Passing an array back from one view controller to the main view controller

I'm doing this application made of 3 view controllers. The first takes you to the second and then you enter a password to reach the third view controller. In the third the user enters a series of messages saved in an nsmutablearray. Now, I want to send the array to the first view controller. I pass through the view controllers using segues made on the storyboard. So vc1 is connected to vc2, vc2 to vc3 and vc3 to vc1. I tried using protocols, notification center and so on. Protocols dont work and i dont get why, notification centre the data gets sent but then the array in vc1 when I try to use it, it is actually set back to nil which I also dont knw why.

What can be done to solve this issue, I feel its a pretty straightforward implementation and shouldn't face be that complicated.

Thanks in advance