OK, let's get one thing straight. [b]THE FALLEN/ELIKSNI NEVER HAD GUARDIANS![/b] The reason why there are guardians was because The Traveler was damaged in it's most recent fight with the darkness. Guardians were created to protect it while it recovered. So, when the Eliksni had the Great Machine, they never had the super powers we have today. Advanced, Golden Age level technology, yes. But Super Powers? Not so much. Another thing. You have made the assumption that the only reason the Eliksni lost the Traveler was because the Darkness scared it off. HOWEVER, when the Traveler had to either face the darkness or abandon humanity, [u]it faced the -blam!-ing darkness![/u] Now you might be quick to say, [i]"But what if there was nowhere else to run?"[/i] Do you really think that the rest of the universe is full of the darkness, and that our solar system just [i]happened[/i] to be the last place for it to reach? Even taking into account the opening cinematic where it shows black tendrils close in on The Traveler, it is possible that it was simply alluding to the darkness filled races like the Hive. Besides, Xur has said that the Traveler has a "dark mirror", imply that the Dark Traveler is of equal strength to ours. What does all this mean? The Traveler more likely left the Eliksni for other reasons. So what is different between Humans and Eliksni, from a societal stand point. Well, the Eliksni had Houses dividing them. In the Variks grimoire card, it should be noted that there is no mention on the formation of Houses. This implies Houses have always existed. Even with the Traveler, they had houses. Now, humanity did have countries, but the last mention of a country is on the moon (Korean writing on facility) and is the first place we colonized in the Golden Age. Afterwards, all mention of countries disappear, that they no longer existed. It can be assumed that a divided world government disappears soon after we meet the Traveler. This is the opposite of the Fallen who are bigoted. It has been shown on multiple occasions that if they united they could destroy the Last City. But, because each Kell is so power hungry, none will unite. This is why I think the Traveler left them. It knew the Darkness would crush them because they were divided, and it would die along with them. So can we stop this whole "oh! Our poor Eliksni Kin need to be rescued! They have been abused badly and need our help!" These are savages who hold power above all else and [i]dismember[/i] their own people to show their weakness. I mean, most were ready to follow "Skolas, the Rabid" as their prophet! TL;DR: Fallen/Eliksni never had Guardians, so stop saying they were the "Old Guardians". Traveler left them because they were/are bigoted. Don't feel bad for them, they are still evil.