Taelon - History

History

The Taelons are an offshoot of another alien race, the Atavus. While there is some debate as to the exact events and their sequence, some members of the Atavus race broke off to devote themselves to the pursuit of spiritual perfection, which eventually led to a state of existence as pure energy. The Taelons started out as a cult in pursuit of immortality. The first Taelon was able to successfully take a significant portion of the life energy of another of his race, greatly increasing his lifespan. Other members of the cult followed this practice, eventually becoming beings of pure energy. Their actions sparked the war between the Taelons and the remaining Atavus. This divergence led to the speciation of the Atavus, producing the Taelons and the warlike Jaridians. Conflict between the two branches of the Atavus family has raged ever since (with the Jaridians largely taking the upper hand). The two species despise one another: the Taelons deride the Jaridians as "bloodthirsty heathens with no respect for life", while the Jaridians consider their more philosophically-minded cousins to be weak, arrogant cowards. The final split between the two is believed to have occurred roughly eight million years prior to the events shown in the series, since that is how long the war has been going on between the two races.

At some point, another, separate species called the Kimera bonded with the ancestors of the modern Taelons and Jaridians, irrevocably changing them. Though to precisely what extent is not made clear, it has been established that the Kimera passed down a vestigial energy organ, known as Shaqarava to both the Taelons and the Jaridians. As a result of this "gift" even more specialization occurred as the Taelons found it difficult to control the darker aspects of the Shaqarava and the Jaridians did not. This resulted in the original formation of the Commonality, in order to pacify the Shaqarava and render it dormant.

Taelons share a partial collective consciousness, known as The Commonality, which serves to create a telepathic link between all Taelons. The Commonality does not directly control individual Taelons, nor does it mean that each Taelon may view the thoughts and actions of another immediately, though Da'an is able to use his link to determine Zo'or's actions on at least one occasion. Bel'lie states that Taelons cannot act against the collective will of the Commonality, even if they feel that the majority is wrong. Individual Taelons are nevertheless able to exercise a good deal of free will.

The Commonality also serves to hold Taelons together in their current state. Any Taelon who becomes disconnected from the Commonality (which has happened on at least one occasion) reverts back to an Atavus, with the reappearance of the dormant Shaqarava.

Several centuries into the Common Era, a Taelon scientist named Ma'el visited Earth. Ma'el's task was to assess the suitability of the human race for first contact with the Taelons, which was thought to be integral to the survival of both races in the fight against the Jaridians. Ma'el concluded that humanity was not ready for contact with the Taelons, as he perceived the gulf between the relative intellects of the two species as too great.

Much later, the Taelons arrive in full force despite Ma'el's warning. Referring to themselves as "Companions", they set about eliminating world hunger and poverty. However, some within the human race have reservations regarding their true intentions.

In season two, it is revealed that the Jaridians have reached the Taelons' home planet. Though several "homeworlds" have been referred to by the Taelons, Jaridians, and Atavus, this may be the original planet where their biological ancestors evolved. The planet has at least three large natural satellites, though in season one, Da'an mentions that there are four. The fourth may have been small, another body captured by planetary gravity within Taelon history, or an artificial construct. Upon the Jaridians' arrival, they attack the planet and wreak massive destruction, presumably killing the bulk of the Taelon population.