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!
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?