[A Question About Makuta in 2008]

Like fishers and Iaredios pointed out, destroying the Ignika would have had catastrophic results. Because it's a Legendary Kanohi, it's connected to all life inside and including the MU. In the same way that destroying the Vahi wuld shatter the fabric of time within the MU, destroying the Ignika could potentially snuff out the life of the GSR and all the life inside it -- including whatever spirit is in control of the robot -- in the blink of an eye.

 

re:Vezon & Kardas- the reason Matoro was able to remove the Ignika was because it had chosen him as its bearer. Also I'm fairly sure they were frozen in a stasis field, not solidified time.

 

The Dekar/Hydraxon thing was a totally cheap move. It would've made more sense for the Ignika to resurrect the original Hydraxon. Plus Dekar had so much potential as a character, just wasted in an instant :c

[More Than One of Each Legendary Kanohi? (G1)]

I'm pretty sure that the Ignika, Vahi, and Mask of Creation all work outside of the Matoran Universe, however. The Ignika in particular has multiple instances of extra-MU operation. I think that would kick that theory out.

I don't think that "designed for use within the MU" necessitates "nonfunctional outside the MU" -- we've also had an instance of extra-MU Vahi operation, and I have a memory of Greg confirming that the Legendary Kanohi functioned outside the MU, just not at their full potential power level (granted, I also have a memory of Greg saying it would be 100% physically impossible to have doubles of any Legendary Kanohi within the MU and I might be wrong about that? who knows)

 

What I think is interesting is that most of the instances of extra-MU Legendary Mask use were very close to the MU exterior -- probably close enough to still latch onto the fundamental forces at work in the interior. Ignika on Bara Magna is a fun loophole, since it's tied to the life of Mata Nui, and surprise! guess who's inside it

so: what's going to happen now that the GSR is toast and Mata Nui is dormant? I'm guessing that the power of the Legendary Kanohi might just fade away

[Seasons and Calendar in the Matoran Universe]

With regards to the other discussion that's popped up in the posts above: I do have a "patch" for the trouble of years, which is the idea that 1 BIONICLE year = 1 human month. That reduces the gigantic span of 100,000 years to 83,333 years, which, while still large, is a little easier for me take seriously. Of course, this idea is strictly against Greg's answers, and it raises some interesting questions about SM's orbit, so I wouldn't expect everyone to appreciate it.

I sure as heck appreciate it -- that's one detail I've incorporated into my own headcanons since you brought it up in the Headcanons thread a few months ago although wouldn't 100,000 divided by twelve be 8,333 rather than 83,333?

 

I also seem to recall the BIONICLE Story Squad trying to canonize a 36-hour day for the MU, based on the Great Sundial from MNOG. I don't have strong opinions about that, however.

Hmm, if we incorporate that into the figures, it turns 100,000 years of Bionicle time into 12,500 years of our time. Still pretty manageable

[More Than One of Each Legendary Kanohi? (G1)]

The best way I've found to articulate is as follows:

 

Great and Noble Kanohi are like batteries. They create and/or store power. Let's take, for instance, the Mask of Speed. When it is activated, it makes the wearer faster by its own innate power. If it's damaged, it stops working.

 

Legendary Kanohi are not batteries, but conduits for energies of an entirely different order of magnitude. Let's use the Vahi as an example here. The Vahi is connected to the flow of time in the entire MU. It is not generating its own power, like a Kakama would, but rather grabbing the fabric of Time itself and yanking on it. This is why it creates distortions when damaged, rather than shutting down. Likewise, the Ignika is permanently tapped into the life of the Great Spirit and everything within it. Creation is a bit harder to explain, but if the analogy works for Time and Life, I can accept it as well.

 

_{None of this is canon, necessarily, although I've seen nothing that directly contradicts it}

 

So the reason there can only be one Mask of Time within the GSR is that you can't have the fabric of Time pulled in multiple directions (as we've seen, time in Bionicle is not particularly flexible). Artakha could make six new Great Discs, but if one were to fuse them and try to forge a new Vahi, either the old one would shut down, or the new one would not work at all. And that's just within the GSR -- you could make a new Mask of Time outside the robot, but you'd have to make it a conduit for the fabric of Time everywhere in the universe, and there's probably nobody with the willpower necessary to make a mask like that work.

[Rate The Song Above You]

I really dig the texture here -- it's like harsh but without being abrasive or grating? I don't really know how to articulate it. The harmonic structure is also really cool, especially the stuck-record break around the third minute. also some groovy syncopation. 5/5

EDIT: had to give Part 2 a listen as well -- I'm a sucker for songs with multiple movements, and I was not disappointed here

 

[The mystery of Artakha]

Artakha as tarnished also sets up an interesting contrast with his brother -- Karzahni is more rust than tarnish, even if his colors don't really reflect it, and as we have seen, he only got weaker with age.

 

_{also fun fact they did try to clean the statue of liberty one time early in its career, only to quickly realize that de-tarnishing did it more harm than good, hence its current appearance}

[Rate The Song Above You]

2/5 there isn't much dynamic or textural variation, it's just heavy all the way through (except for maybe like 15 seconds around the four-and-a-half minute mark? and even then only a little), and as it's a pretty long song, it kinda succumbs to monotony after a while.

 

[How did the Great Kanohi come to Mata Nui?]

Nah, I'm pretty sure T1S is right about the Makuta thing, although it's been quite a while since I read Maze of Shadows.

 

As for the Nuvas... I have no idea. Did they have to search for them as well? I don't know when or if the Turaga built the Suvas as shrines but I think I remember reading that they got deactivated. So the Toa were not able to freely switch between all their masks. As for receiving a Golden Konohi, I don't think the Turaga made them

Artakha forged the Golden Kanohi and the Kanohi Nuva, as we have established in earlier posts. BS01 is pretty clear on the matter.

[How did the Great Kanohi come to Mata Nui?]

 

I thought Artakha made the Kanohi and just teleported them around the island according to that one Order of Mata Nui agent's surveillance before said agent was killed by Teridax.

 

If I am wrong on this then I am not sure where I got the information from.

You are correct, but only about the Kanohi NUVA. Artakha was the only being who knew how to make Kanohi Nuva, and so they could only have come from him. The regular great masks came from Makuta's practice.

 

Artakha made the Kanohi Nuva and the Golden Kanohi, in fact. The Golden Kanohi were hidden within the Kini Nui (yeah, I was totally wrong on the Suva thing -- my brain always reverts to viewing MNOG as 100% canon ) and it was the Toa Mata's collections of masks that unlocked them, but the collected masks did not create the Golden Kanohi.

 

also thanks for the memory jog re:Maze of Shadows. That is not one of the books that stuck in my mind

[How did the Great Kanohi come to Mata Nui?]

the masks were made on metru nui, and the toa metru brought them to mata nui. I don't think the turaga ever explain why they hid the masks, but I think it was more to hide them from the Makuta than from the toa.

It was to hide them from Makuta, but also to ensure that only a Toa could retrieve them.

 

 

How did the Turaga get hold of so many Great Kanohi?

Vakama is a mask-maker. He'd have easy access to wherever Kanohi were stored on Metru Nui. No conundrum there.

 

Also if they brought copies of their own masks as well, why not bring the Great versions?

Perhaps they realized they would have to become Turaga -- or at least Vakama may have, through visions; he was the one who realized that Toa power was needed to reawaken the Matoran. Or perhaps they did not have time to consider which masks they were bringing and just grabbed five copies of the first twelve masks they found. In that case, destiny could have played a role in ensuring that they masks they took were the right ones.

 

Also what happened to the airships they used to fly themselves and the Matoran there?

They were used to construct the six villages. Remember the elevators in Onu-Koro and Le-Koro? The bridge into Ta-Koro? The pump in Ga-Koro? Repurposed airship machinery, every bit of it. It's all on BS01.

[How did the Great Kanohi come to Mata Nui?]

The Toa Metru brought the 30 extra Great Masks (and the 30 extra Noble Masks) and hid them around the island before becoming Turaga.

 

Given that the Golden Kanohi were actually zapped to the island by Artahka, who made them in the first place, I would guess that the Suva may have been his doing as well? I'm not really clear on the whole Suva thing either tbh

[Bionicle Book Royalties]

I'd be frustrated with people who only read the books in the store too -- I mean, come on, it's five dollars. They were probably the cheapest items available in the entirety of my local Barnes & Noble

 

(granted, I bought the books more consistently than I bought the sets so idk maybe other people just budgeted differently? still though, it's only five dollars)

 

_{(or 7 in Canada}

 

shamefully, I don't know the prices anywhere else)

[Review: A Play of Light]

I was just thinking the same thing. In fact, sound waves actually travel more efficiently through water than through air, to the point where IIRC the speed of sound is significantly higher underwater.

EDIT: ~4 times faster, as it turns out

 

Perhaps we could assume that the audio receptors of protodermic beings function differently somehow than human ears and thus can't pick up soundwaves underwater? idk

[Rate The Song Above You]

yeeeesssssssss classic punky stuff 5/5

 

[Rate The Song Above You]

Stylistically not something I'd seek out. Technically intricate and fascinating though. I dug the flute interlude. 4/5

 

speaking of woodwinds in genres that don't usually have woodwinds, let's bring the bass clarinet into folk/roots music. it's about time.

[The mystery of Artakha]

 

 

funny how both he and ekimu have hammers as weapons- and similar masks. I don't know where the info comes from that he's green gray though- even before ekimu, I imagined him with mostly gold.

He's definitely green and grey, not gold. He got a fairly detailed description when he appeared in one of the serials in late 2008.

 

Technically speaking, Karzahni was definitely gold and black... and then when he appeared in a set in 2007 he was suddenly green and silver. That's one reason I don't tend to consider descriptions of unportrayed characters to be the be-all and end-all of the characters, since Lego themselves didn't let descriptions like that stifle them when it came time to debut a previously undepicted character.

 

True, but then again Artahka was never transformed, as far as we know.

 

 

I actually drew a concept drawing of his face a while ago. It's not perfect nor complete, but I still like it. Mask of Creation. I have the green there but some gold-copper coloring to it to show that maybe it wasn't always that color and rusted over time.

I am in love with the idea of Tarnished Artahka.

[The mystery of Artakha]

funny how both he and ekimu have hammers as weapons- and similar masks. I don't know where the info comes from that he's green gray though- even before ekimu, I imagined him with mostly gold.

He's definitely green and grey, not gold. He got a fairly detailed description when he appeared in one of the serials in late 2008.

[Rate The Song Above You]

4/5 A little generic instrumentally, but I thought the lyrics had some clever bits

 

[What Mask Would Your Mahri Matoran Have?]

so...you know many other matoran in the MU had to have Lhikan's varient of the hau, right...? this is overlooked a bit, methinks...an onu matoran with a black Lhikan-Hau would have been awesome .

 

and for the ko matoran: a great Pakari. But one with an axle in it, like they did with Tahu Stars.

Lhikan's Hau in any color would have been glorious.

[Review: A Play of Light]

@fishers- Clearly the bird is a metaphor for the fog, and vice-versa

 

Crack theory: Jehui is the Foe of the World. "Ruling with Fire and Light" simply means he will somehow get Vyroko/Deschyny to do his bidding. And we've already seen him manipulate Deschyny.

"He has glided for three days" refers to him zipping around in his spirit form. The word choice is a red herring to make us mistakenly suspect Vyroko -- a bloodred herring, then.

Bonus: the Tahtorak is almost suspicious of how clever Jehui is

 

_{Not that I want this to happen, of course -- Jehui is my favorite character!! D:}

[noble vahi?]

Possible? It's not just possible, it's already happened!!

 

 

kidding aside, it's definitely possible -- like you mentioned, the Toa Hagah had masks in shapes that were not standard for the powers -- heck, even Nuju had a modified mask as a Toa. But aside from practical alterations like Nuju's eyepiece or variations with ceremonial significance as in the case of the Hagah, I imagine most mask-makers would frown upon such practices, as it would just be confusing (and potentially dangerous: suppose an angry rahi is rampaging through the district and the local Toa needs a Pakari to subdue it, so she grabs what appears to be a Mask of Strength, only to discover that it is actually a Mask of Sensory Aptitude. Consistency in shape is important!)

[noble vahi?]

 

Yes, but that would imply if that matoran ever became a toa, they would have a Great mask of time, so thats out of the Question

I wonder if you could carve a Vahi shape out of other Kanoka? Like if the Matoran became a Toa, it would take the form of the actual mask. It has been shown that Kanohi can be different shapes than their actual form, such as Norik's Pehkui, Iruni's Kualsi if you follow the headcanon that the Volitak's true form resembles Nidhiki's mutated face.

 

You could carve a Vahi-shaped Matoran mask, yeah. but it wouldn't turn into a mask of Time if the Matoran became a Toa. It's impossible for multiples of the same Legendary Kanohi to exist simultaneously, and as SPIRIT mentioned, it is also impossible for a Mask of Time to exist which is not Legendary.

The reason for this is a basic difference between how Great masks function and how Legendary masks function -- Great masks act as batteries for various powers, whereas Legendary masks act as conduits for fundamental forces of the universe itself.

[Vahki Speech]

 

There are a very different views, apparently, on how Vahki speak. Some say they don't speak normal matoran at all, and only communicate via ultrasonic speech. Others say that they HAVE to speak normal matoran, since they clearly had to be able to give orders to the matoran. Very confusing, this is, and it makes it hard for me to actually comment on this anything other than the fact that this is very clever. Regardless of whether or not they could speak normal matoran, how ever, being able to communicate imagery, crudely or not, would give a definite advantage.

There's no ambiguity. It was ultrasonic (until the slowdown of some in the GC), and they didn't need to speak orders to Matoran. Anybody who failed to show up to work could be collected, shoved into their place of work, and they'd know what to do from there.

 

And in other situations, generally being fired at with the Vahki powers, chased, or otherwise attacked means "bad."

 

And the only possible "good" interaction with the Vahki is not interacting with the Vahki

 

 

@Toa Vanson -- Vahki are definitely too small to produce anything like the tripod noise Thing is, I can see why some Vahki might use sirens -- specifically Vorzahk and Keerahk, since staffs of Erasing and Confusion would turn Matoran into worse workers (I never really understood why those powers weren't considered counterintuitive), so sirens would be useful to give Matoran one last warning before scrambling their brains for the rest of the day/week/whatever. However, given the desire for total silence within Ko-Metru, sirens on Keerahk would probably be a supremely bad idea, and as for Vorzahk, the distinctive sound of them smashing through everything in their path is probably siren enough The Vahki are already super-intimidating as they are -- I'm not sure sirens would be necessary for intimidation.

[Vahki Speech]

Ahh, thanks for the references fishers. I do not have my books with me

[Vahki Speech]

It would be really cool, and is a really neat idea, but there's the whole thing of... well... Matoran are supposed to be able to understand them. Such as, taking orders from them.

Except Matoran weren't supposed to be able to understand Vahki speech. At all. In Web of the Visorak, when the Toa Metru discover that the power surge caused the Vahki that remained functional to revert to speaking intelligibly, they find this surprising, and Whenua says something to the effect of "Everyone knows Vahki don't speak Matoran."