‘Archer’s Season 12 Finale Honored Late Star Jessica Walter

The Archer Season 12 finale honored the FX animated series’ late star, Jessica Walter. The actress, who passed away earlier this year, starred on the show as Malory, the overbearing owner of the show’s central spy agency. Walter was able to finish recording Season 12 before her death, and the season ended by giving her a special tribute.

Malory spent most of Season 12 fighting to keep the agency open, as big-shot spy operation IIA attempted to take over. After her secret agent son Sterling (H. Jon Benjamin) was kidnapped by IIA leader Fabian (Kavyan Novak), she led a mission to rescue him in the finale and got the chance to show off her own fighting skills.

IIA ultimately acquires the business anyway. Malory then disappears, leaving a letter for Sterling.

“I thought it was time to make my own exit,” she wrote. “I’ve decided it’s time to pass the torch. Try not to burn yourself with it. And I know my decision may seem abrupt, but we don’t always get to choose the perfect moment. From wherever I am, I will be watching over you.”

Cut to Malory on a remote island, sitting alongside her husband, Ron Cadillac (voiced by Walter’s husband, Ron Leibman, who passed away in 2019). “How is my lady love,” he asks.

“Infinitely better now,” Malory says, as the screen fades to black and a title card that reads, “In Loving Memory of Jessica Walter.”

Archer executive Casey Willis explained how the show pulled off the final moment to TVLine: “We collected Jessica and Ron’s lines from every season of Archer and combed through them, selecting those we thought would foster the feeling we were trying to evoke. Alongside [creator] Adam Reed, we worked to create a tribute to our beloved ‘Malory.'”

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