14 replies to this topic

[Thunder on the Mountain]

Alright so...

2001: The Toa Mata enter Mangaia and do battle with Shadow Toa, Manas (as the Kaita!), and the Makuta himself. While this occurs, the Matoran of the Chroniclers Company hold the line at Kini-Nui and in the final stretch are backed by the various village guards across the island.
2002: A pitched battle with the Bahrag (inside AND outside of the Exo-Toa), coinciding with the Matoran defense of Ga-Koro.
2003 (Skipping the Bohrok Kal since there's nothing really there to speak of): The anticipated final confrontation of the Makuta and the Toa of Light. Also the final fight with the Rahkshi, involving the tragic (though temporary ) death of Jaller, which is probably more relevant in this topic.
2004: The mano-a-mano duel between Makuta and Vakama, with dying Turaga, invisible trickery, and messing with time.
2005: Although the year was received somewhat coolly, no one can deny a pretty epic siege of the Coliseum undertaken by the Hordika. Spinners. Everywhere. Also, Star Wars-esque emotional Matau vs. Vakama.
2006: The collision point of the Inika, Piraka, and Vezon at the Voya-Nui story conclusion. One might also count the Inika's earlier ventures through the chamber of life, and the duel between Axonn and Brutaka.
2007: The magnificent deep-sea final battle against the Barraki, which basically started when the Toa exit the Terrain Crawler, so I'd count all that. Contains Matoro's infamous sacrifice at it's conclusion.
2008: The namesake 'Final Battle' or 'Battle for Power'. Axalara and Jetrax, Makuta and Toa flying every which way, energy storms, all that stuff. In the long run, everyone loses.
2009: The rather silly duel between Tuma and Mata-Nui, followed by a huge melee brawl which pretty much makes up for the former.
2010: Shouldn't really count because this year basically WAS a big battle, but uh, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots was pretty cool.

Can you tell I got a bit lazy with the EPIC descriptions by the end of it? Anyway, each year ended with some kind of epic battle usually involving Toa and destiny and powers and stuff. What were your favorites and least favorites, which do you think capped off their years well, which ones did you find to be let-downish?

I feel like I should also mention some of the other big battles that were also suitably epic but were not at a years end, just for additional discussion. This includes the Battle in the Great Furnace, the Bohrok Seige in Le-Koro, the Rahkshi attacks on Ta-Koro and Onu-Koro, the Tower of the Toa Battle, the various Karda-Nui Skirmishes, the Piraka Fortress battle, the Raid on Vulcanus, and the rather dark colisseum battle from Dark Mirror. Which amongst these do you remember enjoying the most? Are there other, smaller ones you enjoyed?

I think I'm making this discussion a little too open to be pollified. Anyway, discuss!

Edited by Thunder on the Mountain, Sep 22 2012 - 10:32 PM.

[Meta-Mind]

I really enjoyed 2001's ending - it actually gave the Matoran a role, for one, which is more than some other "final battles." 2003's was cool too, though the "dying then resurrecting" thing got old after it was used twice in a row.

2004's ending was actually pretty brilliant. It provided a huge character development point for Vakama - having him overcome his insecurities, roll up his metaphorical sleeves, and finally activate his Huna (which seemed to be a symbol of development into a Toa throughout the year's storyline) was a very well-done sequence, and Turaga Lhikan's sacrifice actually felt like it meant something after the movie was over (more than can be said for a certain Matoran wearing his mask a thousand or so years later). Teridax being beaten by a lone, angry Toa of Fire was pretty epic as well, and the very end was a nice callback to 2002's Toa Seal.

2005... that battle was another one of those really character-development-intensive battles, especially for Vakama and Matau. Matau trying to "save" Vakama when all the other Toa had given up hope was an interesting statement about their relationship (both as Toa and, later, as Turaga). Vakama's change from early 2004 to 2005 was surprising, but it makes sense: Vakama overdid it after finally finding his confidence, which led to his becoming angry at himself and the other Toa when he lead them into a trap. When he finally managed to balance out his ego and save Matau, it was as climactic - or more so - in its own way as 2003's Battle of Mangaia.

2006 was -ish, the "final battle" was really hard to define. Vezon wasn't a very satisfying villain all on his own (though he makes great comic relief), and Fenrakk was essentially just a Giant Space Flea From Nowhere. The last revelation with Kongu reading the mask's mind was cool, though, and Axonn's duel with Brutaka definitely made up for the lack of emotional depth the Toa were experiencing with Vezon.

2007 was...

It was...

Yes.

First off, we get a good look (for the first time since Dark Destiny, though Inferno showed this some) at Matoro's personality, and he really becomes a very likeable character. His final sacrifice... it really meant something to be losing a character like that, with that sort of emotional and spiritual depth to him. His final action of friendship before he died was just a final way to show that, even in death, Matoro was a good friend.
And then we have the fact that the Mahri are essentially warring with the Barraki (with such overpowered masks as Summoning and Reanimation which essentially allow them armies-on-the-go), plus we finally get Teridax back. Oh, and Hydraxon's cool too.
Finally, this. I don't care that it's non-canon, it's awesome.
"MATOROOOO!"
"...I'll take it from here."

2008... compared to 2007, it was more classic, with a greater focus on combat. Perhaps my favorite character development arcs of this year were Krika's, Mazeka's, and Ignika's - but of those, Mazeka's didn't factor into the final battle in the slightest, and Krika's was more of a tragic "too little, too late." Ignika's was interesting, but it could've been explored much better then it actually ended up being. In my eyes, the real redeeming factor to this was the vehicle battle. I mean, they're vehicle sets. In Bionicle.

2009's last battle was fairly meh, though I liked Mata Nui's development throughout the year. Tuma was really a cliched, anti-climactic braggart, and a horrible fighter - he seriously turned his back, where he had a gaping hole in his armor, to a direct creation of the Great Beings with the Mask of Life and a well-nigh unbreakable sword. The battle afterwards was okay, though it did return a bit too abruptly to the "The Power of TEAMWORK" cliche that permeated the series's early years.

2010 was a nice final battle, except for the Golden Armor. It seemed like a random collectible rather than a real story element. Mata Nui versus Makuta (because we all know that's the name on every fan's mind, not Teridax, at that moment) was a nice showdown that I personally was anticipating from the series's very beginning - though the exact type of showdown was certainly a twist.

[Thunder on the Mountain]

Finally, this. I don't care that it's non-canon, it's awesome.

That video basically makes the 2007 story for me. The classic gearin' up scene, gunfight with sharks, driving little surfboard thing into Gadunka's mouth, Hydraxon being Clint Eastwood, slow-mo Maxilos vs. Hydraxon action shots, nice Daughtry/E&M music in the background, everyone's accents. Holy man, watching that a few years after it's release. I think extreme is the only real way to put it.

I guess I'll actually put a few of my personal opinions here. I adored, and still adore, the first two year's finales. The MNOLG version of the Mangaia fight is nostalgic and still gives me the chills. Love it with a passion. Additionally, the 2002 made for a great sequel to that. The year still involved the whole 'collect all these things so you can face the big bad', but I think still kept it interesting. The finale was like that too, I think made even better by the presence of Exo-Toa armor. And of course, the came up with another Takua plot to coincide with it (which was NOT as similar to 2001) and that was great.

I don't care all that much for the Mangaia duel of '03, but I liked the final confrontation with the Rahkshi. I'm not sure if the story would have been better or worse with a final death for Jaller, but meh. I think the real highlights of 2003 were the attacks on Ta-Koro and Onu-Koro, which set up this feeling of impending doom. It just kept getting worse and worse, with Toa fighting Toa and Rahkshi beating Toa senseless.

2004 and 2005 were different from previous years. The former was a smaller scale, personal rite of passage for Vakama. And it wasn't just a brawl, more trickery and craftiness than anything. '04 was a cool year because of the various adventures it held BEFORE it's finally. They had a big battle with Morbuzakh as their rite of passage, conflicts with the Vahki, Krahka, and the Dark Hunters all leading up to this little shell game between Vakama and Makuta. 2005 on the other hand, had a lot of different media talking about a lot of small battles and such the Toa took part in. That all led up to one of the biggest battles in the series, the awesome siege on the Coliseum (exactly the opposite of the 04 finale). Say what you like about 2005 but it was a really cool fight, mostly serving as a background for the Vakama/Matau battle of the heroes totally not inspired by Star Wars the same year fight. So yeah, cool stuff for both years.

'06 had kind of an anti-climatic finale. I think I would have liked it better if it was less Vezon vs. Piraka and THEN Vezon vs. Toa, and more Vezon vs. Piraka vs. Toa. Anyway, 06 had a variety of Piraka fighting stuff fight scenes that were all real cool, and the Axonn vs. Brutaka duel with the whole Axonns a champion I pity the foo who's not Axonn thing going on. Great year. Bit of a strange finale.

I've talked about '07, the poster above me has talked a LOT about 07, moving on.

Later years I just didn't think capped off their years quite as well. I liked the final Karda Nui battle, and I liked the big brawl at the end of '09, but I don't think they had quite the same touch as previous years. I preferred the Raid on Vulcanus, which had plenty of cool strategy and build up through that pretty epic book, something not really present in earlier years. In 2008, I liked the Dark Mirror fight. Greg could do basically whatever he wanted with whatever characters he wanted, and it turned out a lot darker than the other work. It was cool.

In 2010, I have to say the primary highlight was the robot fight. I'm iffy about all the Glatorian and Toa action going down beneath, but I think they finished off Makuta in one of the best ways possible, and (spare me the physics improbabilities) I liked the idea of universe-robots going at it. Sue me.

So...that's all I really have to say now.

[Biff]

Well, a really small battle I liked was the battle with Makuta Tridax and Tobduk. Basically a bad-boy (You all know what I want to say instead of boy. character beating the heck out of another bad-boy character. Look it up. It's cool.

[Magnetic Vorahk]

The Toa Mahri video was canon. It was Downfall Chapter 8.

[Meta-Mind]

The Toa Mahri video was canon. It was Downfall Chapter 8.

No, it was different in details. The general outline was similar, though.

As far as Tridax V. Tobduk goes: I have to agree that it was neat. Personally, I enjoyed Mazeka's other battles in the serial more, but whatever floats your boat will do, I suppose.

[Angel Bob]

Tridax v. Tobduk was no battle, guys. Come on...

I have to say that I actually enjoyed the Glatorian battles in 2009, and like everything about Bara Magna, I feel the story team didn't do nearly as much with that as they could have.

[Makuta Matata]

My favorites are The Inika and Piraka vs. Super Thok and Hakann, The final battle, the Toa Nuva vs. Bohrok-Kal, Mata Nui vs. Tuma, the coliseum seige by the Hordika an Matau vs. Vakama, Takanuva vs. Makuta, and the final battle Mahri vs. Barraki with Matoro's death. SO basically almost all of them.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

The Toa vs. Makuta Tentacle battle in MNOLG was great. It was better than Takanuva jumping around and screaming like a brain-damaged monkey at Makuta in MoL.

2008 was kind of a letdown because they were hyping the final battle all year but, in the end, you never feel like you got your money's worth.

[Constructman: Black Knight]

My favourite battle? Teridax vs Vakama in LoMN. But my overall favourite moment is Matoro donning the mask of life in 2007

[Katuko]

Any time the battle music kicked in during 2001 was an epic moment for me; especially when the Mata challenged Makuta and really let loose with their elements in glorious Flash animation. Kopaka fighting several Rahkshi at once was awesome too, both in movie and comic form.

The Piraka pleasantly surprised me by constantly being involved in large-scale battles, and ditto for the Makuta in Karda Nui. My favorite written battle scene might be the one in Dark Mirror, though, where people get torn down left and right in an all-out chaotic war rather than the "duels" we are used to.

[Nuparu1995]

I think 2009's ending was a little let-down-ish for me, just because of the absence of the chronology of the typical Bionicle story year.

[742mph]

Saying this might be a bit redundant, but I also consider 2007's final battle my favorite. It's the kind of epic conflict that you knew was coming, but you didn't really have much of an idea of how it was going to play out. I wasn't all that surprised that Matoro used his connection to the Ignika in some way, but I didn't think the frachise in general would have the guts to kill off a very well-developed character like that. I undoubtedly appreciate it that they did, though, as the ending would have been so much less emotionally powerful if Matoro had survived.

As for my least favorite final battle, it would have to be the end of the Bohrok-Kal saga, if that counts. The whole "overloading the Nuva Symbols" thing just felt like it came out of nowhere and didn't seem like a natural conculsion to that part of the story, just an unrealistically convenient plot element. It's like the writers thought it would be too hard to think of anything better and just got lazy.

[Biff]

Tridax v. Tobduk was no battle, guys. Come on...

OK, I admit it was more just Tobduk killing Tridax, (awesomely, mind you) but it was still cool.

[Axonn's Fury]

I am ridiculously in love with the 2004 story line. I have a big place in my
heart for Metru Nui. It just seemed like the start of a crazy amount of lore, and also answered so many questions previously unanswered. Plus the Toa Metru/Turaga..

I also liked some parts of 2005, mostly Nidhiki, Iruini & Norik, Roodaka. Great story lines.