History Series / EarthFinalConflict

* [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfDistance Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Distance]]: The show often mentions how the war between the Taelons and the Jaridians is millions of years old and has spanned galaxies, yet one episode mentions that the Jaridian homeworld is in orbit around Tau Ceti, one of the closest stars to Earth.

Infamous for its final season, which radically altered the show's cast (again) and very premise to the point of it being more like a SpinOff. A major supporting character suddenly became the central protagonist, and the Taelons were replaced with a much less ambiguously villainous species.

* AIIsACrapshoot: In the episode "One Taleon Avenue," the Tealons secretly put an AI named Control in a human research facility to keep the human researchers inside from making scientific breakthroughs the Taelons didn't approve of. It did this by using chemicals to essentially brainwash people. [[spoiler:The program then resorted to murder to accomplish its goal, which the Taelons did not plan for.]]

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: It is said on more than one occassion that a Taelon cannot kill another due to the [[PsychicLink Commonality]] they are all part of. As time goes by, this link is said to be weakening, and later in the series [[spoiler:it becomes weak enough that a Taleon CAN kill another.]]

** Another episode shows the [[LivingShip living]] Taleon motherhsip was growing Taelon embryos.

** In "Essence", the Taleons develop a way to extract emotions from humans and turn it into a physical substance, which they can then absorb into their bodies so they can then feel those same emotions.
* FusionDance: The Taelons and Jardians used to be one species, the Atavus, but millions of years ago they split into two. At one point Da'an tries to merge his energy with a Jardian. [[spoiler:It works for about a minute, before the fusion splits apart. Da'an survives but the Jardian is killed.]] Later, [[spoiler:six Taleons and six Jaridians attempt the same thing, this time with the aid of special chambers. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse We do not learn what became of them after this.]]]]

* PsychicLink: The Taelon Commonality is a mix between this and a HiveMind. All Taelons are joined in it, and they can sense when another Taelons dies, although they are still separate individuals who can keep secrets from each other, [[spoiler:and even kill other Taleons]]. The primary purpose of the Commonality is to keep the Taelons civilized. Without it, they would quickly revert to their atavian ancestors.

* MassiveMultiplayerScam: In [[Recap/EarthFinalConflictS5E4Subterra "Subterra"]], Renee races to save Melissa before she's transformed into a hybrid. He fights agents along the way and Melissa apologizes for not believing her. The ending reveals that Melissa is already turned and the whole thing was a show --no doubt thought up by Sandavol-- to trick Renee into giving up what evidence she had on the Atavus.

''Earth: Final Conflict'' is a television series that lasted from October 1997 to May 2002, for a total of 110 episodes in 5 seasons. Like ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'', this is not a show Creator/GeneRoddenberry managed to create from his grave, but was produced by his widow Majel Barrett-Roddenberry. Everything that he demanded from ''Franchise/StarTrek'' (like a positive view on the future, no internal character conflicts, to make exploration and not war) is completely absent. The only Trek it bears the vaguest of resemblance to is ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space 9]]'' for the prominence of properly masked dei ex machina, the everlasting feel that "it was all meant to be" and, in no uncertain terms, the [[CharacterDepth multidimensional depth]] of both the {{Villains}} and the {{Heroes}}. The name of the show was originally going to be ''Battleground: Earth'', but the producers wanted to avoid sounding too similar to ''Literature/BattlefieldEarth''.

It takes AlwaysChaoticEvil, tells it it sucks, and then throws it through a portal into space. The alien species in the show seem even more divided than humans in their political goals and even more so in how to achieve them. The Taelons aren't outright evil at all, the Taelon characters are as diverse in how evil they are as the [[HumansAreBastards human ones]]. And it turns out to be a lot more complex as both species are intertwined into some [[DeusExMachina extremely vague]] purpose and need each other for survival. The second main character also was an [[HalfHumanHybrid alien hybrid]]. In a lot of ways, it was like ''{{Series/V 1983}}'' only ''much'' more complex and with no clear good guy, bad guy or motivations.

* EscapedFromTheLab: As a child, Juliet Street was brought to a secret military research center called the Conclave for study. The doctors there were interested in her brain's ability to think 4th dimensionally. While there she befriended another patient named Ethan, whose telepathic abilities were being studied. Street was eventually broken out by Augur.

* GreatOffscreenWar: The series occasionally mentions the SI War that ended just prior to the arrival of the Taelons, where the SI stands for "Sino-Indian", though the US was also involved in some capacity. Not many details are revealed, but no nukes were used, which is amazing, since both China and India have them. The William Boone fought in the war, and "Liam Kincaid" one took on the identity of someone else who did. Several other characters were also involved in various capacities. Apparently, the war ended when someone employed a new WMD called the Quantum Vortex (some suggest it was the Taelons), which killed 100,000 people. There are a few flashbacks to the events of the war through the series. There's also the Taelon-Jaridian War, of which barely anything is known, save that it has been going on for milenia and suposedly spans galaxies.

** Ra'jel, the last Taelon in Seaon 5. He also claims to be the first, which might mean he was the first to be connected to the Commonality.

* NeuralImplanting: Companion Protectors are given Cyber Viral Implants that grant them photographic memory and a handful of other abilities. It also makes them loyal to the Taelons. [[spoiler:Later in the series it is revelaed that given enough time the host's immune system can neutrilize the imperitive that makes them loyal to the Taelons.]]

* NoBiologicalSex: The Taelons are said to be neither male nor female, though they are refered to using masculin pronouns for sake of simplicity.

** In "Hearts and Minds" Renee unintentionally forms a psychic link with her boyfriend, because he was given some of her Taelon energy for a mission.

* RedPlanet: A Season 1 episode involves a manned mission to Mars being scrubbed under pressure from the Taelons. They argue that they can provide the government all the data the astronauts would have obtained and more, so there is no need to subject them to the risk of space travel. The astronauts themselves are, understandably, pissed and argue that humanity needs to take this step on its own, but the government relents under Taelon pressure. The astronauts plan to steal Lily's Taelon shuttle and use it to fly to Mars anyway, but they're informed that all Earth-based shuttles are hardwired to never leave the atmosphere. Augur manages to bypass the override, and the astronauts take off. They bring back pictures of Mars... and of a large Taelon base on the far side of the Moon, revealing the real reason the Taelons wanted the mission, and the entire space program, scrubbed.
* RememberTheNewGuy: This trope shows up frequently in later seasons. A lot of new characters show up who are old friends of Renee Palmer. This is is at least explainable, as she had a life before becoming involved with the events of the series. However, when Liam runs into an "old friend" from his past that we've never met, this is a bit more suspect because Liam was literally born in the first episode of Season 2.

* [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfDistance Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Distance]]: The show often mentions how the war between the Taelons and the Jaridians is millionss of years old and has spanned galaxies, yet one episode mentions that the Jaridian homeworld is in orbit around Tau Ceti, one of the clostest stars to Earth.

** "Lost Generation" reveals the Taelons have purposefully been venting material from their mothership over the east coast on North America to create sterile females. Several fertility clinics were set up to accomodate these people, and the Taelons used these to secretly implant modified humans into the females.

* TheyWereHoldingYouBack: When Sandoval became a Companion Protector and had his CVI implanted, he beleived his wife was holding him back, so he had her ocmmited to a mental institution. Later, he approached Boone about becoming a Companion Prtector, and when he said no, secretly killed his wife, feeling she was the only thing preventing Boone from joining. With his wife gone, Boone does become a Companion Protector, only learning that Sandoval had his wife killed afterwards.

* TouchedByVorlons: In "Dark Matter," Renee Palmer is given some of Da'an's Taelon life nergy, in essense, making her part Taelon.

* WeaksauceWeakness: The Atavus have a HealingFactor that makes them hard to kill. However, partway through Season 5 it's reveled that they are weak to cold temperatures.
* WeaponizedTeleportation: In "Payback" a human scientist develops teleportation (something even the Taelons haven't been able to achieve, although they do have interdimentional portals that have a similar effect) and uses it to teleport poisons and bombs into people and Taelons. In the end, he destroys the teleporter and leaves no plans behind.

* GreatOffscreenWar: The sries occasionally mentions the SI War that ended just prior to the arrival of the Taelons, where the SI stands for "Sino-Indian", though the US was also involved in some capacity. Not many details are revealed, but no nukes were used, which is amazing, since both China and India have them. The William Boone fought in the war, and "Liam Kincaid" one took on the identity of someone else who did. Several other characters were also involved in various capacities. Apparently, the war ended when someone employed a new WMD called the Quantum Vortex (some suggest it was the Taelons), which killed 100,000 people. There are a few flashbacks to the events of the war through the series. There's also the Taelon-Jaridian War, of which barely anything is known, save that it has been going on for milenia and suposedly spans galaxies.

** "Interview" was about a news reporter interviewing Zo'or, and this was used to ow clips from previous episodes.
** In "The Art of War" Howlyn interrogated Sandoval and Ra'Jel, looking for a way to subjugate humanity, and being shown previous attempts by the Taelons to do just that.a
** In "The Journey" Ra'jel speaks to Renee and the two argue, Ra'jel insisting that Renee can't escape her destiny whle she tries to do just that, each one using clips to illustrate their points.

* HybridizationPlot: One of the later episodes has a facility making Atavus hybrids. Rene’s boyfriend is hurt fighting over the facility and is hybridized to try and save him, but the attempt fails and he dies.

* YouLookFamiliar:
** Dean [=McDermott=] played the real Liam Kincaid in Season 2, the man whose name the hybrid Liam took. Near the end, he returned in a recurring role as Renee's army lawyer boyfriend.
** Beckett and Rho'ha were both played by Kari Matchett.

* VampiresAreSexGods: The vampire-like Atavus in Season 5 are noted by Renee to be "so [[{{Pheromones}} pheromonally pumped]], they vibrate", which is presumably why J Street is immediately attracted to Grenn in the episode "Entombed" to the point of being very naive about his motives, and why the woman he feeds on at the club is so receptive to an unknown guy in a trenchcoat suddenly coming up to her and manhandling her.

* VampiresAreSexGods: The vampire-like Atavus in Season 5 are noted to be "so [[{{Pheromones}} pheromonally pumped]], they vibrate".

** An unusual scenario crops up in "Subterra" when, even as Renee is doing everything in her power to warn the general populace about the Atavus and is being dismissed as being crazy, a homeless person tells her that the very aliens she is looking are feeding off his people, and leaving behind bodies with very distinctive wounds, and she doesn't believe him.

* {{BFG}}: In one episode, we get a glimpse of a project called Forge, which turns out to be a giant anti-space cannon, capable of firing through ID space. Its ammo? A ''cubic mile'' of lava from Earth's core.

* ArtificialHybrid: Humans could become Atavus hybrids by being placed in a regeneration chamber with an Atavus. Later, a serum that could cure this affliction was discovered. At one point, the serum production was taken over by hybrids, and the serum was tainted so that it wouldturn people into hybrids. Renee tries to use this tainted serum to heal a wounded Micheals with the intent of reversing it later, but it fails and he dies.

* StoryArc: The purpose behind the Taelon's conquest of various non-space-faring species is a search for some sort of genetic missing link they lost when they converted into beings of energy. This deficiency leaves them without the ability to actually ''generate'' the energy they burn by simply existing. The human genome contains the solution, but by the time its discovered and used, nearly all of the species has died out. The other reason for the Taelons' arrival on Earth is to utilize humankind in their war against the Jaridians. This conflict is a major driving force for a lot of developments in the series. It is eventually revealed that the Taelons and Jardians used to be one race, but split apart millions of years ago. At the end of Season 4 [[spoiler:the few surviving Taelons use special regeneration chambers witht he intention of [[FusionDance merging]] themselves with a handful of Jaridians. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Their fate aftewards is not addressed.]]]]

* {{Oireland}}: The Episode "The Secret of Strandhill" is set in an alternate Ireland where the Companions are responsible for the Tuatha de dAnnan myths and unifying the New United Republic of Ireland under Northern Rule.

* VampiresAreSexGods: The vampire-like Atavus in Season 5 are noted to be "so [[{{Pheremones}} pheremonally pumped]], they vibrate".

* ConvenientComa: FBI Director Hubble Urich fell into a coma after being attacked by an Atavus, and remained in one for about half s season before waking up.

*** The reason they're an evolutionary dead-end is because they did not arrive to this state naturally. They started out as a cult of on the Atavus homeworld that performed a dangerous experiment to steal core energy from the majority of the race to extend the lifespan of the cultists at the expense of the rest of the species. Thus the Taelons and the Jaridians were created, the former living for millennia while the latter living for only a few decades before being burned alive by their destabilizing physiology. The Taelons were further changed by the Kimera who helped them to arrive at their current state. So, yes, there is nothing natural about either the Taelons or the Jaridians.

* ArtificialHybrid: Humans could become Atavus hybrids by being placed in a regeneration chamber with an Atavus. Later, a serum that could cure this affliction was discovered. At one point, the serum oroduction was taken over by hybrids, and the serum was tainted so that it wouldturn peol into hybrids. Renee tries to use this tainted serum to heal a wounded Micheals with the intent of reversing it later, but it fails and he dies.

* NeuralImplanting: Companion Protectors are given Cyber Viral Implants that grant them photographic memory and a handful of other abilities. It also makes them loyal to the Taelons. [[spoiler:Later in the series it is revelaed that given enough time the host's immune system can neutrilize the imperitive that makes them loyal to the Taelons.]]

* LatexPerfection: In "Motherlode" this technique was used by several people as part of a heist, with the goal of stealing 3 trillion dollars in gold from the Taelon mothership.

* RecurringCharacter: Like ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' the show had a ridiculous amount of recurring characters, some of which being on par or even far above main characters in screen time at certain parts.

* ContinuityNod: Because of Season 5's radically different premise, any reference it makes to the first four seasons seem like this instead of actual continuity. It's most extreme during the series finale; after an entire season of only hearing the phrase 'core energy' once or twice, down from the previous seasons where it was a pivotal plot point and mentioned often, we are suddenly reminded of how important it was when the Taelon mothership itself nearly dies from a lack of sustenance. It probably says something about the quality of Season 5's new characters that the mothership being ''saved'' is a high point of the finale.

* BackFromTheDead: Main character William Boone was killed at the end of Season 1. He is resurrected in Season 5, appearing in two episodes, then is killed off-screen. Likewise, Zo'or, killed at the end of Season 4, returns from the dead, appears in two episodes, and dies.