Title: Thematic Elements, Mythology And Metaphysics
Description: Answers from the Creators of DB
The Furox - May 5, 2009 08:08 AM (GMT)
Thematic Elements, Mythology and MetaphysicsInformation from The Magna Draconis
This thread contains the responses from the creators of the show to our questions pertaining to the general category of Thematic Elements, Mythology and Metaphysics in the Dragon Booster world. It is also for follow-up discussion of those responses. Please keep follow-up discussion on-topic relative the original questions and responses (for example, speculating on what the answers mean in broader context is fine). If you wish to have a discussion about the show that is different from the Q&A shown here, then please start a new topic in one of the other forums.
Click here for a Master Index of all Q&A from the creators of the show.=====================================================
| QUOTE (IbanezJFS @ New York) |
| In the episode "Framed", how did Beau transform into a Sky class Dragon? Did Artha and Chute just happen to find cans of white paint laying around? And does Chute know that's still Beau at that point? It appears that Parm tries to stop Lance from saying it's Beau, like Chute isn't supposed to know it's still Artha's dragon, but if she didn't see him change, then where was she and what does she think happened to Artha's red and blue dragon? Can you clarify what happened off-camera here since it's not clear what Chute saw and knows here. |
Like every other transformation in the show, Beau's powers come from the malleable abilities of gold draconium, which is the pure form of draconium on the planet, that was split through breeding into all the other colors and energies. This is why, when Artha gets or understands certain new concepts or solves new challenges based on some blending of another philosophy (such as the dragons controlling the humans as in the orange Prophets in "Track of Doom" and the fusing of Artha and beau as an elevated lesson from that in their heroic battle), he and Beau can find a transformative power that blends any conflict into an act of Dragon Booster power. This is why Beau could transform into a sky class dragon in "Framed"; the events and heroism involved (the plan to clear Artha and Phistus), brought out the sky class light blue draconium powers of the dragon of legend. Great question!
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| QUOTE (The Furox @ San Francisco) |
| In act 3 of "Track of Doom", Beau appeared to merge with Artha for a brief time. This is fairly extraordinary and was never explained in the show. Could you elaborate on what happened there? Did their bodies actually merge and become something akin to Siamese twins, or would you describe it as something else? It appears Beau gained more energy by doing this, is that correct? If so, is there a reason he doesn't routinely merge with Artha? Is this a common thing for gold dragons to do? Also, Beau's head changed shape. Is this a indication of what Beau's evolved form will eventually look like? I've always wondered about this scene. Thanks! |
Great question Furox. As you saw above, I mentioned this very moment in another answer. Their bodies actually did merge, as both a symbol and metaphor for the inseparable nature of dragons and humans in Dragon City. Remember, the story is a also a grand metaphor for the conflict of philosophies that take place inside us and between us and that any bridging of that gap, that leads to greater understanding, creates moments of interpersonal or group magic. In terms of Beau's evolution, this is simply the outward manifestation or shape of this level of understanding; in this case, realizing that the enslaving humans philosophy of the Prophets hides a greater secret, the free teaming of them instead. The Dragon Booster transformations are specific to situations and decisions - it's a fundamental part of the series, that these are ALL moments of alchemy, not re-usable superpowers. The point is that we are all heroes, not becuse we do the same acts of heroism over and over, but that we open up to challenging situations and make the best possible choices in them.
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| QUOTE (J`Rin Tekaar in Cape Breton) |
| How does a full suit of battle armour form from only a wrist gauntlet and a pendant key? |
Fabulous question J-Rin Tekaar. Draconium is an energy and like energy in our world, it's the building block for everything. Again, like some of my other answers above, Beau lends his gold draconium energy to the one to form the armor and in some rare instances of real heroism "The Stand", Artha with the gold in the gauntlet, can pull enough gold from the environment or Beau from a distance, to create the entire suit. Hope that helps!
Skulderian - May 5, 2009 08:57 PM (GMT)
Well, looking over most of the answers, seems my disclaimer on my fanfics of 'possible' anti canon data be switched to 'lots of' anti canon data. However, this doesn't mean i'm going to stop writing them.
arrow - May 5, 2009 09:30 PM (GMT)
hmm, that very interesting.
i still want to see artha and beau merge again
Arthapenn - May 5, 2009 11:53 PM (GMT)
Thank you, Rob. I did not expect a new submenu for the answers. I agree with Arrow. I would like to see Beau and Artha merge again, now that I know they actually merge.
The Furox - May 6, 2009 04:30 AM (GMT)
So I thought these were some really cool answers we got here. These go beyond any of the categories I previously created since they address underlying thematic elements as opposed to plot points and things like character and gear info. So that's why we get a new topic, plus I'm hoping we'll have more Q&A along these lines in the future.
If you go back and read my now very old comments on "Track of Doom", you'll note that I was wondering whether Beau and Artha actually merged bodies or if Beau just temporarily pulled the DB suit under his skin in order to tap its energy or something. So now we know they actually merged which is a pretty significant. As I said back then, Beau really was taking Mortis' advice to the kids about becoming one with their dragons in an extremely literal sense!
So if humans and dragons can merge like that, it means their biology has got to very close. That's pretty cool right there and it reinforces one of the themes of the show where humans and dragons are two parts of the whole. It also explains a lot about why humans and dragons like to hang out with each other so much. They may all feel a deep connection with one another.
And I wonder what Artha felt when he was merged with Beau? What would an experience like that be like? And anytime you have a two headed being, there's always the question of which head controls the body. :) It did seem like Beau was still in the driver's seat and Artha was just along for the ride, but you have to wonder if Artha had any control of the overall body.
Overall, the whole merging thing is a pretty cool revelation.
The other part about these being sort of one time power-ups as opposed to reusable superpowers is also pretty significant. That's an interesting element to the metaphysics of that world since you don't retain a power indefinitely. You basically have to keep striving to cross the next threshold which will certain keep the characters from being slackers. :D
The other thought I had here was that these elements of the story don't quite come across as strongly as they should, especially since these answers weren't obviously even after carefully watching all three seasons worth of the episodes. These seem to be pretty important points and I think they probably should have been more apparent to the serious viewers. Of course, I'm not exactly sure how to accomplish that in the script since having a character state it in dialog would be way too blatant and would trivialize it. Still, I have to wonder if there's a way to get information like this across to the viewer.
Anyway, cool answers huh. :D
Liliwen - May 6, 2009 05:32 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (The Furox @ May 5 2009, 04:08 AM) |
| QUOTE (J`Rin Tekaar in Cape Breton) | | How does a full suit of battle armour form from only a wrist gauntlet and a pendant key? |
Fabulous question J-Rin Tekaar. Draconium is an energy and like energy in our world, it's the building block for everything. Again, like some of my other answers above, Beau lends his gold draconium energy to the one to form the armor and in some rare instances of real heroism "The Stand", Artha with the gold in the gauntlet, can pull enough gold from the environment or Beau from a distance, to create the entire suit. Hope that helps!
|
So in order to create the suit, Artha needs Beau's gold draconium energy and possibly gold draconium from his surroundings? So if Artha was far from Beau, in a place without much if any gold draconium, would he be unable to become Dragon Booster?
| QUOTE |
| The other part about these being sort of one time power-ups as opposed to reusable superpowers is also pretty significant. That's an interesting element to the metaphysics of that world since you don't retain a power indefinitely. You basically have to keep striving to cross the next threshold which will certain keep the characters from being slackers. :D |
I'm glad it's not pernament abilities, otherwise everything would be too easy for them and boring for us. ^_^ So was that Earth-dragon form Beau changed into in Misjudged a one time power-up as well? Neat. :D
| QUOTE |
| This is why Beau could transform into a sky class dragon in "Framed"; the events and heroism involved (the plan to clear Artha and Phistus), brought out the sky class light blue draconium powers of the dragon of legend. Great question! |
So...either Chute saw Beau change and knows he be the DoL, or she was looking the other way when Beau did it, and when she looked back Artha made the excuse that he had found paint lying around? I'm guessing that Chute saw Beau change, but you think she realizes what that meant?
arrow - May 7, 2009 12:25 AM (GMT)
chute, being in the academy, probably learned that dragons could change their colour some how. so in my opinion, she probably told artha how to do it.
i've always thought it like that.
| QUOTE |
| And I wonder what Artha felt when he was merged with Beau? What would an experience like that be like? And anytime you have a two headed being, there's always the question of which head controls the body. :) It did seem like Beau was still in the driver's seat and Artha was just along for the ride, but you have to wonder if Artha had any control of the overall body |
i'd say that it'd feel pretty awsome :D
i'd think that beau would have control, and artha would just be along for the ride
The Furox - May 7, 2009 08:51 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Liliwen @ May 6 2009, 09:32 AM) |
| So in order to create the suit, Artha needs Beau's gold draconium energy and possibly gold draconium from his surroundings? So if Artha was far from Beau, in a place without much if any gold draconium, would he be unable to become Dragon Booster? |
So it would seem, though we don't know the average distribution of gold draconium in the environment. Perhaps like dust there's enough little bits of gold draconium scattered around everywhere so that unless Artha was in space, he'd be able to have enough around him if he really needed it. I don't know. Just speculating. :)
But more importantly, this confirms that the formation of the suit is an energy to matter conversion. This is a serious nuclear reaction! We're talking E=mc2 here which means it takes one heck of a lot of energy to make just a teensy little bit of matter. And the technology to do all this without leaking any radiation is all contained in the amulet and gauntlet. That's pretty radical technology when you think about it. But I guess as Arthur C. Clark once said, "The technology of a sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from magic." ^_^
| QUOTE |
| So was that Earth-dragon form Beau changed into in Misjudged a one time power-up as well? Neat. :D |
Maybe. I'm having a lot of trouble distinguishing Beau's standard set of superpowers from his one time power-ups. :) For example, his wings are clearly a multi-use option, and he's used his mag shield more than once as well.
| QUOTE |
| So...either Chute saw Beau change and knows he be the DoL, or she was looking the other way when Beau did it, and when she looked back Artha made the excuse that he had found paint lying around? I'm guessing that Chute saw Beau change, but you think she realizes what that meant? |
Yeah, I still don't know what Chute is supposed to have seen or not. I guess one of us needs to ask that question point blank some time. :D
Red Dragon - May 8, 2009 06:49 PM (GMT)
I liked it when Artha made fun about the armour just being an 'arm band', then Beau hit him over the head with his tail.
Makes you wonder if Beau new exactually what it was and to what powers it holds.
The Beau changing thing is really quite interesting, problem is, just what would they be capable of being if it was a life or death situation, just what would they change into :plot: hmm, more questions..
I also wonder how the wing power-up works ??
Is it the same also with Artha and his suit, like when he also sprouted wings from his armour, could he also use that at any time too?
Liliwen - May 8, 2009 07:05 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
I also wonder how the wing power-up works ??
Is it the same also with Artha and his suit, like when he also sprouted wings from his armour, could he also use that at any time too? |
I'd say yes. Both Beau and Artha have used their flying abilities in more than one episode, and it seems to me that it's not a spur of the moment thing. They know they can do it at any time they want.
I think Beau's wings are like a power-up, in the sense that he needs to use his gold draconium influence in order to get them, which is why he can only do it in DoL form. And since he is gold, the circumstances that call for a gold power-up, eg, like heroism brought out the sky-class colours, is something he always has so he can do it whenever.
| QUOTE |
| brought out the sky class light blue draconium powers of the dragon of legend. Great question! |
I thought Sky-classes were white draconium, not light blue.
Skulderian - May 8, 2009 07:21 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| I thought Sky-classes were white draconium, not light blue. |
Guess even rob has trouble keeping things straight from time to time. :P