What is the title of the 2002 original series finale of The X-Files?

The 2002 original series finale of The X-Files was titled “The Truth.”

“The Truth” was a two-part finale covering the nineteenth and twentieth episodes of the ninth season. It originally aired together on Fox on May 19, 2002, and served as the show’s concluding episode before The X-Files was revived in 2016. The story follows Fox Mulder after he is arrested and tried for the alleged murder of a government super-soldier. Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, John Doggett, Monica Reyes, and even Alvin Kersh become involved in helping him.

The finale also revisits major mythology elements, including the alien colonization timetable and the long-running conspiracy surrounding the Smoking Man. Mulder and Scully ultimately travel to New Mexico, where the episode delivers a final conversation between them overlooking the desert.

A frequent source of confusion is the phrase “series finale.” “The Truth” was the original finale, not the final X-Files episode ever produced. Fox later revived the program for seasons 10 and 11, and the 2018 episode “My Struggle IV” became the later revival’s concluding installment.