Profile[]
The Eidelons are a pacifist race whom inhabited the planet Arnessk and Qujaga. They possessed a unique ability tied to their physiology, in which a special gland in their bodies vibrates and creates an energy field that "has a calming effect on individuals, allowing them to see reason". Using this empathic ability, the ancient Eidelons (and later their descendants), for example, could convince a potential foe to follow a more peaceful path, to suit their own objectives.
Some 27,000 cycles ago, the Eidelons had sought a race that no one had quarreled with as a guard, or force, to ensure harmony prevailed once negotiations had finished. The Eidelons took great care in selecting a species none had encountered before. They found a primitive race (implied to be humans) which, while barely clothed, was far removed on the galaxy's outer spiral. The Eidelons brought some of these beings back to their homeworld of Arnessk and enhanced them through various genetic engineering techniques. This new species became known as the Sebaceans, and they became the Eidelons' trusted acolytes. They then took-on the name of Peacekeepers, due to their roles.
Some 12,000 cycles prior to John Crichton's arrival in the Uncharted Territories, Arnessk became uninhabitable. While most of the Eidelons fled to other planets, some remained in their Arnessk temple, however, and entered a suspended animation of sorts; this caused their temple to disappear from time. The Peacekeepers attempted to carry-on once the Eidelons vanished; however, lacking the Eidelons' mediation abilities, they kept the peace the only way they could - with violence. When the three probes that comprised the Darnaz Triangle were reactivated by Crichton, Chiana and Jool, Arnessk became habitable again and the temple reappeared.
In Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, the last surviving Eidelon colony is discovered hidden on Qujaga, the water planet where Moya is healing. During the time they have been away from Arnessk, however, they lost their empathic abilities. Crichton takes a pair of the Eidelons to meet their ancestors in the hope they can be taught the power once more. However, the Scarrans appear to eradicate all of the ancient Eidelons.
The new Eidelon colony does eventually regain its powers of mediation through Stark, who gains the knowledge as he crosses over one of the dying ancestors, and he in turn passes the ability on to one of the colony. The event also leaves Stark's mind at peace, no longer filled with the pain of others, and his power to cross spirits over is gone.
Background information[]
- A debate over the spelling of "Eidelon" may be easy to explain; there is an actual English word, "eidolon" (which comes from the Greek eidos), the term for a person's "astral-double" or ghost. Readers may be more familiar with the out-of-body-experience phenomenon, in which a spiritual body—i.e. the eidolon—travels independently of the physical body. The use of this base word for the species may be a nod to the fact that their spirits could be captured, as Stark was forced by John Crichton to do on a dying Eidelon.