What was Pterano thinking?!

[LittlefootAndAliTogether]

Ok, she might talk, but they could always scare her into not talking.  Kidnapping her is a surefire way to get half the Great Valley on your tail, which is exactly what Pterano hoped to avoid.  (Why didn't he get banished for longer for the whole kidnapping thing?)

Also, what exactly was Pterano going to do,if the SOCF actually did work?  I mean, I doubt Topsy for one would just make him the leader without a fight.  Is he going to use the stone to get mind control powers?  Even if he gave himself the abilities of Sharptooth from the first film, I doubt they'd just hand over control of the Great Valley to Pterano (unless he was hoping to get "seem wise" powers to make himself seem wise so that the Great Valley would make him the head honcho.)  

I'm not even sure why they banished him to begin with.  It was the herd's own fault that they followed him.   It's not like there were kids following him.  Everyone was of age.  

Also, let's get real, what was Pterano supposed to do, fight off all of those Sharpteeth by himself?  Did he mutiny or something and take command by force and that is why they were so mad at him?  Seriously, I don't see what he could have done.  

Yes, he has a big ego and yes many died, but it wasn't on purpose.  He, like Cera in the first movie, may have tried to go an easy way and gone right into a Sharptooth ambush.  You can also tell, based on his remorse after thinking Ducky dead that he does regret what had happened earlier (and not just because he got banished).  

Still, back to kidnapping Ducky, that was deliberate and it would certainly get him in more trouble and certainly can't have been any better than just taking off and letting her go free.  

Also, what is he gonna do, bring her back later, stone or not, and expect a warm welcome?  On the other hand, if he was thinking of killing her, not likely, one would think the Great Valley would be really mad (I wonder, you don't think they would have a death penalty in the Great Valley for such a horrible act, do you?)

[Malte279]

I think it has been pointed out in some other threads (not quite sure how they were titled) that there was really no sense at all for Pterano to kidnap Ducky. Even after she had heard about his plans (why did he discuss "secret plans" at high volume right between other sleeping dinosaurs who might have woken up without him noticing at any moment?) there was no reason for him to kidnap her. Had Pterano just ignored her and flown of with Rinkus and Sierra and would Ducky have told the grownups about Pterano's plans it probably would have earned Ducky the largest collective shrugg in Great Valley history. It had already been established that the adults didn't believe in the stone of cold fire and all of them appeared to be happy not to have Pterano around (whatever random stone he might look for for all they knew).
By kidnapping Ducky Pterano really did the one thing he could do to make absolutely sure that the grownups were forced to do something... after hours and hours of debate.

I suppose that during the Pterano incident from the flashback one could blame Pterano for not having scouted ahead before leading his followers into a kind of terrain which a more careful leader probably would have recognized as suited for an ambush. As a flyer Pterano could have scouted ahead without much of a risk.
Perhaps his refusal to accept any of the blame and responsibility was more of a reason for his original ban than the failure of leading his followers into the trap.

[Ludichris1]

Greed and ambition can be quite strong. Also, Ducky knew of their plans, and surely they wouldn't want those plans (thinking the stone of cold fire to be magical) to be foiled or squandered. I mean I wouldn't. They probably also didn't expect her to scream and for Petrie to notice and wake up and the whole gang to follow, but eh.

I know Pterano didn't know about the dangerous raptor place for sure, but still it ended up as his responsibility. They had been travelling in the empty desert for a while so it might be smart to check up more on this new green land. Maybe that didn't cross his mind but the question still remains and he didn't attempt to save them either so there's also that. AND he is the only one that has seen the place and the death and raptors himself. I mean just knowing that all those people you saw before are gone is a big shocker.

i think it would be interesting to see a fanfic of the adults getting to the great valley
there could be like some leadership problems, sadness, and lots of drama xD