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Sage Darnel was a royal scientist on Luna who worked on the surgeries for Queen Levana's wolf soldiers until the birth of his daughter Cress Darnel, who was born a shell. After Cress was taken away due to the shell infanticide laws, Sage continued to work on the special operative soldiers before secretly fleeing to earth and adopting the identity "Dmitri Erland" and became a royal scientist in the Eastern Commonwealth.
Recent Events[]
Cinder[]
He is introduced as the lead scientist of the Letumosis research team at the Eastern Commonwealth royal labs. He meets Cinder when she comes in as a volunteer for cyborg testing. He set up the cyborg draft as a front for his search for Princess Selene. He knew Logan Tanner on Luna, but when he finally tracked him down, he had already went insane and all Erland could get was that she was a cyborg somewhere in the Commonwealth. When Cinder is imprisoned for being a Lunar fugitive, the doctor reveals that she is Princess Selene Blackburn, the lost heir to Luna's throne. He gives her a new foot & hand, complete with a projectile gun, flashlight, screwdriver, knife and universal connector cable. He then proceeds to tell her to escape prison and meet him in Africa.
Scarlet[]
Dr. Erland is not present but is deemed a traitor to the crown after footage of him visiting Cinder in prison is brought to the attention of Emperor Kai.
Cress[]
In Africa, Erland sets up a system that allowed Lunars to come to him for experimentation in return for payment. He learns that Letumosis has begun to mutate and will affect Lunars; who were once immune, at a much quicker rate. Cinder comes to Africa, in the company of a lunar guard & soldier, much to his dismay. He joins them on their attempt to kidnap Emperor Kaito during his wedding to Queen Levana, though he and Thorne set off an alarm at the research wards. He makes a solution for Thorne, who had been temporarily blinded in the attempt to rescue Cress.
While making the solution, he catches sight of the mark of the mutated Letumosis on his skin and locks himself in quarantine. He is able to say goodbye to Cinder and the others before they leave and reveals that Cress is his daughter whom he wished he could have spent more time with. He encloses information he found on a port to give to Kai, including the fact that Letumosis was created for biological warfare by Levana in order to weaken Earth. He is suspected to die not long after they leave but not before Levana can take his blood for research in hopes of possibly weaponizing the plague to affect Lunars as well.
Characteristics[]
Physical Attributes[]
Erland is described as a short, old man who habitually wears a gray cotton newsboy cap with a herringbone pattern. In his and Cinder's first interactions, "a white lab coat hung from his shoulders as it would a model skeleton." "Lines drawn into his face suggested he had spent many years thinking very hard over difficult problems." His eyes are "bluer than the sky," and at another time, "sea-blue." Dmitri has crow's-feet when he smiles which are covered by a pair of tiny, silver spectacles. When questioned by Cinder as to why he doesn't just get corrective eye surgery, he responds that he likes the way that spectacles feel.
Personality[]
He is shown to be kind and sympathetic as he exhibits dislike towards those who see cyborgs as inhuman or their treatment as second-class citizens. He seems to be self-conscious about his subpar stature.
Skills[]
Sage was skillful with his glamour to make himself appear a little taller than he actually was. He could use it to trick a guard into letting him into Cinder's cell and make the guard forget he ever visited. Along with Cinder, Sage could take control of several soldiers surrounding them to prevent being captured.
Master scientist/Physician: Sage was an infamous scientist on Luna who worked on the surgeries to create the wolf soldiers. He was also valuable to Emperor Rikan and Prince Kai in the research on a letumosis antidote. Sage managed to heal Carswell's blindness.
Fanarts[]
Trivia[]
- He is seen as a fairy godmother figure in the books, particularly Cinder.
- His name, “Erland,” is an anagram of his real last name, “Darnel.”