The Identity of the Makuta in LoMN

[Manducus]

So if Teridax, the big wig of the Makutas, was acting as Dume, then who was the fiery figure he was consulting with?

 

It seems a bit odd that Teridax sounded a bit distressed when he was talking to the being in the fire.

Edited November 6, 2016 by B0ss Manducus

[The 1st Shadow]

In the novelization, the shadowy fire/mist is described as a sort of mirror that reflected Terry's true self, though not much more than that. Essentially, he was talking to himself. I would describe it as method acting--Teridax was playing both himself and Dume in private to ensure that his deception was up to snuff. As intelligent and powerful as he was, we know that Vakama was able to see through his illusions. In a city of a thousand Matoran, he had to make sure he didn't slip up and make people start to question him, as that could put the early stages of his Plan in jeopardy.

[MrSciFiGuy]

You know....huh. You're right. That made no sense in the movie. You could kinda see it as reporting to the Brotherhood, but then again the novelizations offers an excuse.

[evil_jaga_genius]

I'll just throw in here, there's a line from Lhikan where he says Teridax was 'sworn to protect the Matoran'.  To me it implies Teridax wasn't really considered evil up to that point, so maybe Dume was collaborating with him.  Maybe he was convinced some terrible tragedy was about to befall Metru Nui and was trying to get Terry's help to stop it.  Then Teridax backstabs Dume, stuffs him in a stasis sphere, takes control of Metru Nui and the rest is history.

[Pohaturon]

I'll just throw in here, there's a line from Lhikan where he says Teridax was 'sworn to protect the Matoran'.  To me it implies Teridax wasn't really considered evil up to that point, so maybe Dume was collaborating with him.  Maybe he was convinced some terrible tragedy was about to befall Metru Nui and was trying to get Terry's help to stop it.  Then Teridax backstabs Dume, stuffs him in a stasis sphere, takes control of Metru Nui and the rest is history.

This is what I always figured. I thought that at that point Dume was still actually Dume.

 

[Manducus]

That really cleared a lot of things up. A shame the movie never had a proper explanation as to why Dume Teridax was talking to Mental Teridax.

[Master Inika]

Canonically, yeah, it is a mirror, but the theory that it was Dume at that point working for the "greater good" is actually really interesting. That's probably what the filmmakers thought it was supposed to be.

[SPIRIT]

It does seem like they may have originally had another purpose for Dume.  I mean, when they find his body just unceremoniously dumped in the Archives, they really just glaze over the fact that their city's beloved leader is in a coma.  "Oh, we'll come back for him later... in a Flash movie on the website... that isn't actually released."

 

My theory is that similar to the scene with the Lorak, they dropped a more complicated plotline where Dume was originally complicit with Makuta before being betrayed by him.  There's no way to prove this, obviously, but it's the only way the scene with Dume talking to the big red eyes makes any sense.