| Kendall Malone | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Manner of Death: | Shot in the head by Detective Martin Duko |
| Died: | "The Scandal of Altruism" |
| Residence: | England (formerly) Iceland (formerly) Ontario, Canada |
| Affiliation: | Siobhan Sadler |
| Other information | |
| Also known as: | The Original Ma (by Siobhan) Granny (by Kira) original mother sestra (by Helena) |
| Gender: | Female |
| Hair color: | White |
| Relationships | |
| Family: | Siobhan Sadler (daughter) Leda clones (genetic sisters) Castor clones (genetic brothers) Kira Manning (genetic niece; via Sarah Manning) Unborn twin brother † |
| Series information | |
| Portrayed by: | Alison Steadman |
| Season/s: | 3, 4 |
| First appearance: | "Insolvent Phantom of Tomorrow" |
| Latest appearance: | "The Scandal of Altruism" |
| Appearance count: | 7 |
Kendall Malone was an overarching protagonist of Orphan Black. Kendall was a chimera which made her the perfect template for the line of human clones that have been shown throughout the series. She is the biological mother of Siobhan Sadler.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Kendall had a twin brother but died before he was birthed. He was absorbed by Kendall, giving her two cell lines.
Kendall, like her daughter Siobhan, was of Irish descent. Her daughter Siobhan fell in love with a man named John Sadler. Kendall didn't approve of John being with her daughter, culminating in a fight in which he was killed with garden shears.
She was imprisoned shortly after for his murder and encountered Ethan Duncan while in prison, who was looking for viable test subjects in his development of cancer research. He chose her by virtue of being a human chimera, having two cell lines in her body.
Duncan later went into hiding from Neolution after his wife, Susan Duncan, was corrupted by them, but used Kendall's prison identification code in his riddle which was hidden inside The Island of Dr. Moreau, in the hopes that one day it would be used for good rather than malevolent purposes.
Kendall was released from prison soon after and relocated to London, remaining as a ghost hidden outside of Dyad or Neolution's scope. Ever since, however, her relationship with her daughter Siobhan remained very estranged.
Season 3[]
In "Ruthless in Purpose, and Insidious in Method", Kendall's location is revealed to Sarah, Siobhan, and Felix after the riddle inside Ethan's book The Island of Dr. Moreau is solved by his daughter, Rachel Duncan.
In "Insolvent Phantom of Tomorrow", Sarah and Felix enter the England home of who they believe to be the male original of the Castor clones. While she searched through the home, a woman surprised Sarah, pointing a knife at her. When Sarah points a gun back at her, the woman reveals herself to be Kendall Malone.
After Mrs. S enters and tells Sarah that Kendall is her mother and that Kendall was jailed for killing John Sadler, the three have a chat about why Duncan would lead them to Kendall. Kendall reveals to the two women that she is indeed both the Leda and Castor originals, having absorbed her twin brother in the womb, creating two cell lines in a single body (what is known in genetics as a chimera). The Castor clones were created using the DNA of Kendall's absorbed twin brother.
She recounts how Duncan came to where she was imprisoned, claiming to be doing testing for cancer research. Kendall, knowing that he was up to something else, was subjected to rounds of testing as Duncan searched for a viable male donor for his cloning project. He discovered the compatible DNA within the male cells of Kendall Malone, and used the DNA from Kendall's brother as the original for the Castor clones.
Before she can explain further, Sarah receives a text from Felix Dawkins alerting them of trouble outside. In order to make a clean getaway, Mrs. S attempts to burn down Kendall's home and shoot Kendall. She is stopped by Sarah, who realizes that Kendall is also the Leda original and is the key to curing Cosima Niehaus and all of the other clones, both Leda and Castor.
In "History Yet to Be Written", she is flown to Canada and transported to an abandoned warehouse so Cosima and Scott can extract blood samples from her. Siobhan drags her to the medical tent and threatens her with incineration should she ever be compromised by Castor. When introduced to Cosima, she is initially repulsive of her for being another doctor like Duncan to "steal her genes". She disrobes her hygiene outerwear and insults Cosima, to which Cosima responds how grateful she is that Kendall's DNA ensured her existence. Kendall, speechless, allows her to draw blood.
Before Ferdinand arrives to collect his own blood samples, Siobhan, Sarah, and Kendall have a chat and Kendall reveals that Duncan returned to her years later after obtaining her DNA, and realized a bigger force is in play with the clones: Neolution. He helped her go into hiding and she arranged for Siobhan to ally with Duncan, leading to Sarah (essential due to being separated from Dyad) being adopted by Siobhan through the foster system in exchange for his decades-long hiding from Neolution. Siobhan and Sarah conclude they are brought together by Kendall and the touched Siobhan cries on her lap.
As the episode ends, Kendall, Siobhan, and Sarah reunite with Kira in Iceland, intending for Kira to meet Kendall, her genetic aunt, "in a bit".
Season 4[]
In "The Collapse of Nature", Kendall is awoken alongside Siobhan when Sarah receives a phone call from M.K, pleading for them to flee because Neolution knows where they are. In "Transgressive Border Crossing", Kendall arrives at the Rabbit Hole Comic Store thanks to being smuggled through the country by one of Siobhan's birdwatchers, Benjamin. While examining her white blood cell count, Scott discovers that Kendall is dying from leukemia, while the latter asks him not to tell Siobhan.
In "The Scandal of Altruism", Kendall reveals to Siobhan that she is dying from leukemia and wishes to go ahead with Cosima and Sarah's plan of giving up her genetic samples to Neolution, in order to allow Susan Duncan to work on a cure for the Leda defect. However, Kendall is soon kidnapped by Detective Martin Duko and taken to an open field. Cosima is kidnapped by Evie Cho and Roxie and taken to meet Kendall.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Kendall's kidnapping is part of a power play between Evie and Susan; the former wishing to take Susan's place in Neolution. Cosima sees how they prepare for Kendall's death, with the latter telling her to turn around. She calls her a good girl before Duko shoots Kendall while her genetic samples (and her corpse) are completely burnt, leaving no traces.
| Season 3 appearances | ||||
| The Weight of This Combination | Transitory Sacrifices of Crisis | Formalized, Complex, and Costly | Newer Elements of Our Defense | Scarred by Many Past Frustrations |
| Certain Agony of the Battlefield | Community of Dreadful Fear and Hate | Ruthless in Purpose, and Insidious in Method | Insolvent Phantom of Tomorrow | History Yet to Be Written |
| Season 4 appearances | ||||
| The Collapse of Nature | Transgressive Border Crossing | The Stigmata of Progress | From Indistinct to Rational Control | Human Raw Material |
| The Scandal of Altruism | The Antisocialism of Sex | The Redesign of Natural Objects | The Mitigation of Competition | From Dancing Mice to Psychopaths |
Trivia[]
- It's revealed in History Yet to Be Written that Kendall was the one who got Sarah together with Siobhan.
