This episode is based on the one of idea upon which the entire Ancient Alien Theory (AAT) sits: that the mythology of human cultures is an accurate historical record and that mythological characters are historical figures.

The show begins with a discussion of how the gods of Hinduism, including Shiva, are perceived by believers, which is as physical, tangible beings, at least historically.  They are specifically said to have come from the sky; the texts describe cities in the sky and small crafts coming from the cities to bring teachers to the ancient peoples of India.  They are also described as using technology, instead of acting in an omnipotent way, to enact their desires.  This is one of the major points of AAT, that what is described in mythology as magical or miraculous is actually misunderstood technology.  There is also the idea that the various mythologies and religions across the world are derivations of interactions with the same alien “gods,” simply interpreted differently.  This leads to the next segment of the show, a discussion of the flood myth as it relates to Shiva and Hinduism.

Shiva is indicated as having a central element to the flood myth.  As the god of both creation and destruction, Shiva not only destroyed humanity, but also was responsible for its recreation.  After a brief suggestion that Shiva destroyed one group of humans in order to establish a different breed of human on Earth, this idea is mostly left behind in order to move into a discussion of a temple complex at Ellora Caves.

The Kailasa Temple is central to this portion of their argument, in that it is an architectural marvel.  As is usual with the AATs, they claim that it would have been impossible to build this without modern technology, and they exaggerate numbers in order to support their claim.  The show explains (truthfully) that archeologists believe that the temple was built from the top down: it was carved out of the base of the mountain at which it sits, and that it was completed in approximately eighteen years.  The voiceover then claims that this would have involved the removal of 400,000 tons of rock, which a quick Google search indicates is simply not true. Most researchers believe that it was closer to 150,000 to 200,000 tons.  Still a massive amount of stone removal, but not the amount the show claims.  That Google search also indicates that, yes, the initial carving was done in eighteen years, but that was only one of the buildings, not the entire complex.  The rest was done over the course of the next century.  Rather than explain this reality, the show suggests that the building was done with some kind of technology that vaporizes rock.  Having made this ridiculous claim, they then suggest that the complex was built not from above, but from below.  There is a series of tunnels beneath the complex, some of which open to the surface and are blocked off by the modern agency that oversees the temple.  While the reason they exist is not clear, the reason for them being blocked off is: so that people don’t go into them and get hurt or killed.  David Childress then makes a suggestion that has to be one of the most impossible I’ve heard on the show: he asks if it’s possible that the ancient people went into those tunnels to escape the flood, then they built the temple from below as they were tunneling out afterwards.  Think about that for a minute, and know that these are stone tunnels, they are not lined with metal or plastic or anything else that might act to keep water out.  He suggested that people went underground to avoid water and survived.

In a more possible, but still unlikely, scenario, the tunnels are suggested to be the location of secret alien meetings.  This is “supported” by a book, Ghost Land, published in 1876.  The text is reported to be the autobiographical experience of a man named Chevalier Louis de B and is edited by famed spiritualist Emma Hardinge Britten.   In it is described a chamber with seven thrones that can rise into the air and move around, with a central figure who seems to fade in and out of existence as it was talking to the Chevalier.  This is another piece of information that is simply presented to the viewer and not further discussed, as if its mere existence were sufficient to make the point.

Next, the show moves to a discussion of the Agastya Samhita, a text found in 1924 that is reported to be approximately 4,000 years old.  In this text, there are instructions on how to make a basic battery.  This is reminiscent of the Baghdad Battery, the purpose of which is still unknown (assuming it was intended to be a battery at all), but it has been supposed that it was used to electroplate small objects.  The producers seem to have needed to fill a few minutes, because after discussing this, they show Childress working with Dr. Michael Dennin, physicist at University of California, Irvine, putting together the battery according to the instructions. They find that it does indeed work, to produce one volt of electricity.  What is astonishing is that Dr. Dennin suggests that with the right equipment, one could produce the amount of energy needed to raise up those chairs as mentioned in the previous paragraph.  Now, I know virtually nothing about electricity (so, feel free to email to correct me if I’m wrong), but I’m fairly sure that one volt isn’t even sufficient to charge my cell phone, much less create a hovering chair.

Another connection between Shiva and energy is discussed with the Shiva Lingams, stone icons that are roughly cylindrical and set into a bowl so that offerings can be poured over them.  They are generally believed to be phallic fertility symbols, but the AATs suggest that, because they bear a passing resemblance to a nuclear reactor, they may be representative of that.

The last segment of the show is a protracted discussion of Mt. Kailash, believed to be the home of Shiva.  The mountain is pyramid-shaped, which has led some researchers to suggest that the top part of it is man (alien)-made.  While that would normally be a simple matter to study, the mountain is in Chinese territory and off-limits to visitors.  People who have been in proximity to it, including a Russian scientist, Dr. Ernst Muldashev, believe it to be radiating some kind of power.  It is also a UFO sighting hotspot.  The AATs suggest that it may be radioactive, basing this on a manuscript diagram of the mountain in which it looks like a nuclear reactor.

The show ends with an idea that essentially undermines the previous hour of television (if not the entire eleven seasons of the show): it is suggested that Shiva is not actually a being at all, but a representation of energy and/or some great cataclysm in the past.  Earlier in the show, Tsoukalos suggests that not only was Shiva a real, historical, person but that he may actually be the gods of other cultures in a different form; then, at the end, he suggests that Shiva may be a representation and not a real person.  It can’t be both, and the reality of these entities is a necessary prerequisite of the Ancient Alien Theory.