Jump to content

The Sky of the Matoran Universe


Recommended Posts

I was wondering about three specific aspects of the MU's sky, and how they work.

 

The first regards the day/night cycles in MU domes. Since the MU's landmasses are island [continents] which are enclosed in giant domes, daylight is of course not natural. I read on BS01 that daylight is provided by a giant, special kind of Lightstone on the ceiling of a Dome, that shine on and off daily, and [i assume] also give out heat too. What I was wondering about was if the domes simulated the apparent movements of a star from a planet's perspective, i.e. do the look like a sunrise/midday/sunset. So:

 

In the MU, does the daylight source move around the sky like it would on a planet, or is it fixed at a certain position and just turn on and off during the course of every day, almost like a dimming light bulb?

 

I sort of already have an answer, based upon various media representations, which seem to depict a sunrise and sunset (notably the LoMN film), it would seem it does look like our Sun. So I suppose a better question would be "assuming the domes 'sun' does move around during the day, how might the MU manage to simulate this, if the giant Lightstone is stationary?". Perhaps the ceiling is completely covered with these giant Lightstones, and only some of them are only ever on at a certain time (ones close to one another that look like a 'sun'), so the 'sun' appears to move due to the illusion of an "image" of a sun created by the modulating Lightsones? So the dome basically has a giant screen on its ceiling that generates daylight. I'm not really sure about this at all, so I just thought I'd put this out there.

 

Secondly I wonder about the stars seen from the MU domes. I know these are simulated. I remember reading that Spirit Stars are some kind of electrical phenomenon generated by the MU. In my only ever fanfic someone used this to tell that a Toa was on an island, since their Spirit Star appeared on that dome's wall/sky of stars. Might this work? Also, would different domes have different stars/constellation? How would this affect astrologers?

 

However, what I really wondered about were the stars seen in Metru Nui, since there where Sunholes (Mata Nui's 'eyes' in essence) present in the sky. For some time I thought all daylight came through these, but I realised that's impossible, since Mata Nui must have spent a good while travelling in space, not looking at any stars for at least part of his travels (the island of Mata Nui). So I figured Metru Nui must have it's own daylight source, like the rest of the MU. So, can anyone give any further info on the Sunholes because I'd love to know.

 

Finally, how do Matoran Prophesies work? I'm not saying I need an exact answer, because I'm sure there isn't one. It's just, I can understand the "prophesies" and predictions made on Mata Nui, since the Red Star was there. I believe the Red Star would change position depending on different states of the MU, which makes sense to me. So if you know what certain positions mean/relate to, you can know something current and so can assume things about the future.

 

On Metru Nui however, the Red Star would surely have appeared and disappeared whenever Mata Nui landed on a planet, right? Without the RS, how did the Ko-Matoran make predictions based on the stars? Unless there was some record of what one could expect to see through the Sunholes at night for a lot of Mata Nui's journey, and what this implied about the [future of the] Matoran Universe from these observations, I don't really know.

 

 

As always, thanks for reading, I'm especially curious about this topic! :)

Edited by NuvaTube
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since the MU's landmasses are island [continents] which are enclosed in giant domes, daylight is of course not natural. I read on BS01 that daylight is provided by a giant, special kind of Lightstone on the ceiling of a Dome, that shine on and off daily, and [i assume] also give out heat too.

I personally still have some confusion about this that I haven't bothered to get crystal clear in my mind since so far it's irrelevant to my fanfics. As I understand it, what is known for sure is that the suns of Metru Nui's sky are the eyeholes, the stars of the other skies are lightstones, and that the Metru Nui sky appears to rise and set like a real sky via an illusion power (probably light-bending).

 

Details I am (or was) less sure about are if giant lightstones are indeed the suns of the other skies (I know it isn't sunholes, but BS01 saying that answers my question :P), if the stars of Metru Nui's sky are only illusion (I think this was confirmed, and that they're the only ones that change, Spirit Stars notwithstanding), and if the skies of the other places seem to rotate.

 

Also don't know how different the skies are from each other, if at all, nor what the Matoran think of all this weirdness.

 

I sort of already have an answer, based upon various media representations, which seem to depict a sunrise and sunset (notably the LoMN film), it would seem it does look like our Sun.

I definitely remember Greg confirming that one. He said something like that he wondered about it and specifically asked about it in the early days of the story team and got confirmation -- I think he asked Bob Thompson himself about that one, but don't quote me on that part. :P

 

But that quote only confirmed it for Metru Nui.

 

So the dome basically has a giant screen on its ceiling that generates daylight, I'm not really sure about this at all, so I just thought I'd put this out there.

Hadn't considered that option -- so you're saying (in the theory) it would be like Christmas lights blinking so that one light seems to move? Problem is it would be pixelated, which I highly doubt. And since there's a lightbending power confirmed for Metru Nui, it would seem odd to use something else for the other skies, but possible.

 

Secondly I wonder about the stars seen from the MU domes. I know these are simulated. I remember reading that Spirit Stars are some kind of electrical phenomenon generated by the MU.

Spirit Stars are a distinct phenomenon; they're just hovering balls of light connected to Toa, and can even hover in the surface sky as seen with the Inika. So, it would be better to say they're generated by Toa.

 

In my only ever fanfic someone used this to tell that a Toa was on an island, since their Spirit Star appeared on that dome's wall/sky of stars. Might this work?

It has nothing to do with the location, although so far the evidence would support a theory that it has to be connected to the MU/giant robot/"large chunk of artificial protodermis"/something, since technically even Voya Nui was (by the stone cord to Mahri Nui which sat on the robot). But this is only a theory; a Toa somewhere out in the wilderness of SM might have a Spirit Star somewhere over him.

 

Note: I'm not sure if we know if spirit stars will move when a Toa moves. They don't track the Toa's exact location, and I think we've only seen them appear in association with Toa-ization. There was Takanuva's over the sky of Mata Nui, the Toa Metru's, and the Inika's. With Takanuva, Gali calls it a seventh star, possibly implying the Nuva had spirit stars which had moved there, but I don't think they are ever referenced as appearing. It may be those were just seven real stars that were symbolically associated with the Toa, like many stars and constellations related to the Red Star's motions.

 

Also, would different domes have different stars/constellation? How would this affect astrologers?

It's possible, and I usually leave room for it to be seen as implied in my fanfics in case it's true, that you have to look at Metru Nui's sky to see an open range of meanings, controlled by Mata Nui. However, on the surface you can watch the Red Star's motions with respect to real stars. Whether there's anything like this with the other skies is, as far as I know, not stated, but seems implied to be a no by the revelation that those skies' stars and suns (apparently) are just lightstones.

 

For some time I thought all daylight came through these, but I realised that's impossible, since Mata Nui must have spent a good while travelling in space, not looking at any stars for at least part of his travels (the island of Mata Nui). So I figured Metru Nui must have it's own daylight source, like the rest of the MU. So, can anyone give any further info on the Sunholes because I'd love to know.

I'm not sure what you mean here about not looking at stars, but I think you're asking how the sunlight would be bright enough there when for example he's in deep interstellar space. I don't think Greg ever commented on this (possibly time for a search), nor do I recall this problem occurring to anyone so far as they posted in S&T. It's a good point, but Greg confirmed their sunlight comes from the sunholes, and there's no indication to my knowledge of any backup option, though since the stars around those suns are illusions, I suppose the illusion could handle it if it had to.

 

Keep in mind we don't know how he gets from one star system to the next -- if it's hyperflight, he might make the jumps after the illusions have made his eyes appear to set to the Matoran, and arrive almost instantly. If this is the case then this would never be a problem.

 

On Metru Nui however, the Red Star would surely have appeared and disappeared whenever Mata Nui landed on a planet, right?

The Red Star has nothing to do with Metru Nui. It's only visible from the outside of the robot, namely the surface of planets he's landed on, esp. the camo island. You've kind of got the ease of it backwards -- surface astrology would be the hard one because only the Red Star moves (other than Spirit Stars potentially). In Metru Nui all of the stars can appear in whatever shape is desired.

 

We saw them form a direct and blatantly obvious shape of the Mask of Shadows, after all, when Makuta took over. So, I'd guess, astrology works by comparing constellations with identifiable shapes and trying to interpret the symbolic meanings with how they're used, much like how a psychologist can make some headway in guesstimating at the meanings of dreams due to the imagery employed, though they would generally be far more subtle.

 

Unless there was some record of what one could expect to see through the Sunholes at night for a lot of Mata Nui's journey

As far as we know, the only thing you can see through the sunholes is uniform refracted sunlight, equivalent to pointing a telescope at the real sun (unwise :P).

The Destiny of Bionicle (chronological retelling of Bionicle original series, 9 PDFs of 10 chapters each on Google Drive)Part 1 - Warring with Fate | Part 2 - Year of Change | Part 3 - The Exploration Trap | Part 4 - Rise of the Warlords | Part 5 - A Busy Matoran | Part 6 - The Dark Time | Part 7 - Proving Grounds | Part 8 - A Rude Awakening | Part 9 - The Battle of Giants

My Bionicle Fanfiction  (Google Drive folder, eventually planned to have PDFs of all of it)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like this topic when it first appeared, but was unable to answer it.

 

Now that you've helped us both out, I'm still somewhat confused.

 

So we know that the stars in the skies above all Great Spirit Robot locations besides Metru Nui are giant lightstones...

So... are the lightstones rotating around the roof of the dome? Or using this lightbending you mentioned?

These are sort-of speculation questions... but this one isn't and it still ties to this topic:

Are the landmasses inside of the robot on the edges of the domes facing inwards? Like, how is the inside of the robot laid out in terms of locations?

Steam Name: Toa Hahli Mahri. Xbox Live Gamertag: Makuta. Minecraft Username: ThePoohster.

Wants: 2003 Jaller (from Jaller and Gukko), Exo-Toa, Turaga Nuju, Turaga Vakama, Shadow Kraata, Axonn, Brutaka, Vezon & Fenrakk, Nocturn, ORANGE FIKOU.

I got rid of my picture, are you happy?

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there's like a big strip of special lightstone across the top of the dome. Two curved stone strips or something move slowly and isolate sections of the lightstone strip. Like:

 

::: = stone strip thing

L = lightstone

 

::(L)::::

:::::::: :::::::

 

And the ::::: strips move, which cover and show bits of lightstone. If the ::::: strips do not exist you would basically just see:

 

LLLLL

LLLL LLLL

 

across the "sky."

A bit confusing to get what the heck I'm talking about, but I think that's how it works.

Edited by Arzaki

:a: :r: :z: :a: :k: :i:

I got Monster Hunter World on PS4, add me at bmrjw2 if you want

Also I play FFXIV, my main is Anastasia Willow on Exodus but I've got characters on every NA datacenter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

These are sort-of speculation questions... but this one isn't and it still ties to this topic:

Are the landmasses inside of the robot on the edges of the domes facing inwards? Like, how is the inside of the robot laid out in terms of locations?

 

I'm not sure about the exact shape, but I imagine something a bit like a giant semi-sphere shape. where the sea and island exist. I think its generally one or two islands per dome, with various tunnels interconnecting the domes. I don't think tghere's any spinning otherwise the tunnel entrances would change

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm still somewhat confused.

 

So we know that the stars in the skies above all Great Spirit Robot locations besides Metru Nui are giant lightstones...

So... are the lightstones rotating around the roof of the dome? Or using this lightbending you mentioned?

Like I said, I'm not aware of a canon answer having been given on this either way. Lightbending certainly seems to be the only reasonable theory, since it has evidence (the Metru Nui sky) while the other alternatives are just speculation. I only hesitate to say "it's lightbending for sure" because I don't think it was directly confirmed.

 

It may have been, though.

 

These are sort-of speculation questions... but this one isn't and it still ties to this topic:

Are the landmasses inside of the robot on the edges of the domes facing inwards? Like, how is the inside of the robot laid out in terms of locations?

Not sure I understand what you're asking specifically, but here's a topic of mine that says a lot about the internal layout (theories, facts, etc.), a companion topic to the upcoming retelling:

 

http://www.bzpower.com/board/index.php?showtopic=9082

 

(Don't post there it's dead.)

 

The landmasses are on the flat bottom of each dome, while the hemisphere above them contains the sky-"illusions/whatever", if that answers your question (a dome is by definition flat-bottomed, remember). If you meant something else, could you clarify?

The Destiny of Bionicle (chronological retelling of Bionicle original series, 9 PDFs of 10 chapters each on Google Drive)Part 1 - Warring with Fate | Part 2 - Year of Change | Part 3 - The Exploration Trap | Part 4 - Rise of the Warlords | Part 5 - A Busy Matoran | Part 6 - The Dark Time | Part 7 - Proving Grounds | Part 8 - A Rude Awakening | Part 9 - The Battle of Giants

My Bionicle Fanfiction  (Google Drive folder, eventually planned to have PDFs of all of it)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Hey guys, sorry I didn't post this earlier, but I actually have an old quote from Greg in response to a question that I asked him about this way back in May of 2010.

 

2a) If all of the other domes besides the one that houses Metru Nui are lit by lightstones in the tops of the domes, do they have day and night cycles, or are they in a perpetual state of light?
2b) If they do indeed have night inside of the other domes, do they have stars at night, or do the lightstones simply dim? I ask this because the “stars” in Metru Nui are said to be Mata Nui’s thoughts.
2c) Also is there just a single massive lightstone in each dome to simulate the sun, or are there a bunch that simply make it very bright without a visible sun?

 

2) They do have day and night cycles, it works the same way dimmers work in our world
2b) It may well be that when the lightstones are dimmed, they resemble distant stars
2c) A bunch

 

 

So there you have an old answer to this question. Unfortunately he didn't real elaborate on whether there appeared to be a sun or not. He said that there were a lot of lightstones to simulate day, but he didn't say whether there was a particular bright spot (or sun) in the sky. Too bad, I should have asked he to elaborate on this. My guess though, is that there would be a sun, for practical purposes like navigating and telling time within the domes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys, sorry I didn't post this earlier, but I actually have an old quote from Greg in response to a question that I asked him about this way back in May of 2010.

 

2a) If all of the other domes besides the one that houses Metru Nui are lit by lightstones in the tops of the domes, do they have day and night cycles, or are they in a perpetual state of light?

2b) If they do indeed have night inside of the other domes, do they have stars at night, or do the lightstones simply dim? I ask this because the “stars” in Metru Nui are said to be Mata Nui’s thoughts.

2c) Also is there just a single massive lightstone in each dome to simulate the sun, or are there a bunch that simply make it very bright without a visible sun?

 

2) They do have day and night cycles, it works the same way dimmers work in our world

2b) It may well be that when the lightstones are dimmed, they resemble distant stars

2c) A bunch

 

 

So there you have an old answer to this question. Unfortunately he didn't real elaborate on whether there appeared to be a sun or not. He said that there were a lot of lightstones to simulate day, but he didn't say whether there was a particular bright spot (or sun) in the sky. Too bad, I should have asked he to elaborate on this. My guess though, is that there would be a sun, for practical purposes like navigating and telling time within the domes.

 

Wow this is great thanks :) I never knew about Metru Nui's stars being Mata Nui's thoughts...like signals passing through neurons I guess? o.O

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the exception of Metru Nui, I have pretty much imagined the underground world to lack visible suns. Some concept art shows the sky to still be as bright as surface light would be, though I guess without the disadvantage of getting sun directly in your eyes.

 

I wonder how far down the light stones reach. I mean, can you see an edge or dithering where they stop covering the dome roof, or do they reach all the way down to ocean level? I imagine they use dithering at such a distance that it appears more like a smooth fade towards the bottom of the dome, though; even though individual lightstones can be seen at night as "stars".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...