01x04 - Fall

[bunniefuu]

[mysterious music plays darkly]

[Morgan Freeman] In the depths of space,

a threat is looming.

Trapped between the orbits
of Jupiter and Mars…

the asteroid belt.

One and a half million chunks
of ancient rock,

circling the sun.

Drifting endlessly.

But, in a single moment of pure chance…

[rocks crashing, crumbling]

…one asteroid is thrown out of its orbit.

A fleeting instant,

millions of kilometers from Earth,

sends it on a new trajectory

towards the very center
of our solar system.

But its journey will come
to a sudden and violent end,

in one of the most catastrophic events
in Earth's history.

And the final chapter

in the epic story

of the dinosaurs.

[mysterious music building]

[music fades out]

[opening theme music playing]

[rocks crumbling]

[distant roaring]

[roaring]

[music fades out]

[grand orchestral music playing]

It's three million years

since the asteroid
started its journey towards Earth.

And the dinosaurs rule the planet.

They dominate the land
and are now entering the ocean as well.

The high sea levels
have split North America in two…

creating endless coastlines…

hundreds of tropical islands…

and opportunity.

[pterosaurs squawking]

[tense music playing]

[insects chittering]

But these islands are no paradise.

[creature growls]

They are home to a formidable predator.

[footsteps thudding]

[creature growling]

One of the fastest,
most agile dinosaurs of its kind.

North America's answer to the Spinosaurus.

[creature growls]

[footsteps thudding]

[music fades]

Just not in the way you would think.

[creature squawks]

Not even remotely.

[chittering]

This is Hesperornis.

[grunts]

He is formidable, and he is fast.

[squawking]

But he's pretty much the opposite
of his giant, terrifying cousins.

[vocalizes]

[Hesperornis squawking]

He's awkward…

[wails]

…and clumsy.

[all grunting and squawking]

And has tiny teeth.

[both squawk]

Not exactly the traits
of a ferocious hunter.

But what he does share with Spinosaurus

is that he's not confined to dry land.

[bright orchestral music playing]

In fact, he's the most advanced
aquatic dinosaur in history.

Like some sort of prehistoric penguin,

he's able to swim far out to sea
to access feeding grounds

that were previously out of reach.

[music turns ethereal]

This is the bounty of his new blue realm.

[water gurgling]

Down here, his big clumsy feet
become powerful propellers.

And his 94 needle-sharp teeth
snatch fish with ease.

But as an air-breather,

he's still tied to the surface.

[ominous music playing]

And the surface
is not a safe place to linger.

Because below,

there are beasts

twice the size of a k*ller whale.

Mosasaurs.

The apex predators of these seas.

[squawks]

[suspenseful music playing]

Hesperornis must get back to the shore.

But the mosasaur moves
with frightening speed.

Luckily, Hesperornis is much more agile.

But he's exhausted.

Which gives the mosasaur one last shot.

[suspenseful music fades out]

Hesperornis is a true survivor,

venturing further into the ocean
than any dinosaur ever has.

[panting]

But these waters are treacherous,
even for the best swimmers.

[squawks]

-[screeching desperately]
-[ominous music playing]

Despite the dinosaurs' success
in the shallows,

the mosasaurs

rule the waves.

[creatures calling, grunting]

Eight hundred miles north, on land,

it's a different story.

[majestic music playing]

Fueled by a warm, stable climate,

the dinosaurs' dominance here
is unrivaled.

-[twigs snapping]
-[sauropods grunting softly]

The great sauropods
are thriving among the tall trees,

as they have
since the dawn of the Jurassic.

[sauropods vocalizing]

But down below,
there has been a revolution.

[creature grunts]

A female hadrosaur.

[vocalizes]

While she may be dwarfed
in present company,

she's actually larger than an elephant.

And she won't be held up by these giants,

because nothing can stop
a mother on a mission.

And that mission

is to feed her family…

who are somewhere

down there.

-[hadrosaurs grunting]
-[majestic music continues]

Long ago, their cheek-stuffing ancestors
were scarce and scattered.

[hadrosaurs grunting]

But hadrosaurs are now so successful,
their herds are thousands strong.

The greatest gatherings of dinosaurs
the world has ever known.

But this female's family
isn't traveling with the herd.

There, in the safety of the crèche,

a sprawling nursery
for hundreds of young hadrosaurs…

[hadrosaurs grunting and vocalizing]

…including her own.

[grunts]

[baby hadrosaurs squeaking]

At six months old,
they have insatiable appetites,

and will eat
almost anything she brings them.

Anything.

[grunts]

[huffs]

Feeding in this bird-like way
takes a lot of refills,

so she's constantly leaving
to go find food.

[squeaking continues]

And when moms are away,

little ones will play.

[lighthearted music playing]

[adult hadrosaur roars]

[suspenseful music playing]

With the wingspan of a fighter jet,

pterosaurs are now bigger than ever.

And crèches are
the perfect hunting grounds,

where unguarded nests
are the easiest pickings.

[baby hadrosaurs squeaking]

[suspenseful music continues]

[roars]

Despite the threat
from this towering monster,

the mothers will defend their babies
at all costs.

[mother hadrosaur roars]

[pterosaur roaring]

[all growling and grunting]

But the giant pterosaur
is determined to feed.

[roaring]

-[baby hadrosaurs squeaking]
-[pterosaur continues roaring]

The screams from the nest
are like a dinner bell to the predator.

[baby hadrosaurs continue squeaking]

But the little ones
aren't just crying in fear.

They're calling for help.

-[roars ferociously]
-[triumphant music playing]

[mother hadrosaur roars]

This fierce instinct
to protect their young

is central to
the hadrosaurs' remarkable success.

-[mother hadrosaur grunts gently]
-[babies squawking]

But other dinosaurs
are taking defense to a whole new level

because the arms race
between predator and prey is escalating.

And this will give rise
to the most iconic dinosaurs of all time.

[intriguing music playing]

This will take so long

that the continent
of North America will shift,

the land buckling up into the sky.

The Rocky Mountains.

It's here, in the foothills below,

that the dinosaurs are making an impact.

[dinosaurs grunting]

[Pachycephalosaurus males
grunting aggressively]

[tense music playing]

Pachycephalosaurus.

Using their outrageously thick skulls…

to duel for supremacy.

[aggressive grunting continues]

And alongside them,

a dinosaur
with even more impressive headgear.

[skulls thud]

Triceratops.

[grunts]

She may look like a rhinoceros,

but she's twice the size of one.

And armed with spear-like horns
over one meter in length.

Triceratops and Pachycephalosaurus
have impressive weapons.

Yet there are some here

that are even more armed and dangerous.

[thunder crashing]

[lightning crackling]

Under the cover of darkness,

the latest and greatest
of the armored warriors.

Six meters long and highly territorial.

[grunting lowly]

Ankylosaurus magniventris.

[tense music playing]

He's on patrol for intruders

bold enough to breach his borders.

[growls]

His tank-like torso is covered
in dozens of thick, bony plates.

[grunts]

[grunts again]

And what's more,

he has a powerful new weapon.

A club-like tail, weighing half a ton,

that he can use to take on
whatever st*lks these forests.

[thunder crashing]

-He senses something.
-[grunts]

[growls lowly]

[grunting]

[thunder crashing]

[grunts]

His borders have been breached…

by the worst possible intruder of all.

[low, menacing growling]

[thunder crashing]

A Tyrannosaurus rex.

[growls menacingly]

[Ankylosaurus grunts]

[tense music continues]

[music intensifies]

[Ankylosaurus groans]

[Ankylosaurus groans]

[Ankylosaurus roars]

[roars]

[Ankylosaurus grunting]

[both growing and grunting]

Ankylosaurus

versus T. rex.

[T. rex groans]

[roars]

[Ankylosaurus roars]

An evolutionary stalemate,

millions of years in the making.

[Ankylosaurus roars]

[grunting]

But in this arms race,

there's one thing
that does set these dinosaurs apart.

Intelligence.

[Ankylosaurus groans]

[music fades out]

[insects chittering]

[gentle music playing]

[music darkens]

[T. rex grunting]

T. rex is one of the most
fearsome predators of all time.

And to remain at the top of her game…

[growls]

…she must eat the equivalent
of 200 steaks every day.

[insects buzzing]

And yet, so far,
she hasn't eaten a single bite.

That's because she has special plans
for this take-out meal.

But Ankylosaurus is no light snack.

Six tons of muscle and bone,

with an assortment of lumps and bumps.

Even for T. rex,

it's quite a drag.

[idyllic music playing]

Finally,

her journey's end.

[grunting]

And the reason
she's gone to all this effort.

[baby T. rexes yelping]

Five hungry hatchlings.

[mother T. rex vocalizing gently]

A ferocious k*ller,

yes.

But also,

a devoted mother.

[baby T. rexes yelping]

[flesh tears]

She will ensure

her little ones are well-fed…

to give them the very best start in life.

[all squawking eagerly]

Something their distant ancestors

could only dream of.

Far back in the Triassic,
tiny Marasuchus hatched into hell.

These dinosaurs-in-the-making,

forced to live in the shadows.

[reptile huffs]

Hiding from the ruling reptiles.

-[reptile growls]
-[Marasuchus yelps]

But when fate intervened…

they turned catastrophe

into opportunity…

and began their monumental rise.

[majestic music playing]

Growing bigger, stronger,
and ever more formidable.

[dinosaurs grunting aggressively]

[vocalizing in distress]

In time,

they would triumph, not just on land,

but in the sea

and the sky.

[all squawking]

After 160 million years,

the dinosaurs are now so dominant…

[both growling]

…nothing on Earth can stand in their way.

[roars]

[squawking eagerly]

But something not of this Earth

will.

[foreboding music playing]

Because as this family's journey
is just getting started,

another journey

is approaching its end.

The asteroid, now hurtling towards Earth
at 50 times the speed of sound,

will finally have its date with destiny.

[dramatic music playing]

-[music stops abruptly]
-[waves lapping]

[squawking]

[rumbling]

[asteroid whooshes]

[distant expl*si*n]

[distant rumbling]

It smashes into the ocean
off the coast of Mexico,

with the power of a billion atomic bombs.

Temperatures are hot enough
to vaporize the seabed…

along with every living thing
for hundreds of kilometers.

Far away, in the foothills of the Rockies,

these great dinosaurs
have no idea what's about to hit them.

[earth rumbling]

[grunting in distress]

[sauropods grunting]

The largest earthquakes in history.

[sauropod groans]

But the worst is yet to come.

An enormous wall
of superheated debris explodes outward.

[air rushing forcefully]

[squeaking]

[hadrosaur herd grunting]

The dinosaurs
caught beneath this death cloud

are entombed.

Their world is so hot,
it literally bursts into flames.

[grunting in distress]

[air whooshes]

Even the toughest armor

is no protection.

[grunting in distress]

[dark music playing]

The cloud quickly engulfs
the entire planet,

suffocating it with ash.

Shrouding it in darkness.

[music fades out]

[somber music playing]

[labored breathing]

[calls desperately]

The few still standing
at the end of the day

are in a nightmare.

Choking in the gloom.

[T. rex panting weakly]

By nightfall,

the death toll
for the dinosaurs is catastrophic.

[bleak music playing]

Starved of the sun's rays,

an impact winter descends on the Earth.

Global temperatures drop
by 25 degrees Celsius.

Conditions too cold
for almost any dinosaur to withstand.

[mournful string music playing]

Giant sauropods,

laid to rest

in the cinders of the very trees
that made them so tall.

[wind whistling]

In their crowded colonies,

those who live together,

die together.

Protective mothers
cannot shield their young

from the freezing temperatures.

The punishing cold has also taken its toll

on the most famous dinosaur of all.

[breathing weakly]

The Tyrant King

has fallen.

Even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex

will not survive this.

The reign of the dinosaurs

has finally

come to an end.

-[wind whistling]
-[bleak note playing]

[note fades to silence]

[rhythmic tapping sound]

[cracking]

[intriguing music playing]

But 66 million years later…

the dinosaurs are rising again.

This time,

at our hands.

Today, their fossils stand
as monuments to a lost world.

But more than that,

they are the keys that unlock
the secrets of the dinosaur story.

Our understanding of their lives
is now greater than ever.

From their very first moments,

to their very last.

And the revelation
that on Earth's darkest day,

not all dinosaurs died.

Some were small enough
to find shelter from the apocalypse.

And survive

even to this day.

[epic music playing]

The flying dinosaurs
we now call the birds.

And the clues to their past
are hiding in plain sight.

[eagle screeches]

[chittering]

[vocalizing]

[birds calling]

[dinosaurs grunting]

The remarkable journey
that started 235 million years ago

continues alongside us.

They are the last remaining link…

to a long-lost kingdom

that was

the age

of the dinosaurs.

[epic music continues]

[music fades out]

[closing theme music playing]

[music fades out]