There's really no definitive story of what happens with Ernst Stavro Blofeld at times in the Bond movie series. A lot of different people have speculated about it, mostly the OHMSS/DAF/FYEO connections. I'll give my own theory about how I think it all worked out...
So, I'm pretty sure that most would agree that the Blofeld in FRWL, TB, and YOLT is the same guy. We don't see his face, of course, in FRWL and TB, and we see it is scarred in YOLT. I believe he is also the Blofeld in OHMSS, and the reason for not "knowing" Bond was that he probably knew (or at least suspected) it was him the whole time, and gave him a false sense of security. It makes sense with the way Blofeld greets Bond when he has him captured. Along with the earlobes, he fixed his scar from the transition of YOLT to OHMSS. At the end of OHMSS, he ends up with a neck brace after his encounter with Bond, and drives off with Irma Bunt after killing Bond's wife.
Now, in DAF, I believe the real Blofeld is never seen at all. The idea was that Blofeld created clones of himself in the film, but the 'real' Blofeld in the film was a fake as well. Surely there's no way Blofeld could have survived the explosion at the end of the film, so I think it was just another clone. It would also make since with the way Charles Gray acted; it didn't seem very 'Blofeld-y' to me. I believe the real Blofeld was in hiding for the entirety of the film's events, from 1969's OHMSS to 1981's FYEO.
In FYEO's pre-title sequence, the real Blofeld returns. You notice he has a neck brace and is in a wheelchair; wouldn't that be from his conditions at the end of OHMSS? That's why I think they're all just clones in DAF. Anyways, even though he is unnamed (because of the legal issues), we know it has to be Blofeld because of his baldness, clothes, and cat (and the previously mentioned injuries sustained from OHMSS). Bond finally disposes of the real Blofeld in the PTS of FYEO, and it's all over.
Not sure if this theory has been shared before, but it's what I believe. I think everything is pretty logical within it, especially because of the strong connections of OHMSS to FYEO. What do you all think?
Comments
My reasoning behind this is that right after the Gunbarrel, Bond is still in Japan and hassles a Japanese agent while he looks for Blofeld. That takes him to Cairo, Marie and ultimately Henderson still posing as Blofeld. Henderson becomes Blofeld's #2 after Largo was killed. Henderson is tasked with posing as Blofeld while the real Blofeld begins his operation at Piz Gloria. Bond defeats Henderson's double giving Bond the idea that this isn't really Blofeld. So after DAF, Operation Bedlam begins causing the events of OHMSS. Bond breaks Blofeld's neck in OHMSS causing him permanent paralysis. Which explains why he still has a neck brace in FYEO. So if you go by my theory. The entire SPECTRE saga plays out like this.
1962 - SPECTRE is already an established and working operation. Dr. No dies.
1963 - SPECTRE has called for the death of 007 by Red Grant. But want to use him to steal the Lektor.
1964 - The events of Goldfinger take place. SPECTRE begins planning their next big operation to steal two nuclear weapons.
1965 - Thunderball takes place. SPECTRE fails yet again when it's best members are killed by James Bond.
1966 - Blofeld assigns a new #2 to pose as MI6 agent Dikko Henderson while he has a decoy sent to SPECTRE's Japanese base of operations.
1967 - SPECTRE begins it's newest plan to pit the USA against the USSR. Bond is sent to Japan to find the cause of the Space capsule hijack. Henderson is used to get information on Bond and his death is faked so SPECTRE can begin it's Las Vegas operation. Bond meet's Blofeld's scarred decoy but he get's away while Bond destroys the Bird One space ship.
1967/68 - Bond immediately goes after the decoy still assuming it's Blofeld. Bond is ultimately led to find Henderson posing as Blofeld and creating doubles to cause trickery. Bond kills one of Henderson's doubles. A year passes and a diamond smuggling ring has cooked up. Bond ultimately meets the real Henderson and eventually kills him at the Oil rig while the real Blofeld is in Switzerland working on Virus Omega.
1969 - After Henderson's death, there are rumors that Blofeld is alive thus Operation Bedlam begins. Bond has searched for Blofeld for 2 years and hasn't found him. Though he eventually does thanks to Draco. Bond meets the Real Blofeld. Blofeld recognizes Bond from the beginning but decides to go with his. Eventually Bond breaks Blofeld's neck and Blofeld gets his revenge by Killing Tracy. After that, Blofeld goes into hiding and waits for the perfect moment to strike. Which is 12 years later.
1981 - Bond visit's Tracy's grave and Blofeld tries to have him killed. Bond gets the upperhand and drops him into the smoke stack finally killing the real Blofeld.
Complicated and probably well over thought but that's how I see it all. :)
Good theory here. I could understand your reasoning for YOLT's being a fake. For sure I don't think the real one was in DAF at all. DAF could take place after YOLT or OHMSS as far as I'm concerned; it seemed like Bond was pursuing him for personal reasons though and was quite angry, so I'm guessing it took place after OHMSS. The Japan point does make sense, though, as well. It's definitely up for anyone's guess, but I'm glad you agree the real one is the one in FYEO; I'm positive of that.
Whatever works. It's somewhat strange going from Connery to Lazenby then back to Connery, I agree, but it would also be strange for them to have put the films in a different time sequence. Oh well; either way it's a bit off, but there's several ways to connect the dots that makes sense with it. I'm not sure I would really want to see Blofeld in a modern Bond film like a lot of others; I mean he's my favorite Bond villain collectively, but I don't think it's necessary to bring him back. It could be done well, but it wouldn't be easy. Either way the Craig films are set in a different canon anyway, though...