Looks like we could use a topic for discussion here, so let's try this one:

What really happened that night at Penn Stables when Connor disappears and how are the writers going to justify Connor abandoning Artha and Lance?

I know we've already talked about this here and there, but I think there could be more to what happened that night that the writers are keeping from us. We've previously discussed the two cliched rationales for Connor disappearing: the "tough love" cliche where Connor has abandoned Artha to force him to stand on his own two feet, and the amnesia cliche where Connor took a blow to the head in the explosion that night in episode 1 and can't remember who he is and assumed the identity of Mortis. But I've been hoping that they might have something else to add to these to make them a little less cliche. They clearly intend to reveal what happened at some point, so it's kind of fun to try and guess what it all might be.

The explosion at Penn Stables in episode 1 always looked fishy to me which makes me wonder if there's a clue there. Fishy in the sense that I get the feeling the writers are hiding more from us than first meets the eye. In particular, we're never shown who planted the bomb. We're lead to believe it must be Moordryd and the Dragon Eye Crew. But did they? Consider this:

If that's the scenario, then the bomb is apparently supposed to be a diversion while Moordryd and his crew steal Beau, or so we're lead to believe. But Artha hears the crew skulking about and we see all three of them at the door of the stable before the bomb goes off. The whole point of a diversion is to set it off before you go about your dirty business so you can go by unnoticed while everyone else is distracted. So they should have set the bomb off first before heading to the stables. Why didn't they?

Secondly, the bomb goes off on what appears to be the third story of the Penn residence. Why set it off there? There didn't seem to be an easy way for anyone outside to get up that high to plant the bomb without going through the house where they would have been seen by Artha or someone else. A rocket launcher would be conceivable except that all the Dragon Eye crew members are at the stable when it happens. Also, for a diversion to work well, it should be placed farther away from Beau's stable since you want everyone to leave that area and go check out the diversion. As it is, the bomb goes off pretty much right above the court yard outside where Beau is. That's too close for an effective diversion.

Also, the explosion looked like it was going off from inside the house and not as though the bomb was attached to the wall outside.

Finally, bombs aren't Moordryd's style. He'll use benign devices like disrupters flashes and flash sticks, but we never see him use explosives anywhere else. Would Moordryd really risk killing an innocent party like Lance in order to get Beau? That just doesn't seem like Moordryd.

So if Moordryd isn't responsible for the explosion, then who is? I can only think of one other person that might be responsible: Connor.

Connor appears to be driven to desperation by this point in the story. He knows Word is on to him and he just fended off Moordryd's first attempt to steal Beau earlier that evening. The last line of dialog from Connor is "Beau must choose!" We're never shown what he does next (which in itself is suspicious from the point of view of the writers withholding information), but I get the feeling from the dialog that he's about to try something desperate. So here are the possibilities I could think of:

1. Would Connor feel so backed into a corner that he would set off an explosion in the house to create a threatening situation so that hopefully Artha and Beau would both act with the result being that Artha gets chosen? Seems like a huge gamble but maybe Connor feels he needs to wager everything to try and block Word. This is basically the "tough love" scenario but to the nth degree. This fits what we're shown but seems unlikely to me.

2. Or, maybe Connor had another ancient (and potentially dangerous) artifact or device that perhaps could be used defensively against Moordryd and Word but in the process of trying to activate it, it blows up in his face causing the explosion we see. That might explain a lot about why he doesn't want to be seen afterwards. This could also lead into the amnesia scenario.

3. Or, if there are things like bone marks that can hold the spirit of ancient dragons, why not some other type of artifact that can hold the spirit (or memories, if you prefer) of an ancient dragon priest. Perhaps Connor had one holding the spirit/memories of an ancient priest named Mortis and perhaps he risked trying to use it on himself in order to gain insight into who Beau might choose as the Dragon Booster. He might have inadvertently triggered a large energy release from the artifact (the explosion we see) and the spirit of Mortis might have taken him over completely. (Sort of a variation of the amnesia scenario, but with a twist to make it fit the Dragon Booster world a little better so that it's not quite so cliche.)

4. There're also the darker scenarios where Connor was in fact killed in the explosion and Mortis is someone else entirely. But killing off Connor seems way too extreme for a show aimed at kids and so I'd say this is unlikely.

5. Or maybe the explosion is exactly what it seems to be. Maybe Moordryd just sent Cain to do his dirty work and plant the bomb and that's all there is to it. And Connor is now Mortis either due to the previously discussed "tough love" or outright amnesia excuse. This is possible, though I would find it disappointing since it's so cliche.

But just looking at how that sequence played out, I just get the suspicion that they're trying to make us think Moordyrd must be responsible for the explosion and that they're going to try and pull a plot twist on us and have it turn out to be Connor that's responsible for some reason.

Anyway, I think it's fun to guess how they might write their way out of this one. Those are my guesses. Anyone else have any other guesses to share?

That's an interesting thought. I didn't quite think of it being a little suspicious when I watched it... but now that you point it out, sheesh, wish I'd bothered to tape it I'd go back and take a look. You're right the bomb does look like it's going off upstairs and inside.

From your suggestions I'd go with something like number three. Conner was desperate and perhaps did something a bit stupid, causing the explosion. It could also explain why he hasn't told Artha that he's still alive. If he did have some sort of artifact with Mortis's spirit or something in it, and it went into him, even if it didn't take him over completely, perhaps Mortis, not Conner, didn't think it was a good idea to reveal who he was.

Either that or an explosion just added to the excitement, so the writers just stuck one in, which is always a possibility...

Right, it's always possible the writer's stuck the explosion in there just to add drama and create the situation where Artha and Lance are trapped so Artha can show his hero potential by saving Lance while essentially sacrificing himself and then get chosen by Beau when he comes to the rescue, and so on and so forth. I'm hoping they have something better in mind since this is otherwise all too convenient and cliched. And I definitely get the feeling they're leading us down the wrong path so they can pull out a bigger plot twist later on; a bigger twist than just Mortis pulling his mask off and saying "Hi son, remember me?" :P I'd find that a disappointing resolution so I'm really hoping for something more.

Yeah, hope so. That might not go down with Artha too well.

I had an odd thought on the subject a few days ago, Dragons and Humans are supposed to be equal, right? Isn't it possible that not only does Beau have to choose his Dragon Booster, but the Dragon Booster has to choose him as well?

I think Connor knew who was supposed to be the Dragon Booster (giving the amulet to Artha in the first place), and I think Beau chose ages ago, remember he followed Artha around? I think Connor was waiting for Artha to choose, but as long as his world was comfortable and secure, he had no need to.
So it's not just tough love, but a gamble to save the world as well by abandoning his children. He had to keep his distance, if Artha had dad back, he'd rely on him more and more, never finding his full potential, so I think Connor comprimised. He distances himself as father, but stays with them as Mortis.

Or perhaps Word planted the bomb in order to take his "old friend" Connor Penn out of the equation. With Connor gone, and a successful aquisition of Beau by Moordryd, Word would be in possession of the only gold dragon with no other chance of another gold dragonn being bred.

So that would make the explosion a deliberate assassination attempt targeting Connor. I hadn't thought of that scenario. That would explain why it went off on the third floor of the house (perhaps it was Connor's study, say). It would also explain why Connor went into hiding since he wouldn't want Word to know he lived, though it doesn't explain why Connor is keeping it a secret from Artha and Lance, unless the amnesia cliche is also involved.

One thing I'm not sure of is whether or not someone else could breed a gold dragon. Connor was able to do it within his lifetime and he's only supposed to be 47. Let's be generous and say he started the breeding program when he was 12. Since Beau is stated as 16 years old, that means he was able to breed a gold dragon in less than 19 years. Dragons must breed like rabbits in order to produce enough generations to create a gold dragon by selective breeding in only 19 years. This always struck me as a plot hole since it doesn't seem like enough time given how long dragons apparently live (long lived creatures, especially predators, generally don't breed rapidly). But putting that aside, it seems someone else could create a gold dragon for themselves if they wanted to invest 19 years at it (or much less if they can find Beau's parents).

Still, the assassination theory is an interesting idea and it does fit what we've been shown in episode 1 as well as any of my guesses do.

Just a thought here

Maybe Connor and Mortis are twin brothers?

It's certainly possible in that we haven't been shown anything that would rule it out. That's along the lines of #4 above. If they're brothers, where would you say Connor is now? Dead in the explosion?

Connor also had an inside track on breeding dragons. He was trained by Dragon preists and had the benefit of their knowledge during his time he studied in the Dragon Temple. He specialized in Dragon genetics while under their tutalidge. The preists knew the importance of the gold dragon and I'm guessing would have eagerly assisted him in his efforts( he was a star pupil). Penn Stables is situated above, and is connected by an elevator to the old temple, and it would probably be safe to assume that their assistance didn't end when he left the temple. One could argue that this inside knowledge would speed up the selective breeding process, giving him better results over a shorter period of time. If you can call 19 years short. In upcoming episodes, technology will be revealed that is capable of bringing dragons from birth to maturity over a short period of time.

Did I say "birth". I meant hatching.

I can accept that Connor had a head start with the help of the Dragon Priests. It would be even easier to believe that they had already started the breeding program before Connor came along and he simply took it over and with his own skills, completed it. This would seem more logical since the Dragon Priests would have been actively trying to fulfill the prophecy of the return of the gold dragon rather than just waiting for it to happen. In any event, I'd be willing to buy that they had all the necessary information and perhaps had been researching dragon bloodlines to figure out which were the most likely candidates for breeding. That would have saved Connor a lot of time right there.

By the way, where are the other Dragon Priests supposed to have gone? We see four or five of them around when Connor is given the amulet. If they were helping him beyond that point, where are they now?

19 years seemed short to me when compared to how long it takes to create say a new breed of dog. It takes quite some time to get to the point where there's a sufficiently large population of the breed that will breed true and not have recessive traits pop up, while also avoiding all the problems of inbreeding. It takes more than 19 years to perfect a new breed, so that's why I said it seemed short to me.

If there's technology that will speed up the maturity rate of dragons, I have to wonder what the dragons would think of that being used on them. They are supposed to be sentient, right? Personally, I rather enjoyed my childhood (many would say I'm still in it) and I wouldn't be too happy to find out someone used a device on me and cheated me out of it. :) Word certainly wouldn't hesitate to use such a device (which is perhaps what you're implying), but I wouldn't think it would fit Connor's approach to things, especially since he apparently let Beau grow up naturally.

Will this tie back into why Moordryd was trying to steal dragon eggs at the top of "Three Times a Hero"? I was always kind of wondering what they were going to do with eggs, but if Word has this technology then it makes more sense since it would probably be easier to hatch and quickly raise dragons to become wraith dragons (assuming building an army of wraith dragons is the goal here) instead of having to steal adult dragons off the street.

I had a new idea recently to explain the Connor-Mortis thing. It's a fun idea, so I wrote it up as a fan fiction and posted it over there. I just wanted to cross-reference it here since it's logically part of this thread. You can find it here:

It's Time, a story that reveals who Mortis is

Okay, I have a clue from Return of Drakkus Part 1:
Artha gets mad at Mortis and yells, "You can't tell me what to do! You're not my father!"
We see Mortis visibly slump as the Vidd-link is terminated.

Ooo. Really? Clue drop-page!!! :D Plus Mortis angst... I wanna see the ep now.

Yes... I'm evil... :ph43r:

Well, this thread is over. Apparently in RoD part 2, we find out that Mortis is Conner.

Now we have to find out what realloy happens In Penn Stables and how Connor ended posing as Mrotis

Well, I guess memory-loss is out of the question, seeing as he seems aware that he IS their father.

In "The Return of Drakkus, Part I", Artha makes it clear to Mortis that he is sick and tired of being told what to do. He's fed up with waiting and demands Mortis for the answers.

"You can't tell me what to do! You're not my father!" only proves that there is indeed some hidden connection between Connor and Mortis.

This revelation is happening sooner than I thought it would. I thought this would happen closer to the climax. Looks like all the fun theorizing is at an end. :mellow: Oh, well. It had to end sometime.

I'm wondering now if Mortis is Connor's real name, or if Mortis could be His middle name.

I can't remember the name of the episode, but i can remeber word saying something about his old friend Mortis. Has Word ever mentioned Connor?

It says on the official site that Jacksun is Connor's real name.

In "Broken Bonds" Word says something like, "I see my old friend Mortis has been busy..."

In the first he tells Moordryd something along the lines of, "Tell my old friend Connor Penn I said hello."

Word has a lot of old friends, doesn't he? :P

Maybe Mortis was the name of one of the priests that gave him the amulet.

I guess that this isn't happned not yet any way. Do you remember that in StarWars 2 Darth Vader said "I'm your father????"

I guess that the war will come and then the true final.


I guess that we will have some DB for a While

At first I was thinking, how would Word know Mortis in the first place? Since we've just known him as the Dragon Priest who is training Artha. But then I think I remember reading somewhere that Word was also raised by the Dragon Priests too, but had left...so Mortis would have to be an acctual person before, right, if he called him an old friend. So is this the Mortis he knows, or is it Connor pretending to be Mortis or....ah! Headache... LOL

Yeah, that was kind of a surprise in "Broken Bonds" that Word knew of Mortis. Especially since Mortis never seems to get out of the Dragon Temple. Apparently, it means that Mortis has been getting in Word's way and upsetting his plans since before episode 1. That seems to imply that if Connor is Mortis, then he's been putting on the Mortis outfit for quite some time.

Abandonn ate them all. How else did he get so big?

We may as well abandon hope of Mortis being revealed as not!Connor. On the website, it says their draconium influences are the same, except blue instead of brown in Mortis' case. And vice versa.

Insert Star Wars ref here!

Mortis: Artha...I am your father.
Artha: No, it can't be!
Mortis!Connor. Yes, it is. Now go clean your room.

Connor Penn is really Mortis?? That is pretty shocking. I never thought that could be possible at all but if thats the case...

I think the reason that Connor took up the name "Mortis" was to hide his true identidy from those who could harm him although Word Paynn saw right through this disguise by referring to Mortis as "my old friend". One Question: Connor seemed to know already that Artha was the DragonBooster when he was in "Mortis" mode. How is that possible??

The only possibility is that Connor/Mortis must have observed Beau choosing Artha from somewhere out of view. I'm hoping that when Mortis reveals himself, they'll go back and recount what happened that night to fill in all the missing pieces.

If the bomb had not gone off, Beau would have remained in deep sleep, and that would allow the Dragon Eyes to steal him closer to his sleeping position.

I don't think so. I think that Connor told Beau at some point that when he had chosen the Dragon Booster, Beau was to bring him into the Dragon Temple. Connor must have shown Beau how to get into the Dragon Temple (how else would Beau have known?), and revealed that he would be disguised as Mortis. That must have been why Beau wasn't worried or defensive when we first meet Mortis in the Dragon Temple.

I agree with you, Arthapenn, to an extent, in that Beau would've remained asleep longer if the bomb hadn't gone off. But he might've also been awakened by the door to his stall opening, since, I believe that's the point at which he opened his eyes. Wait a minute, wasn't Beau asleep when Moordryd tried to steal him solo? Yes, I think so. Would you go back to sleep if someone had tried to steal you and said, "This isn't over! You don't know what you just started!" right before he left? Acutally, I just looked at the ep on Youtube and I think Beau did try to go back to sleep. So, you're right, Arthapenn, the bomb did wake him up.

And another thing: when we see the Dragon Eyes all gathered at Beau's stall door, they seem like they're trying to tug it open. Why would they do that if all Morrdryd had to do was push a pannel with his blocking staff? Maybe Connor installed a better lock/security system.