The Proteus Factor

The Proteus Factor is the nineteenth episode of Season 1, and the nineteenth episode overall.

Synopsis
"Proteus, leader of the mysterious Guardians, traps the Aronnax in a magnetic field and kidnaps Ant, believing he is the key to finding Lemuria. Ant thinks Proteus is crazy. He tries to escape to save his family."

Plot
In the Arctic ocean the Nektons are heading towards mysterious location know as Lemuria's Needle as it is mentioned in the Chronicle of the Deep. While discussing this with Nereus via video the Nektons are constantly frustrated by his mysterious persona when they lose his transmission. They then notice what appears to be Nereus in a row boat approaching them, believing it to be one of his surprise entrances. Ant and Fontaine go out to meet him only to discover it is not Nereus but a man who calls himself Proteus.

As Proteus introduces himself to the Nektons the Aronnax receives a distress call from an ice breaker trapped in pack ice not far away. Proteus comes aboard and they move to the ship's position. While traveling Proteus explains that he and Nereus are members of a group called the Guardians whose duty is to preserve Lemurian culture. He then helps point the Nektons in the right direction of Lemuria's Needle and even explains how the Ephemychron works. His straight forward and less cryptic nature quickly gains the Nekton's favour. The Nektons arrive and are able to free the ship using the Aronnax itself to break the ice and then carve a channel to open water for it to sail free. Afterwards Proteus points them north towards Lemuria's Needle.

The Nektons then receive a distorted transmission from Nereus. When Will tells him about Proteus, Nereus starts to warn them about something before he is abruptly cut off. Proteus dismisses this as Nereus being cryptic again but Ant is unsure. The Nektons arrive at Lemuria's Needle which turns out to be a giant stone obelisk levitating above the ocean floor over the exact position of the magnetic north pole. Proteus explains that when fully assembled the Ephemychron will align itself with the Needle and other markers to calculate the route to Lemuria. Will is grateful for this sharing of knowledge. Ant slips away and is able to boost the signal to contact Nereus again but is unable to make out the message before it is cut off just as Proteus enters the room. As Will asks Ant and Fontaine to prep the Rover, Ant starts getting suspicious of Proteus.

While Ant prepares the Rover Proteus climbs aboard and secretly disrupts Ant's communicator, while on the bridge Will notices the piece of the Ephemychron is missing and tries to get through to Ant. Suddenly Proteus takes off in the Rover with Ant inside, Ant then realizes that a device in the staff Proteus carries is the cause of the disruption. Moments after they leave the Aronaxx is suddenly pulled towards the Needle, crashes into it and gets stuck to it due the earth's magnetic field acting as a giant magnet because of the north pole being a focal point. Proteus tells Ant that Nereus believes Ant is the one who will assemble the Ephemychron and activate it and he's taking Ant up to the surface to prove it.

Back on the Aronnax Will plans to use the Mag Knight - which because it's made of carbon-fiber should be unaffected - to wrap non conductive sheets of plastic around the base of the Needle to cut off the energy and repel the Aronnax but has to work quickly as the Aronnax could collapse inwards from the intense force.

On the surface Proteus forces Ant to help him in exchange for telling his family how to get free. Once on an iceberg Proteus gives Ant the piece of the Ephemychron he took from the bridge along with a piece that was previously stolen before, believing that two of the three pieces should be enough to tell if Ant is the chosen one. After trying and failing to put the pieces together Ant notices the ice breaker they saved earlier and tries to call for help only to realize the captian of the ship is working with Proteus. In an escape attempt Ant steals the bag with the pieces and tries to get away in the Rover resulting in a struggle between him and Proteus which leads to Proteus falling into the icy water.

On the Aronnax Kaiko is able to send an electric charge through the hull from the engine room which combined with the non-conductive plastic is able to repel the Aronnax from the Needle. Once free they start searching for Ant.

Back on the surface Ant dives in after Proteus and is able to save him from drowning. As he pulls him out Ant sees Nereus and the other Guardians arrive via helicopter. Nereus and the others banish Proteus from the Guardians on account of his actions but Proteus escapes on the ice breaker with both pieces of the Ephemychron. As the other Guardians go after him Nereus explains to Ant he is more important than he realizes.

Back on the Aronnax, Glaucus informs Nereus that they have searched the ice breaker but Proteus is nowhere to be found. Nereus then explains that any information he gives the Nektons may only slow them down. He tells them they will find the last piece of the Ephemychron through team work and that they are far more important than any artifact. When asked why, Nereus calls it a "hunch".

Trivia

 * This is the only time the Mag Knight is seen walking out of water.
 * This is the only time Nereus appears wearing the same robes as the rest of the Guardians.
 * It's assumed that Proteus received his piece from Sebastian Conger who stole it in the episode "The Sunken Gallery".