Carentan

"" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of Sanctuary, and the forty-fourth episode overall in the series.

Synopsis
A colleague vanishes amid unexplained disappearances in the town of Carentan, where Magnus and her team run into a military blockade during their investigation.

Cold Open
It is night in Old City when Declan MacRae contacts Dr. Helen Magnus via video call, informing her about a strange media blackout surrounding a number of disappearances in the town of Carentan in Normandy, France. Of what Declan could gather without help from his usual sources, the partial list included: a farmer and his livestock, a couple of backpacking tourists, and a busload of senior citizens who all seem to have vanished without a trace within a ten-kilometer radius of the town. None of the residents or local police have responded to phone calls or emails and the satellite feed of the area is being censored. Declan had sent Dr. Ravi Ganapathiraman, the head of the Mumbai Sanctuary, to investigate considering he was already in Paris wrapping up the Bipedal Conference, but he too had disappeared moments after reporting that he started to feel a strange tingling sensation when he got close to the perimeter of the town.

Act I
Magnus and Dr. Will Zimmerman try to find someone among their contacts in the global intelligence community who can tell them what is going on, with little success. Kate Freelander and Bigfoot find a good entry point six kilometers south of Carentan; Declan insists on joining the team.

4:12 PM - Once in France, the group of four (Declan, Kate, Will, and Magnus) are driving down a wooded road until they are stopped at a road block set up by a private security firm (revealed in the next episode as the Lotus Defense Corps). Kate acts like she is car-sick, and then both she and Declan quickly overpower the guards and move the blockade. They arrive at an encampment where Magnus angrily demands to know who is in charge. A man in his fifties comes out of one of the tents, and orders her inside—alone. He then tells her that her reputation precedes her, which she cannot say about him. He is unwilling to even tell her his name. She cuts to the chase, telling him that the toxic leak cover story he and his men put up is a joke, and that the Starstreak surface-to-air missiles outside suggests he is up to something. She also demands to know what happened to Ravi, and even offers her help with whatever goes on, but he tells her it's above her pay grade.

The team leaves, discussing the strange security firm and its secret mandate, when Magnus spots a field that seems familiar to her. They stop, and find a barn from where an old tunnel leads past the LDC checkpoints; Ravi seems to have used it as well. Declan and Kate are ordered to stay behind, while Magnus and Will make their way behind "enemy lines". They notice that the forest is strangely silent, when suddenly a strange force passes by them and they are knocked out. When they rise, a young French couple comes by, carrying apples to the town. They invite them to come with them.

In Carentan, many people are working all over the streets of the town, with plants being processed everywhere. The couple introduces them to the "last one", who turns out to be an elderly Ravi.

Act II
Ravi explains that though they saw each other the last time six days ago from Magnus' point of view, he is now seventy-six years old. A massive time dilation field seems to slow down time in Carentan, causing forty years to pass while a week passed outside the town. An immense dimensional recoil kills anyone who tries to leave. Ravi also introduces them to his wife, Anna.

In an old Nazi bunker, Ravi and his assistant, Josie, explains that the time dilation field started three weeks ago in normal time, with the epicenter being a cave on a coastal cliff. Scientists and military, everyone who was sent in by the French government, vanished without a trace—including Ravi, the "last one". Magnus notes that she drove a fire elemental into the depths of the earth, and that it might have something to do with what happened.

One day in normal time equals six years in the dilation field, causing three years of daylight to be followed by three years of night. The "dark times" are very hard on the inhabitants of Carentan, and usually only the younger and stronger among them survive to see the next sunrise. Ravi notes that the next dark time will come in nine months—less than three hours in normal time.

5:01 PM - Outside the dome, back in the barn, Kate and Declan argue about the right course of action, and decide to enter the tunnel when Lotus guards catch them. They are taken to the leader, who tells them that their colleagues may be lost forever. He has them imprisoned.

Day 7 - Inside the dome, in the bunker, Magnus tells Ravi that it is very hard to read the notes from the many different scientists who have worked on finding a solution to their dilemma over the last decades. He answers that she should give herself time; he also notes that Adam Worth used to work with time dilation, but Magnus notes that he died months ago in Hollow Earth. She asks if he ever feels like quitting, but he tells her that the prospect of impressing her by solving this mystery kept him going.

Outside, Will and Josie take readings at the border of the time dilation dome. She shows him how one can feel the dilation field when one comes closer; she recounts how she once saw a young man die in the field. For her, this is the only world she has ever known.

5:14 PM - Outside the dome, back at the base camp, Kate tries to flirt with her guard, and though he rebuffs her, she is able to steal his cell phone.

Day 15 - Inside the dome, in the bunker, Magnus tries to use one of the last functioning motherboards to communicate with the outside world. They have to send an incredibly stretched radio message in order for it to be received properly on the outside; transmitting it will take about two weeks.

5:28 PM - Outside the dome, at the base camp, Declan and Kate contact Bigfoot, who tells them he picked up something odd; it appears like short bursts of static or interference.

Day 33 - Inside the dome, in the bunker, the message is still being broadcast when Will tells Magnus that Ravi wants the solar panels used to power the transceiver to be routed back to other purposes. Magnus become more and more angry with the situation, but has at least learned that the dilation field is slowly growing—which will translate to a massive burst of growth outside that could swallow much of northern France—and within three weeks normal time, the entire world.

Act III
Day 67 - In the dome, in the bunker, Will and Magnus further discuss their options; Magnus wants to nullify the field at its original starting point; however, cerrelium, a key element is missing. They have some of it in the Sanctuary, but Will notes that there is no way to contact their friends. Magnus disagrees: she has figured out a way.

In a field, Magnus, Will, Ravi, and Josie create a large message with stones, saying "Ci", the elemental symbol for cerrelium, which will hopefully be visible for satellites to see.

Day 73 - In Carentan, Ravi and Anna see Will sitting alone on a bench. Ravi goes to talk to him, and tells him that in the end, life in the dome will become easier.

6:11 PM - Outside the dome, at the Old City Sanctuary, Bigfoot has deciphered the radio signal and tells Declan and Kate at the base camp that it came from Magnus.

Day 152 - Inside the dome, in a bunker tunnel, Will and Josie test some scrap metal that was smelted when he asks her to look for a coil in a tool box. Upon opening it, she finds a birthday present wrapped in large leaves. She unwraps the gift and sees that he made a necklace for her. When he puts it around her neck, she kisses him. He is hesitant, and Josie realizes that it is about Abby Corrigan, his girlfriend in the outside world. She tells him that if they make it through the dark time she wants to have a baby, which surprises him. At this point, Magnus approaches, noting the awkwardness of the situation. Josie excuses herself, leaving to get all of them some lunch. Magnus and Will talk about their current lack of progress and Will quickly turns the conversation to vent his frustration; pointing out that unlike Magnus, he is not immortal, and is upset at the possibility they they may not be able to solve this problem within his lifetime.

6:23 PM - Outside the dome, in the command tent, Kate and Declan tell the Lotus Team Leader about the message from Carentan. Declan also sees the "Ci" symbol in the satellite feed, and unlike the other scientists, can identify it. At this moment, a message comes in that preparations for Project Greenhouse are being made; Declan and Kate realize that an attempt is going to be made to blow Carentan of the map with a massive airstrike.

Act IV
6:32 PM - Outside the dome, at the base camp, Declan and Kate once again contact Bigfoot, who tells them to look around for what they could use as a substitute for cerrelium. Kate soon sets her eyes on the LDC's weaponry.

Day 225 - Inside the dome, in the woods, the sky is turning red; nightfall is only forty-five days away. Will and Magnus test a device that should help them influence the time dilation field; however, without proper shielding on the device, the experiment apparently goes wrong. The speed of time around them become severely unstable, erratically speeding up and slowing down before resatablizing when the device is shut off.

When Magnus and Will return to town, the townspeople are in a state of upset panic. The pair learn from Ravi that their test caused time to distort and four people to instantly disappear. The three of them quickly realize that their test may have temporarily worked to return Carentan to normal time, and consequently also remember that all of the townspeople currently inside the dome would have not been born yet. Meaning, that if the dome is nullified, resetting Carentan to normal time, everything created (including people) after its inception, will cease to exist; leaving only Will, Magnus, and Ravi to theoretically survive the reset. Josie overhears their disturbing conversation, and runs away; Will follows her.

In the bunker, Josie angrily destroys laboratory records, until Will stops her. She begins to cry, asking how he could possibly just make her and the others disappear. Will does not know what to say.

6:40 PM - Outside the dome, at the base camp, Kate and Declan try to disassemble a surface-to-air missile in order to get their hands on an alloy that they can use instead of cerrelium. They put it in a Humvee and send it into the dome.

Day 261 - Inside the dome, in the bunker, Magnus thinks she can make her device work with the substitute shielding from the part of the missile that was sent.

6:51 PM - Outside the dome, in the command tent, the Lotus Team Leader informs them that in nine minutes, it will not matter, as the airstrike will be carried out.

Day 262 - Inside the dome, in a field, Magnus has a talk with Ravi while watching an incredibly slow sunset. He is not mad at her, knowing that the time dilation field would cause the continental drift to occur at many times its normal speed, ripping the planet apart. But he is also a husband and a member of a community. They take each other's hands, knowing what must be done.

Act V
Day 263 - Inside the dome, in a street, Anna tells Ravi that he must not explain himself to her; their sacrifice could save billions of lives. They kiss, and she tells him that she and the others will always be in his heart.

In the bunker, Magnus and Will prepare to use their device while a crowd gathers before the mayors office to stop them. Ravi leaves to try to hold off the crowd to give Magnus and Will time to escape out the back entrance of the bunker.

6:58 PM - Outside the dome, Declan and Kate are being driven away from the camp in the backseat of a Humvee trying to convince the Lotus Team Leader to not bomb the time dome as it's a massive concentration of energy. The Lotus Team Leader dismisses them, saying that the airstrike has already been put into motion and will all be over in the next 60 seconds.

In Carentan, in the woods, the mob soon find Magnus and Will. Josie holds them at gunpoint, saying they have no time right to decide who lives and who dies. Magnus presses the button, and Josie fires on Will. Ravi jumps in the way of the bullet as the time dilation field collapses.

Some time later, Magnus wakes up in a French hospital bed, with Will sitting up in the bed next to her. They made it out alive, but Ravi did not survive. Everyone else has vanished as Carentan returned to its normal state, and the airstrike was called off. Magnus notes that someone was responsible for what happened, and they must find out who it is.

Time conversion

 * Continuity Error: There is a major time conversion error present in the show regarding the days listed in the time dome. The time represented in the real world is fine. Looking at the chart, whoever was in charge of figuring out the days in the time dome accidentally multiplied the amount of time passed in the real world by the equivalent dome days per minute a second time, effectively doubling the dome days. This is evident by seeing comparable numbers in the "Real world = Dome days" column with the "Time dilation field = Minutes passed outside dome" column. There effectively was a mix up regarding which numbers were "minutes" and which "days".
 * For example, at the end of the episode it is 6:58 PM, which is 116 minutes after 5:01 PM. 116 real minutes converts to 176.436 dome days. However, in the dome the day is said to be 263, which isn't possible. Day 263 would equate to 172.913 minutes in the real world, meaning that almost an entire hour more would have to have passed.
 * Continuity Error: Looking at the chart, the conversions are off basically right from the start, where the days in the dome are less than what they should be. This issue could be easily fixed potentially by re-ordering when the dome scenes are show in-between the real world scenes. The issue mentioned above however, can't be re-ordered as by then its heavily tied continuity wise. That issue starts after 6:11 PM when domes days jump from the previous 73 days instantly to now being 152, then jumping up again to 225 even though not much time has actually passed by in the real world.
 * Based on real world time, Magnus and Will were only in the time dome for roughly ~182 days, not 263.
 * Character Error: In the dialogue when Magnus and Will first meet Ravi, Ravi tells them that the next "dark time" is in 9 months which Will translates to less than 3 hours from their current time in the real world. This would mean that either: 1) The dome days are calculated correctly and the real world time is wrong (an hour short), or 2) The dome days are calculated incorrectly and the real world time is right; meaning that the dialogue was based on bad numbers. Considering that New Years day within the time dome is also incorrectly matched with its dome day, the 2nd option is most feasible.
 * Chronological Error: Due to sunset in the real world occurring at 7:29 PM, it further supports that the time dome calculations were incorrect. In the episode, sunset should be featured on day 225 as that day equates to 7:28 PM, meaning that any dome days after it (Day 261, Day 262, and Day 263) should feature a twilight night sky. However, sunset isn't shown in the time dome until Day 262 (25 minutes late), and Day 263 is seen to still have pre-sunset daylight present like in the real world.

(Note: The chart below is based on the errored days listed in the show.)
 * Days in Carentan are counted starting the considered first full day that Magnus and Will spend in the time dome. Even though they arrived on Friday October 8th, 2010, Day 1 is Saturday October 9th, 2010 based on Ravi saying on Day 7 that Magnus had only been there a week (assuming it's the next Friday, October 15th.) Had October 8th been included, it would be Day 8.
 * Interestingly, the last few days Magnus and Will spent in the time dome would have equivalently occurred calendar-wise around the same timeframe as Ashley's 27th birthday in late June 2011.