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The last passage of the 12th Planet is best remembered as the time of the Jewish exodus from Egypt, but what is not well known is the reason for the exodus. Slaves do not just walk away from their masters, and in particular a large group of slaves, old women and children among them, do not get miles away from their masters in a desert area where lookouts can see for miles. The institution of slavery is maintained by cruelty and punishment, and slaves attempting to escape are punished in a manner that will serve as a lesson to others contemplating such an escape attempt. Hands and feet are chopped off when the slave wanders or reaches where they are not to go, eyes poked out when the slave looks when they were supposed to drop their eyes, and tongues cut out when the speech of the slave is considered too bold.
Thus, the Jewish exodus did not occur because this large group just decided to take a stroll one day, anticipating nothing worse than a whipping as the comeuppance should they be discovered. The exodus occurred because their masters were devastated and distracted by problems so severe as to take their minds entirely off their slaves. Would this have been a flooded Nile or a plague of locusts or even celebration where all got drunk? Nothing in the normal course of Egyptian society would have created a situation where the Jews could have left, en mass, or even a situation where they all would have had the courage to leave. They left because the passage of the 12th Planet imposed first a long night and then horrendous earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in nearby volcanoes.
Chaos reigned, the very type of chaos that governments throughout the world fear lies in their near future. Guards left their posts, and household servants stole from their masters and crept away in the seemingly never-ending night. The rulers held their heads in worry and discussed among themselves how they might placate the gods. The military elite, used to utter control and tolerating no challenges to their orders, react to chaos by trying to re-establish order. Hysterical troops, unable to comprehend what was happening to them, were in no mood to placate their superiors, and thus the military was engaged with internal battles for some time. It was not until the rotation of the Earth was re-established that the Egyptian rulers and their military leaders were able to regain control of the troops. By that time, as history well tells, the Jewish exodus was a success!