Prometheus Loses Propulsion

Prometheus Loses Propulsion is the breakdown that turns a dangerous encounter in the Mariana Trench into an emergency landing and recovery operation. A creature’s attack on the submarine’s screw strips away its ability to steer and move under its own power; after the hull settles on the trench floor, Benthos can bring it back to the surface, but not restore it to service. The damage also alters the planned exchange of vessels and crew, while Terry’s expected ascent is postponed: she must remain aboard Benthos.

Attack and Loss of Control

The failure begins with a jolt from behind. A crew member reports that one of the creatures is attacking Prometheus’s screw, and that helm control is being lost. The damage is not merely a temporary interruption to navigation: the screw’s failure leaves the vessel unable to control its course as the sub rolls to port. Metal screeches through the cabin, the lights go out, and the crew can no longer rely on propulsion to arrest the submarine’s movement.

The sounds and physical changes make the failure immediate and tangible. Terry is thrown sideways against the window and strikes her elbow on the titanium plating. In the darkness, she covers her ears against the damaged screw’s shrill noise. When the screech stops, Prometheus is dropping. Terry grips the seat armrests as the sub falls, and the cabin’s blackness, her labored breathing, and the sensation of descent mark how little control remains to those aboard. A backup generator eventually restores red light, but it does not restore the screw or halt the fall.

Landing on the Trench Floor

The crew reports that the screws are completely gone and that Prometheus is dead in the water. Captain Warren initially orders the ballast plates released, an attempt to change the vessel’s descent. Benedict counters that they will be safer on the bottom. Prometheus then drops between two black smokers and strikes the seabed bow first; seconds later, the rest of the hull hits. The submarine comes to rest in silence and darkness on the floor of the seven-mile-deep Mariana Trench.

This landing is a consequential choice under conditions of lost propulsion, not a return to controlled travel. The sub has stopped, but it is stranded at the bottom, with its drive system destroyed and its crew dependent on outside assistance. Terry’s hyperventilation as Prometheus settles underscores the human cost of the mechanical crisis. The sudden quiet after the impact offers no indication that the danger has passed: the vessel is still in the trench, and its route back depends on Benthos reaching it and completing a difficult recovery.

Recovery and Confirmation of Damage

The arrival of Benthos brings a change in the immediate situation: sonar reports that the creatures are scattering, and Terry wipes tears from her eyes and breathes with relief. Yet rescue does not mean that Prometheus can simply resume its mission. Benedict orders the crew to inform Benthos that the submarine has no propulsion. He directs the recovery team to align Benthos’s docking bay over Prometheus, extend the docking arms fully, and then release ballast so the disabled sub can rise vertically into the clamps. The maneuver allows only one attempt, making alignment and the available clearance critical.

Prometheus ascends vertically from the seafloor, and Benthos’s hydraulic docking arms guide it into the bay. The successful lift ends its immediate descent and brings it into the safety of the larger vessel, but leaves its underlying failure unresolved. On Benthos’s observation deck, Captain Hoppe assesses the damage: the creature has literally torn the screw off the drive shaft, and, in his judgment, nothing remains to repair. The decisive distinction is between recovery and repair. Benthos can retrieve Prometheus; it cannot make the damaged sub ready to continue operating.

Changed Schedule and Terry’s Delay

Benedict responds to the loss by ordering the exchanges with Goliath completed twelve hours ahead of schedule. He expects Epimetheus to be in the water and descending within the hour. Captain Warren and his crew are to assemble aboard Prometheus, but because it lacks propulsion, the sub must drift free of Benthos’s docking bay rather than depart under its own power. Once Benthos has cleared, Prometheus is to release ballast and float freely to the surface for repairs.

The plan treats the disabled Prometheus as a vessel that can still be recovered topside, while moving the wider operation forward on an accelerated timetable. But the consequences are not shared evenly. Captain Warren asks about Terry because she expects to ascend; Benedict decides that, for now, she will remain aboard Benthos. Thus the successful docking that ends the immediate crisis does not deliver the outcome she anticipated. Prometheus is secured and assigned a route to the surface, while Terry’s movement is controlled by the changed plan.

The episode’s central reversal is therefore limited but significant: a creature’s attack turns a functioning submarine into an unpowered craft at the bottom of the trench, and the rescue secures the hull without restoring its independence. The attack first removes control, the impact fixes Prometheus on the seabed, and Benthos’s recovery converts an uncontrolled fall into a managed ascent. Even after that ascent, the torn drive screw dictates repairs, an accelerated exchange schedule, and Terry’s continued confinement aboard Benthos.