Here Be Dragons (episode)

Here Be Dragons is the first episode of Season 1, and the first episode overall. The episode is based off the graphic novel story arc of the same name.

Synopsis
"A dragon-hunting expedition leads Ant to find an ancient scroll that holds clues to an amazing mystery. But his family are trapped by the dragon and only Ant and Jeffrey can save them! And Jeffrey's a fish!"

Plot
During a raging storm on the shores of Greenland, a fisherman attempts to unload his boat with the help of a docks man, exclaiming how every fish in the sea seems to be right there. Suddenly, a large wave appears, a large creature with glowing green eyes floating inside. As the wave subsides, the men discover the fisherman's boat has vanished as well a chunk of the boardwalk.

On the Aronnax, Ant is unsuccessfully trying to teach his fish Jeffrey to fetch, much to his sister Fontaine's amusement. Kaiko arrives and finds Will in the study area looking at old maps, pointing out sections inscribed "Here be Dragons". He explains to Kaiko that he believes that changes in quantities of marine life as well as sightings of a strange creature in Greenland are linked to the inscription. Believing it to be worth an investigation they head for Greenland.

While heading to Greenland, Will learns that there have been sightings of the creature since 1734. 20 kilometers from Greenland's coast the Nektons find the missing fishing boat on the seafloor. Ant takes the White Knight out to investigate where finds that half the boat is missing as well as a large tooth. Suddenly the creature appears and eats the remaining half of the boat and stares at Ant before retreating into the depths.

When the Nektons arrive at the dock where the boat went missing an old man named Nereus approaches them and tells them that he's seen the creature 40 years ago after an earthquake hit the coast then says the creature vanished following a another earthquake shortly after and that this has been going on every 40 years. Whilst talking to the fisherman Nereus tells Ant that off the coast a large trench has opened up and the creatures lair is inside he also makes Ant remember to "breathe beneath the waves".

The Nektons investigates Nereus' theory and find the trench (which doesn't appear on any maps) Will, Kaiko, and Fontaine take The Rover down to the trench while Ant follows them in the White Knight. There, they find the creatures lair in which they find an air chamber and a stone slab that opens to reveal a mysterious artifact that they take with them. Suddenly the creature returns, Ant is able to escape back to the Aronnax but the Rover crashes onto the trench wall. Without power and the homing beacon destroyed the three are now trapped. The creature eyes them then retreats as an earthquake starts and the trench begins to close.

Ant, unable to find the Rover on sonar, tells Jeffrey to 'fetch' his family which he eventually does. Jeffery finds them and they escape before the trench closes completely. After examining the artifact, Will deduces that it's a scroll of some sort written in Lemurian and he is unable to read it. On land Nereus exclaims "it begins".

Characters

 * The Nekton Family (Debut)
 * Antaeus Nekton (Debut)
 * Fontaine Nekton (Debut)
 * Jeffrey (Debut)
 * Kaiko Nekton (Debut)
 * William Nekton (Debut)
 * Nereus (Debut)
 * Fishermen (Debut)

Difference between the episode and the original story arc
Due to the episode's time length, all of the Here Be Dragons Story arc (which also consisted of 3 issues of The Deep Mini Comic Book series and Here Be Dragons graphic novel) was condensed into a single episode. While some of the story remains the same, many elements, as with the rest of the animated series, are different and may include different additions to the story. Some of these differences and changes include the following:


 * In the Graphic novel series, Will discussed about the ship that was sunk off the coast of Greenland; the state of the ship that was skunk was not known nor it was discovered. In the Episode, it did not appear, although the Nektons actually visited the shipwreck that was ended up eaten by the creature as they approached it.
 * The Chronicle of the Deep was also originally supposed to be left behind on the shipwreck. Instead it was placed on a stone pedestal, suggesting that it existed longer than the shipwreck itself.
 * In the Graphic novel, Trish, a news reporter, appears when in a conversation with villagers and interrupted with them during their conversation. In the episode, Trish did not made the cut to appear in the Animated Series due to the lack of adventures that the Nektons take upon by land.
 * Nereus (on both the Graphic Novel and Episode) did discuss the creature. Nereus, however, also appeared in the episode, and first appeared in the docks.
 * In the Graphic novel, the Nektons hold a press conference regarding to the discovery of a creature they found. This did not happen in the episode.
 * In the Graphic novel, Nereus was onboard with the Nektons on the Aronnax while discussing over an artifact with a map of Atlantis and Nereus' history of helping out researchers and explorers like the Nektons. In the episode, the Nektons looked over the Artifacts that they've acquired by themselves alone but Nereus was on land and not onboard the Aronnax with them.
 * In the Graphic novel, the Nektons did not discovered an artifact, however, an artifact that was seen at the end of the story arc is potentially a map that lead the Nektons to Atlantis. In the episode, the Nektons discovered the artifact, however, the artifact was in Lemurian, which requires a translation to see what the artifact is; which continues in the following episode.

Trivia

 * "Here Be Dragons" is reference to old Medieval maps warning of nearby threats, usually with pictures of a large land beasts and giant sea monsters.
 * it is also so far, the only episode of the animated series to feature a Plesiosaur.
 * This is the only episode where the door of the lower hull is seen in use.