The series is the third adaptation of the Chinese novel series Remembrance of Earth's Past by Liu Cixin. The eight-episode first season was released on Netflix on March 21, 2024. The series follows a diverse cast of characters, primarily scientists, who all come into contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, leading to various threats and humanity-wide changes.
Ye Wenjie is sent to a secret military base racing against other countries to make first contact with aliens during the Cold War. While there, she makes a choice that impacts humanity's future. In present-day London, a series of mysterious suicides and science-averse phenomena lead a government investigator and a group of friends called the "Oxford Five" into a mystery of extraterrestrial origin.