Saint Dane - History

History

Not much is known about Saint Dane's past, although it is known that he made a promise to destroy Halla before the events of the series. He has also been involved in all the territorial affairs before the novels begin, having been Mallos, Figgis, Po Nassi, Andy Mitchell, and Timber for much time before the events of the series. Nevva Winter reveals that he has done this by choosing the time whereat he arrives in the Territory.

During The Merchant of Death, he appears in a subway station to frighten Bobby by influencing a homeless bystander into committing suicide and shooting at Bobby and Bobby's Uncle Press. Afterward Saint Dane went to the town Stony Brook, where he appeared to Mark as Andy Mitchell. Saint Dane continued to appear as Mitchell throughout the events of the first book.

While he was on Denduron, he appeared as Mallos and Figgis and used these forms to manipulate both sides of the upcoming war so that he could have the Milago discover the use of the explosive 'tak' and use the newly found weapon as a way to take control of the entire territory, thus bringing himself one step closer to the Convergence (which was revealed until later on in the series). He was stopped by Bobby when Bobby destroyed all of the known tak veins (until in book 8 when he unearths a new bigger vein), thus saving Denduron. Saint Dane then fled to Cloral. On Cloral, he is twice called a "demon", and the epithet is later used throughout the series to indicate him, both in the narration and the dialogue.

In all subsequent stories, he takes one form or two to make mischief among the people of the territories. Often this involves setting one group of people to war against the other, or in some other ways causing havoc and confusion while blinding people to true social problems.

Because of the discrepant passages of time between territories, as well as the necessity-based action of the flumes, he might be in one territory and spend years there or decades in one form, only to appear on another territory at precisely the opportune moment. His ally Nevva Winter has mentioned the ability to choose when she arrives on a territory by flume, an ability that she shares with Saint Dane.

Saint Dane professes to believe that he is working in the best interest of Halla, building a "better" Halla where the strong and exceptional rule and the weak are ruled over or eradicated. These beliefs form the core of the Ravinia cult, which he formed through his servants Nevva Winter and Alexander Naymeer. It is not known whether he truly believes this, or whether he merely uses this story as a front for other goals.

Although he is usually engaged in battling the Travelers, Saint Dane has shown a more reasonable side of his personality. On several occasions in The Quillan Games, The Pilgrams of Rayne, and Raven Rise, he has had philosophical discussions about the nature of Halla and the war with Bobby. At these times, he has shown himself to be more human, possessing emotions and arguments supporting his position. It is possible that these are strategy by which to trick Bobby into fulfilling his (Saint Dane's) designs, though they may in fact reflect Saint Dane's true beliefs.

In "The Soldiers of Halla" Uncle Press eventually explains that Saint Dane was an old spirit of Solara who became impatient with mankind's imperfections, and believed that he could make the universe better by taking down the existing structure of Halla and establishing a new one under his control. To justify his beliefs, he frequently tricks the people of Halla toward destruction; as time goes on, Saint Dane becomes so obsessed with proving his point that he begins to enjoy causing pain and suffering. All of his power relies on those who fall to him, and their collective energies are stored in a "dark" version of Solara that Saint Dane created for himself. His ultimate plan was Ravinia, a multi-dimensional extreme-Social Darwinist cult that aims for the "worthy" people of Halla to crush the "unworthy," who Saint Dane blames as the cause of Halla's inherent weakness. The structure of Ravinia under Alexander Naymeer parallels Nazism under Adolf Hitler, instead of a swastika, the Ravinians are united by the symbol of a pentagram, the same one that marks the flumes. After Saint Dane loses against Bobby Pendragon on Third Earth, the remaining Ravinians freely choose to abandon Saint Dane, causing him to lose all of his remaining power and to fade into nothingness. This ends the philosophical dispute between Bobby and Saint Dane by proving that the people of Halla are innately good, and Saint Dane's beliefs were ultimately wrong.