Line #58 Headscratchers/Bionicle


1	* When the Matoran Saga comic finished, with Makuta taking over the universe and banishing the Mask of Life/Mata Nui to space, the last page was a teaster image for next year's storyline. . . with a picture of Toa Inika Matoro standing in a desert, looking at a giant Bionicle piece, with a beetle in the foreground. Now, the beetle showed up in the storyline, and I suppose that the giant piece could have been part of the prototype robot, but Matoro being back from the dead? What? Why didn't that happen?
2	** Greg Farshtey later revealed that his particular piece of promo-art was meant to be featuring Mata Nui, but they didn't have the set available, so they grabbed a Toa Inika set as a stand-in.
3	* The revelation in Bionicle Legends ten that the Bohrok were once Av Matoran brings up a lot of unsettling FridgeLogic. for example Nuparu built the Boxor out of Bohrok so that means its made out of Av Matoran. The Toa killed the Bohrok Kal so they were killing innocent Av-Matoran!
4	** But technically, the Av-Matoran are already dead when they become Bohrok. The Bohrok are just suits of armor for the Krana, which are by extension part of the Bahrag's hive mind and unrelated to the original Av-Matoran that their Bohrok were. Thus they aren't murderers, because all they did was dismantle/destroy the Av-Matoran's corpses. Which is still pretty {{Squick}}y when you think about it. And the Kal weren't Av-Matoran to begin with. They were original creations.
5	*** So my theory that the Bohrok are undead is true.
6	*** Um, no, because there's nothing organic there at all.
7	*** The Kal where slandered Bohrok at one point, but where exposed to some mutagen, it is never explained how the fully mechanical Kal were able to mutate.
8	*** Actually, Energized Protodermis has always been able to affect mechanical or inanimate objects.
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10	* in a similar case, in Karzahni, several Matoran were TakenForGranite. Later on, Gali destroys the statues in a wave. So Gali killed some Matoran.
11	** Those were all lifeless by that time. Though since the ground itself began to come alive as the Matoran were turned to rock, you could "technically" say that Gali threatened some lives with her actions... if you want to sound silly.
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13	* Where did the Matoran's lives go? Did they die?
14	** For that matter, what happens to them when they die? Do they have a heaven and hell equivalent, do they just disappear, or something else?
15	*** I heard somewhere that Karzahni is treated as some equivalent of Hell, with Artahka being the equivalent of Heaven.
16	*** Well, Karzahni was supposed to repair damaged Matoran, but since he had about the same repairing skill as your average toddler he instead turned his whole land into a nightmarish slave camp in order to prevent the residents from leaving and spread the word of his failure. In time his land came to be known as a Hell from which no one ever returned. Artahka, on the other hand, was such a peace-loving and skilled inventor that he isolated himself and all his workers from the rest of the world on the island they later named after him. Going to Artahka is a life of quiet peace and enjoyable work; Heaven compared to the rest of the war-ravaged Matoran universe.
17	*** With Matoran dying, Greg Farshtey has revealed that if Matoran Universe beings die, they get transported to the Red Star, which was designed to fix the "dead" beings, only that it malfunctioned a long time ago. This only works if there are any physical parts of the body left though, so characters like Matoro and the Makuta that were vaporised in Karda Nui wouldn't have been transported.
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19	* The Barraki already had perfectly usable Cordak Blasters. Why did they go through the trouble of making the Squid Launchers, not to mention all the problems inherent with using an angry, starving, abused squid as ammo?
20	** [[ForTheEvulz Uh...they're evil and don't care?]]
21	*** I'd buy that if you were talking about the Piraka. The Barraki, less so.
22	** Maybe the Barraki realised that once they ran out of ammo, the Cordak Blasters wouldn't be worth shit.
23	** I always thought that it was mostly just a pet project Kalmah had that just happened to be useful in combat. Also, [[RuleOfCool MINI VAMPIRE SQUID MISSILES. YES.]]
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25	* Where the heck is [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Malum]]? He's been pretty important in the source material. It's bad enough that he doesn't make an appearance, but then the bug monster looks like a GIANT PURPLE TUMA, WITH ABSOLUTELY NO EXPLANATION.
26	** A quick glance at the scarabax monster shows a rounded helmet-shaped head and paired claws; it's supposed to resemble Malum.
27	** Also, what happened to Strakk? Was he banished? If so, how did he do out in the wild?
28	*** Yeah, he was banished eventually; with everything going on the leaders didn't get to it until after the events of the movie.
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30	* On a related note to the point above, the story's recent over-reliance on alternate universes and pocket dimensions. Admittedly they're only really in the serials, but that doesn't change the fact that they've quickly become very tired and boring plot devices, in my opinion. Dark Mirror was cool and showed us a very different, DarkerAndEdgier BIONICLE universe and The Kingdom was similarly interesting, but The Journey of Takanuva was just inane, even for a young readers' book. Did Takanuva really need to go through three alternate dimensions in a row? And things have just got worse since then - Vultraz and Mazeka's journey to alternate Spherus Magna, Vezon's dimensional journeys... not only is the plot device tired, but it takes precious time away from the countless other un-addressed plots, and the "gimmick" of the alternate dimensions was seeing "what if" scenarios, but this quickly became old. I wouldn't mind, but nothing from these plots is ever addressed again - what happened to the alternate Teridax, which could've justified the Brothers in Arms plot?
31	** Most usages of alternate dimensions bug me in any story, especially if alternate characters keep popping up constantly and affecting the ongoing plot. If an AlternateUniverse is used simply as a... say, a temporary "station" from where the heroes/bad guys would eventually advance and carry on with their mission, maybe learn a lesson or two or perhaps gain some power that would wear off eventually (like Takanuva's flight ability), but wouldn't have a great impact on the story, overall. The way it is now, seemingly every alternate universe and character is free game, meaning they can do whatever they want to the main plot. This opens up a nasty can of worms and creates potential plot-holes (Why doesn't everyone simply move to a universe where everything's fine and dandy? Why don't they bring in a gazillion superpowered Toa to defeat whatever has to be defeated? Why not have two Mata Nuis pull Spherus Magna back together so that Makuta wouldn't be needed?). Not to mention, the writer has clearly rejected the notion of time travel, since according to him, the moment time travel gets introduced into the story, it becomes stupid. Aren't these alternative universes essentially the same? I know TT and AU-s are different plot devices, but still both can have a pretty hard effect on the storyline.
32	** Some of these plot-holes were actually adressed: the Toa found a teleportation device and tried to call for help from another universe, but it was broken and they couldn't fix it in time (why they didn't try to find another way is anyone's guess); the Great Beings apparently are the only ones aware of alternate universes without first travelling to them, but they don't know exactly what goes on on each (the ones from the Melding were surprised to see a Shadow Matoran); and dimensional travel seems to run on an "equivalent exchange" unspoken rule, so each universe isn't fragilized by unfulfilled destinies (this is mentioned when Vultraz stays in the Melding universe and Melding!Teridax goes to the main universe, and repeatedly with the Shadow Takanuva; in fact it' why Prime!Teridax used them against Melding!Teridax).
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34	* This is more about the toys, but still: why the hell did it take LEGO so freakin' long (8 YEARS!) to come up with the molded fist piece?
35	** Because the old piece they used worked (and fans liked it), and it was probably cheaper to produce. With Bionicle coming to an end soon, it's not like it'll cost as much now. Plus, I recall fans complaining about it when they were first unveiled, back when I bothered with BZP. Then again, Bionicle fans complained about ''everything.''
36	** Actually, it was mentioned somewhere that the piece was made with the yet to be revealed Hero Factory in mind, just like the Glatorian head.
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38	* It's said that Tahu was reverted to his Toa Mata self in order to use the Golden Armor. Though his Stars incarnation looks otherwise. Has there been an explanation for it? Maybe there was some alterations to further allow him to use the Armor? Or he doesn't ''[[BroadStrokes really]]'' [[BroadStrokes look like that]]? Then again, has anyone tried to put the Armor on the 2001 Tahu, save for the mask?
39	** According to what [[WordOfGod Greg]] [[HandWave said]], the new armor pieces he wears is what the adaptive armor looks like in its standard form. Afterwards, he was confronted with the question: "So, does Takanuva also have adaptive armor, since he uses the same pieces as Tahu?"... thus the adaptive armor theory may not hold water after all. As for his overall appearance, there is no explanation, other than [[MerchandiseDriven sets > story]]. He is the same character, just looks like an updated/downscaled version. Much like, again, Takanuva, who has already had three wholly different forms, even though the story says the only difference between them was color and size (unless I missed something).
40	*** It would have been only color, but since Takanuva's orginal set from 2003 was the size of every other Toa and his new one from 2008/9 was much larger than the other Toa that year they had to come up with an explanation that he had grown due to absorbing light energy from the Core. At least this kinda works as a hand-wave because Takanuva ''is'' a Toa of Light and the Universe Core ''did'' have more atmospheric energy than the rest of the world. The sets of the Matoran living there were also larger than other Matoran sets, so it fit that too. And truly, Takanuva's new set from 2010 is smaller again. A bit too small, some might say, but at least they didn't have to come up with a new HandWave as they ''did'' say last year that he would shrink once he left the Core again.
41	*** If I recall, WordOfGod claimed Takanuva's used his Light powers to keep the gray/white colors to be less visible. Maybe he also switched armor.
42	** From what I remember, the Toa Mata arrived in the canisters in pieces because of deterioration. You wouldn't think that after 1,000 years they ''wouldn't'' change forms.
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44	* How did Makuta not see or sense the moon coming, given that he had been staring upward just seconds prior to that? Also the gigantic moon (the water planet of Aqua Magna) was drawn to look like an everyday asteroid the size of his head.
45	** And about the size issue, Greg clarified that he wasn't hit by the whole of Aqua Manga, only a fragment that broke off of it. Besides, keep in mind that if he got flattened completely, everyone inside him would die as well.
46	*** While that is true, the moons were shown in an earlier panel, and looked just as OffModel. Still, it is a lot easier to dismiss that particular panel, rather than the later ones.
47	*** Not to mention everyone ''should've'' died, considering that killing the Great Spirit robot should've cut off its artificial gravity, and seeing as the islands were right side up when he was on his back, but he didn't ''land'' on his back... Now that I think of it, how the hell was it built standing up, anyways? Artificial gravity ''definitely'' shouldn't have worked back then.
48	** If you really wanted to see the Makuta] get hit by a whole planet rather than the asteroid, there is such official artwork ion Bionicle.com's Mata Nui Saga
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50	* If Takanuva? is not a Toa Nuva!" why put nuva in his name?
51	** "Nuva" evidently means "new" Taka-"nuva" is just the first part of his original name with "nuva" tacked on, and the toa "nuva" are new toa. It's a silly naming scheme, but it makes sense when you think about it
52	** Not to mention that the fact that Takua was really the seventh Toa was the huge spoileriffic plot point of the year- if they'd just called the set "Toa Takua" it would have ''completely ruined the point of that big reveal.'' You can read it as being a "new Takua"- him embracing who he's meant to be and throwing off his role of slacker Chronicler to become a hero.
53	*** Also, "ka" is said to mean "spirit" or "embidiment" at some point. Ta, of course, is "fire". Therefore, "Ta Ka Nuva" means "New Spirit of Fire". The Toa are referred to as "Spirit of (Element)" at several points, and Takua thought he was a Ta-Matoran. In-story, "Takanuva" could be more of a title than a name.
54	** He's an honorary Toa Nuva, so he gets to add the Nuva to his name.
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56	* What happens to all of the water when Mata Nui/Makuta stands up?
57	** Since the Great Spirit Robot does control the universe inside it, it could just manipulate gravity.
58	** A better question would be what happened to the water when he observed a planet by lying into its ocean and forming an island on his face? How did his protruding chest stay under the water? How did he not destroy the planets he observed? How come the people living on the planets didn't notice the arrival of such a giant? Or even his presence in space? This whole part of the backstory doesn't make any sense at all.
59	*** There were no other inhabitants before Mata Nui arrived; Aqua Magna has solid ground, but the uppermost portion is all water; no islands or anything. Just water, all the way around.
60	*** That is true with regards to Aqua Magna, but according to his official description (if it hasn't been {{Retcon}}ned yet), Mata Nui studied other societies by lying down on their planet. This is why his island generating mechanism was invented in the first place. Of course, "official" artwork disagrees with this notion (rightfully), but artwork frequently clashes with canon.
61	** Not really an answer, but I always thought it would've made more sense that the Energized Protodermis blood piping was to help maintain the robot and just happened to create an island when they ruptured in the Great Cataclysm, and I do agree that observing planets from space would've been a more believable choice.
62	** The last book explains his [[GravityMaster gravity powers]] extend beyond the MU, with [[spoiler: Makuta using them to pull Aqua and Flora Magna]]; so he probably used them to keep the planets safe while studying them. As for how he could enter undetected, some early artwork claimed he was supposed to curl into a ball when entering a planet, so the natives might have mistook him for a meteorite (of course, this was back when Mata Nui was the size of Denmark, so it's probably no longer official).
63	** I think that, internally, Mata Nui's artificial gravity is oriented towards his back.
64	** The various islands and landmasses exist in individual biodomes separated by various vein-like tunnels filled with liquid protodermis, it's not a consistent landmass inside of Mata Nui. The domes most likely have some kind of gyroscopic factor that keeps them upright during Mata Nui's movement.
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66	* Why did the Ignika change from being large and silver in 2008 to being small and yellow in 2009?
67	** It was silver and fading to black because of the damage to the Matoran Universe. Once outside it, it reverted to its default gold. As for the size, I imagine that's just the sets being a different size, because it didn't actually shrink in the canonical story.
68	*** Well, it's already been through a corrosive and mutagenic sea, a whole bunch of combat, and atmospheric re-entry. I doubt it would've gone through all that unscathed- in fact, according to 2007's story, it was already suffering by then.
69	*** It's been confirmed that the Mask of Light can change shape to some extent. It's possible that the mask shrank or grew according to circumstances.
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71	* Did [[http://biosector01.com/wiki/images/5/5c/Art_Workers_In_Mata_Nui.jpg this room]] always existed in the Bionicle storyline? Because they sure as hell never even once hinted that.
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73	** I'm pretty sure it's meant to be Mata Nui's Core Processor under Metru Nui. I think it appears briefly at the beginning of ''The Legend Reborn'' filled with Av-Matoran, which could suggest it's a part of Karda Nui.
74	** We have reason to believe that room is simply one of the many places of the Matoran Universe we never got to see. I know most of the places aren't as high-tech as in the image, but perhaps it's set somewhere on Artakha? That would seem like a logical answer, even knowing that the artist was most likely just told to draw Matoran working on some machinery, or that it's a very literal interpretation of the Matoran keeping the universe running.
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76	* So okay, in 2010, it was revealed that Mata Nui is actually a giant research satellite and a cleaning robot, with Matoran and other species being it's maintanence workers and life-force, living inside a ecosystem the Great Beings created.
77	** First Question: [[PlotHole Why doesn't anyone ever seem to know about this? Because I don't know about you, but maintanence workers kind of requires you to know what you're doing]]. And even if they knew this entire time, this becomes a major AssPull, because nobody ever in the whole franchise up to this point even made a passing reference to this.
78	*** There have been references. Subtle, but they exist. Remember in MNOG, when the Onu-Matoran miners reached a rock layer they couldn't bury through? They even said it had strange, organic qualities. That was Mata Nui's face. Also, if what I read is true, various places of the Mata Nui island were named after facial features. Even the fact that the Matoran Universe was located inside domes was a clear reference to the robot. They had it planned from the very beginning, and while it's true that the final effect seemed like an AssPull, it ''has'' been hinted at. No comment on your other inquiries, though. Those seem like legit plot holes to me, especially when we look at the pictures that detail the robot's construction -- standing tall, so tall that it should dislodge the planet's rotation, bathing in the bright daylight, clearly looking like a humanoid mechanoid... and no one noticing what it is, or that it even exists. Of course it may have something to do with the Matoran's flawed programming, discussed below.
79	*** What I meant why didn't the characters in-universe who are established to be a maintanence crew of the giant robot don't seem to know they are a maintanence crew to begin with.
80	*** I suppose it may have something to do with how they were badly programmed, and over time, forgot what their original purpose was, and built up a "religion" of sorts about the robot. Though that still doesn't explain the point that I brought up earlier: that if they clearly saw what they were constructing, how come none realized it was a giant robot? With this in mind, I am afraid I cannot give a logical answer to your question. And I'm not sure whether there is one, unless they retcon it by saying the Matoran population went through another memory-wipe before inhabiting the robot.
81	*** Relatively easy to answer, they all had established jobs yes? well, those jobs were all tiny parts of maintaining the robot. They only knew what they needed to know for the task at hand.
82	*** Except that none of those established jobs have anything to do with running a giant robot.
83	*** All the matoran do very little things which build up to something big. Through destiny. Also, apparently the Great Beings didn't plan on the matoran being sentient. They thought of them as nanomachines. What bus me is that they planned ahead enough to build a failsage emergency kill-all-Toa machine in case they turned evil and attacked the Agori, but no plan for them to turn good. More importantly, why did the "Great" Beings build such horrible kill 'em all failsafes without working don't kill 'em all failsafe failsafes?
84	*** Except that without an explanation of how "those very little things" built up something big, it just becomes unbelievable and half-assed writing. And seeing how all the explanations given to everything are now handwaves thought out on the spot, it pretty much stays that way.
85	** Second Question: If the Great Beings had the power to create a giant robot and ''a whole flippin' ecosystem'', why didn't they instead just use all that resource to, you know, fix the planet? Instead, the obvious answer to this became ANOTHER WhatIf alternative universe, like a big F-you to the fans who think logically.
86	*** Perhaps they thought that Mata Nui was the best method. Or maybe they are just nuts.
87	*** ... Why would it be the best method, when they showed us a far more effective and efficient way instead?
88	*** Key word: "thought". IMO, though, it was partially due to, as stated by [[WordOfGod Greg himself]], the drive to create stuff (because let's face it, giant robot with a universe inside it? AWESOME), part because they didn't know if they had time or the ability to fix the planet right away (in the Melding universe they probably just went "screw it, why the hell not"), and part because they also wanted to redo their earlier failure with giant robots plus survey other worlds, and Mata Nui would fufill both purposes.
89	*** They also wanted to research how other cultures avoided war so they wouldn't go through [[EarthShatteringKaboom the same problem]] ''again'', so it was a bit more thought-out than at first glance (why a giant robot, however, [[ForScience only has]] [[RuleOfCool one explanation...]]
90	** Third Question: Why does the giant robot even need a ecosystem? They clearly never planned to live there, so what's the point? To please all the species living there? Then why couldn't they just remove their emotions for example? That way, you can save time and resources.
91	*** Actually, they did try to keep their emotions to a minimum. They simply programmed them wrong. So instead of doing their intended jobs, all the creatures in the Matoran Universe gained more and more consciousness, which lead to the formation of a huge civilization. In the meantime, they gradually forgot their main purpose, and if they hadn't made up all those legends about Mata Nui, perhaps they would have stopped working altogether, causing the universe to "die". That of course still doesn't answer why they had to live on tropical islands and have wildlife.
92	*** [[spoiler:Of course, turns out a Great Being was in hiding in the MU the whole time, so there you go.]]
93	*** [[spoiler: And WordOfGod confirms he was responsible for this.]]
94	*** Well they certainly are have done absolutely nothing useful in anyway in the slightest.
95	*** Its entirely likely that one of their backup plans was to live aboard Mata Nui if everything else goes to Karzahni in a handbasket
96	*** ... But they didn't, so there.
97	*** Not sure what the above comment has to do with anything, but the Matoran were, if not planned as sentient, at least alive from the start, and would've needed suitable habitats to help them survive. And I doubt it was much of a waste of time and resources when you've got enough ecosystem-building Energized Protodermis to fill a Great Spirit, literally.
98	** Fourth Question: Why did the Great Beings seemingly stopped to even give a crap after they finished the giant robot? Did they just forget that they ever created a giant robot containing an ecosystem and is their only hope of restoring their homeplanet Spherus Magna? Did they ever made safety checks? What the hell were they doing all this time?
99	*** They didn't forget, but there wasn't anything left for them to do. They sent Mata Nui on a 100,000 year-long mission to study other planets, and then went hiding, probably out of fear that the planet's surviving inhabitants would kill them for their previous errors. Then they simply waited for the robot to return. They were always very eccentric inventors, though. Safety checks for them were more like doomsday devices. In case anything went wrong, these devices would kill everything inside the robot... [[FridgeLogic which means Spherus Magna could never be restored]]. But there are still lots of questions waiting for answers, and since the Great Beings are becoming important factors in the story, maybe we will get these answers finally? Even if half-assed ones.
100	*** They aren't all that responsible
101	*** That much is a given. As for the original question, I thought it was more along the lines of being busy working on other projects in general, in addition to the above explanation. Maybe even the second Mata Nui robot! Since their work has been shown so far to be nowhere near infallible, maybe they actually finished the other robot, and it just never got the message to go home.
102	** Fifth Question How does Matorans' hard-work supposedly keeps the Giant Robot alive ([[AssPull unless counting all those professions never mentioned until recently]])? If the series was still a half-fantasy, this would have just been explained by a simple [[AWizardDidIt "It's magic"]] and nobody would have a problem. Instead, [[DoingInTheWizard they pulled]] a ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' on us and now the series is completely scifi, this makes no sense (Speaking of which, am I the only one who feels that the GenreShift from fantasy-science fiction to science fiction just feels... wrong?).
103	*** To your last question: no, you aren't the only one. This shift is what's causing me to lose interest as well (besides personal, real-life issues). I find it hard to digest that all this mysticism and mythology was just the result of bad programming, and that it should be forgotten because of this. I always found it to be the most interesting aspect of the storyline. This leads to a number of [[BrokenAesop prob]][[FridgeLogic lems]]... like Vakama's case, who was told to follow his visions and instincts instead of letting others talk down to him. And it worked, he saved his people. Now we learn that he really was a cross-wired freak, whose premonitions were nothing more than bugs in his AI. The same goes for his "this is the way of the BIONICLE" speeches, probably.
104	*** Where does everyone get the "Vakama had faulty wiring" explanation? I can't find it anywhere in the official wiki.
105	*** Good to hear I'm not the only one, though you probably made my feeling of betrayal that much worse by telling me about that FridgeLogic.
106	*** For Metru Nui at least (The brain) the matoran's various activities in the city could serve as a way to stimulate the brain. I'm actually personally fine with the DoingInTheWizard aspects of the series, because even if they weren't all handled well (some were mind you) they really came together. For Vakama at least, its entirely likely he was given those visions from Mata Nui himself or the Order of Mata Nui. He wasn't necessarily a cross wired freak. Also, his visions could be entirely mystic in origin; after all, not all aspects were made mundane.
107	*** First, how does the Matoran's activities stimulate "the brain"? Why does an AI need a something akin to that and how? Why did the Great Beings construct it like that? Also, if Vakama's vision come from Mata Nui, that contradicts the whole deal of Mata Nui not having any knowledge of what was going on prior of Makuta's takeover and also raises the obvious question of if he already knew Makuta was up to no good, why doesn't he stop him when the Toa Metru fails at their assigment? And even if it's Order of Mata Nui, I could ask the obvious question of how they are projecting telepathic visions and why make them as cryptic as possible, but if they found out about Makuta's hidden agenda, why didn't they attempt to do anything to stop him besides giving cryptic visions?
108	*** Well, when the Toa Metru were created Mata Nui was like a month from falling asleep due to the virus. How effective are you once seditives kick in? It's not like Mata Nui woke up and said "Huh? What happened?". He did know what Teridax was up to but it was to late to do anything about it.
109	*** That certainly wasn't how it was told in the story itself.
110	*** Check ''Time Trap''. The Toa Metru were created because Mata Nui had been attacked and needed some help with getting the Matoran of Metru Nui to safety. Also, in response to the main question and the brain activity thing, first of all, although the genre shift did seem a bit drastic to me, I quite enjoyed learning all about the history and workings of the MU. As explained by [[WordOfGod Greg]], being kept in the dark about everything may in theory preserve a sense of "mysticism", but after a while it really starts to get annoying. Keeping secrets isn't cool, y'know. I, at least, am quite satisfied with the story, even if the Mata Nui island setting always appealed to me the most. And just saying [[ComicBook/OneMoreDay "it's magic, I don't have to explain it"]] is an even more surefire way to piss people off, something that the ComicBook/SpiderMan fandom should be able to explain quite well. And ''then'' there's the fact that from what I under stand, ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' wasn't trashed for explaining stuff, but for giving ''really stupid-ass'' explanations. Back on track, though- this is one thing I'm fine not having explained. I see it as kinda like how elemental powers and Kanohi and everything exist, and file it under [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief willing suspension of disbelief]]- something that we should have in spades for a series like this. (BTW, sorry for sounding so bitchy, I've followed the series for a long time and tend to get kinda defensive about it.)
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112	* Why does the Toa's code against killing only apply to sapient creatures? They seem to have no qualms about killing animals, which in some cases is justified (like when the Toa Hordika and later the Mahri killed countless evil Visorak spiders), but what about that new Toa (whose name escapes me) casually frying a lizard and burning down trees? Back in the '01 story, harming wildlife was treated as a serious issue. Of course, those were other, more naive Toa back then, but still.
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114	* While we're on the subject; why does Greg avoid writing about "complex adult themes" using the justification of "this is a series directed at 9 year olds". Look at Pixar for example, it's marketed to children, but at heart meant to both young and old audience. It doesn't dumb itself down and actually tells a good story that both children and adults can enjoy. Using the justification of "it's directed at children" is very disrespectful to the audience, especially considering that atleast one third of the fanbase consists many teenagers and young adults. A good writer should break the age bounds and write a story for everyone. And for another example, let's look at Transformers. Transformers, while at it's very core a toyline and nothing else, still to this day make decent stories for both adults and children. Children who don't care about story can have their toys, while more older, pre-teens to young adults can have their story, and even now Transformers is one of the most succesful toy brands of all time. Now, I'm not arguing that Bionicle is dumbing itself down (even though it does explain the gaping plothole that is the story of 2009-2010), but that arguement is clearly very much moot at this point.
115	** Many ways to address this point — but I am not sure which is the best answer:
116	*** Lets ask ourselves first: Do the fans really want such a story, in Greg's mind? Take a look at the BZP forums, where I believe he gets most, if not all of his feedback — the constant cries of "Awesome!", "Best serial ever!" and "I wonder what this [[AssPull stunning new revelation]] will lead to!" reveal that the majority of fans like his stories the way they are. They like the action, the constant addition of mysteries, the new direction the stories take. And I haven't seen many commenters objecting to the new serials (at least on BZP). So what could lead Greg to believe that more mature stories would be more appreciated than his current work?
117	*** Secondly, would ''he'' want to write such stories? He obviously has to stay within the tight boundaries that LEGO built around him, which means he has to be very cautious not to touch on certain subjects. We have seen that even the slightest mention of sexism can lead to a huge uproar, and who is to say the fans would react more calmly to other "deep" subjects? But then, you have to ask:
118	*** What kinds of complex adult themes would you like to see? (I am honestly curious.) Because, even though they are only mildly touched upon and are never the main focus, the story ''does ''offer many examples of what can be seen as mature themes: Like Sahmad's inability to cope with the loss of his tribe and lover, seeking revenge, and at the same time trying to save others from going through a similar tragedy. Organics and artificial beings living together in harmony, proving how wrong the Great Beings were when they thought they created nothing more than mere machines. Their negligence toward their people has also been depicted as being down-right sinful (although the [[EarthShatteringKaboom result]] may have been a bit {{Anvilicious}}). ''Raid on Vulcanus'' even very briefly mentioned the delicate relationship between the species on Bara Magna, with the Agori regarding the Glatorian as protectors they can hire, but are ready to throw them out once the menace has passed. There ''are'' a handful of deeper themes, even if their depths are more often than not looked overshadowed by other story aspects. Should these be touched upon and explored better? I would definitely like to read such a story, a preferably slow-paced, engaging and thought-provoking story, so deep down, I agree with you.
119	*** And one last thought that I couldn't mix into the above paragraphs: Does Greg even have the time to write such stuff? His strategy is to come up with a general idea of what to write, then sit down and finish a chapter with some random {{Cliffhanger}}, and hope that he will be able to wrap up the cliffhanger in the next chapter. Rinse and repeat. His writing method is very spontaneous. Writing deep, more adult-oriented stories requires much more thinking and planning, and if the sparseness of the new chapters is anything to go by, he simply doesn't have enough time for these. And it goes without saying that books and comics are by now far out of question.
120
121	* Did The LEGO Group ever realize how easy it is to interpret some of the stuff in this series as racist? I mean, I've loved the line ever since its inception, but you can almost sympathize with the Maori after you realize that the characters who hijacked their language are a bunch of tropical islanders who wear tiki masks, use [[BambooTechnology ridiculously primitive technology]], and have an undying belief in [[FantasyPantheon bizarre, exotic quasi-religious myths]]. Then take into account that the series [[http://papercutz.com/blog/2009/03/12/bionicle-the-early-years/ was almost called "Bone-Heads of Voodoo Island,"]] and you can't help but think that someone at LEGO was a little xenophobic. Worst of all, though, are the Le-Matoran - they're pretty isolated from the rest of Mata Nui (Taipu basically had to "discover" them in the Mata Nui Online Game, remember?), they live in little huts in the jungle (and they're not half bad at swinging from tree to tree ''Franchise/{{Tarzan}}''-style), they use [[FriendToAllLivingThings their unnatural connection to Le-Wahi's birds]] for transportation and warfare, and, worst of all, they [[HulkSpeak speak in broken English]]. Even as a kid, it wasn't hard for me to tell that these guys were somewhere between [[MagicalNativeAmerican Native American]] and [[MagicalNegro African]] stereotypes.
122	** You know, those last few lines sound like you're describing ''{{Film/Avatar}}''. I can see where you're coming from, but I wouldn't say the Le-Matoran are necessarily portrayed in a negative light. Yes, the way they speak is different, but it's never implied that there's anything wrong with that. One thing they definitely have over ''Avatar'' is that they ''don't'' need a MightyWhitey figure to come and lead them. They are the way they are, and that's okay. On the "Boneheads" thing- I actually made a topic on BZP about that a while ago, speculating what may have happened with the Maoris if they kept the name. Greg came in and said that the WorkingTitle was a decoy used in order to maintain secrecy in the toy industry. I'm not sure if I believe him 100%, but it makes sense. Anyway, I think ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'''s implications for race are nowhere near as explicit and offensive as the implications for gender...
123	** There was a whole controversy over this when Bionicle first came out, which is probably why the Polynesian-inspired elements were toned down significantly in later arcs. However, I don't see even early Bionicle as racist because these Polynesian-inspired elements are portrayed in a badass light. I'm not Maori and can't speak on their behalf, but if a major toy company came out with a series of epic robots named after my language's word for "warrior," I would be flattered. It seems the controversy died down when LEGO changed some of the more offensive names (such as "Tohunga,") while keeping the cooler ones (like "Toa").
124
125	* Obviously whoever designed the Mata Nui robot's, well, everything, made some very lucky guesses, since in the end, mostly everything worked out fine for the characters, even when some of the robot's features backfired. That is what I don't get: some of the mechanisms seem to have been designed with one single purpose in mind that would only work in certain situations. Case in point: the Codrex and the Toa Mata's original mission to re-awaken Mata Nui. If their canisters hadn't malfunctioned, they would have brought them to the robot's face, from where they could have journeyed down into the universe inside him. But how did the designers know that if Mata Nui would require someone to awaken him, he would be lying on his back on some planet? What if he deactivated in space and stayed there, floating? Then the Codrex would have shot the Toa right out into space. Or what if he landed face-first on Aqua Magna? Then would the canisters have been shot into the ocean planet's sea floor? If not, then how would the Toa have gone back to the Matoran Universe? Via a door conveniently placed on Mata Nui's behind? Seems like so many things could have gone wrong with this plan, since it all depended on a bunch of "what if"s that the Great Beings couldn't have foreseen.
126	** In the case of him failing in space, it's entirely possible that Mata Nui's own gravity would have pulled the Toa onto his body.
127	** I usually go with willing suspension of disbelief, but now that I think of it, yeah, that's pretty serious [[FridgeLogic fridge logic]] to consider. I know for sure that there were plenty of hatches for entering the MU besides the mouth. As for the other stuff, well, the GBs have never been known for their foresight.
128	** The Toa Canisters have guidance systems and can phase through solid rock.
129
130	* Hydraxon has explosive boomerangs. How is this practical in any way? Boomerangs always come back, but these explode when they hit something. Surely this comes with some risk of having your boomerang explode in your face?
131	** Boomerangs ''don't'' always return, and in fact were originally used to weapons. That kind didn't return. Even the ones that do have to be thrown in a certain way.
132
133	* Mata Nui's size. It goes beyond SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale, because they keep contradicting themselves. By careful calculation, given the size of Mata Nui the island and the various images of Mata Nui, it's pretty obvious that the stated figure of 40 million feet (!) is far too big. I estimate him to be about 2700 kilometers tall, which, conveniently enough, is close to being 2 mio. Why, exactly, Matoran would have a measurement for half the length of their universe is beyond me... Wait. [[FridgeBrilliance The two southern island chains are considered uninhabited - the same island chains which make up Mata Nui's legs.]] Assuming that the southern point of Mata Nui's lowermost inhabited cavity is halfway down, then a mio is the length of the inhabited Matoran Universe.
134	** Mata Nui is roughly as tall as the diameter of the Earth IIRC. He was intended to be planet sized.
135
136	* What was all the talk about engagement and marriage between Roodaka and Sidorak? Knowing that [[NoHuggingNoKissing romance isn't something that exists within the Matoran Universe]], was this just a clunky way of the writers to explain their forthcoming alliance (but then why the need for an engagement gift?), or does "marriage" really occur in the MU? And if it does, what is it exactly? Just some sort of "stronger alliance" between two figures or is there more to it? I know that it would have given Sidorak rights to govern his "wife's" homeland (and possibly the reverse was true for Roodaka, I'm guessing). But does this mean that only figures of power can marry, or could any two characters do it?
137	** It was a case of research failure on the movie writers' part. Greg refers to it as a political alliance, so I presume it's only people in power who do it. It's pretty unlikely that we'll see any other "marriages", though. Greg would probably prefer to pretend it didn't happen.
138	** The out-of-universe explanation would be that the story pre-2006 was in the hands of people other than Greg Farshtey, and these LEGO execs had different ideas about how romance would work in the Matoran Universe than Farshtey did. This is also why Vakama rather than Matau turned traitor in 2005, a decision Greg had no hand in.
139
140	* What about the hole that appeared in the Mata Nui robot's chest when Voya Nui shot through it? I presume it got sealed when they activated the Staff of Artakha. But was it ever specified how long after Voya Nui had returned to the main continent that happened? I only ask because I kept thinking of all the seawater that continued flowing in through the hole. Wouldn't that water have created a little problem for the inhabitants of the main continent (seeing as it fell straight on top of them) if the hole above them wasn't prepared instantly?
141
142	* Lets suppose a Kanohi Mohtrek wearer summons his past self into the future. We know that the memory of that past-self would be wiped as soon as he's put back into his original timeline, but the wounds and damage inflicted to him would miraculously remain. So what's stopping the future user from etching a message into his past-self's armor and sending it back in time, thereby sharing future knowledge with the past? Or am I remembering the mechanics of the mask wrong?
143	** You Are Not. That could logically happen. There is only one problem with that idea. Only [[DumbMuscle Bitil]] wore the mask.
144	** I assumed that this was impossible because the past self became a mindless drone when sent to the future, at the mercy of their future self, and therefore would not have the mental capacity to carve such a message.
145
146	* I don't know if this has already been answered in universe or not, but how exactly do the Rahi get their regular masks put on them? The first ones probably had theirs put on by Makuta when they were created, but what about the more feral ones? Or are the mask-wearing rahi only ever created by BoM?
147	** Every Rahi, every specinen was created by the Makuta, so it'd be reasonable to think they all received their masks then. However, though my memory could be faulty on this, didn't ''only'' the infected Rahi wear masks?
148
149	* How do suvas work? If Toa wants to teleport their masks onto a suva shrine, do they first need to "imprint" the shrine with their "energy signature" or whatever? Because otherwise, I have no idea how any given shrine would "know" which Toa it should receive masks from or send to. And if certain Toa have no shrines, where do their masks go... how the ''hell'' do suvas work?!
150	** AFAIK, the Mata were the only Toa who did the GottaCatchEmAll bit with masks.
151
152	* After the first shown Tahtorak was defeated on Metru Nui, Vakama mused about about how it kept demanding the answer "to a question we don't know". But if I remember correctly, its first words upon breaking out where "Who dares disturb the slumber of the Tahtorak?" Then isn't that its question? Granted, they wouldn't have been able to answer it, but still.
153
154	* This bothered me when I first saw the film, and it's ten years later and it still bothers me when I rewatch the scene. How in Mata Nui's name was Takanuva resurrected at the end of ''Mask of Light''? Vakama just positions Hahli, Jaller, and the Kanohi Avohkii on a conveniently-placed BIONICLE logo on the floor while naming the three virtues, and this somehow revives Takanuva. What... how... why...? [[AssPull There's no foreshadowing or leading up to it at all (not even a "Legend has foretold that blah blah blah")]], and nobody refers to it again afterward. It's also worth noting that, in the novelization by Cathy Hapka, Takanuva never died; he split from Makuta when the door crushed Takutanuva, and simply walked out in one piece. As far as I know, Greg Farshtey never offered an explanation, and he certainly never used this element again in his writing.
155	** I don't reckon they thought it through from a canon standpoint, the movie's creators probably just wanted to insert a last dramatic scene, as well as drive the "Hahli=Unity", "Jaller=Duty", "Takua/Takanuva=Destiny" symbolism home. The series was still almost 100% magic-fantasy at that point, so they likely didn't bother to give it much thought and assumed kids would buy it without question.
156
157	* Was it ever explained why Wairuha had a silver colored mask and Akamai a gold one? It's not based on the sets, since as far as I'm aware, the mask pieces haven't been available in those colors at that time. Since technically both were created by merging three Golden Masks, one ending up as silver seems odd. Although it did complement Wairuha's color scheme better...
158	** May just be [[RuleOfCool for that reason.]]
159
160	* Correct me if I'm wrong, but in Tale of the Toa, the masks "stack"a the Toa collect them (i.e. Kopaka finds a Hau and puts it on over his Akaku, and then, when he tests it, he finds that he can still use the Akaku's sight with the Hau's shield). What, then, was the point of the Golden Kanohi? They supposedly possess the powers of all six of 2001's Kanohi, but it seems pretty pointless when the Toa can just use all six powers on their own. Is there a reason besides [[MerchandiseDriven selling more masks?]]
161	** Direct quote from the novelization is "This united all the powers of the other six--only it was even stronger!", so presumably it merely increases each mask's individual power. It also didn't require one to switch their mask to use its respective power, so that would give a split-second advantage.
162	** Right. In the middle of a fight, a split second is an awfully long time.
163
164	* I recently noticed something, and was absolutely shocked that I hadn't figured this out earlier. Is the symbol that represents the three virtues (the unity, duty and destiny dots) supposed to be a subtle representation of the shattered fragments Spherus Magna? If so, then Unity and Duty would represent Aqua Magna and Bota Magna, while Destiny would be Bara Manga. Everyone else sees this, right?
165	** Yep, this was pretty much confirmed.
166
167	* Alright, this is kind of a minor thing, but it's been bugging me for a while: Where is Ta-Koro located? Most of the early media implies that Ta-Koro was inside the Mangai volcano, but all the official maps of Mata Nui show that it's nowhere near the center of the island, and is actually closer to the coast of the island (which is born out by MNOG), yet it also implies that the village was in the heart of the Mangai. Further confusing the issue is that one of the early comics has Makuta trigger an eruption in the volcano, which should've destroyed Ta-Koro, and yet they're clearly fine afterwards. So, can anyone help me on this?
168	** Maybe it's built on the outside slopes of the Mangai?
169
170	* Am I misremembering, or did Takua and Gali have some kind of mental link at some point? What ever happened with that?
171	** It was used the other way around to prove Takanuva's identity when he met the Toa Nuva in Karda Nui, having his gold armor turned gray, his mask changed in shape, his size increase, and using shadow power, which made Pohatu suspicious. To prove it was him, he asked Gali to read his memories through their mental link, and she mentions the Toa Empire and Kingdom Alternate Universes.
172	* I may not be remembering that arc correctly, but why do the Toa Metru need to figure out what their Kanohi powers are? Vakama was a mask maker, so wouldn't he know?
173	** Additionally, wouldn't there be records of mask powers in the Archives?
174	** Perhaps it's not so much that they didn't know what the powers ''are,'' just how to turn them on.
175
176	* Ignika's self-preservation: why didn't it try to kill Dekar / Hydraxon, both times under the direct threat of destruction, and instead came up with some giant-eel plans; but when Lewa, Pohatu, Tanma and Photok attempted the same in Shadow Leech Hive, it started killing the attackers immediately. Then, it doesn't seem justified the mask would curse Icarax just for an attempt of touching it, while Nocturn, Vezon and Mantax carried it for a long time and never experienced anything close to Evolution Torture Icarax received.
177	** My theory is that when Matoro used it, it saw his memories. Naturally, Matoro thinks of Toa as the good guys and Makuta as the bad, so it may be going off of that.
178
179	* I am by no means a Bionicle fan -- I just remember this question I had from when I watched the ''Mask of Light'' movie as a kid, and I thought I might as well ask it now. In the movie, I remember there being a Toa of Earth ''and'' a Toa of Stone...Why, exactly? Couldn't "stone" just be considered a subset of earth?
180	** The elements of Earth and Stone are distinct in the story. That's just how the story works.
181	** The Toa were originally conceived as Earth, Water, Air and Fire, but LEGO's assembly lines could handle making two more unique sets, so they added two more elements to make six.
182	** From what I learned at BioSector01, earth in Bionicle is soil and dirt, while stone in Bionicle is rocks and minerals.
183
184	* It's been bugging me for years: The island of Maith the Barraki other than just kill them outright, and Helryx may well have figured that they could be useful in the Mata Nui is above Metru Nui, because Metru Nui is the Mata Nui robot's brain, and the Mata Nui island is his face. But how did the Toa Metru get there just by floating across the sea? How does that work? Building airships to fly makes some sense, but floating on water in a Vahki transport? How would that take them to an island above them?
185	** It's my understanding that there were a series of tunnels beyond the Great Barrier that led up to Mata Nui.
186
187	* Botar has been seen to banish several villains such as the Barraki to the Pit in canon. What is stopping him from banishing Makuta or any other bad guy? What is the point of the Toa if he could just banish anyone he wanted?
188	** First, Botar works for the Order, whose primary rule is to stay secret. Random criminals and fallen Order members are one thing, but if a member of the Brotherhood (especially its leader) disappears, people will start wondering and investigating. Secondly, there is nothing else to do in the future (or she prefers a FateWorseThanDeath to killing outright). Botar, it seems, is only called in for the really bad guys for whom there's no other option. Secondly, it doesn't seem that there's any PowerLimiter in the Pit. Teridax or another Makuta could always just teleport straight back home, or swim up and out.
189
190	* Why did Makuta plant the idea of the Mask of Life in the Piraka's minds? If his plan was to use the Mask of Life to resurrect Mata Nui and take over his body, why trip up the team of Toa sent to do precisely that?
191	** In Makuta's Guide to the Universe, he states that he wanted to slow down and frustrate the Nuva, presumably so that he could wait until that moment when Mata Nui was actually dead and then pull his GrandTheftMe. He didn't expect the Piraka to actually be able to beat the Nuva. Also, [[EvilIsPetty Teridax is a petty jerk]].
192
193
194	* Why are the waters around Voya Nui mutagenic? I've read that it has something to do with Karda Nui radiation, but Karda Nui is very far from Voya Nui and its air seems okay.
195	** 'Cause originally, Voya Nui was part of the Southern Continent, right above Karda Nui. When the Great Cataclysm happened, Voya Nui got ripped out and thrown up onto the surface of Aqua Magna. And it wasn't actually the radiation from Karda Nui, it was radiation from the Mata Nui robot interacting with the Aqua Magna water. Some of that irradiated water fell through the hole Voya Nui had made and into the Pit and Karda Nui. Hope that helps! https://biosector01.com/wiki/Pit_Mutagen This article has more on it.

Context Headscratchers / Bionicle