Lost Dakotas Arc

Dakota meeting up with various versions of himself, the Lost Dakotas.

The **Lost Dakotas Arc**, also known as the **Dakota Paradox Arc**, is a minor story arc on *Milo Murphy's Law*. It involves Vinnie Dakota saving Balthazar Cavendish multiple times from death via time travel, creating multiple versions of himself in the process.

## Timeline of Events

* "Murphy's Lard": When Cavendish gets squished by a giant ball, Dakota asks if they can go home if he's still alive.
* "Backward to School Night" and "Love Toboggan": Dakota makes sure that Cavendish does not get run over by a car after not looking before crossing a street, or by the out-of-control toboggan that Milo, Zack, Melissa, Sara, and Neal are riding.
* "The Island of Lost Dakotas": Dakota prevents Cavendish's death by safe by traveling back a few minutes in time, creating another version of himself. It is revealed that Dakota has done this hundreds of times before, as the leftover Dakota sends his most previous self to a remote island where hundred of other Dakotas that also saved Cavendish reside.
* "The Phineas and Ferb Effect": Due to a mishap in the time stream, current Dakota, Cavendish, Doofenshmirtz, Perry, and Orton crash land on the same remote island the Dakota paradoxes reside. Cavendish discovers the duplicate Dakotas, forcing Dakota to reveal his secret to his friend. Later, all of the doppelgangers help bring down Derek and the rest of the current pistachions.
* "Snow Way Out": During a rant in court, Dakota heedlessly mentions his hundreds of unauthorized time trips to Mr. Block and the other judges. This was the final nail in the coffin for Mr. Block to fire the two and banish them from both time-travel and his era.

## Pre-arc Episodes

A few moments prior to "The Island of Lost Dakotas" reveal that Dakota cares enough about Cavendish's safety to protect him from harm or ask about his well-being, but no reference to the island or the Dakota paradoxes were revealed or hinted at, as "The Island of Lost Dakotas" is the first episode in which Cavendish is shown dying.

In "Murphy's Lard", Cavendish assembles a protective shield to a pistachio cart, as a large boulder from an attraction rolls into him and the protection. Promptly, Dakota asks if they can go home if Cavendish is still alive. On face value, this seems like an unassuming quip without a deep meaning, but in context of the Lost Dakotas Arc, this moment makes it apparent that Dakota cares about Cavendish's safety.

Similarly, Dakota pulls Cavendish from the street when a car passes by in "Backward to School Night". Cavendish reacts surprised at this, but Dakota appears more blasé at the speeding car, nonchalantly dismissing the fact his partner almost died, a retrospectively clear sign that Dakota has seen this same song and dance happen multiple times.

"Love Toboggan" also has Dakota pull Cavendish away, this time from a manhole out of which Milo, Zack, Melissa, Sara and Neal emerge on a toboggan. Unlike "Backward to School Night", no further details were given, as Dakota and Cavendish simply greet Milo and friends as they pass by.

## Major Episodes

### "The Island of Lost Dakotas"

In "The Island of Lost Dakotas", Cavendish dies for the first time on-screen, when an AC unit crashes on him while he crosses the street to get two corn dogs. Everyone acts shocked about this sudden death, but Dakota only sighs, as he enters the Time Vehicle and travels a few minute back, secretly averting Cavendish's death with the Dakota from three minutes ago. He hands the past Dakota some brochures of a remote island and takes his place, while the other Dakota leaves.

Dakota takes the bus to the dock, and explains to a fellow passenger, Frances, that he is going to exile himself to the remote island on the brochure, because he just saved his partner with time travel, which creates a second Dakota, which in turn would be unacceptable. He further reveals that Cavendish has died very often on the job. Frances appraises him for his deep care for his friend to create such a meta-physical sacrifice, to which Dakota replies "He's Cavendish, what are you gonna do?"

As Dakota reaches the dock and waves Frances goodbye, when he meets up with the Captain of the ship he's going to board. Dakota is surprised to see that the captain is a pretty normal-looking guy, to which the captain reacts offended at Dakota, curtly allowing him to board. They eventually reach Dakota's destination on a distance, as Dakota has to row the last legs himself with a dinghy.

After outfacing several dangerous obstacles on the island, Dakota eventually reaches a man-made gate, where he eventually gets captured by a bunch of islanders wearing tiki masks. The islanders take him to the village past the gate, where they attempt to burn Dakota at a stake while they chant. However, when Dakota recognizes the chanting as his Zoo song, the villagers remove their masks, revealing themselves as Dakota's previous paradox doubles, and quickly put out the fire, revealing they were just pranking the new Dakota.

The Lost Dakotas welcome their latest member warmly, as the new Dakota gets introduced to several of the Dakota paradoxes. The chief of the Lost Dakotas also reveals they produce laceless shoes here, the same kind Milo wears. Dakota praises how great this village is, to which the chief notes that the sole issue, aside from a few problematic Dakotas, is that Cavendish will never get to see it. He then announces it's movie night, revealing to Dakota that they've tapped into several security cameras all over time and space so they can watch the current Dakota and Cavendish on their latest adventures. After a particular heartwarming interaction happens between Dakota and Cavendish, Dakota wonders to the chief if Cavendish really does deserve all this effort, to which the chief replies "He's Cavendish, what are you gonna do?" This is followed by the rest of the Lost Dakotas chanting "What are you gonna do?"

### "The Phineas and Ferb Effect"

In "The Phineas and Ferb Effect", Cavendish, Dakota and Orton enlist Dr. Doofenshmirtz's help to avert the second Pistachion Takeover, who, along with Perry, agree to do so with his Time Travelinator. After several accidents, however, the quintet ends up on a remote island in the present, when Cavendish finally snaps towards Doof. The latter leaves the group, soon to be joined by Orton, when they lament about being destined to revolutionize the world without knowing how to do so. After a song, the two promptly get surrounded by islanders.

Meanwhile, Cavendish and Dakota have long since been separated from Doof and try to find him back, when Dakota notices the islanders when they wander through the jungle. He recognizes them as the Lost Dakotas, and after realizing this is the same island he sends himself to after averting Cavendish's deaths, he tries to distract Cavendish in hopes that he won't notice his partner's doubles. He fails, however, as Cavendish eventually discovers the Dakota paradoxes and wants to get to the bottom of it.

They follow the Lost Dakotas to their village, where they are seen producing orange soda, as Cavendish demands an explanation from his partner. Dakota fesses up, revealing he made an effort to avert Cavendish's deaths with time travel, with the leftover Dakotas exiling themselves to this remote island. After getting overwhelmed by the Lost Dakota's joy of seeing him, Cavendish accepts Dakota's confession and thanks him and the lost Dakotas. Around this time, Several other Lost Dakotas return with Doofenshmirtz and Orton. Doofenshmirtz notices the orange soda the Lost Dakotas are making resembles the type Wyatt Burp has produced, and after noticing how harmful it really is to the environment, Doofenshmirtz concocts a plan with the Lost Dakotas how to save humanity from the Pistachions.

The group is later seen at Lard World, saving Milo, Phineas and Ferb from Derek's clutches, as soon a war between the Lost Dakotas and the Pistachions is engaged. Within all the chaos, Dakota and Cavendish continuously protect each other from the Pistachions while Derek tries to get the M.U.L.C.H. working. The battle between the Lost Dakotas and the Pistachions also makes the Giant Pistachion have an epiphany when he's ordered to attack.

The Lost Dakotas are last seen when the Pistachions are disappearing, after Doofenshmirtz's future self Professor Time has slain Derek in 1955. They agree with Cavendish that he and Dakota are going to be in real trouble, as they wave goodbye and return to their island.

## Minor Episodes

During the Supreme Tribunal in "Snow Way Out", when the court is ready to pass their final judgement, Dakota berates them for just sitting there while he and Cavendish have to do all the work. During his speech, however, he accidentally reveals that he has altered the timeline numerous times to save his friend from various deaths. Upon this reveal, Dakota and Cavendish are promptly banned from time travel, and sent to Milo's age.