In the book Pendragon: The Pilgrims of Rayne by D. J. MacHale, the main character Bobby Pendragon is acting more and more like Saint Dane, the antagonist. This is the 8^th book of the series Pendragon. Bobby is the lead traveler. A traveler is a “person” who somehow chosen to travel through space and time in portals called flumes. No one knows if the travelers are exactly people or not. There are a total of 9 territories and their goal is to protect everything and every world which as a whole is called Halla. The Antagonist called Saint Dane is trying to send Halla into chaos.

This book is about the Territory called Veelox, and the island in which the flume is, called Rayne. Rayne is isolated from the rest of the world, and soon after he got there, Bobby ended up helping a group called the Jakills sail to the mainland to find out what’s out there. They find ruins of a once crowded city and an army of robots called DADO’s who are about to attack the island of Rayne. The two survivors, Bobby and the traveler from Rayne- Siry, make it back to Rayne to warn the islanders and the government. The island is only armed with a gunning system in the bay, which is the only entering point to the land. Saint Dane has been trying to tear down the boundaries of the 9 worlds by mixing cultures and items. That is where the DADO’s came from. Bobby decides to collect weapons from different territories, therefore acting similar to Saint Dane.

Saint Dane has always been about stopping Bobby, and has focused a lot on that. He always likes to see Bobby fail, and is driven by hatred. Bobby is also changing in the way he acts, not caring about others, as long as he can get to Saint Dane. It is hard to explain, but I think the boundaries between Bobby and Saint Dane are fading.

The first time this really stuck out at me, was when he started mixing the territories, and taking the tunnel digger from Zadaa. “I spun the Sphere around to see the tunnel we had just dug. It wasn’t subtle. All across Halla the flumes were hidden in areas that were nearly impossible for people to accidentally find. That wasn’t the case for Zadaa anymore. People were bound to discover the new tunnel. They were going to see the flume. By breaking down that rock, I had broken down another barrier between the territories. I was definitely playing Saint Dane’s game now. (MacHale 434) Saint Dane loves messing with things, and Bobby’s teacher his uncle press said to never mix territories. Bobby also didn’t care about leaving the flume visible. He said that he was actually playing Saint Danes game now. This is a bad thing, since Saint Dane is so horrible.

Bobby is seeming to get very snappy at his fellow travelers. Though he is mixing territories, Bobby doesn’t exactly know the consequences, and should be thoughtful.

“’How did they get here?’ Siry asked. ‘I went there a few days ago. Is that a problem?’ Alder said, ‘not is mixing territories is no longer a concern’. I dropped the weapon on the piles with the others. ‘it isn’t. Not anymore. We’re playing by Saint Dane’s rules now, remember? It wasn’t my choice’ Alder gave me a grave look. He touched one of the crates if Tak. ‘I remember. But you should remember that we always have a choice.’ ‘and we made it’ I snapped at him.” (MacHale 454) Since he started playing by Saint Dane’s rules, Bobby is acting much like him. He always snaps at people, and doesn’t think twice. This is a strength Bobby has always had, and he is losing it. His fate is soon to be revealed.

Bobby has been fighting Saint Dane from the beginning. There is something between them, and it isn’t going to end. Caught up in his feelings, mostly hate, he makes a drastic move of destroying the flume. “There wasn’t much. What had been a tall, steep cliff face, was now rubble. The tunnel was gone, buried under tons of rock. I looked at my ring. The sparkle was gone. It was once again a gray stone. I had the proof I needed. I had destroyed the flume on Ibara. Saint Dane was not going to leave this territory. Neither was I.” Saint Dane has the same feelings about Bobby. They need to beat each other. This time, I think Saint Dane will not be stuck on a territory just because of a missing flume. Saint Dane has powers no one else has. He might have beaten Bobby at last.

There is one more book after this, and I think that Bobby will learn of his traveler powers. Him and Saint Dane could even join forces, who knows? I am guessing there will be a Battle to the death between Bobby and Saint Dane. It will be the battle for Halla itself. Since Bobby is acting like Saint Dane, maybe he will soon acquire the inner power that Saint Dane has found in himself.