Tallon IV

Tallon IV is a Wanderer Class Planet that was impacted by a Leviathan from Phaaze fifty years prior to the arrival of Samus during Metroid Prime. It was inhabited by the Chozo, but after the meteor impact, many left the planet to an unknown destination: all inhabitants who stayed either died out or became corrupted Chozo Ghosts due to the corrupting influence of Phazon.

The Chozo
Tallon IV was chosen to be the dwelling place of a group of Chozo from Elysia who wished to regain their spirituality. Here, they would abandon their technology, instead making their homes out of the planet's resources. This civilization thrived for some time, but they eventually moved beyond the mortal realm. However, it would only be a small amount of time before disaster struck the planet.

The Great Poison
Decades before the arrival of Samus Aran, a meteor-like object struck the planet with great force, beginning the planet's downfall. The Chozo were ripped back to the mortal realm due to the meteor's strike. They investigated it, and what they saw terrified them. The meteor had brought with it a terrible poison, which would eventually be named Phazon. The Phazon now spread through the planet, corrupting everything it touched. In addition, the meteor had brought with it The Worm, a horrifying creature of Phazon. The Chozo began to construct a temple in order to contain the Phazon; however, even as they did so, the Phazon gnawed at them, driving many mad. The Artifact Temple was completed, and while the the Phazon spread stopped, the damage was already considerable; the poison had already contaminated a good portion of the planet. The rest of the Chozo wasted away, leaving behind only their ruined civilization and specters of their former selves: those that guarded the keys to the temple were the only ones that remained untainted, while the rest were driven insane by the corruptive power of Phazon.

The Space Pirates
After the events of Metroid, the Space Pirates fled from Zebes. It was only a short amount of time, however, before they discovered massive energy readings emitting from planet Tallon IV. They landed on the planet, and soon discovered the substance known to the Chozo as the Great Poison. Recognizing its immense potential, the Space Pirates named it "Phazon" and began experimenting with it.

They began mining the material, as well. On a mining expedition, however, they accidentally dug through the shield erected by the Artifact Temple...and unwittingly unleashed the Worm: it is possible that the shield only contained the main spread of Phazon coming from the impact crater but not the Worm itself. It attacked the mining team, but it was soon subdued. The Space Pirates began research on it, and discovered that it was incredibly similar to a Metroid genetically. They named it Metroid Prime.

Metroid Prime soon escaped back into the Impact Crater, but not before assimilating some Space Pirate weaponry and making it even more monstrously powerful. It seemed that all hope was lost for the planet.

Samus Aran's Arrival
Unknown to the Space Pirates, Samus Aran had tracked them down, thanks to a distress signal emitted by the Frigate Orpheon when its Phazon-corrupted specimens had gone rogue. After exploring the vessel and causing it to crash into the planet, Samus escaped aboard her ship and went down there as well. There, she learned of the downfall of the Chozo, as well as the Space Pirates' experiments. After ruining the Space Pirate research, Samus then brought down the shield containing the Impact Crater and went down there to confront Metroid Prime. After a fierce battle, she was successful. However, in its death throes, Metroid Prime absorbed Samus's Phazon Suit and exploded.

Samus, having ended the threat of Phazon on Tallon IV, left the planet. However, deep within its depths, a new threat was born from the remains of Metroid Prime - Dark Samus.

Geology
Tallon IV has both a retrograde revolution and rotation. It is one of three objects in its solar system to have such an orbit, but it is the only known one to have such a rotation. This may or may not have been caused by the Leviathan impact, which left a large scar on the surface. It has no moons and is generally the outermost planet.

Tallon Overworld
Main article: Tallon Overworld

The overworld of Tallon IV is mostly lush jungle deluged by constant rain. This is also the area the Space Pirate frigate Orpheon crash landed. Samus landed in this area. Meta Ridley is this area's boss. This is where Samus enters the Impact Crater and fight the Metroid Prime.

Chozo Ruins
Main article: Chozo Ruins

Ancient ruins of the once-prosperous civilization of the Chozo. The ruins contain many power-ups and lots of technology left behind by the Chozo. This is the home to the boss creature Flaahgra. The Flaahgra once defeated gives Samus the Varia Suit, which lets her traverse Magmoor Caverns.

Magmoor Caverns
Main article: Magmoor Caverns

Underground caverns of Tallon IV, filled with dangerous lava lakes and hostile creatures. It acts as a link between all areas of Tallon IV with the exception of the Impact Crater. It is also the only area of the game that lacks a boss creature. It was named after the creatures that live in the lava in the caverns, Magmoors. The Ice Spreader can be found here after obtaining the Power Bomb.

Phendrana Drifts
Main article: Phendrana Drifts

Frozen wastes of Tallon IV's mountaintops. This area contains some Chozo-built constructions and is also the location of the Space Pirate research labs. The boss creature of the area is Thardus. Parts of this area are submerged under water.

Phazon Mines
Main article: Phazon Mines

The Space Pirate headquarters of Tallon IV. It's where Pirate Phazon ore mining activity takes place and also contains the experimental Elite Pirates and the Omega Pirate, the latter being the boss of the area. The area has elevators leading to all areas (except the Impact Crater, which has no elevators.) The bottom of the Impact Crater can be seen from the level 2 elevator.



Impact Crater
Main article: Impact Crater

Final area of the game, which Samus only gains access to after gathering all of the 12 Chozo artifacts and defeating Meta Ridley. The Impact Crater is the heart of the Phazon infestation and contains the final boss of the game: Metroid Prime, a Metroid corrupted by the Leviathan to protect its core. It is accessed from the Artifact Temple.

Metroid Prime Scan
"Planet Tallon IV

Mass: 5.1 trillion teratons.

''Profile: Ecosystem studies indicate that Tallon IV was a biological paradise prior to the impact of an extraterrestrial object. What remains of the biosphere is slowly fading due to exposure to Phazon radiation. At current rate of decay, Tallon IV will be a barren Class XIII wasteland in approximately 25 years."''

Metroid Prime 3 Chozo Observatory Scan
"Tallon IV appears to be a utopia for biological life, containing an oxygen-rich and hospitable atmosphere. The planet is home to countless species of flora and fauna. Satellite scans detect numerous structures on the planet's surface, with closer examination revealing many of these structures to be of Chozo origin. Tallon IV's scar, the result of a celestial body impacting the planet's surface decades ago, is still visible. Satellite scans are unable to determine the extent of the original damage, but the planet appears to have recovered from any negative effects of the object's impact."

Official Website
object type: Planet

mass: 5.1 trillion teratons

dimensions: 13,400 km diameter

sentient inhabitants: 0

composition: metallic

"A Wanderer-Class planet, Tallon IV is one of two worlds within the Tallon system capable of sustaining life. Tallon IV follows an unusual retrograde orbit of 4.3 standard millicycles. Orbiting 778,000,000 km from the only star within the system, Tallon IV was at one time a main outpost of the Chozo. For reasons as of yet not completely understood, the Chozo civilization on this planet became extinct. The planet possesses an abundance of an energy source known as 'phazon'.

A spiritual people, the Tallon IV Chozo lived peacefully on the planet leaving much of it unspoiled and technology-free. Over 150 millicycles ago, a large meteor collided with the planet, destroying everything within a 500 km radius and spraying an enormous plume of rock and debris into the atmosphere. The meteor was vaporized on impact, and jettisoned large quantities of impact debris, including a large quantity of some unknown material, into the atmospere. This material, 'phazon', as it has been called in intercepted Space Pirate transmissions, created widespread destruction. Remnants of the debris still circle the planet in close orbit and during the last GFP survey, the impact site was still emitting high energy levels. The Chozo attempted to control the spread of radiation, creating a containment structure over the impact site. While the environmental effects of the impact were mitigated, it was too late for the Chozo who apparently succumbed to the ill effects of the deadly 'phazon' released by the collision.

Though oxygen-rich and capable of sustaining life, Tallon IV has remained uninhabited since the demise of the Chozo."

Contradicting Impact dates
In Metroid Prime, it is confirmed in the Space Pirate lore scan, "Phazon Analysis", that they discovered a Leviathan had impacted the planet twenty years ago while they were tracing the source of the Phazon there. However, a Federation lore scan of the events at Tallon IV in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption says that the Leviathan's arrival was fifty years prior. These two dates are conflicting, but it is more likely that the date is given in Prime is the correct one. Since the Chozo who lived on Zebes give hints in their lore of having personally met Samus as a child, and these Chozo lived on Tallon IV a while before the impact, it can thus be inferred that Samus is roughly several years older than 20 by the time of Prime. Accepting the GF date would place Samus at 50 years old, highly unlikely due to her youthful appearance. This discrepancy likely represents a difference in GF and Pirate calendars, or it may be an mistake by Retro.

In the PAL version of Prime, the date is given as indeterminate, though this still does not solve the problem. In any case time is relative and the passage of time varies throughout the universe dependant on gravitational forces present. Time travels slower in areas of high gravity and faster where no gravity is present. It is possible Samus Aran could be 50 years old but because she has been in places where time travels at different speeds, she has not aged 50 years.

Assuming that Samus travels at near light speed or faster, time spent in such a state is only a fraction of what you experience.

Another possibility could be that the units are different for instance if a year on Tallon IV is longer than an earth year. since a year is one full rotation around the sun. If this is the case than 1 year on tallon IV would = 2.5 years.

And yet another possibility is that Samus being infused with Chozo D.N.A gave her Chozo like longevity.

Trivia

 * In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Tallon IV can be seen in the background in the multiplayer level Sidehopper Station.


 * The reason for Tallon IV's numeration is unknown, as there are no planetary bodies also named Tallon in the Zebesian system, and there have never been any mentions of a Tallon I, II, or III in an outside system. The name may be derived from the historic regard from its Chozo discoverers in historic regard to previous Tallons, or it may be a reference to the four talons/fangs of a Metroid.


 * Tallon IV bears some similarities to Bryyo, because of the fact that both planets have a "desert" region (Chozo Ruins/Bryyo Cliffside), an ice region (Phendrana Drifts/Bryyo Ice), a "jungle" region (Tallon Overworld/Bryyo Thorn Jungle), and a "lava" region (Magmoor Caverns/Bryyo Fire).


 * Tallon IV's diameter of 13,400 km is only 5% larger than Earth's 12,700 km diameter, thus making Tallon IV an Earth-sized planet. However Tallon IV is said to orbit FS-176 from a distance of 778,000,000 km, which is almost 5 times the distance between planet Earth and our sun. Tallon has shown a climate similar to ours, possibly because of the power of its sun or because the Chozo terraformed it. The latter seems unlikely because there is a great number of native lifeforms and because the Chozo on Tallon IV decided to start a new life without technology. Also, Tallon IV's mass seems exaggerated. The 5.1 trillion teraton mass boasted by Tallon is one billion times greater than Earth's (1,000,000,000) and 2,500 times greater than Jupiter. Most likely, this is an error.