“Pax Romana” is episode eleven of season three of Sanctuary.
In the previous episode, “Hollow Men”, Will, Magnus, Kate and Henry had finally got to the city in Hollow Earth, Praxis. The city is not terribly welcoming to those from above ground, and Ranna Seneschal, the leader of the city, sentenced them all to death then promptly, and fairly painfully , seemed to execute them. Presumably, that is not entirely true or there would be serious problems.
Meanwhile, Tesla, Worth and Druitt had got coordinates inside Hollow Earth which would allow Druitt to safely teleport there – without knowing where he’s going, it’s dangerous. Druitt had taken Worth, leaving Tesla behind, but, once they arrived, Worth, in his Hyde persona, had Druitt attacked and subdued by the same creatures he had try to steal Will’s memories in “Firewall”.
This episode opens with Worth taunting Druitt, who he is keeping prisoner, saying that Magnus and the others have been put to death. Worth, it seems, has plans, for both the city, and the world on the surface. The creatures he has allied with seem to regard him as a champion against Praxis.
Magnus, meanwhile, is no longer dead. She has been brought back by Ranna’s chief counsel, as Ranna has questions, ones she doesn’t want the Senate to hear. Ranna is not being very pleasant, but she does say that Magnus’ father, Gregory, was a citizen of the city for 65 years, then suddenly decided to break all of their most sacred laws, and Ranna wants to know why. Gregory has disappeared and Ranna wants to know where he, and Adam Worth, is.
Ranna thinks that Magnus and Gregory have formed an alliance with Worth; Magnus says that Worth is a prisoner and tried to kill her to find the map to the city, and that the reason Gregory infiltrated the Avatar Council in “Kali: Part III” was to warn Magnus about Worth. According to Ranna, the city exists to keep the peace between humans and Abnormals. Magnus realises that something is going seriously wrong in the city and that Ranna doesn’t have a clue to deal with it.
One of the Hyperabnormals, Kanaan, from the Avatar Council has dropped out of contact. He is the only one who can create the levees needed to stop the magma pockets below the city from going critical. Once that happens, the city will be destroyed and volcanoes on three continents will also erupt. Magnus, it seems, can help – Kanaan is ill – so the others are revived too. Henry, as he has been brought back from the dead, says he’s now a zombie. Which he is not that happy about. They’re also not that happy about helping the people who killed them. Henry is happy about the new tech Praxis has though.
Magnus, Kate and Ranna are heading into the upper mantle to treat Kanaan (which involves getting rather close to magma) and Worth is now following his own plans. He isn’t just after a treatment for his condition. Worth was apparently executed after one of his experiments killed hundreds, but someone brought him back to life, just as Magnus and the others were. The question is who, and what are they, and Worth, after?