Agenda on Earth

The Taelons, also called the Companions, arrived on Earth three years ago. The Taelons shared their advanced technology with humanity, virtually eliminating hunger and eradicating many serious diseases. Such feats were accomplished through a number of joint ventures between the Taelons and entities like Doors International ("Decision"). Among such projects were the cold fusion retrofit of the Granite Canyon Nuclear Plant ("Old Flame") and Futurity Farm with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the Taelons' arrival also had some destructive consequences, such as the outbreaks of Companion Reaction Syndrome—psychological trauma and sometimes mass suicides caused by some humans' inability to cope with the challenge to their belief systems posed by the existence of the Taelons ("Float Like a Butterfly"). Despite the early, almost universal support for the Taelons among the human populace, a Harris poll conducted after Jonathan Doors' television appearance announcing the existence of the Liberation showed an unprecedented 6 percent disapproval rating for the Taelons ("Resurrection").

The Taelons maintained ambassadors, themselves referred to as Companions, in many nations, including the United States ("Decision"), the United Kingdom ("The Secret of Strand Hill") and Australia ("The Scarecrow Returns"). Each Companion resided in a Taelon headquarters building; there more than 46 worldwide, and examples were located in Madrid, Spain ("Resurrection"); Washington D.C.; Lisbon, Portugal; Mexico City; Moscow; Ottawa, Canada; Santiago, Chile; Singapore; Sydney, Australia and India among other places ("Wrath of Achilles"). Taelon research facilities were located in Tel Aviv, Israel ("Wrath of Achilles"); Singapore ("Resurrection"); Athens ("Infection") and Naryan Mar, Russia ("Destruction").

The Taelons conducted a number of significant projects on Earth, both public and covert. They may have been involved with The Church of the Companions led by Rev. Travis Murray. For almost two years, the church broadcast its services over the Internet, spreading its doctrine that the Taelons were messengers of God. American Companion Da'an told Murray "you have an instinct for this work" after the church leader attempted to exploit the Julie Payton incident for the church's (and the Taelons'?) benefit ("Miracle").

The Taelons asked for volunteers for a program to train pilots for inter-dimensional spaceflight to other galaxies. The Untied States government apparently performed experiments involving the grafting of non-human anatomy into human bodies on these volunteers (and may have done some experimenting without the Taelons’ knowledge). Some of the volunteers were held at Futurity Farm, which Jonathan Doors described as a "holding tank" for failed experiments. The Taelons publicized the spaceflight portion of the project to deflect criticism of them for pressuring the U.S. government to cancel the planned mission to Mars, apparently to hide the presence of the Taelon homeship and colony on the far side of the moon ("Resurrection," "Horizon Zero," "Live Free or Die").

The Taelons conducted extensive testing in the area of psychic phenomena and co-sponsored the Thirteenth Annual Psychic Sciences Symposium at the J. Calvert Conference Center ("If You Could Read My Mind").

Da’an told the Synod that "When first arriving on the surface, I may have expected the humans to be more compliant, malleable like the game pieces on a field of qaliol. I find them enigmatic. They are so capable of such beauty, yet they brutalize each other with such intensity. But I suppose that is one of the reasons we are here” ("Truth"). In coming to Earth the Taelons had intended to carry out an experiment in “de-evolution,” which Da’an opposed. But the Synod overruled him, declaring that the Taelons’ future depended on an exploration of their past. The Taelons injected scientist Rho-ha with neurons from the human pineal gland and amygdale, telling the Implants that they hoped to use the neurons as a catalyst to evoke elements of human sentience and emotion in order to better understand humanity. After being injected with the human neurons, Rho-ha’s face contorted to resemble that of the human who provided the neurons: Capt. Lucas Johnson. The experiment succeeded in reawakening Rho-ha’s [s]aqa[r]ava (see Physiology below), as well as giving him the ability to move very quickly and to become invisible for brief moments. Rho-ha also fell out of the Taelons’ collective consciousness and formed a mental bonding with Johnson ("Pandora's Box"). Apparently because of Rho-ha's unstable behavior, including the murder of Major McIntyre and the harassment of Johnson's family, the Taelons removed most of the human DNA from Rho-ha’s system. Yet the remainder still drove Rho-ha to violent outbursts and caused him to exhibit Capt. Johnson’s features ("Law & Order").

Another of the Taelons' crucial goals on Earth was the retrieval of the research of Ma'el, a Taelon scientist sent to Earth more than 2,000 years ago. Da'an led this search. Ma'el had warned the Taelons not to come to Earth under any circumstances after initially declaring humanity a "perfect compliment in every way" to the Taelons. The Taelons intended to leave Earth forever if Ma'el's research revealed that his final message was justified. Yet Ma'el had destroyed his research, and the Taelons decided to remain on Earth ("The Secret of Strand Hill").

The Taelons remained cryptic about the true reasons for their arrival on Earth. Publicly, the Taelons insisted that "we Companions have come to Earth to share our knowledge, to learn…that together we may thrive" ("Truth"). Da'an tells Boone "Your planet is at an evolutionary crossroads. The human species has arrived at this crucial moment when you must take the first step into uncertain frontiers. Our Taelon race evolves along a different path. Our experience here feeds us knowledge about the forces that will bear upon us in our evolutionary course" ("Decision"). Da’an said that "[human resourcefulness and resolve are] the prime reason for our journey here." He also said that "Our approach was based on the proposition that our needs might be better served by collaborating with this race rather than enslaving it" ("Resurrection").

The Taelons' mission apparently adhered to a strict time table. They programmed the CVI to give their Implants a "sense of urgency" about their service to the Companions ("Sandoval's Run," "The Secret of Strand Hill"). It also seemed to involve the fate of both the Taelons and humanity. After Sandoval received his second CVI he told Boone "[The Taelons] need us as desperately as we need them. The fates of our two races are intertwined. Without them, we're doomed; without us, they're doomed. To destroy the Companions is to destroy ourselves" ("Sandoval's Run"). Da'an told Boone that in the long term the Taelon well-being served the interests of humanity ("Resurrection"). After the Taelons learned that Ma'el's research was destroyed and heard his final recording, the Synod determined to remain on Earth to seek either the Taelons’ destiny or extinction ("The Secret of Strand Hill"). Following the death of Ha'gel, Da’an said "Our current agenda on Earth will lead to the destruction of humanity." Zo’or replied "The only other option is the extinction of the Taelon race," to which Da’an responded that "Ha’gel’s actions have demonstrated that extinction may be preferable to becoming that which we despise" ("The Joining"). Finally, James Pike’s dying words to Boone: "You will be their [S]aqa[r]ava…Their world is inside the mind they gave you—your implant…When you see, when you know, you will judge them…They are afraid…The sleeper will come" ("Avatar").