“	You thought this was gonna be easy, superior forces, superior weapons! You murder millions of people, you steal our children, and now you want to negotiate?! What the hell do you want from us?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH OUR WORLD?!!	”
	— Tom (Eight Hours)

The Espheni, also known as Overlords, are an alien race and the apparent architects of the Invasion of Earth. They use harnesses to command humans and skitters –  their enslaved subjects - and appear to have designed the Mechs and the Crawlies. They are seen acting in administrative roles, overseeing the work of skitters and an enslaved Karen Nadler in What Hides Beneath. In Homecoming Pope calls them "Fishheads", and in the next episode Weaver refers to them by that name, but it isn't used again for the rest of season 2.

The existence of the Overlords was first hinted at by Uncle Scott, who remarked to Tom Mason that it's unlikely the six-legged Skitters would design bipedal robots like the Mechs. Hal Mason, Tom, and Weaver are the first members of the 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment to discover the Overlords, on a scouting mission in Boston about 7 months after the attack. Tom speculates that if they are the commanders of the Skitters, they might have been staying in the safety of their Motherships up to this point, but now feel it is safe enough to move around the city.

In the season one finale, after Tom and Weaver badly damage the Mothership, an Overlord, along with Karen, intercept them. Karen reveals that the Overlords didn't expect so much resistance and that they found that interesting. They also wanted to talk. Tom and Weaver were furious that, after having killed millions of people and taken their children, they now want to negotiate. Despite this, Karen tells Tom that the Overlords can stop Ben's transition into a skitter if he comes with them. Despite Weaver's protests, Tom agrees saying that he can't let them take Ben back.

It has been confirmed that they have invaded other worlds as well leading to the skitters becoming their slaves. It seems that throughout their galatic conquests they have made other enemies, and even now they have arrived on Earth.The Overlords technology appears to be almost exclusively (besides Mechs, Motherships, and a few others) bio-organic and seemingly "alive" able to control and manipulate it at will. .

Contents 1 Interactions with Humans 2 Biology 3 Society 4 Notable Members 4.1 Two Commanding Overlords 4.2 Overlord (What Hides Beneath) 4.3 Overlord (Worlds Apart) 4.4 Season 3 Overlord 5 Behind the Scenes 6 Sources

Interactions with HumansEdit

The Overlords at first held little regard for humans as evident by the invasion, and if the harnessed Karen's words are anything to go by in "What Hides Beneath" they viewed humanity as vermin to be exterminated if they crossed paths. However, by the season finale they are intrigued by Humanity's resistance; surprised that a less advanced race has been able to hinder them to such a degree. In the episode "Worlds Apart" an Overlord told Tom Mason that if humanity surrendered the Overlords would set aside special camps for humans to live in peace, this of course may have been a lie. Such camps would be analogous at best to the ghettos formed for Jews in Poland by the Nazi Germans during World War 2, or forcing Native Americans along the Trail of Tears to Indian reservations. This similarity is noted by Tom Mason in his rejection of the alien's proposal. The alien's retort is to refer to far more sudden but just as devastating events, such as the Rape of Nanking.

BiologyEdit

Overlords are tall humanoid bipeds with smooth gray skin, standing roughly twice as tall as a human and three times as tall as a skitter, though compared to a human their body is skinny and elongated. Their graceful gait indicates that they are able to move about easily in Earth gravity.

Their overall features are somewhat fleshy and blubbery, though their proportions are quite skinny so they do not appear bloated. They do not have a very pronounced neck: while their head is fairly far away from their shoulders, powerful neck muscles smoothly transition from the torso to the head. The top of the head possesses a fairly rounded bullet-shaped point. Indeed, of their facial features only the eyes are particularly prominent, with well-defined eye sockets and seemingly mammalian eyes, spaced only slightly further apart than on a human.

Otherwise, they have very weak and poorly defined chins, small and difficult to observe ears, and a poorly defined nose. They actually don't have a "nose" so much as the forehead smoothly slopes down between the eyes down to the upper lip, which in turn slopes down their poorly defined chin into their "neck". They do possess four nostril-slits, two on each side of the head, but much higher than on a human. The small nostrils are located close to the inner corner of each eye. They do seem to have a normal vertebrate mouth, though it is made clear in Worlds Apart they are not capable of speech and are instead able to speak through humans telepathically and make grunts if pain is inflicted upon them. Overall, the upper body gives the vague impression of a humanoid dolphin; hence Pope's nickname for them:Fishheads

The body itself is thin and elongated, but lithe and sinewy. They seem almost unnaturally flexible and graceful, willowy but well-muscled. They seem to possess the same general body plan as a human, just with different proportions (i.e. they do not have digitigrade leg joints, like the Mechs). While nearly twice as tall as a human, they have been observed "stooping" to move around in the hallways of human buildings, without too much trouble.

The wounding of an Overlord in Molon Labe suggests that their internal physiology is vastly different from humans, far greater than their outward appearance would suggest, as Anne was apparently unable to find a way to remove the bullet or stop the bleeding.

The events of Molon Labe also seem to indicate that Overlords are deaf and mute without the use of a harnessed helper, or at the very least incapable of understanding and emulating human speech without assistance.

It is also revealed that their intelligence and mental capacity are incredibly advanced, meaning they do not rely on computers for data storage or processing, they store it all in their heads.

Despite their frail appearance and their preference not to fight, the Overlords are physically very strong and are more than capable of holding their own in a fight. This was demonstrated when the Overlord (Worlds Apart) managed to break the heavy metal chains meant to restrain him doing little more than standing up and swinging his arms. Latter he took on Red Eye Mano-a-mano and won, albeit with his blade.

SocietyEdit

Little is known about the Esphenis society and beliefs, but what the Overlord said to Tom in Worlds Apart is true, they find the notion of killing and oppressing one's own species morally disgusting. What is known however, is that the Overlords have no qualms against murdering and enslaving other races by the millions. They also appear to be somewhat arrogant, thinking little of humans, and looking down on them. Overlords also apparently, by nature, are a very calm species, seen when an Overlord shows little fear when Tom had a gun pointed at his head. They also seem to have a very cold outlook on reality, viewing sentiment and compassion and love as weaknesses. The Overlords also care nothing for their slaves, shown to be more than willing to kill them so as to make a point.

In Molon Labe, Karen speaks to Hal as he escorts her about how everything in the universe is interconnected from every star in the night sky right down to the smallest subatomic particle, and if you understand the web of connections you can make solid predictions, though there are always variables. It is unknown if this is an overlord philosophy, but with Karen insisting the original Karen is long gone, the idea may be from the overlords.

It is revealed in A More Perfect Union the Overlords have specific command sectors. The Overlord that was captured and later killed by Tom Mason was in command of all forces in "eastern North America". The exact borders of these command zones haven't been revealed.

Notable MembersEdit

It is hard to tell the overlords apart due to the lack of individual identifying features. Really, any of the following overlords could be any other. All we know for sure is we have only once seen two at the same time, so we can be sure there are at least two, and a maximum possible of four individuals seen so far on the series.

Two Commanding OverlordsEdit

Two Overlords were seen observing and/or commanding three Skitters doing what appears to be a patrol mission in Boston. It's very likely these were the first Overlords seen by the resistance; though all that is known for sure is that they are definitely the first of their kind seen by the 2nd Mass.

Overlord (What Hides Beneath)Edit

An Overlord that escorted Karen Nadler to Sonya Rankin's house to see if she had any more information on survivors within the city of Boston. After Sonya said she did not know about other survivors (despite the fact that Weaver, Tom, and Hal were in the room with her), it looked through the peephole of the apartment before departing with Karen.

In the season finale (Eight Hours), the same Overlord arrived and wanted to talk to Tom in its air ship, as it was intrigued and surprised at the resistance efforts. Tom, angered by this request, responded: "You take our children and kill millions of people now you want to negotiate?" After this exchange, Tom was informed that they wanted to talk about Ben. The Overlord then escorted Tom into its air ship as the screen faded to black.

Overlord (Worlds Apart)Edit

A captured Tom is brought before an Overlord who makes mankind an offer of "Sanctuary" in exchange for mankind's surrender. Tom calls this little better than a prison camp and the alien reveals they have studied mankind's aggressive history. Tom asks why the aliens attacked since humanity was interested in peaceful contact when they came. The Overlord then lists mankind's violent history with disgust calling mankind primitive and inherently aggressive with the invasion being the best recourse before demanding Tom take the offer. Tom refuses before attacking the Overlord with a shock stick before being subdued.

Later in the season, in Molon Labe, the same overlord is taken prisoner by the 2nd Mass. A harnessed Karen, starts negotiating for the overlord's release tells Tom Mason that the Overlord is the same one Tom spoke to in Worlds Apart. Tom eventually shoots this overlord when he endagers Ben's life, wounding it. Anne does her best to patch the Overlord up, and the 2nd Mass leaves it behind with Karen.

It is revealed in A More Perfect Union this Overlord survived, and began construction on an Unidentified Overlord Cannon. The Second Mass was able to infilitrate the site, given the location by the Skitter Resistance. He later arrived with Karen, watching as she tortured several of the 2nd Mass members to discover how they were able to discover its location. Tom was just about to give in when the Skitter Resistance attacked, overwhelming the Skitters loyal to him.

After mortally wounding "Red Eye", he was killed by Tom Mason using an electric weapon bashed it several times in the head.

Season 3 OverlordEdit

It has been confirmed that a new and even more sinister Overlord will be taking over the reigns of the previous Espheni Commander and serve as the Primary Antagonist for Season 3.

In On Thin Ice it is stated that Karen is now the new overlord. Replacing the one Tom Mason killed.

Behind the ScenesEdit

• When the new bipedal aliens which came to be called Overlords were first introduced in episode 1x8 ("What Hides Beneath), the Falling Skies official website ran video clips of them. Due to some sort of miscommunication or delay with the marketing department, these clips appear to be of an earlier concept design, possibly just placeholder CGI.

• This earlier artwork depicts them being roughly shorter, but with a more masculine look, covered in blocky armor, with thin rounded Grey alien heads. The chosen version which actually aired is much more taller and amphibious in appearance.

• The movements of the Overlords were created by actors using computerized motion capture.^[1]

SourcesEdit

1. ↑ Falling Skies app, Molon Labe

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