Last night I considered one side of the question: Was Dexter bribed to steal the Tablet of Ahkmenrah and take it to the Smithsonian? I examined why it was possible he was, and now I'll discuss what personal motivations Dexter might have for acting of his own free will and ultimately shocking...no one.
Dexter is first and foremost a prankster, and this is most prominent in the first Night at the Museum movie. He filches keys off night guards so often it made the third slot in the instruction manual: "Double-check your belt. The monkey probably stole your keys." Not only does he steal keys, he uses them to open a window on one occasion, inadvertently allowing a caveman to escape and get caught outside while the sun rose, turning him to dust. He also opens the loading dock, but this he does to release the other animals on purpose, knowing that on a night like that, Larry would have way more on his plate than usual and thereby simply driving him insane. He is also known to bite noses, urinate on people, and engage in slap fights simply because he can. This shows he knows he has the poor sap (Larry) right where he wants him and will live it up as much as possible.
But much as Dexter wants to just have fun at the expense of everyone else, chiefly the night guards, he also has a soft spot for Larry, shown by his protectiveness of him toward Able, claiming Larry as "my human" and demanding that Able "back off". This kick-starts a name-calling fest between Able and Dexter which results in the three-way slap fight between Dexter, Able, and Larry, with Larry just trying to get them back under control and just get along long enough to "focus on slapping the enemy". He is also protective of the tablet, as shown in the alternate ending and discussed last night.
However, at the start of Battle of the Smithsonian, Dexter is blatantly hostile toward Larry. He not only flat-out states that he doesn't want anything to do with whatever's coming out of Larry's mouth, he slams the crate lid into Larry's fingers twice. In fact, nearly every exhibit being shipped out is very hurt and angry that Larry is allowing it to happen. Dexter just happens to be among the most vocal of their number. Therefore, if he were to steal the tablet of his own free will, he would do it to make Larry pay for letting the "family" get sent into storage and thus making everything in storage come alive and cause all kinds of problems. He might not have planned on the crate being attacked by Kahmunrah, but he probably felt a sick sense of glee at being able to interrupt Larry's life to have him come work on their problem.
At this point, the floor is now yours, dear readers. State your thoughts below but please, do behave.
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": Speaking of characters of moral ambiguity, I get to discuss our three favorite henchmen from BOTS, their possible motivations and a little more on what would have become of them should Kahmunrah have succeeded
Countdown: 326 Days to NATM 3
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