>>113044814I don't think pheromone mind-control is particularly unusual given some of the other mute powers we've seen (Tad, especially).
That being said, the fact that Scarlemagne doesn't have a tribe is very, very suspect when every other animal we've seen in the show has their own collective. It's possible that Scarlemagne is the last survivor of his mandarin tribe for a human-related reason. This would explain his hatred of humans, his obsession with enslavement, and his fucked up face.
In regards to his relationship with Oak, they likely met on the surface. Oak has a weird amount of navigational skills for someone who's /just/ a scientist - he knows the underwater tunnels connected to the burrow extensively, he's familiar with mute sounds (being able to identify the mega monkey based on footsteps alone), he's instincts are very very sharp for a burrower (as he knows exactly when to yeet Kipo before everything goes to shit), and he doesn't have any issues setting up clues outside for Kipo (despite there being danger around every other corner/supposedly never leaving the burrow).
It's possible that Hugo made contact with Oak during a scouting session and attempted to make an alliance with the burrowers for one reason or another (knowledge, curiosity, a love of music maybe?). We've seen that the Burrow has its own set of rules and, they aren't above leaving people to die for not following them (whether they were aware of all the deets or not). So, I don't think they'd be above massacring a bunch of mutes given they have mind control powers, regardless of any initial friendliness. Also, Oak was very cautious about introducing Wolf/Benson/Dave to the burrowers - so it's likely he was there when everything went south with the Mandarin tribe (if something actually happened).
I'm kind of spitballing since we haven't been given a lot of info, but whatever.
