Dr. Regis Blackgaard

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Tea Ess
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Dr. Regis Blackgaard

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Dr. Blackgaard is one of Adventures in Odyssey's finest characters. Allegedly, he perished in an explosion underneath Whit's End. Many writers have confirmed his death, but I must doubt their claims. There are too many questions, too much mystery, and a distinct possibility that Blackgaard could still be alive and well. In the Blackgaard Saga, there are many circumstances and pieces of information which support my speculations. For example, Dr. Blackgaard was supposed to have been infected by the infamous Ruku virus. However, Blackgaard never worked in close proximity of the virus, he was only near it when he was injected with the vitamin complex. Even if he had been exposed to it, he should have died much sooner, instead of carrying it for months before finally experiencing symptoms. Could it be possible that Dr. Blackgaard was using a double bluff? After all, he was well experienced with child psychology. He could have used the virus excuse to deceive Jack, and then made his escape after the explosion. If the police believed he would have died on way or another, they would never come searching for him. Is it possible that Blackgaard used the explosion as a desperate last plan? If you agree or disagree with my speculations, please indicate so below.
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T.S. (myself) wrote:Dr. Blackgaard is one of Adventures in Odyssey's finest characters. Allegedly, he perished in an explosion underneath Whit's End. Many writers have confirmed his death, but I must doubt their claims. There are too many questions, too much mystery, and a distinct possibility that Blackgaard could still be alive and well. In the Blackgaard Saga, there are many circumstances and pieces of information which support my speculations. For example, Dr. Blackgaard was supposed to have been infected by the infamous Ruku virus. However, Blackgaard never worked in close proximity of the virus, he was only near it when he was injected with the vitamin complex. Even if he had been exposed to it, he should have died much sooner, instead of carrying it for months before finally experiencing symptoms. Could it be possible that Dr. Blackgaard was using a double bluff? After all, he was well experienced with child psychology. He could have used the virus excuse to deceive Jack, and then made his escape after the explosion. If the police believed he would have died on way or another, they would never come searching for him. Is it possible that Blackgaard used the explosion as a desperate last plan? If you agree or disagree with my speculations, please indicate so below.

Interesting theory, but I think Dr. Blackgaard has supposedly died and come back too many times.
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First and foremost, thank you for your post! You have a valid point.

True, but what fun is there in simply admitting that Dr. Blackgaard is dead and moving on to the next evil mastermind? I prefer the limitless game of speculation, as it is infinitely more entertaining to debate and imagine than to concur and advance. As for Dr. Blackgaard playing the proverbial possum, you are absolutely correct. Including the climax of I Slap Floor, and the possibility of Dr. Blackgaard escaping in Darkness Before Dawn, he would have cheated death four times. A bit redundant, but a unique way to bring character to a person. Now, if I am to continue my game, I must refute your post.

In album 5, Dr. Blackgaard had no clue as to Richard's plot. His escape was not planned, merely exacted in terror. Even Mr. Whittaker confirms that Blackgaard made it out of his burning establishment.

In Name Not a Number, it is almost immediately revealed that Dr. Regis Blackgaard purposefully planned his death and escape. There is little suspense regarding this after the episode.

In I Slap Floor, he really didn't die, he only appeared. Thus, we may discount this as a faked death, along with whatever else Bernard deceived us with.

Finally, this leaves Blackgaard's alleged death in album 25, and the possibility he may remain living, for which I am currently fighting.

Therefor, it may be assumed that Dr. Blackgaard really planned and stratigized a death once, and that we were left hanging with suspension once.

Please do not assume that I am hampering for a character's return, I merely seek to recognize the potential that Blackgaard may still live. Thank you for your opinion!


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The writers have stated in a few interviews that he is definitelly dead, and is never coming back. I'm pretty sure that settles it.
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Aaron Wiley wrote:The writers have stated in a few interviews that he is definitelly dead, and is never coming back. I'm pretty sure that settles it.

I totally AGREE with you!
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For the writers, he is dead. Period. But for me, he is still alive. They never found his body...

But I guess Odyssey wouldn't tell all the kids, "We found his body!"
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It is an interesting speculation. But the thing is with the ruku, virus' do take a while to effect the body. So it really isn't unnatural for it to have taken months for it to effect him. Second it is likely that he had contact with it in between the time of Name not a number and DBD since the episodes don't follow his leave of absence.

I do agree that Blackgaard could be around somewhere behind the scenes laughing at the evil that enters Odyssey. And eating fig bars in a RV somewhere in the mountains where he can see it all.
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Granted, the writers said that, BUT Doctor Blackgaard is more powerful than the writers at Focus! :twisted: How do you think Jack got out of the tunnel when the bomb went off? There are only two choices: 1) Doctor Blackgaard had a very rare moment of compassion, and since Jack showed kindness toward Blackgaard, Blackgaard got Jack's unconscious body out of the tunnel before running away to live as a mop salesman in Timbuktu, or 2) magical wood sprites that had been trapped in the tunnel for the last two centuries escaped and helped Jack out of the tunnel. Really, which one do you think it is?
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The Old Judge wrote:Granted, the writers said that, BUT Doctor Blackgaard is more powerful than the writers at Focus! :twisted: How do you think Jack got out of the tunnel when the bomb went off? There are only two choices: 1) Doctor Blackgaard had a very rare moment of compassion, and since Jack showed kindness toward Blackgaard, Blackgaard got Jack's unconscious body out of the tunnel before running away to live as a mop salesman in Timbuktu, or 2) magical wood sprites that had been trapped in the tunnel for the last two centuries escaped and helped Jack out of the tunnel. Really, which one do you think it is?

Ummm....2) no just joking. 1) makes much more sense.
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Yes, he is dead. The writers said that he had to die because good had to ultimately win.
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Godsgirl6153 wrote:Yes, he is dead. The writers said that he had to die because good had to ultimately win.
Yes the writers have said that. But, the power of imagination is more powerful than the writers. ;)
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There are many interesting views being expressed. Thank you for your consideration. I thought it may be helpful to discuss point number three:The fact that Dr. Regis Blackgaard was a mastermind. It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish the description mastermind from its sister word, genius.

Genius typically refers to an academic level or capability, as used to describe Eugene, or Emily in the distasteful episode, Emily the Genius.

Mastermind describes a methodical, meticulous person who exacts their plans to perfection, often by using ingeniuity?. Therefore, genius is often used by a mastermind as a tool. Now, while we are discussing masterminds, I would like to point out a couple of interesting things in this episode. Are we supposed to believe that Dr. Blackaard simply misaligned the dynamite? He is a mastermind! Every piece of his plot in place! Every detail overseen! Every speck of dust accounted for! And we are supposed to accept that he elaborated a plan over years, and then when he was so close, mislay a crucial part of his plot? I believe I am not alone in saying: Not buying it! I believe, that with malicious foresight and intent, Dr. Blackgaard used the tunnel as an emergency, last ditch escape, which he would use. There are four main ideas he could have had when he developed this escape.

One, he really was trying to extinguish the last grains of TA418

Two, he attempted to bring down Whit's End.

Three, he released the wood fairies to wreak havoc on the world after saving Jack.

And number four, he used the tunnel to cover all traces of his escape.

I really do not think that 1 is plausible. Can you imagine Blackgaard saying to himself "ah well, I have exacted my plan with malicious foresight and perfection. I have mined the tunnel of all the mineral except for five grains, which got stuck behind a beam. I am very distraught over those five grains, though. Could Whittaker construct an amazing super weapon with them? I know, I will use the most noisy and police attracting way to get rid of them: dynamite! Dr. Blackgaard has more brains than that. Besides, TA418 is a catalyst, meaning that it either speeds up a reaction or makes one possible. In addition to this, a catylast is never used up, it always comes through a reaction without being changed. An explosion is classified as a reaction. Therefore, if TA418 is a catylast, it will come through the explosion inert. Thus, at the worst, the explosion would have merely buried the mineral, not destroyed it. Of Blackgaard was that worried about Mr. Whittaker getting the mineral, shouln't he have just taken the last five grains behind the beam instead of using the most complicated way to bury them? As a side note, if the dynimate couln't collapse a century old tunnel that had just been stripped of its content, it couldn't have been much dynimate. Perhaps Blackgaard had another purpose in mind?

On to point number two. If Blackgaard had intended instead to ruin the foundations of Whit's End, he would have approached the situation differently. For example, instead of including a mere stick of dynimatein an outer tunnel, he would have put an entire crate of explosive right in the basement. Or, Blackgaard could have waited until he was in control, and wiped the entire town of Odyssey off the map (fortunate for us that he didn't).

I cannot prove or disprove point number three, interesting as it is. Maybe Blackgaard's mother was still struggling with her hip, and he wanted to cheer her up with a wood fairy! ;)

That leaves point number four, the most possible and plausible explanation. Blackgaard wanted an emergency plan, he set up the dynimate in the wrong place, carried jack out headed in the woods, climbed a rope ladder into a helicopter, and landed in a far of city. There are a couple of quotes I remember which confirm my theory. "Fools, catch me in the tunnel if you dare." Blackgaard realized the escape route he had planned and used it as such. "Oh no, dear jack, I still hold the queen." Blackgaard had obviously planned it this way if he knew the tunnel was such a great weapon. A queen, as you know, is the most powerful and influential piece on a chess board. Blackgaard must have had high esteem of his weapon to talk of it as such. Now, we come to Jack. Blackgaard had no compassion for any, besides his mother and brother, who he lent money to and let go. Now, Jack could have been a long lost cousin, but this seems unlikely. Is it possible Jacks presence interfered with his plot? Blackgaard attempted to scare Jack off, but jack refused to leave without him. Perhaps Blackgaard had something else hidden in the tunnel that Jack should not see. Here is a revised version of the episode on my next post. Oh, and Jason, I realize that a virus can take years to emerge. Some can survive decades attached to cells before they take control. However, Ruku is not a typical virus. Blackgaard faked his death (name not a number) using the virus. He died in about 30 seconds. Even mustafa is not that devoid of intelligence. Blackgaard's death was a realistic death. We may assume that the Ruku virus is fast acting. It is unlikely that the fasted existing virus could be one of the slowest to emerge. Thank you for your opinion. It is true in application to reality, but this is odyssey, where nitrogen exists at 4 percent! ;)
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Aaron Wiley wrote:The writers have stated in a few interviews that he is definitelly dead, and is never coming back. I'm pretty sure that settles it.

Have any of the writers from AiO ever made a goof? The Official Guide has around 50 of them. When we assume that only the most entertaining ones made it into the book, that makes anywhere from 150 to 300 goofs in total. The writers intended the series at the 25th album. They are currently making the 56th. They do reverse decisions. I never said that Dr. Blackgaard should be alive and should return, only that he could be alive.


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T.S. (myself) wrote:Oh, and Jason, I realize that a virus can take years to emerge. Some can survive decades attached to cells before they take control. However, Ruku is not a typical virus. Blackgaard faked his death (name not a number) using the virus. He died in about 30 seconds. Even mustafa is not that devoid of intelligence. Blackgaard's death was a realistic death. We may assume that the Ruku virus is fast acting. It is unlikely that the fasted existing virus could be one of the slowest to emerge. Thank you for your opinion. It is true in application to reality, but this is odyssey, where nitrogen exists at 4 percent! ;)
True, but at the same time in A Name Not a Number, it wasn't the actual virus that "killed" Blackgaard' it was a vitamin thing so it can be said that that worked quicker than the actual virus.

I think your theories are very interesting.
T.S. (myself) wrote: Have any of the writers from AiO ever made a goof? The Official Guide has around 50 of them. When we assume that only the most entertaining ones made it into the book, that makes anywhere from 150 to 300 goofs. The writers intended the series at the 25th album. They are currently making the 26th. They do reverse decisions. I never said that Dr. Blackgaard should be alive and return, only that he could be alive.
T.S. (myself)
In the minds of fans it is very possible for Blackgaard to live on. (The writers can't hold back ones imagination) But as it is in the show Blackgaard is truly dead. In the episode Blackgaard's Revenge it kind of enforces this. Blackgaard knew he wouldn't live long either because of his explosion plan or the virus. Even if Blackgaard had made it out of the tunnel alive, the virus would have killed him, and he "didn't want that kind of death."Therefore he planted his program in the IS in an effort to make it so he could live again but it failed. so with that I really think that Blackgaard is "really and truly dead".
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T.S. (myself) wrote:
Aaron Wiley wrote:The writers have stated in a few interviews that he is definitelly dead, and is never coming back. I'm pretty sure that settles it.

Have any of the writers from AiO ever made a goof? The Official Guide has around 50 of them. When we assume that only the most entertaining ones made it into the book, that makes anywhere from 150 to 300 goofs. The writers intended the series at the 25th album. They are currently making the 26th. They do reverse decisions. I never said that Dr. Blackgaard should be alive and return, only that he could be alive.


T.S. (myself)
I suppose, especially since they DID end up bringing Mitch back, even if only for one episode.
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He, is, dead.
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Jason wrote:
T.S. (myself) wrote:Oh, and Jason, I realize that a virus can take years to emerge. Some can survive decades attached to cells before they take control. However, Ruku is not a typical virus. Blackgaard faked his death (name not a number) using the virus. He died in about 30 seconds. Even mustafa is not that devoid of intelligence. Blackgaard's death was a realistic death. We may assume that the Ruku virus is fast acting. It is unlikely that the fasted existing virus could be one of the slowest to emerge. Thank you for your opinion. It is true in application to reality, but this is odyssey, where nitrogen exists at 4 percent! ;)
True, but at the same time in A Name Not a Number, it wasn't the actual virus that "killed" Blackgaard' it was a vitamin thing so it can be said that that worked quicker than the actual virus.

I think your theories are very interesting.
T.S. (myself) wrote:
I will take that as a compliment. Again, I realize that most viruses are slow. However, Ruku virus is, as far as I know, the first virus developed as a biological weapon. It was altered to kill. To put it bluntly, Mustafa was little slow. But even he would realize an error when a victim died in .5 minutes as compared to days, or months. The vitamin complex would have to mimic all aspects of the virus, including the time to take effect. To use the old analogy, all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. In other words, the Ruku virus WAS a virus, but was unique in certain ways, in this case, the time to take effect. Secondly, any one blood cell travels around the body in around a minute, if I recall the time correctly. If a substance was injected directly into the bloodstream, it would take the same time. Now,to take effect, the virus would take a little longer to attach itself to the cell, say another minute (again, this is an estimate). The Ruku virus attacks the neuroligical system. If it can take out a few key points, much damage will be done. How long could you live without a functioning brain? Thus, the Ruku virus COULD kill in minutes, be it unrealistic. The vitamin complex was developed to mimic the virus, if the vitamins took effect in a minute, the virus should do the thing. And now, I just realized the one fact which utterly proves my point!

The virus COULD NOT survive for that length of time! It was incredibly unstable, untested, and undocumented! When exposed to air, it dies! Could it really have survived in Blackgaard's body for a year?

Anyway, the original point was that Blackgaard was bluffing. He knew what he was working with. Why not use the same trick again? This would give Jack adequate excuse for Blackgaard's refusal to surrender and the option of using dynamite. I will finally describe my view of the true events on the next post.
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Aaron Wiley wrote:The writers have stated in a few interviews that he is definitelly dead, and is never coming back. I'm pretty sure that settles it.
But cats are still around, and Mitch came back.
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Aaron Wiley wrote:

I suppose, especially since they DID end up bringing Mitch back, even if only for one episode.
I believe that the difference here is the fact that Dr. Blackgaard is dead (when last we heard from him), but Mitch was not dead when we had last seen him in Something Blue.
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For me you must understand that in the episodes Good won over Evil in a Spiritual Battle if he came back and had a HUGE plan and everything that would take away from the lessons learned! GOOD wins over Bad that is right there would be bad things if he came back! It would ruin Odyssey.. HE IS DEAD! (like I already did)
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