But by taking the vial she also inadvertently released the contagion (it is also believed the elixir was responsible for the fall of the Mayan civilisation). She found out about a Mayan elixir, which allows immortals to age at a normal rate. Magnus realises that before the outbreak began, she was on a mission in Honduras tired of losing people she loved, most recently daughter Ashley, she was researching for a way to "cure" her immortality. Zimmerman is revealed to have been infected during his last skirmish, and sacrifices himself to buy Magnus more time. Both Magnus and Zimmerman fortify one section of the Sanctuary so Magnus can learn, via computer files, how the plague started. Jessica is revealed to be infected and alerts the creatures to the Sanctuary after she transforms, forcing Zimmerman to kill her. Only around 100,000 unaffected humans remain in colonies in the Arctic and remote islands. All Sanctuary personnel apart from Zimmerman were killed in the process. Several world governments deployed nuclear weapons in an attempt to stop the threat until they fell. When containing the city failed, the disease spread throughout the globe and despite her best efforts, Magnus could not find a cure and was eventually killed in Buenos Aires. Now believing Magnus is who she says she is, Zimmerman recounts the events of the plague to her ten years ago, a contagion was released in Old City, transforming humans to cannibalistic creatures. Zimmerman returns to the Sanctuary also after his unit are killed by the attacks. As more creatures attack the base, Magnus escapes and returns to the Sanctuary, where on the way she is joined by a young girl, Jessica Mitchell (Nicole Muñoz). Unlike his original personality, Zimmerman is acting far more violent and aggressive, and believes Magnus to be an imposter, citing she died three years ago. Magnus is later shocked to discover that her protégé, Will Zimmerman ( Robin Dunne), is the leader of the survivalist group. While venturing the streets, Magnus finds herself under attack by a savage humanoid creature, but is saved by two men in Hazmat suits, who proceed to capture and decontaminate her. Helen Magnus awakens in a dilapidated corridor in the Sanctuary and finds that both the building, and the surrounding city skyline lie in ruins Magnus has no memory on how the devastation occurred. It was nominated for a total of six awards one Constellation Award and five Leo Awards, winning three. The episode was viewed by 1.4 million Americans after its original broadcast, a drop from the previous episode, and received generally mixed reviews, though one reviewer believed this to be a standout episode of the second season. To give the practical sets a more post-apocalyptic feel, the production crew added several wrecked cars and several bags full of dead leaves. The idea behind "Pavor Nocturnus" came after Damian Kindler saw the film I Am Legend, and wanted to show a " what if" scenario, showing Magnus' work going "horribly wrong". In the episode, Helen Magnus ( Amanda Tapping) awakens in a future where Earth is devastated by a plague that turned all but a handful of the human population into savage zombie-like creatures.
It was written by Damian Kindler and James Thorpe, and was directed by Brenton Spencer. The episode first aired on Syfy in the United States on November 6, 2009. " Pavor Nocturnus" is the fifth episode of the second season of Canadian television series Sanctuary, and is the 18th episode overall. One of the " zombies" of the episode, revealing some kind of stinger, about to infect Helen Magnus moments before she is saved.