To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I’ll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I’ll drown my book.

— Prospero from The Tempest

In times long past, this planet was the home of a mighty, noble race of beings who called themselves the Krell. Ethically and technologically they were a million years ahead of humankind, for in unlocking the mysteries of nature they had conquered even their baser selves, and when in the course of eons they had abolished sickness and insanity, crime and all injustice, they turned, still in high benevolence, upwards towards space. Then, having reached the heights, this all-but-divine race perished in a single night, and nothing was preserved above ground.

— Dr. Morbius from Forbidden Planet

Further Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_the_Forbidden_Planet

https://grg.org/charter/Krell2.htm

[*7.154, *8.11]

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