Bentley Connelly

**King Bentley II,** born **Bentley Connelly**, is a main character in *War,* first introduced as a featured character in the 2018 Christmas special, "Silent Night." He also made a guest appearance in the *Contact*season finale.

In terms of the series narrative, Bentley Connelly is the last King of Canis, reigning through the War. He was the *de facto* leader of the Granite Bloc alliance, opposing the Summer Sun. His interspecies romantic relationship with Crown Princess Victoria Vixen of Vulpus divided Cartonia on the sensitive issue of interspecies relationships, and his attempts to rectify the unfortunate events that befell them would ultimately lead to the War.

## Appearances

### "Silent Night"

Bentley made his first appearance in "Silent Night" in a flashback episode. Six years into the Harmonious Reign of Queen Vixen VII, Bentley met Victoria Vixen, Crown Princess of Vulpus and heir to the throne, at the Harmony Holiday Gala. The two were instantly smitten with each other and began a clandestine and highly

    dangerous relationship. The scandal broke in the summer that followed, and both faced extreme adversity from all sides. Bentley wanted to escape Cartonia with Victoria, and the two planned to renounce their thrones to marry. King Ewan I, Bentley's father, and Queen Vixen VII, Victoria's aunt, conspired to split them and had Victoria returned to Vulpus. The subsequent Christmas Eve, one year to the date after they met, Victoria was assassinated in Vulpus and the duck Kingdom of Mallardia was seemingly the culprit. However, a heartbroken Bentley sat down with his former friend and monarch of Mallardia, King Swan XX, and agreed that the Vixen Queen was likely behind the assassination. On New Year's Day 708, Bentley Connelly and his allies declared war on Vulpus.

### *Contact*

Bentley made a surprise guest appearance in "Into the Fire." In the flashback scene, Bentley, as King, watched as Highland Castle in the Canisian capital of West Terrier fell to the foxes. After an emotional farewell with his brother and a period of anxious waiting, Bentley learned that a group of Cartonians had broken the Vulpus Dam and escaped on the flood, killing the Vixen Queen in the process. He confided in his valet, Hamish McRory, that he believed that the escapees would never return to Cartonia, but maybe their descendants would. He was unable to escape Canis and was publicly executed by Vulpus upon the fall of West Terrier.

### *War*

Bentley returned in "Winter of Discontent" in the immediate aftermath of Vulpus's invasion of Mallardia in 708. His father, King Ewan, remained indisposed and Bentley remained as Prince Regent as he navigated the drastically-changing political climate. His mother, Queen Libby, refused to let him mourn Victoria Vixen's death, causing him to grieve in private. He only received consolation from his brother, Prince Thumper Connelly. His mother attempted to pawn him off in a political marriage but Bentley refused, not caring about his tainted public image in light of the scandal. King Ewan's health continued to erode over the first month of the War. After an argument between Bentley and his father in February 708, Ewan died in his sleep while Bentley was outside West Terrier at a makeshift memorial for Victoria. He returned to Highland Castle as King, and was immediately coronated as **Bentley II**. At his coronation, he envisaged the ghost of Victoria Vixen.

By October 708, the allied nations were not successful in negotiating peace or recruiting allies ("The Lamps Are Going Out"). Bentley was put on blast by his ally Swan XX of Mallardia after a coup arose in the Mallardian court. The coup was ultimately unsuccessful. In February 709, the Vixen Queen dissolved the Harmony Crown. As a result, a slew of nations rushed to the allies' side. Bentley christened the new alliance as the Granite Bloc. By March 709, only four nations remained neutral. One of these nations, Gallix, joined the Summer Sun to protect itself ("Suddenly the Skies Darkened"). However, after an extreme conscription notice was enforced by Gallix's allies, King Poultrus III reached out to Bentley for help in evacuating its would-be drafted soldiers to the Granite Bloc. Bentley agreed to help, but the plan was thwarted. Poultrus was subsequently executed.

In 711 ("Fall as Lucifer Fell"), Bentley received an anonymous telegram from Vulpus, in actuality sent by the Vixen Queen. The message alleged that co-conspirators in the assassination of Victoria Vixen resided in Canis. As Bentley considered the implications, Victoria appeared to him as a ghost and warned him not to pursue the charge. Nonetheless, Bentley ordered Maximilian Walters to investigate.

After the 712 Siege of Talonclaw Castle in "Infamy," Madonna Jacquetta Lazoy sought exile in the Kingdom of Canis, which Bentley granted to the Lazoy Royal Family and Felexans in exile. The former Kingdom of Felexa switched sides to the Granite Bloc. Upon her arrival in West Terrier, Queen Roxanne II met with Bentley, who demanded all pertinent information to the Summer Sun alliance.

Bentley's aforementioned investigation into the telegram from Vulpus came to a head in "Remnants of the People" during 713, the ravaging year of the War Plague. Maximilian Walters uncovered that Queen Libby Connelly had taken a train to Vulpus directly before the 707 Victoria Vixen assassination and covered it up. Bentley confronted his mother, who admitted to conspiring with the Vixen Queen to hire Leevey Foster and assassinate Victoria Vixen. Her motivation was to split them up permanently, and she claimed to have no knowledge of the Vixen Queen's further plans to initiate a war. She continued to defend her actions and castigate Bentley for involving Canis in the War. Bentley, enraged, stripped Libby of all her queenly titles. She was demoted to Lady Libby Connelly and banished to her ancestral home in Galloway. She was forcibly removed from the castle and died in early 714 from the Plague. Bentley was unbothered by her death.

After the War Plague ended, Bentley attended Princess Theodora's funeral in Ursus in 715 after she was murdered by Psittancyna and Scuridiae ("Buried in Satin").

In 718, Bentley learned of Deirdre Elkton's plight in Felexa, but knew there was nothing that could be done. In "Something Wicked," the Canisian Commons Council debated the issue of interspecies marriage. Thumper Connelly led the push to overturn the ban, which the Commons Council eventually did by an overwhelming majority. Canis therefore became the first nation to legalize interspecies marriage. Bentley himself ordained the first interspecies marriage in Canis.

Highland Castle hosted the 719 Granite Bloc summit in "Two Moths Drawn to the Flame." Bentley led the proceedings in the war chamber of Canis. Around the same time, Bentley's staff employed Hamish McRory as the King's valet.

An antagonistic edict was released by Cervidium in 720 in "Requiem Aeternum" that accused BioFreaks of being warped by interspecies sex. Bentley was therefore cast under suspicion due to his highly-publicized and well-known interspecies relationship with Victoria Vixen. He denied the charges. He later welcomed BioFreaks Azure Oldman and Trent Mallon into Highland Castle, where he encouraged them to use their powers and embrace their new biology.

In 723, Thumper Connelly came out as gay to Bentley ("No Matter What"). Though Bentley was surprised, he was supportive of his brother and vowed never to let him go. Bentley helped Thumper through coming out to Jacquetta Lazoy and Evangelina. His brother's courage inspired Bentley to seek emotional help from someone about Victoria Vixen, whose ghost he continued to imagine on a regular basis. He ultimately confided in Hamish McRory, showing him the memorial he built in Victoria's honor. This brought the two of them closer together.

Following the 725 executions of extended members of the royal family in "Pro Patria Mori," a plan was put in place to ferry the Granite Bloc's royal families out of Cartonia. This plan was presented to Bentley the night it was devised. The plan was actualized in "The Good Must Associate," when 1,200 passengers were gathered from all the Granite Bloc kingdoms, most of them royals and loyalists. Despite Bentley's critical role in the mission's organization, he declined a spot on the journey. During the planning, Bentley learned that Vora Vixen was still alive, and that Victoria had never told him the truth about her family. This left a profound impact on Bentley, who had for the past eighteen years fought a grueling war to avenge her death, only to realize he did not know her as he thought he did. He spoke with her ghost, and was assuaged by her words. Bentley later attended the expedition's orientation, and believed fervently in its potential for success.

The passengers departed Canis in "Bless My Homeland." Bentley enlisted Evangelina to trick Thumper onto the train in order to ensure Thumper had the chance for survival, whereas if he stayed in Canis he'd certainly die. In an emotional parting at the train station in West Terrier, Bentley explained his reasons for abandoning Thumper and Evangelina. He urged Thumper to accept himself and seek love in his new live beyond the Vixen Cliffs. This was the last time Bentley ever saw his brother and niece. In the aftermath of the passengers' flight, Bentley wandered an empty Highland Castle and conversed with Victoria Vixen. He promised to see her soon. Indeed, the fall of Canis came just over a week later. West Terrier was invaded and the foxes seized Highland Castle. In a repeat of the final scene from "Into the Fire," Bentley learned of the destruction at the Vulpus Dam. Knowing the war to be lost, Bentley helped Hamish McRory escape Highland Castle while submitting himself to the foxes. Bentley was publicly executed at Highland Castle that night, on November 11, 725.

## Character

### Namesake

Bentley is named after the author's dog who shares the same name. Bentley is also a West Highland White Terrier (Westie). The surname Connelly is Scottish and means "love."

## Trivia

* Bentley's nickname, Benny, is what the author's dog is normally called.