Hendricks is the FBI superior of Agent Ross, always pushing her to learn from her past mistakes and do better, suppressing her second-guessing and unrelenting approach to the Peter Sadusky case.
The direst situation just reared its ugly head in National Treasure: Edge of History, when Jess and her father, Rafael, feel relieved as Agent Ross comes to the rescue, only for the transient moment of ease to turn into hopelessness and despair as Hendricks arrives and seemingly kills Ross.
While the sudden turn of events may have come as a shock to Jess and Rafael, for the audience, it wasn’t that much of an unprecedented turnaround. Hendricks has been waving red flags since the beginning of the series; it was only a matter of time before he’d show his true face, which he did, in episode 9, titled A Meeting with Salazar.
Legacy & current whereabouts
Hendricks works as an FBI agent in the Baton Rouge branch, but he used to work under Peter Sadusky once. In the National Treasure films, he knew of the Ben Gates and Riley Poole tip about the theft of the Declaration of Independence.
However, he didn’t act on it. When the declaration was stolen, he informed Peter Sadusky about it and so began the latter’s tracing of the Ben Gates trail, in which Hendricks tagged along as well.
Peter would go on to retire eventually, with his age and brain power running past him. Meanwhile, Hendricks would continue to work as an agent, and in the present day, he’s superior to Agent Ross.
Agent of deterrence
Most of Hendricks’s role throughout Edge of History seems to be suppressing Ross’s inquisitive proclivities. While Ross grows suspicious of Peter Sadusky’s case and the inconsistent details surrounding his death, Hendricks advises her to follow her hunch.
Nipping the buds of her inquiring mind, Hendricks always appears behind her with his wisdom. And Ross pays heed to his advice every time too since he knows how to tug at her strings.
He uses Ross’s past to attenuate her investigative talents and natural skepticism. Ross has erred in one of the cases she worked on in her past, which led to a casualty and that has weighed on her conscience ever since.
Hendricks uses this mistake of her past to drag her down and keep her there, in a state of perpetual doubtfulness regarding her own actions and process.
Cras Est Nostrum & Salazar
While an ineffective saboteur and an ever-lingering agent of impedance he might have seemed until now, Hendricks’s real identity is revealed at the end of episode 9.
It’s after Ross figures out that he killed Peter Sadusky, and cuffs him inside Billie’s jet. While she goes to confront Billie and her men, and stop them, he sneaks up from behind and impales her with a sword.
While Ross seemingly kicks the bucket, Rafael takes a look at Hendricks and hears his voice, which triggers his memories and he’s transported to the day he was under the rubble, stuck alongside Sebastian, Billie’s brother.
Hendricks stood over them, towering, and calling Sebastian a liability, he kills him with a bullet. Rafael is struck with the horrific realization that Hendricks is actually Salazar.
Meanwhile, Liam and Jess’s other friends decrypt Peter’s diary which is actually a cipher. They learn that Salazar is a leader of a group of “treasure destroyers”, called “Cras Est Nostrum.”
This means that Hendricks has been working as a faux investigative agent all this time, while his actual role in life has been that of a leader of a group hell-bent on destroying treasures.
This puts him and his men in stark opposition to Jess and her kin, who are preservers of treasure.
Also Read: Who is Peter Sadusky in National Treasure: Edge of History?