Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 isn’t just killing off key characters, it’s bringing them back from the dead, too. Well, sort of…

Spoilers for Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18, Episode 7 ahead.

Episode 7 of Season 18, titled “All the Devils are Here,” in Erica Messer’s successful series on Paramount+, found the team collaborating with Elias Voit (played by Zach Gilford) to urgently track down the masked UnSub from Voit’s network who was inflicting torture and killings on hostages. The episode left the identity of the person behind the notorious white Yase-Otoko mask, symbolizing a “suffering ghost who abides in hell,” still a mystery. However, an unexpected reunion occurred as Voit encountered someone from his past: Cyrus Lebrun, portrayed by Silas Weir Mitchell.

Viewers of Criminal Minds: Evolution will likely be as stunned as Voit was to see Cyrus again, given that Mitchell’s character was previously presumed dead at the hands of Voit in Season 16. So, who exactly is Cyrus in Criminal Minds? Was Cyrus truly killed by Voit? And what brings Silas Weir Mitchell back to Criminal Minds? We have the answers. Here’s all you need to know about the return of Uncle Cyrus and Mitchell on Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18, Episode 7.

Who Is Cyrus On Criminal Minds: Evolution? Did Voit Kill Cyrus?

For those needing a reminder, Mitchell’s character, Cyrus Lebrun, was Voit’s abusive uncle who took over his care following his parents’ deaths. Cyrus first appeared in Season 16, Episode 4, titled “Pay-Per-View,” when Voit saw Cyrus’ image reflected in a blood puddle he was cleaning after a murder. Cyrus then materialized to him in a hallucination, instructing him to adhere to the rules he had taught him regarding killing.

In Season 16, Episode 6, “True Conviction,” we got a look at Voit’s (back then, he was Lee Duval) horrible childhood via flashbacks. Cyrus physically and emotionally abused him, locked him in a closet with a dead dog, taught him to bury bodies, and killed people right in front of him. Finally, when Voit was old enough to escape, he fought Cyrus for his freedom, got out alive, and set out in pursuit of normalcy. Twenty years later, Voit returned to the house, still haunted by the memories, and Cyrus realized he was the Sicarius killer everyone was talking about. Voit planned to kill him by slipping something in his IV. And it seemed he succeeded… But was Cyrus actually dead?!

The Return Of Silas Weir Mitchell’s Character, Explained: Is Cyrus Still Alive On Criminal Minds: Evolution?

In Season 18, Episode 7, the BAU called Voit in for a chat and revealed the DNA on the white mask sent to the FBI — along with an order of Sicarius spiders imported to the United States — were traced to Cyrus. When the BAU shared their theory that “The man created the killer you were, taught you about the spiders, and now he’s back,” Voit quickly shut it down, reminding them, “That’s not possible because I killed him.” When a masked murderer told his next victim to deliver the BAU a message “from Uncle Cyrus,” however, we weren’t so sure…

Voit told the BAU that Cyrus was the one man he was scared of, said he taught him all about the Sicarius spiders, and confirmed that Cyrus’ rules were his rules. Since discretion was key, Voit said he never told anyone but the BAU and his old lawyer about Cyrus or his past life as Lee Duval. That’s what made this next twist even more confusing…

When the masked murderer left his victim in a shipping container for the BAU to find, he wrote a note that read, “SICARIUS WILL WANT TO SEE THIS.” Naturally, the BAU brought Voit on scene, where the latest victim (forced to swallow condoms full of deadly Sicarius spiders) made sure Voit got eyes on a tablet that was left for him. On it? A live encrypted video feed of Cyrus — or rather, someone using technology to look like him.

“How you doing there, Lee? …Me and you, the two of us, we got a lot to talk about. What’s the matter, boy? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” the dead ringer for Cyrus said through the screen. When Voit protested the man’s identity, maintaining that he killed his uncle, Cyrus’ likeness replied, “What’s the first lesson I taught you? When you kill someone, you better make damn well sure they’re dead. You remember that night, don’t you? When you walked out, did you make absolutely sure I was dead?”

At this point, it seemed possible that Cyrus was still alive and Voit hadn’t successfully killed him. But Voit remained confident and said, “I know you’re a show off, so I know you want to show me who you are.” The man on the other end of the call claimed that Voit left all the devils behind on his network and they needed guidance, so he stepped up to give them purpose. At one point during their intense chat, Voit was so shook up by the sight of Cyrus, that Mitchell’s character transcended the tablet screen and appeared before Voit in the flesh, as he’d done in past hallucinations.

When Voit told Cyrus that the network users would answer to him and he could stop the killing, Cyrus replied, “God damn it, boy. You really don’t know why I’m doing this, do you? I’m doing all this for you…Because clearly you have forgotten who you are. You’re my legacy. You’re what’s left after I’m gone. Hell, I ain’t even mad you killed me. I mean, that’s what they do, don’t they? The spiders and Greek gods. They turn on their makers. But when you betrayed your legacy. That’s when I knew. I had no choice but to save you.”

“The fact is, I knew something was off about you the second you got arrested. I said, ‘That ain’t the boy I’m raised,’” Cyrus explained. “There were other strange things. Like the FBI starting to show up at the door of the lifeguard. And then the Zookeeper. I started to get a funny feeling in my gut. Asking myself, ‘Is it possible my boy decided to help the feds?’”

Voit got emotional and begged the killer to hurt him instead of more innocent people, but the killer ignored the pleas, killed again with the help of the deadly spiders, and ended the video feed by putting a white mask over his head. So Voit, the BAU, and viewers are left to wonder who’s behind the mask and the murderous operation for another week.

Who’s The Masked Killer In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18?

While the video feed was designed to make Voit and the BAU believe that Cyrus is still alive, the consensus on-screen seems to be that the real killer was using technology to alter his appearance and rattle Voit with the image of his uncle. So stay tuned! We know there are multiple killers and foot soldiers born from the network, all wearing the infamous white Yase-Otoko mask, which “represents a suffering ghost who abides in hell.” So it’s currently unclear who the ringleader is, how Cyrus’ DNA ended up on the BAU’s white mask, and how they have so much personal info on Voit.

We did clock that the man who put the white mask on after exiting the shipping container had a little facial stubble, rather than Cyrus’ full-on beard. But ultimately, we’ll have to wait until Episode 1808 premieres on June 26 for more answers. Either way, something tells us we haven’t seen the last of Cyrus/Mitchell on Evolution.

New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.