a century there are large Black immigrant communities from the Caribbean and Africa.


title: K'naan

text: Rather than speaking for a larger Black diaspora, K'Naan speaks on his own personal experience including being Somali in Canada. K'Naan continues to be a voice of the Toronto Somali communities.


title: K'naan

text: K'naan's cover of the Bob Dylan song "With God on Our Side" is the closing song on Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 11/9".


title: K'naan

text: Jim Welte has said K'naan has "a sound that fuses Bob Marley, conscious American hip-hop, and brilliant protest poetry." His voice and style has been compared to Eminem, but his subject matter is very different; according to K'naan, he makes "urgent music with a message", talking about the situation in his homeland of Somalia and calling for an end to violence and bloodshed. He specifically tries to avoid gangsta rap clichés and posturing, saying:


title: K'naan

text: This statement was made to explain his position on the world of difference which exists between where he grew up, and the ghettos of the first world. Nonetheless, K'naan denies that he is overtly political, instead explaining that he "[shows] the state of the world [and] if you call it like it is you're being political." His own opinion of his music is that it's a "mix of tradition and [a] kind of articulation of my own life and [..] my past experiences."


title: K'naan

text: K'naan has said that he is influenced by Somali music and the traditional instruments of Somalia. His 2009 album, "Troubadour", also draws heavily from Ethiopian sources, particularly Ethio-Jazz by Alemayehu Eshete and Tilahun Gessesse.


title: K'naan

text: With a small acoustic band, consisting of Rayzak (back-up vocals), Kierscey Rand (acoustic guitar) and UDOGG-The Funky Drummer (djembe and drums). This style was an essential element of what set K'naan apart from most hip-hop acts. More than that, it reflected K'naan's value of meaningful lyrics over shallow theatrics. One of the last performances of this band was on 16 March 2009, when K'naan rendered four songs from the newly launched album for CBC's program "Q" with Jian Ghomeshi, although Rayzak continued to join his subsequent shows and Kierscey Rand made occasional appearances, such as his World Cup Trophy Tour.


title: K'naan

text: Since "Troubadour", K'naan has toured almost exclusively with a larger electric ensemble – consisting of drums, bass, electric guitar, and keyboards – and his performances now also feature elaborate lighting. This change in showmanship, along with his collaborations with such high-profile artists as Adam Levine and Mos Def, has helped to shift K'naan more into the mainstream flow of the music industry and has helped him gain exposure to a wider audience.


title: K'naan

text: A remixed version of K'naan's single, "Wavin' Flag", was chosen as Coca-Cola's anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was also used in the commercials for the pre-game, which was held in South Africa. Additionally, the track is in the soundtrack for the official EA Sports 2010 FIFA World Cup video game. In December 2009, K'naan performed the song live during the sponsor's FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, which took him to 86 countries around the world. His performance of "Wavin' Flag" was featured in the Top 10 hits in 11 countries across the world. This also included number one hits in Mexico, Austria, China, Germany, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. In order to appeal to different people around the world, K'naan also recorded the song with various local artists such as David Bisbal, Jacky Cheung, Jane Zhang, Nancy Ajram, and Tattoo Colour.


title: K'naan

text: On 21 September 2010, K'naan was scheduled as the headlining act of a student organised concert for World Peace Day which was to benefit girls' education in rural Ghana. At 11pm, K'naan cancelled for reasons that have been reported as relating to finances. His manager stated that, "this is the first time in K'naan's seven-year career that he has pulled out of a performance for such a reason". K'naan announced on his Twitter following the concert "amazing how human beings need a bogeyman. It's even better when they can turn their heroes to foes. SFU, check your own back yard for faults."


title: K'naan

text: On 8 May 2011, K'naan performed live at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park for Coca-Cola's employees in light of Coke's 125th anniversary.


title: K'naan

text: On 15 October 2011, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, K'naan was one of eight performers at the "Decade of Difference" concert. The concert celebrated former US President Bill Clinton's 65th birthday and the 10-year anniversary of the Clinton Foundation. K'naan was the third performer of the evening, following sets by Stevie Wonder and Kenny Chesney and preceding sets by Juanes, Usher, Lady Gaga, and The Edge, and Bono of U2. K'naan performed three songs – "Bulletproof Pride," "America," and "Wavin' Flag." Toward the end of "Bulletproof Pride," K'naan surprised the audience by bringing Bono onstage for a duet. K'naan also spoke about his childhood in Somalia and how President Clinton's efforts overseas positively impacted his youth.


title: K'naan

text: In 2005, the Canadian music scene featured a low-key feud between K'naan and k-os, one of the most prominent Canadian hip-hop artists. Following the release of the music video for the song "Soobax", which was shot by K'naan and a film crew in Kenya, k-os released a track "B-Boy Stance" attacking K'naan: "They took cameras to Africa for pictures to rhyme / Over; Oh, yes, the great pretenders [...] Religious entertainers who want to be life savers." Though the feud never became high-profile, with K'naan expressing confusion at the attack and respect for k-os, he nonetheless responded with the mixtape track "Revolutionary Avocado" which argued "You the all-knowing with a beer bottle / Wishing you was Plato and me Aristotle? / ...Suburban negro turned hip-hop hero / Is there a reason he really hates me, though?" – a rebuttal CBC's Matthew McKinnon called "cold-cocking the champ".


title: K'naan

text: In addition to his artistic career, K'naan has been involved with various philanthropic initiatives. In 2011, he became a co-spokesman with Bono to raise awareness of that year's drought in Eastern Africa. Also teaming up with close associate Sol Guy, K'naan performed various concerts for the cause.


title: K'naan

text: Additionally, K'naan was also active in promoting the Canadian Bill C-393 to help increase medical assistance to countries in Africa. He teamed up with Stephen Lewis, James Orbinski, and Richard Elliott, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, but the bill was not passed by the Senate.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: Gateway, Inc., previously Gateway 2000, is an American computer hardware company. The company developed, manufactured, supported, and marketed a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories. It was acquired by hardware and electronics corporation Acer, in October 2007.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: In 2020, Walmart had announced a deal with Gateway in partnership with THX to revive the Gateway brand launching various devices from tablets, convertibles, and budget laptops.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: Gateway was founded on September 5, 1985, on a farm outside Sioux City, Iowa, by Ted Waitt, Norm Waitt (Ted's brother), and Mike Hammond.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: The origins of the company's name and cow motif can be traced to the meatpacking industry in the Sioux City area in the late 19th century. Before the Big Sioux and Missouri rivers were spanned by bridges, it was common to transport cattle into Sioux City by ferry, and every so often, a cow would slip off the ferry deck. The farmers were often left with no choice but to give up the cow for lost and get the rest across the fast-moving river. Ted Waitt's ancestor was an enterprising individual who would round up these cattle before they could drown and sold them to the meatpacking plants once rescued. Also, North Sioux City, SD is sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to South Dakota" due to its location.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: Gateway 2000 was also an innovator in low-end computers with the first sub-$1,000 name-brand PC, the all-in-one Astro.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: Gateway built brand recognition in part by shipping computers in spotted boxes patterned after Holstein cow markings. In 1989, Gateway moved its corporate offices and production facilities to North Sioux City, South Dakota.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: In 1997, Gateway acquired Advanced Logic Research, a maker of high-end personal computers and servers. Gateway dropped the "2000" from its name on October 31, 1998, recognizing that the year 2000 would soon cease to be futuristic.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: In line with the Holstein cow mascot, Gateway opened a chain of "farm-styled" retail stores called Gateway Country Stores, mostly in suburban and rural areas across the United States. The first of these stores opened in 1996. At the chain's peak in 2001, there were over 300 locations across the country, and the stores are said to have inspired the launch of the Apple Store that same year. Gateway Country stores were primarily showrooms for the company's computers, allowing customers to meet with a salesperson and customize computers that would be shipped to their homes, and only offered a small selection of its most popular models to be purchased in the store. While the stores were more profitable than the company's other sales venues, dozens were closed as the company struggled throughout the early 2000s. The last remaining stores closed in 2004.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: To grow beyond its model of selling high-end PCs by phone, and to attract top management and engineers, Gateway relocated its base of operations to La Jolla, California, in May 1998. In an effort to cut operating costs, Gateway made another move, this time to Poway, California, in October 2001. After acquiring eMachines in 2004, Gateway again relocated its corporate headquarters, to Irvine, California.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: In 2000, Gateway announced a partnership with OfficeMax to sell its computers in store through the Gateway Country Branding. In 2001, Office Max Announced that it was replacing Gateway with the HP Brand.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges against three former Gateway executives: CEO Jeff Weitzen, former chief financial officer John Todd, and former controller Robert Manza. The lawsuit alleged that the executives engaged in securities violations and misled investors about the health of the company. Weitzen was cleared of securities fraud in 2006; however, Todd and Manza were found liable for inflating revenue in a jury trial which concluded in March 2007.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: Gateway moved build-to-order desktop, laptop, and server manufacturing back to the United States with the opening of its Gateway Configuration Center in Nashville, in September 2006. It employed 385 people in that location. By April 2007, Gateway notebook computers were produced in China and its desktops had "made in Mexico" stickers.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: In September 2020, Acer granted Gateway branding and licensing rights to Bmorn Technology, a Shenzhen based technology company to manufacture and sell Gateway branded laptops and tablets through Walmart. The new line of laptops is a simple rebadging of Acer's existing EVOO branded laptops. The laptops are tuned in partnership with THX.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: In September 2002, Gateway entered the consumer electronics market with aggressively priced plasma TVs. At the time, Gateway's US$2,999 price for a 42" plasma TV undercut name-brand competitors by thousands of dollars per unit. In 2003, the company expanded the range of plasma TVs and added digital cameras, DLP projectors, wireless Internet routers, and MP3 players. By early 2004, in terms of volume, Gateway had moved into a leadership position in the plasma TV category in the United States. However, the pressure to achieve profits after the acquisition of eMachines led then-CEO Wayne Inouye to phase Gateway-branded consumer electronics out of their product line that same year.


title: Gateway, Inc.

text: eMachines was founded in 1998, brand of low-end personal computers. It was acquired by Gateway, Inc. in 2004. In 2013, the eMachines brand was discontinued by Acer Inc., which acquired Gateway in 2007.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The mythology of "The X-Files", sometimes referred to as its "mytharc" by the show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, was also often involved. Beginning with season 8, another skeptic named John Doggett, and Monica Reyes, a believer like Mulder, were also introduced. The overarching story, which spans events as early as the 1940s, is built around a government conspiracy to hide the truth about alien existence and their doomsday plan. Not all episodes advanced the mythology plot, but those that did were often set up by Mulder or Scully via an opening monologue.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Most mythological elements in "The X-Files" relate to extraterrestrial beings, referred to by the writers as "Colonists", whose primary goal is to colonize Earth. Late in the series, this was revealed to have been planned for the year 2012.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: This list of mythology episodes was originally taken from official sources, "The X-Files Mythology" range of DVDs and the book "The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series, the Myths and the Movies," .


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) has made a name for himself, "Spooky Mulder," working on X-Files—unexplained cases which may be paranormal in origin. He is appointed a partner in these investigations—Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson)—with his superiors hoping that she will be able to debunk and discredit his work. Their first case together is the investigation of possible abductions in Oregon, which falters when their evidence is destroyed in a fire. A later case, involving the disappearance of a United States Air Force test pilot, sees the introduction of secretive informant Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin), who continues to provide the agents sensitive information. This help is supplemented by conspiracy theorist group The Lone Gunmen, who are contacted for help in a further abduction case. Deep Throat is killed, however, when he helps the agents uncover details of a government human cloning program, and the X-Files unit is closed shortly thereafter.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Unable to continue his work with Scully, Mulder obtains information about possible extraterrestrial contact in Puerto Rico, finding that the SETI program at the Arecibo Observatory is being forcibly closed. Although the pair are allowed to resume their work, Scully is later kidnapped by an unhinged multiple alien abductee, Duane Barry. Barry takes Scully to a hilltop where she is then abducted, presumably by aliens. She is found comatose at a later date, having mysteriously arrived at a hospital, and recovers several days later. Mulder receives a call from his father, who informs him that his sister Samantha (Megan Leitch), who had been abducted as a child, has returned. Samantha is being pursued by a shapeshifting bounty hunter, who is assassinating human clones. Samantha is killed, although it is revealed that she was simply one of a number of clones, produced using alien tissue to create an alien-human hybrid.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The Lone Gunmen contact Mulder and Scully about a successful attempt by a friend of theirs to hack the United States Department of Defense computer system. The hacker, Kenneth Soona (Bernie Coulson), is able to give Mulder the downloaded information on a digital cassette. Soona is subsequently assassinated, and the downloaded files are found to be written in Navajo. Contacting Albert Hosteen (Floyd Red Crow Westerman)—a Navajo man capable of translating the files—Mulder is shown a box-car full of what appear to be alien corpses. He is trapped in the box-car by the series' antagonist, The Smoking Man (William B. Davis), and left for dead after it is destroyed.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Mulder is later found and nursed back to health by Hosteen. Meanwhile, Scully investigates the possible involvement of the smallpox eradication program in human genetic experimentation, discovering that a Nazi scientist who defected during Operation Paperclip has been conducting human experimentation to create alien-human hybrids. Dana's sister Melissa (Melinda McGraw) is shot by assassins who mistake her for Dana, and dies in the hospital. Investigating evidence of an alien autopsy, Mulder infiltrates a secretive government train carriage carrying an alien-human hybrid being experimented on by Japanese scientists. Mulder is almost killed by a Syndicate operative guarding the hybrid, but is saved by his informant X (Steven Williams). X had been tipped off about Mulder's activities by Scully. Scully, meanwhile, meets a group of women with abduction experiences similar to her own, and meets another member of the Syndicate known as the First Elder (Don S. Williams). The First Elder claims that during Scully's abduction she was placed on a similar train car and experimented upon by the Japanese scientists.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The crew of a French salvage ship trying to raise a World War II-era submarine from the sea floor are stricken with massive radiation burns—except for one man, who has been infected with a parasitic black oil discovered on the submarine. The black oil, controlling the crewman's body, passes into the crewman's wife and uses her to travel to Hong Kong in pursuit of a middleman selling government secrets. Mulder is after the same man. After Mulder catches Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) in Hong Kong, the black oil passes itself to Krycek. Scully determines that the submarine had been involved in discovering the black oil on the sea floor during World War II, under the guise of finding a sunken fighter plane. The infected Krycek makes his way to a missile silo used to hide a UFO, and the black oil escapes his body to board the craft. Meanwhile, Scully has tracked down Luis Cardinal, the man responsible for killing her sister.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: When the Syndicate suspect that a member is passing information to Mulder and Scully, they organise a canary trap to find the leak, using information about the safety of Mulder's mother as bait. X's role as an informant is discovered, and he is shot dead, although he is able to pass along the name of another informant who can be of use to Mulder—Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden), the Special Representative to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Mulder seeks Covarrubias' aid when he attempts to reach the site of the Tunguska event, in Russia, to investigate the source of a further black oil contamination. While there, Mulder is held in a gulag and used—successfully—as a test subject for a black-oil vaccine. He escapes and is able to return to America, having found out that Krycek is working with the Russians. Scully, who has been diagnosed with cancer, is unsure of her future with the FBI. Mulder is convinced that her condition is a result of her earlier abduction, and is prepared to make a deal with the Syndicate to find a cure. He is dissuaded by Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), who secretly makes such a deal himself.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: While being pursued by an assassin responsible for a hoax alien corpse discovered on a mountaintop, Mulder fakes his own suicide, mutilating the assassin's face to provide a decoy body. He uses the distraction to infiltrate The Pentagon in search of a cure for Scully's cancer. Meanwhile, Scully is able to uncover and reveal a Syndicate connection within the FBI.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: While a rebel alien race secretly attacks several groups of former alien abductees, the agents meet Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright), a woman who claims to be a multiple abductee and wants to deliver a positive message about aliens. After Cassandra goes missing and her son, Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens), angrily attempts to push his way into the FBI, Mulder has Scully put under hypnosis to learn the truth about her abduction. The Syndicate, meanwhile, speed up their tests of the black oil vaccine, sacrificing their own to do so. Later, the assassination of a chess grandmaster leads Mulder and Scully into an investigation that strikes at the heart of the X-Files: They learn that the assassin's real target was a telepathic boy named Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka).


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The X-Files have been shut down again, and Mulder and Scully are sent on a mission to deal with a terrorist bomb threat. However, after a government building is destroyed, Mulder is approached by a mysterious doctor, Alvin Kurtzweil (Martin Landau), who reveals that a new strain of the black oil has been discovered in North Texas. The new strain allows an extraterrestrial to gestate inside the host within 96 hours. Kurtzweil argues that the conspiracy deliberately placed the bomb within the government to hide the evidence. After Scully is stung by a black-oil-infected bee and abducted, the Well-Manicured Man gives Mulder her location and a weak vaccine, developed by the Syndicate. The Well-Manicured Man is killed by a car bomb, but his information leads Mulder to Antarctica, where he discovers a massive alien spaceship buried. Inside the ship, he finds Scully and administers the vaccine, which heals her.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: In Washington, D.C., Mulder appears before an FBI panel regarding his experiences in Antarctica, but is later denied reassignment to the X-Files division: Mulder and Scully have been replaced by Spender and Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers). After a scientist working for the Syndicate accidentally comes into contact with the black oil and gestates an alien, Mulder and Scully attempt to track the creature down in Phoenix, Arizona before the Syndicate can capture it. Skinner is mysteriously poisoned by a nanorobot infection. The culprit is Krycek, who continues to control the potentially debilitating nanotechnology in Skinner's system in order to achieve his goals.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Mulder and Scully learn of reports of rebel aliens burning doctors who were working on Cassandra. After they locate her, she informs them that the aliens are here to destroy all life on Earth and that she is a successful alien-human hybrid. The Smoking Man reveals everything to Diana Fowley, who agrees to help him and betray Mulder. Fowley forces Mulder, Cassandra, and Scully to go to a CDC facility at Fort Marlene. Meanwhile, the Syndicate meets at a check point, expecting to be taken away by the Colonists, who are preparing for invasion. They are met, instead, by the alien rebels, who incinerate them all, including Cassandra. The Smoking Man and Fowley manage to escape. Jeffrey Spender is then purportedly killed by The Smoking Man. Several months later, an inscribed metallic artifact is found on a beach on Africa's Côte d'Ivoire. Mulder examines rubbings of the object and falls into a dangerous coma. Hoping to find a cure for her partner, Scully rushes to Africa and discovers a massive wrecked spacecraft partially buried in the ocean.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Skinner and Michael Kritschgau (John Finn) try desperately to learn the truth about the alien object. Unsuccessful, Scully returns from Africa to see Mulder, but she is told that he has disappeared. She contacts Kritschgau and Skinner, trying to find her partner. In fact, The Smoking Man has taken Mulder away to transplant the telepathic part of Mulder's brain into his own cranium. The surgery is a failure. Mulder develops an inoperable, terminal brain tumor after the surgery; he keeps the news from Scully.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: While investigating the bizarre disappearance of a young girl from her home, Mulder soon discovers the truth about his sister's abduction. He and Scully find evidence proving that Samantha was abducted by The Smoking Man, who forced her to live in a now-abandoned US Army base and experimented on her. Mulder also learns that his sister was taken by a "walk-in," a benevolent spirit who saves the souls of children doomed to die in suffering. Mulder is eventually reunited with the spirit of his sister, allowing him to finally let her go. Mulder and Scully investigate a case of alien abduction which leads them back to Oregon, the site of their first case together where Mulder is taken by a UFO.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Scully soon meets Special Agent John Doggett (Robert Patrick), the leader of an FBI taskforce organized to search for Mulder. Although the search proves unsuccessful, Doggett is assigned to the X-Files, and he works with Scully to search for explanations for several cases. When Scully learns that several women have reportedly been abducted and impregnated with alien babies, she begins to question her own pregnancy.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Doggett introduces Scully to Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), an FBI specialist in ritualistic crime, shortly before Mulder's dead body suddenly appears in a forest at night. Following Mulder's funeral, Assistant Director Skinner is threatened by Krycek, who tells him that he must kill Scully's baby before it is born. Billy Miles, a multiple abductee who disappeared on the same night as Mulder, is returned as a corpse, but his dead body is resurrected and restored to full health. Mulder also returns from death, with Scully supervising his recovery. Fully rejuvenated and healed of his earlier brain tumor, Mulder investigates several X-Files, against orders, and he is soon fired, leaving Doggett in charge of the cases. Mulder continues to provide input in an unofficial capacity.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Reluctantly accepting Krycek's assistance, Mulder, Doggett and Skinner learn that an alien virus recently created in secret by members of the United States government has replaced several humans, including Billy Miles and several high-ranking FBI personnel, with so-called alien "Super Soldiers". Krycek claims that the soldiers are virtually unstoppable aliens who want to make sure that humans will not survive the colonization of Earth. They have learned that Scully's baby is a miraculously special child and are afraid that it may be more powerful than they are. When Miles arrives at the FBI Headquarters, Mulder, Doggett, Skinner and Krycek help Scully to escape along with Reyes, who drives her to a remote farm. Shortly after, Skinner kills Krycek, and Scully delivers an apparently normal baby while the alien "Super Soldiers" surround her. Without explanation, the aliens leave the area when Mulder arrives. While Doggett and Reyes report to the FBI Headquarters, Mulder takes Scully and their newborn son, William, back to her apartment.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Mulder goes into hiding, Scully is reassigned to the FBI Academy, and Reyes becomes Doggett's new partner at the X-Files. Doggett, Scully, and Reyes discover a conspiracy to place Chloramine in the nation's water, causing mutations and creating "Super Soldiers." This leads them to a clandestine laboratory where a secret experiment connected to Scully's child, William, is underway. The X-Files' investigation is hampered by Deputy Director Alvin Kersh (James Pickens, Jr.) and Assistant Director Brad Follmer (Cary Elwes). Scully is hopeful about reuniting with Mulder after a stranger, "Shadow Man" (Terry O'Quinn), offers to drive Mulder out of hiding. She accepts his offer, but she and Mulder are nearly killed: The man is a Super Soldier. Later on, Scully, Doggett and Reyes find evidence of a dangerous UFO cult that has found a spacecraft similar to the one Scully studied in Africa two years ago. The cult kidnaps William, but is destroyed when the baby's crying activates the ship and kills everyone while leaving William unharmed.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Doggett finds a strange, disfigured man in the X-Files office. At first he believes the man is Mulder, but it is actually Jeffrey Spender, Mulder's half-brother. Spender sticks a needle into William. The other agents believe the injection to be a virus of some kind, but it is actually a cure for William's powers. Mulder comes out of hiding to look for classified information at an army base and, after allegedly killing a supposedly indestructible "Super Soldier" Knowle Rohrer (Adam Baldwin), he is placed on trial to defend the X-Files and himself. With the help of Kersh, Scully, Reyes, Doggett, Spender, and Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka), Mulder escapes. Mulder and Scully then travel to New Mexico to find an old "wise man", later revealed to be The Smoking Man, who tells them that the aliens will arrive in 2012. Doggett and Reyes are confronted by Knowle Rohrer, who is killed by magnetite (the only known vulnerability of the "Super Soldiers"). The four agents then escape from a pair of black helicopters that kill The Smoking Man with missile fire. Scully and Mulder are last seen together in a motel room, facing an uncertain future.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Fourteen years since leaving the X-Files, Mulder and Scully are contacted by media host Tad O'Malley who has uncovered possible evidence of the alien abductions being fabricated by the government to cover up their experiments on humans, and Mulder has a theory that everything that he and Scully were led to believe on the X-Files was made up by a conspiracy of men. Mulder and Scully find themselves being enlisted back to the FBI and working on the now reopened X-Files unit, which brings the attention of the alive Cigarette Smoking Man.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Six weeks later a mass contagion, the Spartan Virus, begins to break out, causing people's immune systems to break down; all but those with alien DNA in their system. This is part of a scheme by The Smoking Man, something which has been put into motion since 2012 (the year the supposed alien invasion was meant to take place). Scully works to try and find a cure by using her alien DNA and Mulder disappears and confronts the Smoking Man in an attempt to stop his plans. Scully finds out that The Smoking Man enlisted former FBI agent Monica Reyes as an assistant to his schemes.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Mulder begins to succumb to the virus, but refuses the Smoking Man's chance of a "seat at the table." Mulder is eventually rescued by fellow agent Miller and reunited with Scully on a bridge in Washington, where she reveals Mulder needs a stem cell transplant that only their son can give them. As America is thrown into chaos, a UFO looms over Mulder, Scully and Miller on the bridge.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The episode "My Struggle II" is revealed to be a premonition of Scully, foreseeing the end of humanity which leads to trying to find a way to prevent it by finding her and Mulder's son. Whilst the Smoking Man looks to depopulate most of humanity, there is another group looking to kill him and prevent it from happening, also is part of their own motives which allegedly involves space colonization with a select few, something which they feel can't be done if the Smoking Man's plans succeed. The two groups are also after Scully's son William, with the revelation that the Smoking Man is his father.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: It is mentioned by former Syndicate member Mr. Y (who is on the side opposing the Smoking Man) that the colonization hasn't taken place as the aliens abandoned their plans due to global warming on earth.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Although published in 2013, prior to the broadcast of Season 10, the comic book series is considered non-canon with the television series taking precedence in the mythology arc. In this comic book series, which is "Executive Produced" by Chris Carter, Mulder and Scully are visited by Deputy Director Skinner who informs them that someone has hacked into the FBI's files and discovered information regarding the X-Files. Scully has later gone missing and Mulder tracks down the Lone Gunmen, who had faked their deaths several years earlier, in order to help him find Scully.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: FBI Agent John Doggett investigates a pipeline that mysteriously explodes and is later revealed to possess magnetite. FBI Agent Monica Reyes finds out that William's adoptive parents are dead. Mulder is also visited by the believed-to-be dead Cigarette Smoking Man. Scully, after many encounters with mysterious aliens, reports to an FBI review board that people with connections to the X-Files division are systematically being targeted by an unknown group. As a result, Mulder and Scully are reinstated as federal agents as a countermeasure.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: At the beginning, Chris Carter did not think of creating a "mythology" for the episodes focusing on extraterrestrial life, because "they were just stories we wanted to tell," which involved Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) on his personal quest joined by his partner, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Eventually, the writers saw that the most "personal" episodes were the ones centering on the government conspiracy. Another reason for the development of the mythology, was that the producers were afraid of not creating a thread between the episodes centering on the conspiracy, being that they felt it would be pretentious if they did not do it.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: According to Carter, the mythology "sprung from" the pilot episode and its follow up, "Deep Throat", which set up the idea that aliens had been around for many years. Carter sees the final scene of "Deep Throat" as the "launching moment for the entire mythology". The main theme for the show starts with these episodes, being Mulder's quest to find "the truth" about his sister, Samantha Mulder. Mulder's quest for the truth helped build the mythology, since his investigation took him into cases about the paranormal.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: After a series of stand-alone episodes featuring UFOs and extraterrestrials early in the first season, the show's mythology developed largely based on the pregnancy of actress Gillian Anderson, who became pregnant midway through the first season. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz described it as "the best thing that ever happened to the series.", also saying "This mythology really ended up running through the life of the series, all because Gillian Anderson became pregnant". Although there were initially second thoughts about Scully (Anderson) giving birth to an alien baby, ultimately the writers decided to work around Anderson's pregnancy. The writers decided on closing the X-Files at the end of the season to separate Mulder and Scully from one another, and have Scully abducted, who would later reappear in a coma. In addition to the creation of the storyline concerning Scully's abduction, Anderson's reduced role in the first half of the second season permitted the writers to develop some of the other characters in the show including Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), The Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and X (Steven Williams), and resulted in the introduction of the character Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea). Krycek, who was initially created by writer Howard Gordon to temporarily replace Scully as Mulder's partner for three episodes eventually grew into a character that lasted seven seasons on the show.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Prior to the season two episode, "One Breath" the "Cigarette Smoking Man" mostly "lurked around in the shadows" and smoked cigarettes. The Smoking Man uttered only four audible words in the entire first season of the show, all of them being in "Tooms". R.W. Goodwin did not trust William B. Davis to take on the part as arch-nemesis to Fox Mulder. It was later revealed to the producers that Davis was running an acting school, and teaching such actors as Lucy Lawless, who would make an appearance in the ninth season.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: In the two-part episodes "Colony" and "End Game", Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz along with some help from David Duchovny created what would become a recurring character named the Alien Bounty Hunter. According to Carter, Duchovny came to him and said "Wouldn't it be great if we had like an alien bounty hunter?" Carter was positive towards the idea. The actor, Brian Thompson, auditioned for the role in a casting session, where he was competing with another actor. Spotnitz and Carter did not have much time to cast this character, but they knew this casting would be important since he was going to be a recurring character. Thompson was chosen according to Spotnitz because he had a very "distinctive look" about him, most notably his face and mouth. After casting him, they told Thompson's agent that he needed a hair cut, because he was originally envisioned as a US Air Force pilot who had been shot down. When Thompson came to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada there had been some "misunderstanding" between them, and he had not been told of the hair cut. So the hairstyle seen in this and every episode since was a "compromise between Thompson and the producers."


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Chris Carter admits that David Duchovny was very involved in shaping the show's mythology. His first notable efforts were "End Game" and "Anasazi". After writing the episode, Carter met up with a man who watched over the show by the Fox Network. He wanted the show to explain the paranormal phenomena in each episode. Carter responded with: "the interesting part about this for me was going to be telling stories where you left people wondering at the end, with the possibility that it could be real, but never ever stating that this is in fact the truth." "Anasazi" was the first episode of a three-parter where the writers introduced the government conspiracy arc following the Syndicate. "Paper Clip" introduced the idea of genetic material that was taken through inoculations.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: In season three the black oil was introduced, which was an alien creature which invaded bodies and made them into living hosts. The Black oil was able to enter through a victim's mouth, eyes or nose; it would leave a victim's body to get back to its original form or get a new host. Later on in the show's mythology, it is discovered that the Black oil is the Colonists' lifeform; the oil was brought to Earth by meteorites to create hosts of the human population living there. The season four two-parters "Tunguska" and "Terma" hit the writers when they were trying to conceive a big and fun canvas to tell stories. So they decided to create a story which had connections to the Russian gulags, which led to a "natural" idea that the Russians were experimenting separately from the Syndicate to create a vaccine for the Black oil. Shiban felt it was natural creating an arms race-like story between the United States and Russia, being that the Cold War had ended a few years earlier.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: With the season five episodes "Patient X" and "The Red and the Black", the mythology became too hard for some viewers to follow. These two episodes marked the introduction of the Alien rebels who were fighting against the Colonists for their plan to colonize the known universe. These Alien rebels were of the same race as the Alien Bounty Hunters. Cassandra (Veronica Cartwright) and Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens) would make their first appearances in these two episodes. Two other characters, Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers) and Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka) were introduced to the series mythology in the season five finale, "The End".


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: From the third season to the sixth season, the mysterious Syndicate was explored in detail. In the two part episode "Two Fathers"/"One Son", the Syndicate was destroyed. The plan to eliminate the Syndicate and relaunch the series' mythology in a new direction was originally conceived in September 1998. Director Kim Manners stated "I've said for years that the show really resolved itself, if you will, by accident. The whole story line of the Syndicate and the bees and the aliens and the chips in the neck, they all seemed to just accidentally fall into place and create an intriguing, mysterious storyline that eventually got so mysterious and so intriguing that Chris had to blow it up, because he couldn't deal with it anymore."


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The "Biogenesis"/"The Sixth Extinction"/"" trio of episodes started a new mythology for the series, questioning the origin of human life. Series creator Chris Carter claimed to be interested in the subject for a while, citing the possibility of extraterrestrial involvement in great extinctions that had happened millions of years ago. Carter claimed that early in the show he had met with a man who was one of the people responsible for leading the project of mapping the human genome and that he was interested enough in the subject to tie it into the show's alien mythology. The scientific basis for extraterrestrials pursued the writers to help Mulder and Scully's beliefs come together, which was furthered in the later seasons of the show. Frank Spotnitz claimed that the ideas used in this episode had been discussed between him and Carter for a few years, and had become easier to bring up after clearing away elements of the conspiracy in the episodes "Two Fathers" and "One Son".


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: "Closure" was written to create an end to Mulder's quest for his sister, Samantha, who had been abducted when he was a child. The idea to close the story arc received mixed reactions from various production and crew members. However, many of the show's producers realized that the time had come to answer one of the show's biggest questions. Spotnitz explained that, "I think [series star, David Duchovny] grew tired of playing the man who is missing his sister. [...] I told him, 'This is going to be the last time you're going to have to play [that part].'" Paul Rabwin noted that, "It's been seven years. I don't think any of us are going to miss Samantha Mulder. That device and motivation were very strong in the early years of the show. But as the years have gone by, the speculation kind of melted away."


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: "Requiem" was written as a way to potentially end the series. While filming was underway for the seventh season, many members of the crew felt that the show had entered into its final season. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz later explained, "There was a pretty strong sentiment inside and outside the show that it was time to call it a day." Eventually, it was decided that Mulder would be abducted at the end of the seventh season, leaving things open for the actor's return in 11 episodes the following year. They eventually replaced Duchovny's Mulder with Robert Patrick's John Doggett.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The season eight premiere, "Within", started the storyline following the Super Soldiers and the search for Mulder. As Carter always believed the only way to get the audience to keep watching the show was to give them answers. So when they cast Robert Patrick as John Doggett a new lead character, since Duchovny had sued the Fox Network and Carter for more money, while wanting to leave, the court said he must appear in 12 episodes in the eighth season and then leave. When introducing Doggett into the series, they wanted to give him an enemy, this eventually led to the Super Soldiers, who rose up in "Within" to take on the role as the new government conspirators. The reason for creating a new enemy was to make sure not to just create a "new Mulder". The original idea for the Super Soldiers was that the United States Defense Department was developing genetically modified human beings, this was the non-alien explanation, while these characters eventually became the new aliens. Dana Scully took Mulder's role as a "believer" and handed her previous role as a "skeptic" to Doggett.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Carter himself has admitted that the mythology became "complex" and a bit "too difficult to" follow, and even more difficult for the writers to "add more layers on to it". While saying it got "more interesting" in some ways but at the same time less interesting in some other ways, he said he understood why long-time fans of the show were discontent at seeing a "Mulderless" season, but at the same time said the new characters introduced new fans to the show who reacted positively to the changes.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Annabeth Gish's character Monica Reyes, who would become a main character in season nine, made her first appearance in "This Is Not Happening". When creating the character for the episode, they wanted to give the character a personality who had much in common with both Mulder and Scully. Her first shot was four in the morning and her first scene in the episode was to run down a hill to discover a former abductee. Reyes, along with Skinner, were elevated to main character status in the ninth season.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The original plan for season nine was to exit both Mulder, Scully and baby William out of the storyline in the following season. A proposed Season 10 would follow a storyline where the aliens were not the central focus of the mythology, since many of the writers, most notably Frank Spotnitz, felt that the alien-conspiracy storyline had gone on long enough "and played itself out." The story arc would instead focus on what happened to Doggett's son, Luke, and the character of Reyes.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: For the tenth season of the show (which marked the revival of the series after fourteen years), a new mythology was introduced, and the Super-Soldier arc was ignored as was the supposed alien colonization, which didn't appear to happen in December 2012.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: The new mythology involved a conspiracy of men who were planning to invade and takeover America, something which was put in motion since 2012 (when the colonization was supposed to take place). The Cigarette Smoking Man was reintroduced after his apparent death at the end of the original series, appearing as one of the masterminds behind the plot. The new arc appears to contradict claims in previous seasons, and makes out that aliens are not involved in the invasion plans, rather the conspiracy of men utilizing alien technology to be used in their master plans.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: For the eleventh season, it was decided to tone down on the alien mythology, and instead focus on a story arc involving Mulder and Scully attempting to track down their son William.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Jay Anderson, writing for What Culture, described the mythology entries as "some of the best of the series, featuring many superb acting performances, well-crafted scripts, and nail-biting endings". Anderson added that the mythology "really held the show together". Andrew Payne of Starpulse named the "original" mytharc of seasons 1–6 a "37-way-tie" for the fifth best episode of the series, explaining that it "was the thing that made "The X-Files" the best show on television during its first six seasons". However, he commented that it "went awry during the inscrutable sixth season finale". IGN's Dan Iverson wrote, "I loved the X-Files from the moment I started watching it, due in no small part to the mythology that Chris Carter created. Even though we all loved the 'monster of the week' episodes, these less ostentatious gems kept us interested in what could come in the long run. The overall story arc may have eventually fizzled out, but the questioning, open-ended nature of the stories nevertheless kept us at the edge of our seats."


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: For the first five seasons, critics praised the development in the mythology episodes. The first-season episode "Deep Throat" was cited as beginning to "set the stage for the central conflicts" of the series. "IGN" Dan Iverson felt that the episode served to "open the door to the possibilities of this series"; while Tor.com's Meghan Deans noted that "although the pilot introduced the idea of government conspiracy, it's 'Deep Throat' that kicks out the edges of the canvas". Nina Sordi of Den of Geek noted that the plotline in the second-season finale "Anasazi" laid "the groundwork for the mythology arc for the rest of the series", adding that it "brought much more significance to what is to come". Emily VanDerWerff of "The A.V. Club" called the third season "The X-Files" "best season and maybe one of the greatest TV seasons of all time", noting it was consistent and "[swung] from strength to strength" between mythology and stand-alone episodes. Michael Sauter of "Entertainment Weekly" praised the new additions to the series' mythology during the series' fifth year. As the show increased in popularity, the mythology episodes even started causing media speculation. For instance, the fourth-season episode "Gethsemane" caused newspapers to run articles on whether or not Mulder had actually died. An article in the "Wall Street Journal" discussed fan theories behind Mulder's madness while a cartoon ran in "The New Yorker" a few weeks later surrounding Mulder's "death".


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: After the 1998 film, the show's mythology began to receive increasingly critical reviews. Some fans felt there was no coherent plan to the main storyline and that Carter was "making it all up as he goes along." The sixth season entries "Two Fathers" and "One Son"—which are considered to be the end to the Syndicate arc—were well-received for delivering answers and closure. Earl Cressey from DVD Talk named both episodes as "highlights of season six." Joyce Millman from "Salon" magazine said the episodes were some "of the most coherent, [...] almost unbearably tense, hours in the series' run". Likewise, "Closure", which concluded the Samantha story-arc, was met with mixed to positive reviews; although many felt that the episode hit the right emotional notes, some felt it did not conclude the way it should have.


title: Mythology of The X-Files

text: Many critics considered that the introduction of John Doggett and the search for Mulder in season eight helped to revitalize the series. However, once the series entered into its ninth season, most critics panned the mythology. "The A.V. Club" called the episodes "clumsy", noting that they were "new serialized storylines about so-called 'super soldiers'". The series finale, title "The Truth", received mixed reviews from critics. The main reason for criticism was that, instead of creating a conclusion, the episode created new questions for the audience. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book "Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen", gave the episode a scathing review and awarded it one star out of five. The two, despite calling the opening "promising", derided the episode's ending—especially the revelation of alien colonization of December 22, 2012—writing, "is this really what the series was about?" Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson concluded that the problem with the episode was that the show decided "to define itself in the summing up" with the episode, which did not answer very many questions. Tom Kessenich, in his book "Examinations", noted that the episode "told us nothing of significance" regarding the "big picture" mythology story arc.


title: Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program)

text: Coke Studio () is a Pakistani television programme and international music franchise which features studio-recorded music performances by established and emerging artists. It is the longest-running annual television music show in Pakistan, running annually since 2008.


title: Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program)

text: "Coke Studio" combines a myriad of musical influences, from traditional classical, folk, Sufi, qawwali, ghazal and bhangra music to contemporary hip hop, rock and pop music. The show is noted for promoting Pakistan's multiculturalism by inviting artists from various regions and of various languages to collaborate musically.


title: Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program)

text: The concept for the show was created in 2007 by Nadeem Zaman of The Coca-Cola Company, when musical performances were held on a concert-like platform in Brazil. In 2008, the concept was adopted by Nadeem Zaman, then Marketing Head The Coca-Cola Company in partnership with former Vital Signs member Rohail Hyatt, who planned to launch a Pakistani version of the show. The inaugural season premiered in June in front of a live audience. The show was produced by him, along with his wife Umber Hyatt and Nofil Naqvi a Pakistani cinematographer. It was an immediate success, receiving critical acclaim and frequently being rebroadcast on numerous television and radio stations in the country. In season 2, live audiences were excluded and performances were held in a closed studio platform, a format which continues to this day. Hyatt remained as executive producers for the show until season 6, stepping aside in 2013 after five years. He was replaced by Strings members Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia until on 29 October 2017, when Strings announced season 10 would be their last production. On 8 March 2018, it was announced that Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi will be producing season 11. They stepped down after producing the season. Later on, Rohail Hyatt returned for the twelfth season of the show which released on 11 October 2019. Hyatt drove it to 13th season, after which, on his recommendation, Xulfi spearheaded the 14th season with Abdullah Siddiqui as the associate producer; Hyatt giving up the lead once again.


title: Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program)

text: On the tenth anniversary of the show in 2017, the General Manager of Coca-Cola Pakistan & Afghanistan, Rizwan U. Khan, stated, "We have come a long way since we embarked on this challenging journey a decade ago. Looking back, we feel greatly humbled that "Coke Studio" has been able to achieve so much, in terms of bringing virtually unknown or little known musicians into the national limelight, re-introducing music genres like qawwali and sufi music to the youth of Pakistan, continuing to stay true to the promise of producing quality fusion of music and practically playing an important role in reviving the music industry of Pakistan."


title: Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program)

text: The show features artists in each episode, by a house band and guest artists. "Coke Studio" tracks are officially available on their YouTube and SoundCloud channels.


title: Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program)

text: The music which is recorded live by artists at Coke Studio. The televisual style is characterized by frequent closeups on various performers, emphasizing the collective contributions of the entire ensemble, even as primary focus remains on the lead singer, or singers.