Possible origin of the word

"Mysterion", Greek for "keeping silent" or "closed of the eyes or mouth".

For example, Conrad Turner, Captain Black, never was much of a talker once the Mysterons got their "hands" on him. The Mysterons' "war of nerves" is also mostly based on their first issuing a clued statement for the Earthmen to solve and then their total silence after this.

First contact with Earth

The Mysterons first came to the attention of Earth in February of 2068, when Captain Black, as Spectrum's number 1 agent and ex-world Space Patrol member, was the automatic choice of the World Government when the decision was made that a Solar System Exploration Centre expedition should journey to Mars in order to investigate strange radio signals picked up by Spectrum (episode 1: 'The Mysterons').

There an SSEC crew of two (co-pilot, Lieutenant Dean, and space navigator Conway), with Captain Black as team leader, took a Martian Exploration Vehicle down onto the planet's surface.  Black's mission was basically to seek out and examine the source of these mysterious wave forms, detected in the Rock Snake hills area.

 They found a series of alien buildings, apparently deserted of organic life, though a mechanism operates which turns the complexes scanning devices to view the MEV as it came into range. The complex was apparently controlled entirely by sentient computers, left behind by the real Mysteron race. The Mysterons' aim was, apparently, simply to observe at a distance and make peaceful contact with the Earthlings.

But peace was not to be, as in a moment of panic, Lieutenant Dean mistaking these scanners as weapons, shouted, "They're obviously hostile!" Black's nerves cracked and he commanded Dean to open fire upon the city of the Mysterons.

This attack upon the Mysteron complex became the first blow in a devastating "war of nerves". The Mysteron city was destroyed. However, mechanisms activated and a "green ray" device, which shone upon the remains and mysteriously recreated it in an instant, as if reversing time upon the ruins.

The Zero-X returned to Earth, and Black vanished after the craft reached Glenn Field Spaceport. It wasn't long after that the people of Earth received their first threat form the Mysterons from Mars.

Mysteron complexes

Two complexes are known to have existed, created by the Mysterons.

The interior of the first, sited on the Cranium, rock plateau in the Rock Snake hills of Mars, was never seen by human eyes (though no information is available as to what exactly happened to Captain Black), so as yet it is impossible to gauge any information concerning the Mars complex (episode 1, 'The Mysterons' ).

Some data however exist for the other complex, which was gathered by Captains Scarlet, Blue and Lieutenant Green. It is situated in Crater 101 of Earth's Moon (episode 18, 'Crater 101' ). Evidence suggests that there were no Mysteron creatures living in the lunar complex and that the place was run entirely by computers. Which also raises the question of "Why build a new complex on the moon when the Mysterons had already taken control of Lunarville 7 itself (episode 12, 'Lunarville 7').

The lunar complex also shows many facilities designed for use by an inhabiting life form. For example, anti-gravity lift shafts and viewing screens. So is it entirely possible that the lunar complex was built simply as a trap for the Earthmen.

Origins of the Mysterons

Where the Mysteron race originally came from may possibly never be known. Though we may assume two things:

1. Many thousands of years ago, some original, organic members of the Mysteron race, from some as yet undisclosed star-system, travelled through space and eventually settled on Mars. Building for themselves a new city-based community.
2. The Mysteron's Martian complex cannot be their only base. As using some of their own communications as a basis, name it as "Our Mars complex" or "Martian complex" as if other cities belonging to them existed elsewhere.

One theory exists (supported by the scenes of the Spectrum members inside Crater 101) that the original, organic life form, the true Mysterons, have abandoned their Martian complex leaving this city solely in the control of their sentient, heuristic computer systems (circa 1901, Earth time).

The Mysterons greatest weapon and defence is their power of retro-metabolism (the secret of reversing matter, episode 1). Allowing them to both repair any damage sustained to their city complexes, and to recreate/repair any human subject or piece of equipment in an exact likeness under their control.

Retrometabolism

Origin of the word:

Latin for re-intro "going backwards" or "turning in a reverse direction".

Greek meta or para "Something situated behind" or "Beyond the current status of an item".   Plus bolism, the chemical changes occurring in living cells by which biochemical energies are generated and new materials to create such cells are assimilated. 

The Spectrum Saloon carrying Captains Brown and Scarlet on their way to escort the World President, to the Spectrum Maximum Security Building in New York, was made to crash by the Mysterons, killing them both (episode 1, 'The Mysterons'.

The Captains were then 'Mysteronised' (Earth word for the act of duplicating a person, even down to his/her very memories, but under the control of the Mysterons) at the crash site, and the body of Captain Brown was hidden in the undergrowth at the crash site, presumably by his own Mysteronised duplicate (which what probably happened to the original body of Captain Scarlet.

Weaknesses

We might presume that due to the artificial structure of any Mysteron agents, having far different chemical abilities, and likewise weaknesses, to normal human beings, that high voltage electricity might atomically restructure or disrupt the differing cell patterns of the mysteronised subjects just enough to damage their artificial bodies, causing their deaths (as seen in episode 9, 'Operation Time'). This may also explain why the Mysterons lost their control over Flight 104, when the airplane flew over an electricity generation Power Station (episode 23 'Flight 104').

This theory may also help to illustrate Scarlet's ability to distinguish between normal humans and the artificially created Mysteron agents, by these agents having atomic structures slightly "out of phase" enough with normal humans and his own structure that he becomes dizzy and/or nauseous in the presence of such agents. So that perhaps his own body coming into contact with that of a Mysteron agent may cause "interference" in some way like the opposite poles of two magnets pushing each other apart.

It also seems that Captain Black has the same sixth sense as Scarlet, when Black was able to detect the presence of the Spectrum agents chasing him (episode 22, 'Treble Cross'). Although at this point, it is unsure what exactly happened to Captain Black during his mission on Mars.

The Mysteron agents are apparently not totally under the Mysteron's power. For example, when the Mysteronised controller of Lunarville 7 realises he has lost control of the Lunar city, he takes out an all too human revenge on the Speech Intelligence Decoder computer, SID (episode 12 'Lunarville 7').

Another example is the all too human greed and corruption of the two Mysteronised conmen who try to enlist the supposedly ex-Captain Scarlet into their plan to destroy Nuclear City, Nevada (episode 10, 'Special Assignment').

Captain Black himself also "appeared" to have some of his still-human side, when releasing Symphony Angel from the nuclear reactor of the Culver Atomic Centre, where he states "the Mysterons also have compassion" (episode 4 'Manhunt'), or his show of moral judgement upon the humans trying to rob the 2nd National Bank of New York (episode 11, 'Heart of New York').

Mysteron agents' bodies, due to their chemical or radiation difference, are somehow impervious to x-rays radiation (episode 8, 'Operation Time'), which has permitted Spectrum Research Centre to build a Mysteron detector (episode 9, 'Spectrum Strikes Back').

The instrument, working just like a Polaroid camera, takes simple picks of suspected Mysterons. If the suspect is human, it will be a X-ray photography. If, however, the suspect is indeed a Mysteron replicate, the detector will produce a regular, positive pick.

A photography of Captain Scarlet, due to his initial Mysteronisation, appears as a positive identification (episode 9, 'Spectrum Strikes Back'). It is also worth noting that in episode 23 'Flight 104', Captain Scarlet photographs as a black silhouette, when photographed by a normal camera. It is however noted that in episode 4 ('Manhunt'), Captain Black photography by a hidden camera in the Culver Atomic Centre is quite normal.

Mysteron complex buildings The entire Mysteron Martian Complex appeared to Captain Black and the MEV crew as if it was surrounded by some kind of luminescent haze, making it difficult to see the countours of each building.

Interior This picture shows the luminous interior of one of buildings, from where the Mysterons observed the Earth visitors. Mysterons can't be seen, and theories have it that either they're invisible or that they really are the computers manning the now disused city that another stellar race (possibly the original Mysterons) once inhabited.

Observation device This picture shows the observation device the Mysterons turned on the Martian Exploration Vehicle. Although it looks ominous, it is perfectly harmless. However, the MEV crew mistook it as some kind of weapon. That spurred them to fire a destructive salve, which was supposed to annihilate the entire Complex. This device is number 7 in the above cutaways.

Retrometabolisation After the Mysteron complex was destroyed, this device (number six on the above cutaways), rose up from a small construction set on a nearby hill, and emitted a beam of light directed at the rubbles. The light bathed the destroyed buildings, which then radiated with an eerie glow. In a very short period of time, the entire complex was completely recreated, as if it never had been destroyed in the first place.

(Sources: TV Century 21 material (Annuals, books and magazines), Engale Marketing's Century 21 magazine, Issue 15, Winter 1995, Fleetway Magazines, Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons book by Chris Drake & Graham Bassett, Complete Book of Captain Scarlet by Chris Bentley… all related to TV Century 21 material - Photo-montages provided by Keith McNeill's 's Space Model Photography.)